The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-03-23
For the Central Presby
A Straw in the North Wind
Whittier Does it Blow?

CRTlStlun gu work, contains column
called, The Pulpit" sort of port hole
through which the great guns fire at
=" the world, the flesh, the devil -and
other things The last shot is from Rev.
Henry Van Dyke, D. D., known to the
readers of THE Central as he of "frater-
nal relations fame, first at Louisville
and then again at Brooklyn, in which
affair he proved conspicuous instance
of the truth: 1.-The first shall be last >
The sermon is from Joel j. IA, and
emphasizes the scripturalness, propriety,
and advantage of the so-called Christian
Year, and recommends the adoption of
sort OF Presbyterian Lent as season
for revival services The main outcome
of the sermon is chaff, though there are
some incidental grains of very good
wheat, not enough however to Justify
the threshing. 1t is to be feared that
the following extract is not the best
wheat:
And this brings us to the practical question,
What time Is most favorable for this purpose
1t seems to that the best time is the season
commonly known as Lent e, the season
OF the year when the days lengthen, tor that is
the only meaning of the word which l have
been able to discover after much research.
turned Episcopalan?" No he has not turned
anything, not being given to change But he
Is old enough to be willing to learn and his de-
yoton 10 the holy Catholic Church is sufficiently
dominant over all lesser attachments to make
him willing to learn something even from Epis
copalans In many of the conservative ele
ments of our common Christ anity they are the
noblest body of Christians in our land The
reasons OF their growth, in which during the
past few years they have outstrpped all other
Christian denominations, are not far to seek
And these reasons are not dishonorable to them
They lie much deeper than FORMS or vestments
or music. They consist in the honor which
they put upon the church as Divine institu-
ton, upon the sacred edi6ces which are conse
Grated to Gods worship, upon the sacraments
as means of grace, made efectual by the abiding
presence and power of the Holy Spirit upon
the ministry as separate order of men, or
dalned TO be stewards of the mysteries of God ;
In all of which our Presbyterian standards
agree with them. whatever our practice may be-
They consist In the decency of their public
worship, which excludes by its fixed forms the
manners of the circus and the theatre, and In
the discipline which the violation of that
decency brings upon the offender" Us it Tai
mage, DR.. p They consist in the refuge which
In many places that Church offers to sober
minded Christians who are troubled by the
insistance upon political and other unscriptural
tests of Christian character and church mem
bership. And finally these elements of growth
consist, to some extent, In the setting apart of
set seasons for religious worship and instruc-
tion."
There are some things IN that extract
which we do not greatly admire. G
AS to the conservative elements; :" there
is room for doubt in view of the alarm
ing developments of ritualism and the
notorious change in doctrine since the
adoption of Art. xvii. (2) 1t seems a
little inconsistent to do reverence to con-
servatism in a paragraph advocating a
decided innovation. (3) Anent the " out
stripping" we incline to the old lady Is
famous kettle argument; we doubt the
fact, and if true we question the agency
of the Christian Year therein; when such
set seasons as Lent are offered to account
for it we think the reasons are still far
to seek" (4) AS to the agreement Of
our Presbyterian standards with the
Episcopal ideas of the Church with a
big O., of the sacred edifces, of the
sacraments and of the ministry, we differ
with the Doctor. Episcopacy has far out
stripped us in these ideas and bids fair
for yet farther progress.
There is a sentence in the Dr's sermon
which might possibly give countenance
to the Episcopal Interpretation of Acts.
ii: AZ: We are not greatly surprised at
finding chapter on the Duty of the
Church towards those who hold the
Apostles Doctrine in separation from
the Apostles Fellowship, in a book en-
titled The Holy Catholic IT, e. Episcopal)
Church, written by high church
clergyman, for we have discovered
sometime since, that there is no essen
tial incompatability between very high
churchism and very deep ignorance
perhaps owing to the fact that SO much
time is demanded by such volumes as
Flowers and Festivals; or Directions
for the Floral Decoration of Churches; I"
"Church Organs their Position and
Construction (by VicarD "Stones Of
the Temple or Lessons from the Fabric
and Furniture Of the Church" (by an
other VicarD that little can be spared
for the commonplace duty of critical
study Of the Scriptures. But we weyc
surprised that The Doctor, while discussing
Episcopacy and quoting this very pas
sage, did not so quote it as at least in
directly TO indicate to the congregation
that the careless high church ringing OF
the changes on the Apostles doctrine
and fellowship" is based on an unhappy
translation and worse than unhappy IN
faryrofaficp &C Ibo ,vor.o -,I,o -.