The Washington herald., 1911-12-31

pa CoNi. l6dCHtTS U6Su 10 De accurate.
Preachers draw pictures with language,
and no one in the congregation cares or
dares 10 stand up and say: Brother,
you please my fancy but shock my knowl-
edge of the truth" 4 teacher who wan
GERS is brought back. So he proceeds in
caution and measures his steps. 1 had
asked if the Bible were read as much as
formerly
Topical Sermons DO Not Hold Men.
No" DR.. Carter said. In some cases
ignorance concerning the Bible is aston
ishing. The reason to me is very plain
the Scriptures are no longer preached to
the exclusion of everything else Some
ministers merely use their texts as We
hCles to carry them into secular sub
JeCts. Such preachers do not want to
talk about the Bible privately. They
wave their hands and say they haven't
time. Socialism is one of their favorite
themes. They preach topical sermons,
political sermons. economical sermons,
and are too busy to bother about the
Word of God. So, in a little while, their
churches dwindle. The men will not at
tend even though there are series of ser
mons on great literary characters and
eloquent revelations as to what the
waterwheel, the steam engine, and the
cottOn-gin have done for humanity.
strong preachers, WIN messages from
the Bible, however. are filling their
churches. Such preaching is wanted.
DIR. John. Henry JOwett, who recently
came to the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
Church in this city from England. is
showing American Clergymen that simple
methods and ancient doctrine will fill the
pews and all the standing room, even
back by the doors and under the win
dows. He is not compelled to preach
hOnf tho hN-iO- machine n draw a
crowd. Men and women, all of them,
have griefs, trials, or burdens. Perhaps
situations to meet which cause them per-
pleXity and sorrow. They need help. Ii
they can get it at church they will go TO
church. II they desire to learn about
Eli Whitney or Robert Burns or Napoleon
BOnaparte, they will go to the public
library for a book.
Getting back to Bible reading, how
ever DIR. Carter went on to say. cit is
a sad fact that plenty Of ministers are
studying the latest essays on the Bible
instead of the Bible itself. They are the
s0-CdlICd higher critics. Accepting tie
philosophy Of Germany, they arise in
their pUIpits and gleefuIly pick the Scrip |
lures to pieces. One man discards this
and another that. If all the higher |
critics agreed, nothing in the Bible would |
he left. l passed through that period of
intellectual freedom myself Ultimately, |
came out of it. after discovering its |
destructive influence and illogical reason |
ing.
Became Weary OF Higher Criticism. |
The Bible is true or it is false-there |
is no halfway house in the journey of |
faith. The honest preaching of its truth J
has blessed and CUmfOrted millions Of |
human lives. The other kind. the critical |
kind. has not and never will The more |
l studied the higher critics. the less I |
believed in them. and in what they said. |
1t is useless to deny that there IS some
thing wrong with the church. If all the |
conditions were sound and right, the |
pews would not he empty, but would he
occupied I am only one man. and pos |
sihly a mistaken man, but in my opinion |
the world wants counsel and strength |
with which to meet the daily problems of |
life. and not lectures on architecture and |
poetry and the public ownership OF tele- |
phones, railroads. and gas plants"
rs the world growing better or |
wOrse?"
THE Christian religion was the creator |
of a new and better civilization. No stu |
dent of. history can intelligently deny |
the fact 1t is the greatest influence to- |
day on society as a whole. The many |
hospitals and asylums demonstrate the |
truth of what l say. There is more |
kindness. also more forbearance, than !
ever before Bur the individual man |
seems to he 0arting with his faith and !
the belief that the Almighty is taking |
care of him. The further he gets away |
from the Bible, the less is his convic- !
ton that there is Ruler of the uni !
verse. and that he is part of the divine |
scheme of things. Abraham Lincoln said |
he read the Bible regularly, with much |
benefit to myself Bismarck once wrote:
I lust returned to the Bible for my COM
fort and found the 18TH Psalm But
they of course, were Old-fashioned men.
The World Is in n Ferment.
so. ncglecting the Bible, the individual |
man is uneasy and restless The whole
world is in a ferment. That we know.
Man now is striving for moral ideals and
starving his spirit. He takes hold of
this and drops it He has no better sue
cess with something else. dissatisfied, he
IS without peace. l do not care to SER
monte. nor to say that which may sound |
sensational or irrational but the Bible
has described the world as it will be at
the second coming of Jesus Christ. The
description fits the earth as it is now.
Men shall hear of wars and rumors of
wars China is in rebellion, Italy is
fighting Turkey, France and Germany
narrowly escaped a conflict over Mo-
-occO. the whole of Europe is practically
sleeping on its arms.
And because iniquity shall abound,
the love OF many shall wax cold The
Indifference of Christian countries in this
very age comes within the meaning Of
hat sentence from the book of Matthew.
Many ministers, as l have shown, are
Indifferent. Churches are empty. There
s a running to and fro but no one is
satisfied. And this gospel of the King
lom shall be preached in all the world
or a witness unto all nations That
las been done. Every people has had
nance. And then shall the end come.
What will happen" / asked.
I'VE are told by Paul who wrote in
he year 81, that the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with
he voice of the archangel and with the
rump of God, and the dead in Christ
hall rise first; then we which are alive
nd remain shall be caught up together ,
With them in the clouds to meet the Lord
n the air. q"
And you believe it?"
Absolutely"
Meanwhile, you will continue to run
he Bible Society,""
''Oh, surely" DR.. Carter answered, with !
smile. Nevertheless, am very seri-
us in the opinions ] hold. The signs ,
re here, and my conviction is shared by !
lany of the most learned men in the
hurch."
A Bible for 16 Cents. {
The Bible. and no book that was ever
rinted can come any way near 1t as a
best seller" Is published in one form
{ cost OF Is cents. A copy of the New '