205 worldliness so pervading th e church th a t the membership is now divisible into worldly holy and wholly worldly,— and m inisters into attitud in arian s, lati- tudinarians and p latitud in arian s.” The Next Conflict Dean Burroughs tells us th a t the B ritish Cabinet gives a respite of ten years to th e next g reat war, and th a t the Adm iralty experts work on a m ar gin of five. When th a t conflict comes, Mr. Edison has said w ithin the last few weeks, “There is nothing to pre vent twenty to fifty aeroplanes flying tomorrow over London’s millions with a gas which can suffocate those millions in th re e hours.” Indefinite Definitions Dr. J. W. P o rte r reviews a recent book by Dr. W. H. P. Faunce, P resi dent of Brown University, a book w rit ten to answer the questions, “W hat is your idea of God?” “Do you believe in Him, and why?” Dr. P o rte r points out how P resident Faunce dodges th e main issue every tim e by using language adapted to a double construction— a little trick very popular w ith th e mod ernists. F o r instance, he says of God— “His infinite spirit, pervading all time and space, sleeps in m atter, wakes in m ind and reveals itself supremely’ in Jesus of N azareth.” The definition both implies and denies th e Deity of Christ. “ Spirit” is spelled w ith a little “s" and “ itself” is used instead of “H im self.” The Jew and th e U nitarian will have no difficulty w ith the definition and many, a half-asleep Christian will call it “ good.” (We understand th a t the an swers to th e questions have already been printed in trac t form by th e Uni ta rian Laymen’s League, and P resident Faunce is a B aptist preacher.) God’s spirit “ sleeps in m a tte r.” Is P resident Faunce a pantheist? In whose mind? Not in Dr. F aunce’s m ind— if what the Bible ‘ells us of God be true. Abraham Lincoln—Christian F ebruary, the month when Lincoln is recalled, is a good tim e to consider the oft-asked question, “Was Lincoln an a th e ist? ” A good answer is given by The Pathfinder: “No. However, though he injected pious u tterances into many, of his addresses, talks, etc., Lincoln re fused to associate himself w ith any one denom ination. W illiam E lroy Curtis in his ‘T rue Abraham Lincoln’ comments:
THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S a move to get th e Catholic version In th e schools— th a t Is, an edition w ithout th e usual Rom anist foot notes? Surely our Catholic friends would not class th a t as a sectarian book, and it would get the fundam entals of th e Christian faith before th e young folks ju s t as well as the King James. Only question is—Would it be safe for Catholic young folks to rekd it? Fruits of Unbelief In England, in recent months, many churches have been invaded by Com munist mobs and services in terrup ted— a little foregleam of what will happen generally in society when th e sp irit of unbelief permeates a little farth er. A B ritish daily tells of an organized a t tack on one of Cipsy Sm ith’s meetings in Sheffield, and says th a t “Pandemon ium reigned, prayer was in terrup ted by blasphemous cries, and hymns were countered by th e ‘Red F lag.’ ” The o r ganist was threatened, and compelled to stop playing; and, for th e first tim e in his life, th e Gipsy was refused a h ea r ing. Coffin Nails Along w ith th e general lowering of th e standard of morals, always goes the increased consumption of cigarettes, those things which, as Sam Jones used to say, “ have a little fire on one end and a little fool on the other.” Accord ing to figures published by th e in tern al revenue bureau, tax collections on cig arettes last year amounted to $150,000,- 000 as compared w ith $135,000,000 the year before. The revenue on cigars for la st year amounted to $45,000,'000, which is approximately $7,000,000 less th a n th e previous year, showing th a t the cigarette, which is far more dan gerous, is becoming more popular. Au tho rities claim th a t where cigarettes are used freely, it may be tak en fo r granted th a t the user is loose in morals, as th e narcotic stim ulates the sexual nature. Worldly Holy and Wholly Worldly An old copy of a le tte r w ritten by Dr. A rth u r T. Pierson to Charles H. Spur geon, was recently found, and a p a rt of its contents will be of special in terest— “There is a fearfu l apostasy from the tru th ,— second probation,— partial in spiration,— R itualism , th e ‘Nehushtan and Ephodism’ of old times are back among us. How little Evangelical preaching! Conversion a lost a r t;—
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