The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-03-25

Once the colleges of the world repre-
scented, not merely secular education
but the faith, the hope, the religious
sentiment of their founders. who wer'
generally religious people. A grea
change has taken place Today col
leges are ashamed to acknowledge AM
religious affiliations; and although they
stand for moral principles Of a higl
order and represent a form Of godli
ness, nevertheless they are hot-beds Of
nfldelity-disbelief in the Bible as tbs
Divinelyinspired Revelation.
This condition of things, the Pastor
declared. Is deplorable. In his opin
ion the great institutions of learning
throughout the world, so well equip
ped for the inculcation of faith in God
are. as a matter of fact. doing more tc
overthrow faith than are all other in
huences combined He declared 1t moi
strange under such circumstances that
the cry of graft is going up in every
civilized land
The increase of knowledge, of late
spread abroad among the masses OF
mankind, the Pastor believed to be
accountable for the increase of vice
which is so great that If 1t were not
for our inventions and police arrange
ments, this would be the most inse-
i. cure time in the worlds history. He
explained that the undermining of faith
in the Bible as the Word of God, and
the incubation of the Evolution theory,
tend to destroy faith In personal God,
and in rewards and punishments from
Him upon the just and upon the un-
just. One of the most peculiar things
to him was that the very wealthy men
Of the world have richly endowed Its
leading colleges. thereby destroying
faith and unintentionally leading man
kind to social revolution. and more, to
the precipice of anarchy
Sympathy For Higher Critics.
Nothing in the Pastors words indi-
Gated condemnation; but on the CON
trary, he manifested deep sympathy
for those who are entangled in the
snare of Occultism and Evolution. He
had once been entangled himself, he
said. He had gotten free in time,
thank Cod Had his experience gone
so far as to lead him to doubt the ex-
fstence Of the Supreme Creator, he be-
ieyed that he would have been as ir-
revocably lost in Evolution as are
many of the noble specimens of our
race who are in college chairs.
The Pastor knew wen that the pri-
mary difficulty is that they cannot be
lieve the Bible to be the inspired Rec
ord. So also he had once rejected it.,
because he thought it to be in harmony
with the creeds of the Dark Ages.
whose absurdities are more and more
apparent to all intelligent, thinking
people. Now, the Pastor pronounced
himself a most firm believer in the in
SEPARATION of the Bible He had rea
son for the faith within him, which he
also explained. He said:
One of the surprising things my Bi
Bile study revealed was that the Bible
supports the teachings of none of the
sects, none of the creeds; and that
none of the creeds and sects care for
or use all of the Bible. Each has
made selections of doctrines from the
Word of God Each uses these in its
own defense, and each finds in the Ri
BILE other teachings supported by other
texts, which do not fit in with its own
creed. Evidently none of the differ
ent sects manufactured the Bible. Had
the Calvinists made it up, they would
have left out all the texts which teach
Divine Free Grace. Had the Armin-
ians-the Methodists, etc.-made up
the Bible, they would have put In more
Free Grace texts and would have left
out those which mention Election.
Had the Catholics made the Bible
they would have added something to
teach the immaculate conception of the
Virgin Mary. and to prove that she
should now be prayed to and worship
ed. They would have put in some
thing about indulgencies, high mass
low mass. holy water, holy candles
etc. They would have had it mention
St Peter as the first Pope They would
have had il support their theory of
Apostolic Succession-that all the bish-
ops are holy apostles, as we'll as the
original Twelve. They would have
put in, as would most Protestants, a
number of texts telling about the doc
trine of the Trinity.
Both Catholics and Protestants would
have left out the texts which tell that
the dead are asleep, and that their
awakening is to come In the resurrec-
ton morning. Indeed. they would
have omitted everything respecting the
resurrection; for it is one of the most
difficult matters to explain-how there
can be resurrection of the dead, when
they teach that nobody is dead and
that those who seem to die really be-
come more alive than when they were
living. Evidently the old Book, which
now l prize so highly. was not made
by man. The intellectuals already are
it, and the religious, finding
that they cannot defend their creeds
from its pages, are at last discredit-
Ing the Word of Godl
My hope and prayer and effort are
on behalf of the thinking Christian
people Of today. l would have them
see that this wonderful Book, while
out Of accord with the creeds of Chris
tendon. and the world, is fully in har-
mony with itself. would have them
see that the great Plan of salvation
which the Bible sets forth towers far
above all the efforts of puny men, as
in the creeds of Christen-
dom. | would have them see the glori-
GUS fulness of the Bible Message; that
it's length and breadth and height
and depth could not have come from
any other quarter than from Above
| would have them see that this Evils
dom from Above is the noblest science
and the best instruction"
Great men of the past have perceiv-
ed that the Bible has been Identified
with the best there has ever been of
human progress Many have been
their expressions respecting 1t as the
Torch of Liberty and Civilization. But
these dear men did not see the real
beauty of the Bible. because they did
not understand its real Message, for
Gods due time for the full understand
ing OF that Message is only now here
And now Bible students have advan-
tages in Bible study such as never be-
fore were possessed. And now, In
Gods time. His Word is shining as
light upon the pathway, with a bril-
liancy that is grand.