Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-07-09
By Bishop
w. 4. Gambler

things a man hath, tnaI poverty -
not the worst thing in the world nor
wealth the best. But these men pro-
coed on the idea that If poverty We're
abolished and wealth universal, all
the ills of earth would be cured. Jesus
attached no such Importance to the
mere circumstantial conditions of men,
and the preacher whose ministry is
absorbed with issues of the mere
outward conditions of the world will
do little for the uplifting and re-
demption OF mankind; he misses the
meaning of Jesus and wastes himself
on secondary matters. He will in
flame a divisive covetOusness while
pretending to preach a brotherly be-
& nevolence. This many have already
done, as is manifest in the strife
which fills our country over mere
material issues.
To set before the people material
good as the chief good, instead of call
ing men of all classes to holiness as
the supreme good, is to break up So
ciety into fierce, militant, and bitter
clans That process we have had i'm
posed upon the country now for quite
a while, and we are reaping its nat
ural fruit.
Scriptural objective, of personal ho-
Illness must be proclaimed, as the
highest good of earth and heaven.
To this work the ministry must be
held, and men, who having lost
faith in the gospel of Christ are
disposed to use the pulpit for the
discussion of current topics and the
exposition of sociological pro-
grammes, should be discredited and
neglected by. good people who care
for the welfare of the country and
the progress of Christs kingdom
among men.
We must have a revival Of faith
in the Bible as Gods word and of
renewed devotion to the unchanging
authority of the fundamental truths
of Christianity. When multitudes
are taught to set aside lightly these
essential things in religion, they
find it easy to renounce their alle-
glance to the settled principles or
our political constitution.
Years ago Chief-justice Joseph
Henry Lumpkin Sr. said, Danish
the Bible from the land. OR WHAT
is THE SAME THING, SUCCEED
IN LOOSING ITS HOLD UPON
THE PUBLIC MIND, and my word
for it the experiment of self-gov-
eminent will prove a failure" And
Lord Macaulay said, Whoever does
anything to depreciate Christianity
is guilty of high treason against
the civilization of mankind IS
Well. the treason, which Lord Ma
caulay denounced, has been commit
ted by a number Of men in Amer
lea while doing what they called
preaching the gospel; in pulpits
supported for the defense and prop
agation of the faith they have loos-
ened the hold of the Bible on, the
public mind; and according to the
profound judgement of Chief-jus-
tice Lumpkin they have done what
they could to make self-governmenJ
a failure in the republic.
We have had enough radicalism
both in and out of the pulpit. The
time has come for sober second
thought; the time has come for all
men to be made to know that the
relations of the soul to God ana
righteousness are governed by eter-
nal and unchanging principles.
These high matters are not subject
to the fluctuations of the modes
and fashions to which tickle ana
childish pulpit pipers yield.
The South has been the home OF
conservatism and sobriety in mat
ters religious and political. Its
history and traditions demand that
at this time it fulfill the high mis-
sion of steadying the nation against
revolutionary tendencies and. de-
structive radicalism.
The nation is not progressing to-
wards anything good or great when
it is moving away from it's allegi-
ance to high principles and estab-
hshed truth in pursuit of mere
stuff. Continued progress in that
direction means going over a preci-
pice into a bottomless pit of untold
woe.