Norwich bulletin., 1914-01-20
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Did He Prove His statsmenss7

the churches were exalting creed and dogma above the Christian life, and as serted that this was the reason why people in general do not attend church. I disputed the truth of the statement, for which Seeker brought forward no evidence beyond his were word and I asked him for evidence or proof from three sources, namely, the published sermons of today, the sub jects of weekly sermons, as announced in the Saturday newspapers, and the testimony of any considerable number of regular churchgoerS- This seemed to me to be fair question, Tor the published sermons of today are many, and they show that the churches are emphasizing their practical teaching; so do the subjects of sermons, as an nounced from week to week, and sure lv it may fairly be assumed that no one knows as well what the churches are emphasizing as those who are reg ular church. goers. Indeed, 1 think might reasonably have gone further, and challenged seeker" to produce evidence from church conventions and other gatherings that the Christian life was made subordinate, to creed and dogma In fact, MT. Editor, as I come to think it oveT 1 feel that l was very easy with seeker" For I might fairly have asked him to sub- stantiate his statement by showins that the churches were lacking In practical Christian works, or that the members of the churches were satis- fled with mere outward profession and memberships. and were saving little or nothing to prove that their mem bership was having any considerable effect upon their character or practi- cal life If seeker" could have fur nished evidences. of this sort, he would have gone far to substanttate his statement.
 But, what is the case?
 1 have before me his second letter, entitled, Proving his Statements" wherein he brings forward no slight est evidence from any of the sources have named. What, then, are his proofs ;
 The first Proof is his assertion that he has actual knowledge of the truth of his statements. That is, he asserts he has actual knowledge" that the churches are exalting creed and dogma" at the expense of the Christian life. and he has actual knowledge that this is the reason why people in general do not at tend church. Now, certainly, that is a pretty large assertion, especially as it is unsupported by a title of evil dence but I submit it is no proof" Doubtless, if seeker" were known to me to be an acknowledged expert in this matter, and I had had occasion to test his accuracy and found 1t meeting the test, I should be in ci1Ded 10 give some Welgnl to hiS as sertion of actual knowledge though even in such a case, I should feel obliged to give some weight to counter evidence.
 But, what is the fact?
 It is that seeker is concealing his identity behind a. nom de plume, and therefore I am in no position to know what facilities he has had for ac- quiring information on these subjects, 1 how car f2ully or extensively he has availed himself of these facilities, how competent he is to form just an inn partial conclusions, and how far he keeps an open mind. Under these cir i cumstances, perhaps seeker will i pardon me for saying that 1 cannot 1 regard his assertion of actual knOWl : 1 edge" as, at the most anything more l than evidence that he is convinced i that he has actual knowledge But ! as 1 could bring many competent i witnesses who would be ready to as i sert that they have actual knowl- ] edge of the very opposite of what . seeker states, l certainly cannot be i expected to accept his assertion ot actual knowledge" as a proof ei i the truth of his statements.
 | But seeker" proceeds to give his best proof in the words of our Lord i By their fruits ye shall know them 1 application of these words. seeker ! has given us one of the clearest eS- amples of ''westing'' the scriptures i that I have ever happened to come 1 across.
 For, what does he do?
 He first goes to the seventh chap l ter of St. Matthew's gospel and takes 1 the words By their fruits ye shall know them," wrenching them en- tirely from their setting and, assum- ing that Christ was here putting forth test for all disciples or believers l Sno En pei and quotes our Lords words from 1 the sixteenth chapter, And these ] signs shall follow them that believe | in My name shall they cast out devils i they shall speak with new tongues: l they shall take up serpents, and i
 they drink any deadly thing. it shal
 in no wise hurt them; they shall lay 1 hands on the sick. and they shall re-
 cover" Here seeker" makes hi! ! second assumption-and it is biz one-namely. that the fruits Chris 1 referred to when He said, By theiI
 fruits ye shall know them" are tn, 1 miraculous powers He speaks of il | the passage from St. Mark.
 Whereas, what is the truth of tht
 case? The words By their fruits " | shall know them are taken from thu sermon on the Mount, wherein Chris | is instructing not only His disciples 1 but a mixed multitude. The passag Is a follows: Beware of false pro l phets. who come to you in sheep
 clothing, but inwardly are raveninl
 wolves. By their fruits ye shall knov
 them, Do men gather grapes o | thorns, or figs of thistles? Even s,
 every good tree bringeth forth goot
 fruit, but the corrupt tree bringetl
 forth evil fruit. A good tree canno
 bring forth evil fruit neither can
 corrupt tree bring forth good fruit
 Every tree that bringeth net fortl
 good fruit is hewn down, and cas
 into the fire. Therefore by thei
 fruits ye shall know them"
 Now, observe. Christ is here teiiinI
 His disciples and the multitude hoy
 they are to discern a false prophe
 of the matter? It is that the fals
 prophets inner nature or charaete
 may be ascertained by the characte
 of his words, He may wear tn
 "sheep's clothing" the outer gafb 0
 innocence and simplicity, while all tn
 time he is, in heart and purpose, a
 eager to devour you as a 'ravenin wolf" But, if, so, his inner natur will be sure, sooner or later, to man
 duct; for "a corrupt tree canno bring forth good fruit" Even
 hypocr1te, in time, becomes know
 unto his fellow men, As a good hear and inner integrity manifest them
 selves in a mans life and words. s an evil heart and inner baseness can not but in time do likewise. Ther
 is nothing miraculous or supernaturs
 about it. It is simply the working c
 a natural law. The "fruits'' Chris
 here speaks of are simply the natiire mans goodness will appear in his If | and works inst bad mans bad