August 1930
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
373
Methods, or a Message—Which? J CCORDING to the. Presbyterian, one of the recommendations of the Council to the recent General Assembly was that in the curricula of i Seminaries there should be more practical teach- & ing. Concerning this the Editor remarks: That is the cry today in all departments o f education— more practical teaching. We recall a remark o f a very able seminary professor, some years ago, that if one could be trained in the deeper things, the practical could be learned in six months’ active service. The day has been when scholarship was emphasized in.seminaries. We greatly fear that lessening the “theoretical and technical teaching,” and emphasizing the practical, we may have good engineers, but not good preachers o f the Gospel. Let three years be spent in profound study under competent scholars, and we are not afraid but that any one who has gumption to suc ceed at all will use his learning more effectively than one trained principally to “do things.” Chance for debate on this matter. To our mind, seminaries have declined in scholarship, and the result is not so good. In support of the Editor’s opinion it would be possible to mention theological seminaries, not a few, where Greek and Hebrew are elective and very few students ever study, them; where little attention is paid to the study of theol ogy; where, in fact, all of the subjects which were the backbone of the seminary curricula of former days are slighted; whereas great emphasis is put upon “methods.” Graduates go forth with skill in methods, but without a message. — Is a Child “ Bom Criminal” ? S OME months ago Dean Shailer Mathews, o f Chi cago University, announced the opening o f a course of lectures to be delivered by noted exponents of the theory o f psychiatry in religion. The minister of the future, he said, must not-attempt to frighten people into being good by threats of hell fire, or discourage them by telling them that they are incurably wicked, but must have expert knowledge of what is psychologically or pathologically wrong with his parishioners. In other words, their “ sin fulness” might be something that could be easily cured by the psychoanalyst or the family physician. This pronouncement of Doctor Mathews is in line with much of the popular psychology and theology of the past ten or fifteen years. But it is to be noted with thanks giving that there is a very decided reaction against such opinions. And now comes a Berlin psychoanalyst, Dr. Frans Alexander, who told the First International Con gress on Mental Hygiene, at Washington, D.C., that men tal science has shown that children are born criminals and if they are allowed to follow their natural impulses they will pursue a criminal course in life. Thus it is that the Bible is again vindicated. Some people have preferred to go to the scientist and the psy chologist for their wisdom. They have sought to ignore unwelcome facts. But when science has had time to
think it over and face reality, the Biblical position is up held. There is this difference, however, that science knows no redemption, no deliverance from the penalty or power of sin. Christianity gives the only comfort that can be found, for it teaches that though men are “ born criminal” they may be born again. — 0 — The Peril of Mammonism O NE of the most significant addresses delivered before the Northern Baptist Convention was given by Dr. Frank G. Sayers, Pastor of the Baptist Temple, Youngs town, Ohio. His theme was, “ Mammonism—Chief World Rival of Jesus Christ.” He traced the dangers of Mam monism with relation to the individual, to the churches, and to the nation. Some of his most striking paragraphs are worthy of repetition and wide circulation. When this competitor o f the Lord1Jesus Christ gets into a man’s heart it completely blinds him to the things of the Spirit. When the Mammonist is ascending the altar steps of his new god, when the mind, heart and hand are all dedicated to this alluring monster, then all the love o f spiritual values will have vanished. The taste for the things o f our God will have passed away. There is also a national peril in Mammonism . . . A na tion that counts its glory by the number o f its motor cars, the amount o f its savings accounts, the average income of its citizens and its domination of the world markets, can hardly be filled with idealism. Its vision of spiritual values fades and it is endangered by becoming dreadfully cal loused. This same peril threatens Christian churches. Mam monism will rob the church o f a single eye to the glory o f her Christ. . . . The revelator, John, predicted that the latter church would be bossed by the spirit o f Mam monism. “We are rich and have need o f nothing,” said the Laodiceans. Yet the very Christ she professed to love stood outside her door, knocking, saying, “If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.” Truly America’s material prosperity has not been an unmixed blessing. When Christians begin to be controlled by the spirit that says, “ Let us buy, accumulate and enjoy to the full the fruits of our toil in this life,” they are in danger of losing the vision the Master gave them when they were born again. The Lord Jesus Christ says to His disciples, “Sell that ye have and, give alms; make for your selves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fadeth not, where no thief draweth near, neither moth destroyeth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Must the Church “ Rise to the Occasion” ? ACCORDING to press reports, Dr. Fred B. Smith, jfi.M oderator of the National Council of Congregational Churches of the United States, painted a very gloomy pic ture of the world situation of the Church in a recent ad dress to the International Congregational Council which gathered at Bournemouth, England. He looked at the political situation and found it to be “ one of turmoil.” The economic situation, he said, was “ even jnore chaotic.” The
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