The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-05-26
International
Sunday School Lesson
BY W. T. ELLIS.
For May % Is The Council
Jerusalem. Acts 15:1-35.
LdberaIism's Great Victory,

May is the month of ecclesiasticaf
conventions, and by the time these
! words are read most of them Will be
! in full swing or already adjourned
Among ministers and church workers
these gatherings are principal SUBJ
| ject of present interest. A striking
parallel may be found between most
| of them and the first council of the
Christian church. which was held in
| Jerusalem about the year SO, and
which is the theme of. the present In
| ternational Lesson
| It was the first of the great church
councils-themselves an illuminating
line of study to pursue, in this connee-
ton. 1t would be interesting to COM
pare the greatness of the topics de-
bated in the early church councils with
the littleness of some Of the themes
| that have engroSsed the meetings this
month A broad, sweeping ard serious
| indictment to be brought against the
ecclesiastical assemblies of May of the
present year is that there has been
apparent in their deliberations less of
the spiritual crisis created by the
world cataclysm than there has been
of ecclesiastical politics and minor
matters of administration.
In larger aspect, there is the same
was witnessed in the first Church
Council-the endless strife between
Journalism, tradition, prescription
and prescription on the one hand,
| anu on the fOlIloT lIlc SIoWlAi6s "a
panding life of the Church. The
literalists are still with us, caring
more for a precedent than for prin-
ciple. The struggle for adherence to
formal practices is perhaps best illus
Itrated by the debate over amuse-
ments The w-rld is used to a dis
cussion of whether Christians may
smoke, or go to the theater or ride in
subject of legislation at recent con-
vention of one of the minor denomina-
tions-or wear hooks and eyes in
! stead of buttons, or ride in street cars
on Sunday, or belong to social organ
izations which do not conform to the
usages and convictions of certain
] bodies of Christians. Here we have
the temperance of the Judaizing
who insisted that all believes should
| conform to the practices which they
| themselves favored.
1t is not generally known that one
| of the great problems of foreign mis-
sions is the frequent appearance on
| the field of emissaries who want to
win the converts to their special views
of Christian practice. Many a mis-
| sionary. could tell of his heartburning
| experiences with these holiness and
other representatives, who shun the
work of winning converts to Christ
| from neathendom, but give themselves
to converting native Christians to
their particular tenets.
|
erty and Church restrictions is old and
continuous. What is the liberty of to-
day may be the restraint of tomorrow.
Probably it is inevitable that the is
sue first joined in the Jerusalem
Council should continue through all
other ecclesiastical gatherings to the
end of time. At least, it is steadying
to read the reports of present-day &C.
ciesiastical meetings in the light of
St Luke'S narrative of this first
l n -,l, Do. B-
ment upon it, as found in the Second
Chapter of Galatians. Some of us
extract comfort from the observation
that even in the apostolic Church the
Christians were not angels.
Mischief Makers in Antioch.
Some Christians from Judea-the
historian does not think them worth
to Antioch and had troubled the new
Church there by trying to correct Its
procedure. They accused the An
tioch Christians of not being thor
nobodys, who had themselves not
been on the firing line of missionary
work, were taking to task that great
throbbing, outreaching, vital Church
at Antioch! The capacity OF petty
persons for making trouble in con-
gregation has been noted by all OBJ
servers of church life. Men and
women who carry not straw
weight IN business, or social OF COIL
munity life, are capable of disturbing
the peace of an entire church. Most
of US have seen the harmony of con-
gregations marred by some poor little
mischief makers who in all other
spheres are entirely inconslderable
Still they give the church chance to
prove its religion
Such were the meddlesome saints
who went down to Antioch, and trou-
bIed the serenity and unity of that
| IF 5iScir11Res. for these
Antioch Christians wanted to do right
The most conscientious persons on
earth are church members. This
group of men and women who were
! eager to follow the fullest truth they
knew, whatever the cost to them
selves, are a noble spectacle. The
, world cannot do without this leaven
| of conscientious folk who are ready
| to follow truth anywhere. Christians
| are often called narrow-minded. but
it is really the open mindedness of the
disciples of Christ which makes pos
/ sible all the new Sects and schisns
/. and cults, which build on the estab-
lished foundation of Christian loyalty
to truth.
Down in Antioch the church had
3 to let their flock be continually wor-
ried by the new issues raised. They
v decided to appeal to the mother
church at Jerusalem. They knew the
WlSOOHl VI SctCllS uSClSlOH w ny
: wrangle and squabble forever over a
i point that should be decided once and
for all? So Paul and Barnabas were
1 sent to Jerusalem to confer with the
apostles and the elders and the home
o church.
A Journey Over the Land.
There are few persons of any i'm
= agination who have not at some time
or other desired to take this trip
which was made by Paul and Barna-
has. Every newspaper correspondent
e in the world would rather go over
their route today than go anywhere
e else on the map. What light is would
n shed on the present world war, in
the strategic centers of Turkey
t could one follow the Paul and Bar
: nabas route, down from Antioch past