West Virginia daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1894-1902, 1902-05-19

a resolution that will go to the hearts
of the public you will have accom-
plished something. Generally the
adoption of resolutions is the public
funeral of question, preceding the
interment, which is private-in the
minutes Of the general assembly"
Here the Rev DR.. Hathaway, sec
rotary CT the Sabbath union, jumped
to the front of the platform.
"Mr. Chairman" he said, "The
Sabbath union prints all these resolu
tions and sends them to every Pres
byteri clergyman in the country,
DR.. Holmes included"
DR.. Hathaway then accused the
commission to the general assembly
of not being strict on Sunday OBJ
servance themselves. He said he had
noticed there were some ministers
who filled pulpits in this city Sunday
morning and in communities so miles
away at night. He added, land there
are at least 10000 professed Chris
tians playing golf this very minute in
the vicinity Of this city. Pray fer
them"
The Rev. DR.. Herrick Johnson, Of
Chicago, preaching in the Brick Pres
byterian church, gave an exposition
of Presbyterianism as understood ~
him. He said in part:
Tells What Presbyterianism Is.
eve heard from a Chicago plat
form, out of the mouth Of an evan
gelical clergyman in good standing,
that our orthodoxy staggers at moth
ing that will fill hell and is always
facing a graveyard, looking at the
dead past. To vindicate the Presby-
terian belief from the aspersions cast
upon it, For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlast-
ing life.' There is the foundation of
our theology.
'There is nothing on earth, moth
ing in hell, nothing in the whole uni
verse outside our own hearts that can
prevent our being saved. Thus, the
Presbyterian orthodoxy is trying to
fill heaven while it is represented as
trying to fill hell
"But what OF election? Nothing.
I believe in election. Suppose that
200 men are in prison and announce
ment is made that all have been par
doned and the doors are thrown open
and no man goes out. Then | go to
$50 of them, and with kind of low
ing violence persuade them to leave
prison. That is election, but do |
keep the others in? The way is open
for them. Every man can be free if
he will"
DR.. Johnson concluded by express
ing the hope that all the controver-
sizes would not enu with a mere
creedal statement, but would excite
Presbyterian men and women to re-
member that there are hundreds of
millions of living persons who have
never heard Of Christ
In the Presbyterian church." he
said, there are many millionaires.
Let them organize a trust, not to put
up the price or to control the COM
merce on anything, but trust to dis
seminate in all corners Of the globe
the gospel of Christ"
Denver a Sinful City.
At a meeting held in the Fifth Ave
nue. Presbyterian church for the pur
pose of stimulating interest in evan
gelistic work and at which the great
church was crowded to the doors, the
Rev. DR.. F. Coyle, of Denver, Colo,
drew sornbre picture Of religious
conditions in the west. He said the
people there were irreligious when
they began life, and by education
were prejudiced against all sorts of
Christian work. He implored the
committee on evangelistic work to go
into the western field. He said of the
evangelists needed:
None Of your heavy, soggy, water
logged gospel preachers can ride on
our western waves. We want no
pyrotechnical preachers, nor do we
want any sensationalists, nor do we
want any gospel platitudes. We dc
not want any theology which is
frayed in the ends and moth eaten
in the middle. We in the western
land want the lightning, not the
aurora borealis. The people in the
west, I am sorry to say; are not very
anxious to have any preaching at ALL
but if you want to preach to us, you
must preach straight, direct gospel,
with twentieth century trimmings
and up-to-date illustrations. We want
this or nothing"
Further along DR.. Coyle said:
81 do not think even Paul the Apos
tie could have accomplished anything
against such hardened indifference as
we find in Denver. There is hardly
any Sabbath, and absolutely no Sab
bath observance. Sinai no longer
smokes and thunders. In my church
st Denver we have dismissed as many
members as we have received in re
cent years"