Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-10-17
CHURCH IS TO
MUCH GIVEN To
DRESS PARADE
Speaker at Church of Christ
Convention Points Out
Threatening Danger.

Des Moines, Ia, Oct. 17.-Seriou
aspects of world affairs demand in
creased efforts toward Christian unity
according to Peter Ainslie of Balti
more, who addressed the Churches O
Christ convention here tonight. H,
SAID In part:
I'VE have been so long accustomed
to division in the church that it is
frequently looked upon as a normal
condition, whereas it is both abnorma
and immoral. A divided church car
never serve the purpose for which it
was established, for its divisions make
it carnal and incompetent. Jesus
said that house divided against itself
can not stand, so that the issue today
is not whether Christianity will con
quer the world, but whether it will be
able to stand against the great op-
posing forces.
The church never faced a more Sc
r1ous period in its history than now.
l had letter from Dr. John r. Mott
a few days ago in which he said if
there was ever a time for the church to
get upon her knees and stay there
In prayer, it is now, for there is no
other method of meeting the issue ex-
cept by renewed conservation.
There Is not a nation on the globe
a majority of whose citizens are
Christians; the worst war in the his
tory of the world is raging on the con-
tlnent where Christianity has been the
longest, and dozen other conditions
of similar character face us. Long
before this war neither Roman Cath
olics nor Professionals were increasing
in Europe, and the growth of Chris
tianity in America has been nothing
to be compared to it's possibilities. The
principles OF force on one side and
worldliness on the other in the midst
of divided household are under
mlnding the very foundation of our
faith, so that if our religion is based
only upon certain Scriptural interpre-
tatlon or credal announcements, it
will never satisfy the hunger of the
worlds multitude. When asked why
this condition, there is but one en-
swer and that is, it is the product
of a divided church.
Church Pooling Away" Time.
: "The fact of the matter is the
church has been fooling away her
time on creda! pronouncements and
dress parades, keeping up her denomi-
national fences, and with scores of
men willing to die for UNCONVENTIONAL
convictions, no one of which has any
thing to do with the salvation of a
single soul, while great world has
been lying at the feet of the church
lost and incurred of it's sins. More
than to any other source the cause
OF the great war lies at the door of
the church-an instance of lost op-
portunity. | was in Europe at the
outbreak Of this war and l was simply
overwhelmed that neither the Roman
Catholic nor the Protestant churches
were taken into any consideration
whatsoever, but the great war moved
as though the churches did not ex-
list. The European tragedy has re-
vealed the impotency in the house of
God as has never been revealed to US
before.
"There is no time for boasting:
there is no time for arrogance. AS
disciples of Christ, we ourselves are
called to practice long suffering and
patience and brotherliness with the
whole Christian world that will win
men to the principles that underlie
all union, for theological union is
of little avail. an ecclesiastical union
will produce division, a union by COM
promise is only temporary. 1t must
be union built upon the spirit of
Jesus Christ, who revealed the dig
nifty of repentance, the power of love,
the charm of kindness and the win
someness of long suffering. These are
the fundamental thing in religion"