The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-20

third protest against the Bible, in It's authority as the word of God
 Let me illustrate. The skipper of a ves- sel on the high seas may be excused for rejecting the counsel of every passing fisherman, but if his independence leads him to throw over chart and compass he shows himself a fool.
 The Bible.
 The Bible Is our only chart Prayer is our magnetic needle. And God Himself is our north star.
 But where and how do we sight Him? At this very period there Is said to be revival in Romanism among some of the European nations
 The reason is plain. For many years the higher critics have busied themselves to overthrow the inspiration and inerrancy of the scriptures in some of their parts They have been "tinkering'' at Holy Writ and of course have made some impress sion, unsettling the faith of some. But 1t is the characteristic of the human mind to rest upon something as authority-f not the Bible, then the pope. Pope or Bible, one of the other it must be. The noted historian, Guizot, set out as free thinker He said, Reason will solve 1t" But, as his years increased, he found himself In a whirlwind of conflicting doubts and perplexities, and finally with unspeakable joy be fled to the authority of the scriptures as the infallible word of God.
 Again, the present period may be char acterized as the age of humanity.
 It has ever and anon been the hue and cry for the church not to dream too much but to make the world the better for being in it us an organization.
 Of course this Is the function of the
 -t every point, and make this old world better place to live in. And the fact is, there never was time since the foun- dation of the world when so much atten- ton was given to the bettering of man kind.
 The Three Pillars.
 The church has to do with society. and 1t has never yet been wholly oblivious of its responsibilities at this point. The home, the school and the hospital are the three great pillars that uphold the social fabric, and these three are Christian" ln- stitutions. If they shine to any advan- tage, 1t is only when their lights are kin died at the golden candlestiek. If men are nore kindly disposed towards one another than they used to be it is by reason of the fact that the leaven of the gospel has been eavening the lump of 0uHldD Hle. lHe IHdSlGT rfl lHe when He went down to the porchos of Bethesda where lay the blind and halt and withered. As His disciples We must needs go after Him Into the homes of the poor and the erring and the sorrow ing. We must respond to the claims and calls of suffering humanity anywhere
 And we must not forget that the church too has to do in a sense, with the body polite.
 Jesus said: Show Me the tribute moneyl Whose image and superscription this?' They say unto Him. "Caesar'sn' Then saith He unto them, Render there. fore unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, and unto God the things that are Gods"
 I hope to see the day come In this country when the genuine indignation of every follower of Christ will be aroused to the highest pitch at the sight of cor ruption and fraud in high places.
 It were well for some of our so-called statesmen to cease their oratorical con tests over the Spanish iniquities in Cuba for while, and give attention to cleaning up things about their own doors
 Theft, uncleanliness, licensed fraud and nameless crimes are reported without any contradiction about many high places of our land, and the sorrow of 1t is that our custodians of law and order. in many instances, are charged with being con niyers at it all.
 It is the duty of Christians to puncture this abscess and it Is the function of the gospel to heal it.
 The church has a duty to discharge with respect to every reform which looks to the betterment of mankind. The overthrow of intemperance and of any social evil that leads to the corruption of men and women, fall within her province The gospel has an application, not merely to our spiritual nature, but to every point in the circumference of human life.
 But. let us note. that the pendulum here again swings too far and it must be guarded
 Much of what is called Christian hu- manitariansm stops far short of what 1t ought to do
 Of all others, the Christian Is the one to remember that the soul is of more value.
 (cointinued on Eighth Page.)