The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-02-20
CHILDREN DEFINE SIN.
Pastor Gates's Novel Plan for Crack
ing Theological Nuts.

The Rev. DR.. NJ. c. Gates OF Grace NJ.
E. Church on Tonnele avenue has devised
a novel scheme for lending additional In
terest to his Sunday evening SER
vices. He prepares to ask a ques-
ton each week from his pulpit
which is to be answered by the children
and the answers read on the following
Sunday evening. A certificate of merit
is to be awarded to the child sending in
the best answer. Last Sunday the new
plan was put into op GRAFTON anu the ques-
lion asked was: (Which was the great
est sir p" Last evening the answers were
read by the pastor after a short prelimIn.
ary service of song aud prayer.
The first answer Mr.. Gates read he said
he considered the best of all he had re-
ceived. 1t was from John Henderson, OF
No. 213 East Thirty-eignth street, New
YORK, Mr.. Henderson claimed that IN
heIief, was the most damning of all sins.
By a long and carefully thought-out theo-
logical argument he proved that m ost
other sins are attributable 10 unDeileI.
DR.. Gates thought it q careful and wise
letter.
SCANDAL THE GREATEST SIN.
Then came one from a clergyman.
..Scapdal', he said, was the greatest sin.
Inst. vile talk, and all vices were scan-
daI, he claimed, land" said ne. "a MAJ
who gives scandal-better that he should
be s. 600 miles at sea with a mill stone to
his neck"
Theu came an anonymous letter that
was written on paper from the st. Cloud
Hotel in q woman's hand. 16 was tear
stained, and IL read
.tFATHER:-In answer to the question,
what is the greatest sinr Not doing to
Others as you would be done by. Aud,
believe me, this has caused many 10 1ail
by the road SIDE"
Mary Sturgis, eight years old thought
Hypocrisy, IN pretending to serve the
Lord and serving the devil" was the
greatest sin.
letter from Della Smith, who is nine
years old, announced that she thought
the 'sin Of the f1esh'' the greatest of all
sins.
Then came a letter from a Stamford
constable. It read:-''The greatest sin
theta seducer who by false doctrine
steals from the church of God the true
meaning Of the Scriptures"
DIR. Gates said that this was the fourth
letter ne had received from the constable,
but that the others were too aisconnec ted
to lead.
Lizzie Cooper wrote: ~ have come to
the conclusion that mortal murder is the
greatest sin, because it takes what 1t can
not replace, and that is life"
Walter Joseph Mason must have con-
ferred with Lizzie, for his opinion read:
Think the greatest sin is a murderer.
A woMAN's IDEA.
The next was a dainty scented and
tinted anonymous note. 1t was on the
paper purchased at liffany's, and con-
tanned only this sentence, written care
fully In an angular and distinctly femi-
nine hand: :.
the greatest sin is that of ingratitude."
slIo to~,o1 xvao ~ so ~ q tuorad fhat pnf
to obey Gods commandments was the
greatest sin. A boy of eight years wrote,
.'Sin against the Holy Ghost" A girl or
years wrote the same. A boy OF ten
years said, 1.-The sin of Judas"
A fright girl Of eleven wrote, The
greatest sin is to do wrong" aud a boy OF
six wrote, 1.-THE greatest sin il to kill peo-
pie" A girl Of fourteen admits that
there are so many kinds of sin that
she really don't know which is
worst" and a girl of twelve writes.
Il think that blaspnemy against the
Holy Ghost is the greatest stu, Tor We
read in Matthew, Wherefore 1 say into
you, all manner of sin and blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men. but the bias
phemy against the Holy Gnost shall not
be forgiven Unto men,"
Other sins suggested were ito lie to the
Holy Ghost,n dlsobeying God and
parents,n ~"disobeying parents" "dis-
obeying God,,' taking the name OF God
in vain,n and seeing others suffer for
our faults"
When all of the answers had been read.
the minister announced that the next
question would be:-"What do you think
Is the best way to get rid of sinf" and
cards were passed about on which the
question was printed.
Nj. Gates said BIZ would not award the
certificate until he had given the answers
further consideration.