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WORLD NEWSGRAMS
Jomes O. Henry, M.A., Editor Associate prof, of History, Biola Bible Col leg?
generation. According to him we’re a good deal humbler than our grand fathers. Although we can’t agree with the idealism of the great his torian we can agree with one state ment he makes when he says, “Man must get outside himself, quit devot ing himself to empty human idols, and realize the only satisfying end is a spiritual end.” To Dr. Toynbee, some of the most promising impulses of present day Western society arose from the “ fires of recent wars, dictators, oppression and from the dark challenge of Com munism and the atomic bomb.” He said, “We seem to learn only by pain and suffering. It would be better if we could learn without it. It was largely because the West back slid in its Christianity and failed to uphold Christian teachings, that gave Communism its chance to proclaim Christ’s idea— social justice for the poor—in an anti-Christian dress.” Church Soliciting Fund H oax An arrest recently in Los Angeles revealed that a man had been posing as a pastor of a non-existent church in the solicitation of funds. Accord ing to the police report the man col lected more than $35,000 during the past five years for “ St. John’s Church,” which does not exist. To work the hoax on the people the imposter had the credentials of a minister now dead. Utilization o f P ow e r A bin full of rocks in the basement coupled with a solar heat collector on the roof can go a long way toward keeping a home warm in winter, ac cording to a specialist in the use of sun power in a report to the World Symposium on Applied Solar Ener gy which met recently in Phoenix, Ariz. The specialist, Dr. George O. G. Lof, consulting engineer of Den ver, Colo:, based his report on one full year of operation of such a sys
tem in a house in Boulder, Colo. With colleagues from the University of Colorado and the University of Den ver, Dr. Lof installed an experimental solar heating system in the small (1,000 square feet) bungalow as an auxiliary to its regular heating sys tem. The unit consisted of a bin in the basement built of cinder blocks filled with 8.3 tons of paving size rocks. This acted as a storage unit. On the south side of the roof they put a glassed-in sunshine collector and hooked it with ducts to the gravel bin and the pipes of the regular hot air gas burning furnace. The unit saved $14.14 on the gas bill from September to May. This demonstrates what man can do with the power God has created if he can only utilize it. A Spirit of F ea r According to an editorial writer “ All Communists live and work in an atmosphere of fear. The higher One is in the party echelons, the greater the distrust, uneasiness and fear. “The Politburo members are afraid of one another and of their subordi nates. The party people distrust the Red army. The army is afraid of the police. The men in the Kremlin have spies and counterspies checking on the Red army, the party organization at home and abroad and on one another. They know they cannot trust their own secret agents and they have other agents checking on them. No one can fully trust any other one.” This writ er asks, “Why is this?” His answer to his own question is worthy of noting. “ There is no moral law. There are no standards of honesty, integrity—- of right and wrong. There is no God and hence no laws of God by which mortals may live. There are no Ten Commandments. Nothing but brute force and the desire to satisfy one’s ambitions. When men are not im pelled by loyalty to God to be hon est, truthful, and to refrain from mur dering, stealing and coveting, there is no basis on which they can trust one another.” THE KING'S BUSINESS
Salacious lite r a tu r e On August 9, 1955 at the meeting of the Department of the Army Char acter Guidance Council the following resolution was passed: “With reference to the sale of sala cious and morally offensive literature by Post Exchanges on Army installa tions, the Character Guidance Coun cil recommends that the installation commanders be enjoined through of ficial directive to cause literature on sale in the Post Exchanges to be screened. It is further recommended that local Character Guidance Coun cils survey the situation and make appropriate recommendations to the installation commander.” The Council went on to take simi lar action concerning the showing of objectionable films on Army installa tions. This action is long overdue. Chara cteristics o f Our A g e Joseph C. Chastine, in a speech to a Disciples of Christ meeting in Dal las, Tex., recently said: “ The church is facing a generation which is trying to drink its way to prosperity, war its way to peace, spend its way to wealth and enjoy its way to heaven.” R ea son fo r Crim e J. Edgar Hoover makes this inter esting comment in relation to a recent report on crime. “ For every dollar given to churches in this country $14 is spent for crime.” His report shows that “ only rarely does a young per son with a sound Sunday school and church background become involved in crime.” A H istorian ’ s V iew Dr. Arnold J. Toynbee of England, a world-renowned historian, thinks he sees man learning “ the great se cret: Humility before his Maker.” In his opinion “ Civilizations rise and crumble, smashing themselves on the shoals of vain desires, then falter up ward again only to expend themselves once more on false goals, and today’s generation stands at a testing point.” Dr. Toynbee is optimistic about our 22
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