The record-union., 1897-08-08
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.

EAfhESS1ONS thOM tAalOO .
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.
"The sayings of Jesus found on leaf
of papyrus in a mound of rubbish on
the edge of an Egyptian desert appear
to contain little that is genuine or even
interesting" says the New York
"Churchman" P. E). THE second
saying: Jesus saith, Except ye fast
to the world, ye shall in no wise find
the kingdom of God and except ye
keep the Sabbath ye shall not see the
Father, is manifestly the tradition OF a
| later time, when the tendency OF hu-
man nature toward an easy external
ism was beginning to assert itself
against the difficult spirituality OF the
gospel. Between the promise that the
pure in heart shall see God, and the
promise that the keepers of the Sab
bath shall see him there is s1gnln-
cant difference. 1t is the essential dill
ference between true Christianity and
all other conceptions of religion The
fifth saying: Jesus saith, Raise the
stone, and there thou shalt find me;
cleave the wood and there l am is in
no way in contradiction to what we
know of the spirit of Jesus, and may be
set alongside with His promise of pres
ence and blessing in the assemblies of
| the faithful 1t is likely, however,
that the considerable bundles of an
cient writing now being examined will
yield better fruits than these. The
fact which this stray papyrus leaf es-
tablishes that Christians We're living
and writing in that ancient town, JUS
titles the hope that copies of old books
may be discovered, and even that man
uscripts heretofore unknown may ap-
pear, which shall bring us closer to the
New Testament times than any writ
ings other than the sacred books them
selves have thus far brought us
Il
The man who sneers at traditional
faiths is like the fool who saws off the
branch on which he is himself climbing
out" remarks the New York "Observ-
er (Pres). christianity, like every
other good thing in this world, has
roots. And men would do wisely to
prefer rooted plants to those of which
some one says, They will root!' Every
man who to-day accepts Christianity
advertises the fact of a wise Difference
on his part to tested truths which have
stood the ordeal of nearly a score of
centuries. 1t is no mark of weakness
to be wise with the wisdom of the
past. Faith is all the more precious
when seen to be ancestral, when it
comes weighted with all the redupli-
Gated arguments of a. long line of
Christian examples, and speaks plead
ingly, as with the voice of parents call
ing to their child. Happy are they
who follow in the footsteps of the IA
theirs who themselves walked with
God"
MANY sermons on public occasions
in recent times have practically ignor-
ed the subject of religion" observes the
New York Christian Advocate"
(Meth.). Some have not taken a text,
and others, having taken it, have made
no reference to it. Recently an address
was delivered in Philadelphia by the
rector of a church, to number of coll
lege students, of which a hearer says
that the preacher is to be congratulated
warmly upon the complete success with
which, in his discourse, he avoided any
reference to religion as a possible fac
tor in the conduct of life. There was,
as 1 recall it, one indirect and not un
complimentary allusion to God, but
this was incidental and quite indefinite,
and might have been accepted in
merely fgurative sense. 1t could not
have given offense to the most devout
hea;then in his audience This was
about the condition of things in the
days of Blackstone, the jurist, who,
early in the reign of George Ill, went
from church to church and heard all
clergymen of note in London. He de-
clared that he heard not a single dis
course which had more Christianity in
it than the writings of Cicero and
that it would be impossible for him to
discover from what he heard whether
the preacher was a follower of Confu-
cius, of Mohammed, or of Christ -
''The Sabbath is for man." says the
Interior (Pres) of Chicago, "and it is
for the best part of him, the only part
that will endure 1t is most reasonable
therefore, to ask him to observe it. 1t
is intended wholly for his happiness.
We invite him to church because there
he can get the most out of the Sabbath
for himself. Whatever tends to the
virtues of the home, of the family, of
the community, 10 the rest of the body
and refreshment of the soul, that is
lawful for the Sabbath. The Sabbath
takes account in time Of the verities
of eternity. 1t is the sign and signal
of Immortality, the promise of God, of
immortal life, and the acceptance of
| that promise on the part of man. The
Christian should be thoughtful and cir
cumSpect in regard to the Sabbath. 1t
is not to be caricatured as it was by
the Puritans into a prisOn-day, a day
of punishment-'which things, indeed,
have a show of wisdom in will worship
and humility and severity to the body,
but are not of any value as against
the indulgence of the flesh This is
only to create disrespect for the Sab
bath and to provoke defiance of the
most reasonable and most beneficent
law itself. But on the other hand, the
Christian may not do what to him
would be blameless if by doing it he
may seem to encourage the general
spirit of Sabbath breaking"
1--WE are asked" says the IN. w.
Christian Advocate (Meth.) of Chica-
go, IF bicycling does not increase Sab