The record-union., 1896-05-03
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
Expressions From Various Religious
Newspapers.

newspapers.
The Religious Thought of the Day as
Expressed in the Sectarian
Press.
The New York Post" of April 23d
said: "It was announced this morning
the the Private Secretary of Command
er Booth-Tucker, Captain David Ar
thur Johns, had resigned to join the
| fortunes of Commander Ballington
| Booth. Hewas Private Secretary to Bal
| lington Booth before the split in the
ranks of the Salvation Army. He sent
| the following letter to Commander
| Booth-Tucker this morning:
| My Dear Commander: Upon further
consideration and after seeing copies of
| the letter which passed between Com
mander Ballington Booth and the In
ternational Headquarters, 1 firmly be-
lieve that Commander Ballington Booth
| is in the right, and also that he has been
! uGjustly treated Feeling quite sure
that l am being led of God to do this, L
| tender my resignation as an officer in
the Salvation Army this 23d day of
April 1896. Thanking you for all past
kindnesses, believe me, dear Com
mander, sincerely yours,
DAVID ARTHUR JOHNS,
Captain.
Captain Johns then went over to the
Ballington Booth headquarters in the
Bible House, where he was received
with much exultation."
| Some very sincere and earnest diSci-
pies of Jesus Christ almost doubt their
conversion and seriously question the
reality of their Christian experience be-
cause of their shrinking from death,
observes the Standard (Bapt) of
Chicago. "They believe in the future
life, sing of the glories and happiness
of heaven, but, for the present at least,
| they greatly prefer remaining on this
earth. This preference, when recog-
nized, becomes a fruitful cause of self
| accusations, and sometimes results in
deep spiritual depression. There is a
profound conviction in many Christians
that they ought to prefer death to llfe,
! heaven to earth. After a futile strug-
gle to produce this feeling, some con-
clude that their failure is due to sin,
and that possibly they will never be
permitted to enter heaven. Ought the
Christian to wish to die, or even to be
| Indifferent to life? A comparison of
earthly with heavenly conditions would
| seem to warrant an affirmative an
swer to this question. Here is sin, sick
ness, poverty, disappointment, heart
| ache, death Here is mist and ignor-
ance; there light and knowledge. Why,
| then, should not the Christian gladly
welcome the ending of this life and the
beginning of unalloyed happiness? Be
| cause God has planted within US a
strong love of life. Were it not for this
instructive desire to preserve life, the
| race would become extinct. We pos
sess this instinct in common with other
| members of the animal kingdom. 1t is
as natural as the love of our offspring,
and no more blameworthy."
| What is plagiarism" asks the New
York Christian Advocate" (Meth). rs
it reading discourses, histories. biogra-
phies works of science, storing the mind
with knowledge, and receiving the stim-
ulus of style? By no means, else origi-
|
absence of intelligent culture. To read,
to digest, to incorporate with the very
blood and nerves of the SOUL and then
bring forth things new and old, with
new body, not put together as blocks of
stolen stone might be mortared into
statue, but generated and appearing
with the lineaments of the parent, is not
| plagiarism; nor is it plagiarism to de-
liver every sentence of another mans
sermon, accompanied by the words or
their equivalent: Finding an excellent
sermon by DR.. George Putnam on this
subject, and being much wearied by my
parochial work, I deliver it to you this
day as suitable to the holy festival of
Easter But plagiarism is for a man to
purloin another's writings and to offer
them to the public as his own. The very
derivation of the word describes its
character. 1t is from the Latin plagium.
the English equivalent of which is kid
naping'; and a plagiarist is kidnaper
as respects the stealing, and liar as
respects the presentation of the stolen
goods"
| The Methodist Christian Advocate" 4"
Detroit, as condensed by Public Opin-
| ion,'' says: I'm a Texas paper an
| avowed infidel goes on to tell what an
infidel is, how he became unbelieving,
and what he thinks about infidelity in
| general. He says he is confirmed in un-
faith, and yet confesses that he is not
happy, that is, not perfectly happy He
thinks this is not a good world to be
happy in having so much pain, an
guish and sorrow And he cannot see
how unbelief in future rewards and pun
ishment would help him any. Poor fell
low. He does not realize that faith in
| God and the future life is the mightiest
| power ever felt to stimulate human
| being to high endeavor to active useful
ness, and consequently to perfect hap
piness And Bible truth is the mightiest
power ever known to awaken and slim
ulate faith in God. Believers are the
doers; they always have been, and al
ways will be. The very confession this
infidel makes concerning the inactivity
of men of his class should be enough to
stir him up to throw off the nightmare
of doubt and gloom and disaffection
which has settled upon him.
| Here we have the old story again
liberalism and nothingness, unfaith and
| fruitlessness, infidelity and DEATH Lib
eralsm never did anybody any good
and never will. To find a moral life you
must search for the fountain of moral
ity. To inspire to good works you must
discover adequate life motives To
rouse a human soul to commendable
action you must stir up it's impulses
with tremendous truths, and awaken
within it the consciousness of infinite