214
April 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
character against religious creeds or opposition on the part of the Government to the dogmas or practices of any religion. “It is true that the Constitution of Mexico has pro visions that the Catholic high clergy consider incompat ible with their constant and illegitimate intervention in politics and questions of state, or with their holding eco nomic strength as a means of spiritual influence and a principal factor of domination of a material order. m m What th e New Testam en t is Doing in China B y G eorge T. B. D avis R ECENTLY a missiónáry in the Province of Kiangsu, Rev. - John C. DeKorne, gave me a striking example of the power of the Word of God. Two years ago Mr. DeKorne received 100 copies of the special pocket Testament for use in his district. He gave some to an evangelist, but warned him that they must only be given to adults, and '«Inly to those who would agree to read and carry them. Contrary however to the instructions of the missionary, one of the Books was given to a ten year old boy. The lad carried the Book to his home three miles distant in the country.' Day by day the boy, or his father, read aloud from its pages;. Such interest was aroused that the farmer, like Cor nelius- of old, sent for the missionary to hear more of these wonderful Words of Life. At first the grandfather would have nothing to do with the new “Jesus doctrine.” For twenty years the family had been ardent Buddhists. They .had over 36 idols in their home, to which they made more than 100 bows daily. Now however all is. changed. The home:';is transformed. The idols have been destroyed. Hymns of praise ascend to the One True God. Three generations, the grandfather, father, and son, are seeking for baptism. A few months ago when a mis'; sionary examined the grandfather, and asked what he knew about the doctrine, he replied: “I don’t know much about the doctrine: but I know that I was a sinner, and that Jesus has saved me.” Perhaps no other nation in the world appreciates the gift of a book as much as the Chinese. They have a high regard amount ing almost to reverence for’their written “characters.” Hence they are delighted to receive a book, and especially the Book of books. C ooperation of S ocieties The three :Bible Societies operating throughout China are cooperating heartily. in the nation-wide j’éffort of The Pocket Testament League: The British and Foreign Bible Society, the American Bible Society, and the National Bible Society of Scot land, are speeding up the printing and binding of 700,000 pocket Testaments,, and the Societies' are bearing all transportation charges of sending the books to the missionaries. “There is a wonderful; spirit of inquiry abroad in China just now,” was the statement made to me last night by Mrs. Her bert Hudson Taylor, the daughter-in-law of the late Dr. J. Hudson Taylor, the Founder of the China Inland Mission.
Mexico and Rom an ism T HE Roman Church is' taking every advantage of unfavorable circumstances in Mexico to increase its prestige and carry out its doctrine of temporal power. Even yet mo$t Protestants do not understand the situation and believe there is a religious persecution going on in Mexico. According to information coming from reliable Christian workers in Mexico, President Calles is absolutely fair in his statements which we publish herewith. He says: • “If one bears in mind that Mexicans possess less than one-third of the total wealth of the country; one can easily understand why so frequently in the resolution of Mexican problems, which of course have always had a marked economic character, we have friction or difficul ties either with foreign governments defending the inter ests of their countrymen who consider themselves affected by our constitutional laws, or with Mexican land owners controlling endless tracts of land. And if one considers, furthermore, that the third part of the national wealth owned by Mexicans (running surely above 1,500,000 pesos) 60 per cent., at least, has been and still is in the hands of Catholic priests or religious institutions or orders of the Catholic Church, one can understand why we always have rebellions on the part of the Catholic clergy who fear at every moment of the struggle to lose their main strength: the millions that they have accumulated against the definite and express provisions of the Funda mental Charter of our country. “In conclusion I wish to lay stress upon the fact that a real religious problem does not exist in Mexico. I mean that there is no such thing as persecution of a religious
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