The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-03-28
pRoH1R1r1oN PREacHEPs-

The Eagles position on pfoDlDlDo
preachers has received a strong an
emphatic concurrent Endorsement. IN
from an unquesti0ned church author
l ity. The ecclesiastical rank Of biSh0
of the Methodist Episcopal church
equivalent 10 that Of a lord IN civ
sovereignty. His office is for life. an
only the power which clothed him wit
his far reaching administrative func
tons can review his decisions or annu
his orders. To find the venerable
Bishop Andrews therefore official.
enunciating as sound doctrine the con
! victions so long promulgated by tn
Eagle. employing our very language
touching the attitude Of Kansas preach
ers on political questions is, to say The
least, very gratifying. In addressing
a corps Of preachers. and in referring
to the :'setting apart of the ministry
from the secular affairs and political in
tereStS Of society among other things
all Of the same tenor he declared:
Paul was the best equipped man for
the minisrery that the world has ever
known. He preached a sal
| walton that cured from all sin and his
great success was due to the fact that
! he persuaded men TO seek salvation. a
minister can do nothing more. He can
not force men to accept the Gospel, it
must be by reasoning with men that
the truth viii be received. We are no
| longer Popes, although there is too
much Of a tendency at the present tine
to make this the plan Of the ministry.
." There is no question but that
many of the evils of the day need to be
eradicated, such as finance, tariff, and
even temperance. I feel that when
speak OF the latter that 1 am striking
some one precorceived views, but I
am pursuaded that when the ministry
singles out this particular sin that Il
raise between it and the masses of the
people a barrier and lose an opportun-
ity Of doing much good. Keep out of
side issues. Preach the Gospel of
Jesus Christ and the salvation from all
sin. If you go off in any Of
the paths Of reform and begin a work
Of particularizing sin, you have left the
example of one Of the greatest teachers
of Divine truth
Christ won the world to himself by
the tender persuasiOns of a heart which
embraced in its divine compassion
every soul that His Father had spoken
into an earthly existence; MahOmet en-
forced a following at the point of the
sword. Christ's pleadings made the
man anew, in love; Mahomet's threat
ened vengeance compelled only an out
ward obedience. The one was Of
heaven, heavenly; the other Of the
earth, earthly.
There are a large number of Kansas
preachers who not being endowed with
either the wisdom Of Bishop Andrews
nor impressed by the teachings and ex-
ample Of Him who said: Neither do
1 condemn thee" who have virtually
held to the faith that 'there Is but one
God and Mahomet Is his prophet"
They have deserted the Masters work |
Of going from house TO house to cheer |
and to bless with gospel tidings, and |
gone up and down the streets and high |
ways fiouirishing the policeman's club |
and threatening the penalties Of mere /
statutory laws. Some of them Ike |
RevS, Jerry BOtkin, Bernard Kelly, |
Wake, ], d. Woods ct al. have |
not only left their charges and homes, !
but deserted their pulplts and roamed |
ha ~ 70 l.,
but to drive them into their political
way Of thinking on the temperance
question. In their zeal they not only
threatened the terrors Of the law, but
nculcated the spirit Of oStracism, hun
ireds OF them being Methodist preach
rs, hundreds Of them ministers Of
,ther denominations. Because the |
"a gle told them that their course would
the very elements that they
ought to control, and put them beyond
heir reach, quasi Methodist church
'rSan of this city denounced the
lagle'S editor month IN and month out
Is an apologist for whisky, an advo-
ate Of righteousness, and defender
# lewd women When In the kindest
pint we pointed out that the war
yaged by these ministers must inevit-
.bly not only antagonize, but nullify
argely their efforts for good, and prob
bly, so hopelessly divide their congre-
cations as in rendering the collections
f their salaries an inpossibIity. they
would in the end be compelled to seek
lew fields, these preachers identified
themselves with a movement in which
hey endeayored TO raise money 10
rush the Eagle by supplanting it.
me such effort was made in the very
hurch ediice in which Bishop An
rews Is holding his conference today. l
church which the Eagle had helped Z
0 build there several times, and had
supported for years. and
which church was once burned 10 the
round because Of a prohibition fight
Noted by one Of its pastors.
The Eagle has never failed In its
for the good. never faltered
4 It's efforts TO advocate the cause of
never refused to respond
D any demand made upon it by the
in the name az the church.
ave TO believe that prohibition meant {
lther temperance. christianity or NOR
lily. Convinced that prohibition was I
either, but simply politics. a policy
-hich continually threatened the ex-
'tence Of the Republican party not !
My. but which divided and distracted (
even to the hurt of the {
iurch itself. we have In fighting it IN G