Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1909-11-15
HAS The CHURCH FAILED
Great Crowd Heard Rev. L. D. Ander,
son at the Christian Church
Last Evening.

Fully a thousand people heard Rev
L. D. Anderson at the Christian
church last night. The sermon was
the third of series, his subject be
ing, Has the Church Failed?" The
musical program was a feature of the
service, with a solo by Miss Emily
Naylor and an anthem by the choir
as special numbers.
Text: In the days of these kings
shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom which shall never be de,
stroyed Dan 2:44.
Rev. Anderson said, in part:
In a sense the church is a Divine
institution. So far as relates to Gods
part in the church it cannot fail. But
it is well to remember that there is a
large human element. Its member
ship comprises human beings, and
human beings are imperfect. 1t is
true that many church enthusiasts
refuse to think of the possibility of
mistakes or failure in church work.
Their attitude reminds one of the
story told by Macaulay of the Hindu.
This man held every drop of water in
the Ganges in reverence. One day a
European handed him a miscroscope,
and having placed a drop of Gauges
water on the tense babe the Hindu
look. He,complied and was Mortified
to find the sacred water" teeming
with pollution. AS a remedy for the
evil he promptly broke the miscro
scope. am sure the church is not
full of pollution, but I am equally
sure that it is childish and unreason-
able to refuse to consider such hon
est defects as may be pointed out in
either the membership or the work of
the church. l have been gratified at
the respectful, and even reverent,
spirit of those who have pointed out
what they deem mistakes, and sug-
gested possible remedies.
The first criticism offered has to
do with the unfaithfulness of some
church members. All thoughtful
people know that there are some i'm
moral, inconsistent and hypocritica
people in the church. But the church
does not make them so. Instead she
endeavors to cure them of these evils. |
Her ideal is to make every member
aggressively and consistently chris
tian, and to make her membership
comprise the population of earth
That some refuse is not strange. Such
failure is met by the school in much
larger measure. ~ are told that
4ce.S 1ldsl,e men gdC Of every hun-
bred fail. A comparison will reveal
the fact that the church is by far the
most successful factor in the making
of manhood and womanhood And
this despite the fact that much of
her work is with lives marred and dis
torted by sin. Yet in remaking lives
from society's wreckage the church
has larger percentage of success
than the school, which deals almost
with childhood.
Among the doctrinal mistakes al
legged is the formulation of human
creeds and confessions of faith, and
requiring their acceptance by appl-
cants for church membership. 1 be-
lieve the criticism a just one, and am
glad that the evil is passing away.
The Christian church has never had
such creed. 1t accepts but one
book as authoritative, the Bible, and
requires only faith in the Christ. :
This was required by Jesus and the
Apostles, hence men have no right
either to alter or to waive it.
Occasionally one is found to criti-
else the church for asking members
for money. Such requests are neces-