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THE K I N G ’ S BUSINESS that preachers can live on earth and board in heaven. The population of the United States has been stated to be, religiously, as follows: Roman Catholics, 16,788,214; Jews, 3, 388,951; Non-Protestants, 737,709; Protestant, 24,354,216; Non- ,church members, ,58,368,241. In other words, more than one-half of the entire population of our country make no religious profession of any kind. Who stands the better chance before the judgment bar of God? The rum seller or the “ minister of Satan?” Bishop Jos. Berry is quoted as hav ing said the following at the Des Moines conference: “ How shall we meet the Eddyism and the Christless ethics of Unitarianism and the polished lifelessness of ritualistic formalism and the corroding pessimism of premillen- nialism?” Yet the late Bishop Stephen Merrill of the Methodist Church said, “ Premillennialism is the mightiest pos sible incentive to intelligent sacrifice and service in the Christian Church.” The editor of the Eastern Methodist re plies, “ Find me one Methodist who does not believe the Bible is the Word of God, and there are many such, or who is conformed to the follies, fads and fashions of the world which lies in the wicked one, and I will show you one who is a post-millenialist, if he has any eschatological views whatever.” Speaking of the “ corroding pessim ism” of premillennialists, take the case of Dr. Munhall, the Methodist evangel ist and editor. More than 50,000 per sons have joined the Methodist Church from meetings he has conducted and he has led scores 'of thousands of worldly, unspiritual church members to a con secrated life. Yet he has always taught the truth of the premillennial coming of the Lord and it hasn’t seemed to em barrass him in his zeal for the Master. Let the Methodists match his record with as good a record from one of their best deniers of the doctrine of the Lord’s coming. You preachers who are urging peo ple to “ give until they feel it”— don’t do it any more. When some church members put ten cents in the collection plate “ they feel it” for six months. Tell ’em to give till they can’t feel I it. That’s better.
EDITORIAL AFTERTHOUGHTS Well, we are still waiting to find out what the world has been made safe for. 2 Tim. 3:2 tells us that a sign of the last days will be the almost universal disregard of children for parental authority. Now we- read that it has been necessary in England to establish a “ parents’ advisory bureau’’ to help parents who cannot control their chil dren. Officials there say that the war has added to this problem, particularly in instances where the father has been lost. The conduct of children, gener ally, it is said, has grown worse since the war. At a recent convention of The Gid eons in St. Louis, it was stated that not more than 20 per cent of the 700,000 commercial travelers in the United States are, avowedly Christian. Then h.elp the Gideons take the Word, of God to these men. Take notice. Special by cable to As sociated Press, date of August 13th, in forms the world that the Pope slipped on a polished marble floor and sus tained a slight abrasion of the skin of the knee. So far as we know, this is the first time the Pope was ever skinned. Dr. Munhall gives the following: “ The one thing I like about a pessimist is that he is always wrong,” said a speaker recently; and his remark was well received. There would have been as much truth and sense in saying, “ The one thing I like about an optimist is, that he is never right.” I once asked a friend of mine, what is a pessi mist? And he replied, “ A man who has had to live with an optimist six months.” Protestant clergymen of England, claiming ^twenty-five of their number died last year of starvation as a result of low wages, have organized The Na tional Clerical Union to establish mini mum wage for the clergy. We don’t approve of this Preachers’ Union, nei ther do we approve the idea some have
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