May 1925
THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
202
A Banker W ko Banks on the Bible A business man in Buffalo, who is a member of The King’s Business Family, sent us the following unusual and inspir ing sermon which Was preached to the Bnffalo Chapter of the American Institute of Banking, and the Buffalo Credit Men’s Association, by Elliot C. McDougal, President of the Marine Trust Company, of Buffalo, N. Y., as reported in the Buffalo Morning Express. An encouraging sign of the times is the fact that business men are awaking to the consciousness that, as a people, we must return to the Bible of our fathers. We commend this to some of our ministerial friends as a basis for a Sunday evening service. Buffalo Morning Express, commenting on Mr. ¡Dougal’s address, said: level. In other words, they proclaim disbelief in everything that their finite minds are unable to comprehend.
“The same journal says: ‘Are our preachers sure they have grasped the strength and meaning of the religion which they water, and sugar to suit their own weak faith’? “What has Seduced some of our preachers? It is the s'ame impulse which induces people to follow the vanities and fashions of the day, that leads a woman to smoke cigarettes or bob her hair. It is the first unconscious step towards atheism. Or do they really believe the greater part of the Bible to be a collection of fables? “The impression that the average church-goer gets is that the average modern preacher does not know the Bible,
“It was a good, old fashioned sermon, his hear- 5 said, in which he urged that clergy and church members get back to prayer and abiding, aggressive faith in the Bible, His only reference to banking was in his closing sentence when he said: ‘Perhaps the most important factor in credit is honesty and integrity of the debtor and his intent to pay his debts even if they take the last cent he has. On this subject the Bible is the greatest text book and the Golden Rule one of its. greatest texts..’ ” After a general discussion of the attitude of distrust towards the law in general, towards courts if they render
or else does not believe it. He seldom quotes it. No man can preach the Gospel as it ought to be preached unless he has much of the Bible practically by heart. To such, it will be an unfail ing inspiration. “What is the remedy? First, recognition by the great mass of the ministry of the alarming prevalence of unbelief, and of the in difference of the average congregation, from which, at present, very little help can be expected. Ministers must face the difficult and almost impossible task of arousing congregations from this lethargy. “The first step towards repentance is a conscious ness of sin, and the first step towards arousing a congre gation is to awaken a con sciousness of its own unbe lief and indifference^ But before that, must come a genuine revival among the
adverse decisions, towards even the Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Mc Dougal said, in part: “There appears to be gen eral unbelief in prayer. The strongest need today is prayer. * * * It is perfectly plain that many preachers are undermining the faith of their congregations in God, although they would shrink from unequivocally denying* Him. “We admit that there is often a difference between what we think the Bible says and what it really does say,— but indiscriminate un belief in real fundamentals induces unbelief in every thing and kills faith. Why should the mere opinions of a few intellectual doubters be allowed to unsettle the faith of entire congrega tions? Rather should those congregations rise up and say to their m i n i s t e r s , 'O ye of l i t t l e faith !’
“Perhaps the most important factor in credit is honesty and integrity of the debtor, and his intent to pay his debts even if they take the last cent he has. On this subject the Bible is the greatest textbook, and the ‘Golden Rule’ one of its greatest texts. “In many pulpits there appears to be no positive disbelief, but weak unbelief in every thing; strong, abiding faith in nothing. I have read several printed sermons by differ ent ministers who probably would repel the suggestion that they were unbelievers, but who, judged by their sermons, are what is described in politics as ‘on the fence.’ I found these sermons featureless, taking no strong position either for or against unbelief. “This address w ill lose much of its force unless you bear in mind that it is not the expression of the most pious element in our congregations— of men of unusually godly lives and strong religious convictions who may or may not agree,—but it is a cry from the great mass of average business men in our congregations, some of whom are not even religious, but who feel that they are in need of more religions truth, which need can not be satisfied by fads and fancies from the pulpit.”
ministry itself. It must concern itself with spiritual and religious enlightenment. It must have burning, abiding, aggressive faith in the religion which it is supposed to preach. Not until then, can it inspire others. “This address will lose much of its force unless you bear in mind that it is not the expression of the most pious element of our congregations; of men of unusually godly lives and strong religious convictions, who may or may not agree; but it is a cry from the great mass of average busi ness men in our congregations who are not particularly pious.—some not even religious— but who feel their need of more religious truth, which need cannot be satisfied by fads and fancies from the pulpit. (Continued on page 231)
“In many pulpits there appears to be no positive dis belief, but weak unbelief in everything,— strong, abiding faith in nothing. I have read several printed Sermons by different ministers who probably would repel the sugges tion that they were unbelievers, but who, judged by their sermons, are what is described in politics as ‘on the fence.’ I found these sermons featureless, taking no strong position either for or against unbelief. “Not a religious journal, not a philosophical magazine, but a purely financial journal, speaking^ f a certain class of preachers, says: ‘Even those who should know better have contributed to destroy the faith in a Supreme Being.’ Such men profess faith in God and at the same time publicly proclaim their disbelief in every supernatural attribute of God as related in the Bible, thereby reducing Him to a finite
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