Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-23
In RELIGIONS REALM.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO MINIS
TIERS AND LAYMEN.
Expressions of Opinion by Newspapers
Representing the Various Deuom-
nations. on Many Subjects.

The Caurchman (P E.( makes a quee
1t says, "cannot be written in hurry lik
a Sermon
The Christian Leader (Univl says: 81
Is the opinion of some Christians that tn
way to get on with unbelievers In cur da,
is to conce6e the truth of most of the allie
cations they bring against Christianity
its records, and its apologists. This re
moves the bone of contention and leave
nothing to quarrel about. In a simils
spirit of amiability, many believe that w
should make worship and religion s,
much like amuselnents and business tha
the chief objections to them will disappear
| If we should be completely successful il
this what would result? We should hav,
shortened the distance between the churcl
and the world, not by bringing the worlC
up but by letting the church down. We
should not have diminished unbelief or ir.
religion We should have given them ,
little better standing in society. Religion
| can make wiser use of her ample mantle
than to wrap it round men and womer
who neither respect Ter claims nor love
| her character"
The C0ngregdtionolist says: "Ifere is 9
Congregational minister taking part in the
installation services of a Universaist pas
! tor. The act raises the serious question,
How can two walk together religiously
except they be agreed on matters of so
vital a character as those which separate
the Uniyersalists from the Evangelical de-
nominations ? There is, of course, large
domain Of morals and religion which is
ground common to both; but there are
other points of vital importance on which
| there is, and can be no agreement. And
with the best and most courteous feelings
towards those who differ from us so widely,
and joyfully recognizing the great advance
which they have made towards Evangeli-
cal ground during the last half century, it
is nevertheless clear that all progress on
| our part towards full UNCONVENTIONAL fell
lowship with them must prove to be level
ling down towards doctrinal platform
which Congregationalists do not accept,
rather than levellIng up towards Evan
gelical standards"
The Rev. John w. Quinby, writing in
the Unitarian ReCieW on the art of preach
ing, says: Il have sympathy with that
minister who had no time 10 make his SER
mon short; but such lack of time is to be
regretted. II is the business of the
preacher to have time to make his address
clear and unmistakable, and brief enough
not to overtax the memory | have heard
men of learning speak. and have come
away almost dazed and blinded with their
display-not meant for display-and Won
dered at the lack in effect of so much
IL Al al 1 L. i
afterwards-lack of directness, plan, organ
ization. The discourse was never crystal
| lized as it should have BEEN The speaker
had actually shjrked his burden and
loaded it on the shoulders of his hearers
Let us magnify the Office of the mediator
the interpreter. There are some, it is true,
sent of Heaven to explore frontiers where
faint outlines of revelations are vaguely
seen, even by anointed eyes. That is a
lofty work, and we pay it well-deserved
honors. But that is not, especially, the
work of the preacher. He is rather to
stand between the seer and the multitude
and, standing there, his first virtue is to
make himself understood. If he is chiefly
a medium for the transmission of truth,
let him make himself transparent-not too
many words, and not word obscure"
The Methodist Review says: 'fThe Bishop
of London, DIR. Temple, once rationalistic
critic, in a recent lecture said that the
more he read the Bible through from end
to end the more the things in it seemed to
be master of him, so that if he differed
from it he was driven to the conclusion
that he did not understand it or that he
was in the wrong. The spirit of it was so
supreme over all that he could think or
imagine of the purest and holiest things
that it was absolutely necessary he should
accept its authority. When, too, he stud
led the unique figure in humanity which
stood unapproachable by all philosophers
or heroes, his conscience he said, which
bowed before the book, bowed before that
majestic royalty which spoke with au-
thority, not as a learned man, not as a
philosopher, not as a guide or teacher,
who having gathered knowledge from va
rious sources communicated it, but with a
voice which bore eternal truth with no
qualification. and which was plain for
every one to hear and to understand In
this beautiful and manly pal1node of his
former rationalistic criticisms the learned
Bishop illustrated, by his own experiences,
the spiritual unity of the Old and New
Testaments. In surrendering himself to
their influence he had found the spirit of
the divine Christ in both. The whole
book had become to him what the burning
bush was to Moses-the shrine of the in
finite Presence speaking to his under
standing, touching his spirit, winning his
affections, commanding his submission, and
molding his character. One voice spoke
to him from Genesis TO Revelation, be-
cause one Spirit moved all the holy men
who, without losing their several idiosyn-
crasies, recorded the manifold facts and
various truths contained in the holy book
Thus when thi. Bishop permitted his
critical judgment to give due heed to that
divine voice he perceived the great truth
which Ebrard finely expressed when he
said, Between Jesus Christ and the God
of the Old Testament there is not the least
essential disagreement
The Standard of the Cross (P. E.l says:
"If the peculiar notions of Lieutenant
Totten, of the Yale Scientific School, are
to prevail, we shall have a new school
of Biblical criticism. Mr.. Totten has been
applying his skill to the calculation of GER
tain Scriptual problems, wherein he dis
plays much ingenuity. The first of a long
series of Volumes that he hopes to print
has made its appearance. In it he ex-
plains with mastery confidence the hard
to-be-understood' things of the Old Testa-
ment The story of the shadow going back
ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz is handled
by him in his own peculiar way. Mr..
Totten identifies the day on which this
happened as the 1,202, z44th from creation,
Wednesday, the eighteenth day of the first
civil month of the year 1928 A. NJ. He
states that the Biblical elements fix the
sun-dial incident at the absolute instant of
the autumnal equinox, 1886 years ago.
Reckoning from the autumnal equinox of
September %, 1890, the event took place
at high noon of that day, or about seven
and one-half minutes before twelve o'clock
Mr.. Totten manifestly appreciates the fact
that exactness is one of the virtues of
figures. The long day of Joshua at the
battle of Beth Horon he calculates to be
exactly twenty-three and one-third hours
long. The stoppage of time at the dial of
Ahaz was forty minutes. The two to-
gether made exactly one day, and, he
claims, set the calender right. The moon.
which somebody has called pale and in
consistent lends her confirmation to this
irregularity, and you can almost hear her
saving me to- rs she reyerses her orhitol |