The record-union., 1897-08-01
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.

the great problems of the day" the
standard CBap), Chicago, says: "Ex
perlments without number have been
made and are still making. Whether
chapel should be required or volun-
tary, whether the management of re-
llgious meetings shall be left to the
students or directed by the faculty, by
what means the conversion Of students
may be secured-these are questions
not easy to answer. But one thing is
certain: That college or university
which selects its teachers merely for
their proficiency in a single branch,
without regard to their ability to in
tluence the personal character of their
students for good, is losing sight of the
chief end of education. And the pro-
fessor who, either through false mod
esty or through indifference, studious-
ly conceals from his pupils all personal
opinions on the highest subjects which
can engage their minds. will some day
learn to look back upon a life 50 spent
as failure and a mistake"
The Church Standard" (P. E), Phil
adelphia, greatly fears that general
discussion of the church's law of mar
riage and divorce is imminent; and we
ICctI II DSCduSc we QOuDt NltlllcI the
leaders of the church are prepared for
it either by a study of the history of
the subject or by mature reflection on
the principles by which the legislation
of the church ought to be guided The
subject ought to be approached with
the utmost caution, and it seems to us
that before any new legislation what
soever shall be undertaken, joint
commission should be raised by the
General Convention and charged, not
with the duty of putting forward the
project of new canon, but with the
preliminary duty of putting before the
church an accurate summary of the
ecclesiastical laws Of marriage in this
and former ages and of the principles
On which such laws are understood to
have been based Such a statement,
if it were candidly and completely pre-
Sented, would enable future legislators
to discriminate between a mass of arbi-
trary and fantastic rules for the pre-
ventiOn of marriage which have been
enacted in divers places and at various
times, and those more settled laws
which may be called Catholic, since
they have been universally accepted in
all parts OF the Christian world
we do not wish to be understood as
criticising the Society of Christian En-
deaVor or it's management" remarks
The Outlook" when we say that the
wisdom of such vast thrOngs, trans
ported over such distances, associated
under such peculiar circumstances,
seems to many a matter worthy of Sc
riouS consideration. Questions of prac-
tical Importance cannot be wisely con-
sidered in mass meetings. Delibera-
tion in such bodies is an impossibilty.
The Christian Endeavor Society has
already accomplished a wonderful
work, but it is not unlikely that in the
future it would do vastly more if. in
stead of such crowds as have been as
sembled in the past, there were to be a
representative congress in which all
questions pertaining to the common
work could be carefully and thought
fully considered. Such a congress
should not number over 800 1t would
be easily handled and entertained, and
would avoid the peril. which constantly
attend the meetings as now held. There
would be some waning of enthusiasm,
no doubt, but all that is of substantial
value would surely remain"
Noting the estimate in the Church
Economist of an expenditure of Sc
0O0,O0O in the religious conventions of
this summer, the Presbyterian Ban
ner' (Pittsburg) says: THE question
to be seriously considered is not the
/ good which may arise from such gath
erings, but this, Can the church afford
to have them? The united Protestant
denominations hardly give so much as
this estimated sum to foreign missions.
and the expense incurred by many So
cieties not alone the Christian En-
deavor Societies, in sending delegates
to conventions often cripples the home
| society for some time and in many
| cases catchpenny expedients must be
Iesorted to meet it. This is certainly
a matter for thought, and ii is an
! open question whether the results
! justify the expenditure Certainly the
| time has come when the attention of
the church should be seriously given to
! this subject"
| In the pledging of the S4S6, 600 debt
| Of the Baptist Missionary Union and
! the Home Mission Society, the Watch
man Bap), Boston, finds "a convinc-
| ing answer to those who claim that the
| evangelical churches of the United
| States are becoming slack and indif-
| ferenlt as to Christian missions That
charge has been often made of late II
was vain to attempt to refute it by
mere generalities. This was an instance
| in which deeds were far more eloquent
! than words. Did we love this causa
! enough to give cur hard earned gold
/ in order to save it from disaster? The
most unspirtual man can appreciate
the meaning Of a eift Of half million
of money. Men do not throw such huge
sums away. IF they give them gladly
! it is because they profoundly believe
| in the cause upon which they bestow
| them After this, there will be hol-
! low falsity in the jibe that Baptists Dc
! net believe in missions. The evdencc
is. too overwhelming that they believe
/ in missions in the most practical and
! conclusive fashion. From this poin.
Of view ii is not simply the Baptist de-
nomination which has vindicated its
place among Christian forces. This
| cause Of evangelical religion has been
relieved from a stigma and reproach
by this unprecedented achievement"
1T is characteristic of our time that
simplicity is accounted better than dis
play" the tChurchman" P. E). New
York. says What effect this growing
preference fer simplicity and distaste
for uniform shall have upon the dress
| Of the clergy and the conduct of the
service. il is not easy TO predict There
is a feeling among many that simplicity
may come to be synonymous with draf
commonplace. and that the picturesque