No Union •J* At the ninety-fourth annual South ern Baptist Convention in San Francis co, a warning note was sounded against participation in world union movements. The Southern Baptists will co-operate with other groups who refuse to com promise the gospel by fellowshiping with those who deny the Virgin Birth and inerrancy of the Scriptures. The convention was warned against partici pation in the World Council of Churches, with which a great number of Protes tant groups are now affiliated. TV Habits According to a recent survey, church going habits are not affected by tele vision. On the basis of 7000 interviews, 40% of the families of those owning television sets reported attending religi ous services at least once a week, while strangely enough, in the non-television areas only 36% reported such attend ance. This survey apparently reveals that programs which are preferred on Sunday do not keep regular church goers from attending the services of their choice. News From Palomar After twenty months of operation, the great 200-inch telescope on Mount Palomar continues to yield interesting discoveries. Recently it was announced that the spectra of nebulae, 360 million light years away, had been photograph ed. Apparently they are moving away from the earth at about one-fifth the speed of light. The Palomar eye was built primarily for studying the more distant stars and this powerful instrument can photograph stars as far as one billion light years away (a light year is six trillion miles). Most of these stars are apparently moving away, thus giving credence to the idea of an expanding universe. Nineteen Hundredth. Anniversary Recent ceremonies in Greece com memorated the 1900th anniversary of Paul’s arrival in Europe. A group of American churchmen retraced Paul’s footsteps on the second of his three great missionary journeys, by landing first at Neapolis, going inland to Philip pi, and from there proceeding on to Athens and Corinth. News From Spain & According to the latest issue of Spain- grams, Spain is the greatest mission field in the world and the Spaniards the most needy people. Dr. and Mrs. Za- carias P. Carles now head the Spanish Christian Mission which is giving the gospel to Spain. While the work is very difficult, there is some progress. While nominally Spain is a completely Catho lic country, there are even in that land many hearts that long for the truth.
Headlines for a Biola Missionary <£ It is not often that missionaries make the headlines. Usually their approbation is reserved for heavenly audiences. However, in the June 23 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, the lead article featured William A. Deans, Missionary to the Congo, and graduate of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. In this fine account the author deals very sympa thetically with the motivating influence that has kept the Deans and their co workers at their tasks on the mission field. Illustrated with eight pictures in full color, it is interesting and instruc tive. What They Believe Our Hope describes a questionnaire recently sent out by the Religious Edu cation Department of the Northern Uni versity, the object of which was to as certain the attitude of the ministry as a whole toward God and the Bible. The replies of seven hundred ministers were very revealing. Forty-five per cent did not believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures; thirty - three denied the miracles; thirteen believed that God was not omnipotent; sixty-seven denied the physical resurrection of Christ from the dead. While these figures may shock us, there is no doubt but that they in dicate that which the Scriptures them selves foretell, which is the tragic apos tasy from the truth during the latter days of this dispensation. Prefer Bad Movies Recently in the current issue of Harper’s, the Executive Vice-President of a great motion picture organization points out that there are more bad than good movies made simply because the majority of people prefer them. The facts in the case show that the “ off color” movies pay huge profits, while the better class of “good movies” often show a dead loss. This revelation is not so startling when we remember the Bible clearly states that the heart of the natural man is desperately wicked, even though it may be covered slightly with a thin veneer of respectability. More Religious Radio Time £ Recently in Chicago a group of Chi cago jurists drafted a resolution asking radio stations to devote more free time to religious broadcasts that might pro mote family worship. J. Edgar Hoover, Chief of the F. B. I., reported that the need of the American family is to sit together around the Word of God. He stated that unfortunately there are far too many homes that have lost touch with religion and that juvenile delin quency and the high incident of crime across the nation are but a reflection of this lack. The judges’ resolution specifically re quested more time' for the airing of “ The Family Worship Hour”, a non-de- nominational program released over one hundred stations.
By William W. Orr, D.D.
Increased Construction
The rate of construction of new churches is twenty-five per cent higher during the first three months in 1951 than it was in 1950. New edifices, esti mated at $108,000,000 were started dur ing the first quarter of this year. How ever, church construction is now under the same controls that apply to other building activities. The same ratio of increase in construction also applies to religious and non-profit groups in the field of hospital, social and recreational facilities. About Boy Scouts The Christian Reformed Church in tends to discourage its young people from joining the Boy Scouts of Amer ica. While young people in this denomi nation will not be forbidden to join, the advice of the church will be for them to become members of its own organi zation. At the annual meeting of the Senate, the reason given was that the Boy Scout movement lacks an adequate religious basis. It should be clearly un derstood by Christian parents that while the Boy Scouts give splendid training in many fields, it cannot substitute for either Sunday school or church. Three Out of Ten Jt In a recent survey of the Harvard University class of 1926, some interest ing statistics were uncovered. The ratio of political affiliation was: Republicans, 56%; Independent, 26%; and Democrats, 16%. One out of five of that class has written a book and one out of ten has run for public office. Six out of ten pro fess to believe in God, but only three out of ten attend church with any de gree of regularity. It is quite a reve lation to discover that while most Amer icans are not atheists, only a very small minority of them support the work and service of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no question but that God must sooner or later bring punish ment to bear upon our nation for this appalling indifference.
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