T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Charles A. Elwood, professor of Sociology in th e Uni versity of Missouri, whose book is also used as a tex t book in Minnesota University, teaches th a t religion is no t a ' revelation, b u t grew ou t of ancestral worship ( p .1 1 7 ) . And th a t “ the fam ily is being created by th e very conditions of life itself,” failing to recognize th e Divine au th o rity for the same:—and th a t “n a tu re has developed in man in telli gence” (p. 69), refusing to give God th e glory. But to m ark progress in infidelity, one needs to read Ross on “ Social Psychology.” 1 He holds th e experience of conversion to scorn; Accounts fo r it on hypnotic grounds (p. 16 ); explains Divine healing on th e ground of m ental suggestion (p. 27 ); also insists th a t th is may explain th e m iraculous element claimed for th e life of Christ; says th a t in “saintly visions and revelations one is influenced by au to suggestion” (p. 28) . On th e .same ground he explains “the apostles and evangelists,” and th e expression of “ pro phecy,” th e creation of “ powers and persons” (pp. 166-7).' The gift of tongues is held to some scorn, inspiration to an equal amount, as is also the guidance of th e Holy Spirit (pp. 167-8), and he th ink s “ th e two main sources of all these phenomena are th e subconscious and th e social en vironm ent’;^:1(p. 68). The g rea t awakening in colonial days, th e g reat revivals of 1800, 1830 and 1858 were only the resu lt of “ social suggestion” (p. 70). The extensive prayer meetings of 1873 were “a m ental contagion” (p. 71), on a level w ith the Dutch mania for tu lip s th a t took place in 1643, th e “Ho, for Texas” movement, th e Cali fornia gold fever, the negro exodus, th e K londyke rush, all of a piece— products of the “mob m ind.” He expresses his fear to go fishing w ith “ a prayer meeting C h ristian” lest he ta k e “ a fit and tu rn th e boat over.” He holds th e holy communion of the Christian to scorn and sees “it in an ancient rite ,” and, by a sacrilege unthinkable, “where prim itive man eats his god.” He says, “ the archaic sp irit of religion is attested in th e settlem ent of disputed points by appeal to the Bible’" (p. 272). It is little wonder th a t in the debate between H arvard and Yale th e defense of Sovietism proudly quotes from Prof. Ross in the following words, “The cu rren t notion of th e second or Bolshevist revolution is th a t it was th e work of a handful of extrem ists who captivated th e Russian masses w ith th e ir idea. Under th e pitiless pelting of facts, I have been driven to the conclusion th a t th is is u n tru e; the robbed and oppressed masses moved tow ard th e goal of th eir unfulfilled desires like a flow of molten lava th a t no human force could calm or tu rn aside.” Prof. Ross reduces th e teachings of th e Bible to a level w ith “w izardry,” speaks of a “chosen people,” evidently meaning Israel, as “a legend” of “ an ethics basing its norm on hum an n atu re and the n atu re of th e social organiza tio n ” and as “superseding th e alleged commands of Deity” — (m ark th e adjective, “ alleged commands of Deity” ) “ the precepts of ancient sages, the customs of th e fath ers, and edicts of Mrs. Grundy.” In o ther words Mrs. Grundy and God’s commands are on a common level according to Prof. Ross (p. 293). On p. 298 he reduces the Divine rig h t of kings, th e verbal in sp iration of th e Scrip tu res, and th e Ptolemaic system to a level of th e same absurdity. On p. 305 he says, “P u t together all th e effects of all the ath eists who have ever lived and they have not done so much harm to Christianity and th e world as has been done by the narrow-m inded, «onscientious men who persecuted Roger Bacon.” . On p. 336 he says, “The piling up of innum erable points about th e tex t of th e P entateuch impeaches eventually th e ir Mosaic au tho rsh ip .”
cen tral government : exists, his methods are secret, his approach' su rrep titiou s, his purpose red revolution. A w itness called before th e Senate comm ittee testified, “ 1 have inform ation given me in P etrog rad th a t already the agents of T rotsky and Lenin have been sent to th is country and th a t they have in operation a cen tral bu reau of propa ganda. This propaganda is as insidious as false, and I am amazed th a t our people have not tak en it seriously.” When th e w ar was over and our boys were retu rn ed to th e States by the m illions, many of them failed to find im mediate occupation and these secret agents stealth ily a t tempted in a thousand instances to render them dissatisfied, critical and rebellious. The American Legion was th e Rooseveltian answer to th a t secret sowing of discontent. • This all leads me to th e main point of th is discussion, the place where emphasis must be put if we are either to appre ciate th e meaning, or m ark progress- in our position to th e same, namely The School Is Its Medium The Soviet recognizes th e controlling power of education. Her outstanding leaders today are those professors, in our modern universities, who are natu rally m aterialistic in th eir conception of th e universe and who in th eir devotion to the Darw inian theory dare to dethrone God in th e presence of His worshippers. Raymond Robbins is an out-spoken socialist, and he is a thousand fold more acceptable in th e average university circle th a n is th e most eloquent of con servative Christian orators. Prof. Scott Nearing was born in America, bred in our schools, and became a leading university professor; yet “The Times” names Mr. Nearing a Bolshevist. You know perfectly well w hat men have led th is movement in Ger many, and how from th e position of professors L iebknect and his conférés have accomplished not only an overthrow of th e German Government, b u t influenced all Russian thought. I have purchased lately five books, four of them employed as text books in th e S tate University of Minnesota and one in North High School, Minneapolis. (1) “Crimi nology” by Parm elee; (2) , “Sociology and Modern Social P roblem s” by Elswood; (3) “Social Psychology” by Ross; (4) “Social Evolution” by Chapin; (5)' “America’s Social P roblem s” by Burch and P atterson , and every one of them denies the Christian faith, feeling th a t th e defense of Dar winism is not sufficient w ithout so doing, and some of th e ir sentences are the most sacrilegious and scornful th a t I have ever, seen in print. Chapin says, “The b ru te m ind was gradually converted into the human intelligence” (p. 108). “Morals are nothing bu t the conviction implanted by th e social group in th e m inds of its members of th e propriety of the m anner of life imposed by it upon them ” (p. 118). “So in th e individual and in th e social m ind was born a t last th e idea of self, or personality, as a conscious life, soul or spirit, dwelling in the body, bu t distinct and separable from it.” This quota tion he follows w ith a discussion th a t shows he has no con fidence whatever th a t th e soul is imm ortal, and likens the Christian faith to th e Ind ian ’s conception of dream s, the Algonquin’s “ shadow” or th e Salu’s “ghost” (pp. 265, 266). Burch and Patterson, in th e ir volume “American Social Problem s,” used in high school, make morality and religion mere animal evolution, ta lk of th e tim e when man was incapable of determ ining w hat was moral and immoral, thereby sweeping out the Decalogue and all th e o ther claims of Divine law. (Let me say th a t th e North High School has one professor who refuses to hold recitations on certain chapters in th is book.)
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