The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-10-12
RELIGIOUS WORLD
What the Church Fold are Thinking About and Doing
Religiouse News From Elsewhere

was the pagans who gave t1at name 70
the followers OF Jesus, ana not the
Jews: to the latter it was an offense,
for Christ was their sacred word
for the expected Messiah. SO they used
the despised named 'Nazarenes,
which is Illuminated by their proVerb,
Can any good thing come out OF
Nazareth? %
When the prisoners turn came to
speak he showed himself as suave,
polished and urbane as the Roman
lawyer. But with this difference:
Paul, in perfect self-possession, proved
himself the better diplomat and orator
by his self-restraint in his opening
sa1utation: he kept within the facts,
which is always the way Of a master.
DIR. w. Smith. says, There is scarcely
a more striking contrast in the records
of oratory~ than that between the full
some harangue of the hired advocate,
Tertullus, and the manly simplicity
of PauIs defense. His own attitude
toward Roman magistrates was in
variably that of a respectful but in
dependent citizen" The prisoners IN
cisive mind quickly stripped the non
essential charges from the essential.
"The Way Which They Call u Sect"
The notion is prevalent that foreign
missionaries devote a great deal or
their time to attacking the beliefs of
the people among whom they live.
Men who should know better have
declared publicly that it is in bad
taste for missionaries to combat idol
airy. AS a matter Of fact, the mis-
~sionaries are most diligent and tact
full in seeking a point of contact with
the native thought and belief. [ have
heard a missionary in Japan quoting
the Japanese classics at a preaching
service. 1t is q general rule to follow
the Pauline a as the great apostle
exemplified it at his trial before Felix.
He went into considerable detail to
show that in all points except one,
he believed as did his Jewish accusers.
1t was good strategy, as we'll as the
flower of Christian courtesy, for him
to Identify himself with the faith of
his adversaries. The Christian way is
to seek points of agreement, rather
than of disagreement. with people.
First of all, though, Paul avowed
his faith in Christ. After the Way
which they call a sect, so serve I the
incidentally throws light upon the
manner in which early Christianity
was generally regarded by Jews and
outsiders. 1t was not a new religion,
but a Jewish sect. Perhaps if it had
not been for the missionary labors
and broad thinking of Paul, it would
have remained a division of Judaism.
Paul knew 1t to be more than q sect:
as the Master had said, the new wine
could not be kept in old wineskins.
The Good News was a Way for the
whole world, regardless of national,
racial or religious lines.
A Weak Rulers Terror.
lndecision is a mark Of the weak.
The backward or retrograding nations
have tomorrow" for their watch
word. They fear to force conditions
to an issue. Felix adopted this evasive
policy. He dared not do Roman law
the violence of condemning Paul, and
being in his Utmost fibre a CRATER
and a politician, be feared to offend
the Jews. SO, in cowardly fashion, he
allowed things to drift, meanwhile
permitting the prisoner to have many
indulgences.
The aged governor and his young
wife were for some reason constrain-
ed to call Paul into private audience.
There, in the seclusion of a personal
interview, the apostle him
self not as a prisoner on trial, but as
a preacher of the gospel seeking to
turn errfng human beings from their
way. He cared not for the ace of
man: the ministry knows no differ
ence in souls. Paul did not time his
message to curry favor with the man
whose word could release him from
Jail. His hot-flung arguments pierced
the consciences of the guilty ruler
and his wife. and Felix openly dis
played his terror. There is no man
SO high in state that he is above the
plain presentation Of righteousness,
and self-control, and the judgment
to come"
Still seeking the refuge of the weak,
/ Felix put off a decision until "a con-
venient season'-which. alas for him,
never came. Now he is best known
in history for hat phrase, "a con-
venient season. He is the New Tesla
ment "putter-off," the historic exam
pie of that long train Of undecided
and fear-smitten ones who hope "some
ay' to deal fairly with truth and
their souls, Paul remained in Felix's
prison, but Felix remained in the
worse prison OF his own cowardice and
crookedness: a bond slave to graft.
News and Notes.
GypSy Smith. the famous ENGLISH