Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-06-12
DECLARES PASTORS WHO HAVE TAKEN
CHRIST OUT OF SERMONS SHOULD BE
PUT IN TRENCH AND PULPIT BURNED

, candidates for the ministry were
ordained. All were graduates OF
/ Augustana theological seminary
| in Rock Island, Ill. A touching
circumstance was the absence of
another member of the class, Wal
demar Nelson of Marathon, Ia.
who is in New Mexico suffering
! from tuberculosis and did not ap-
/ ply for ordination.
/ DIR. NJ. c. Ranseen of Chicago
preached a strong ordination ser
mon in Swedish DR.. G. A. Dorf
of Mcpherson. Kans., preached the
/ English sermon. speaking on Our
! Message. He said:
We have found it necessary to
! become one of the parties in an
unprecedented war. Almost unex-
pectedly we have been placed in an
| entirely new situation which has
not been so easy for every one al
once to grasp. But as far as our
I relation TO our government is con-
! cerned, there is only one attitude
! that we as Lutheran Christians
| can recognize, that of answering
| loyalty. Thus has the great head
| of our church, Christ, Taught US.
| And we desire TO be His obedient
and faithful followers.
War Divine ChastiSement.
But a catastrophe of this kind
IS also a divine chastisement for
the purpose Of bringing us to our
| spiritual senses, that we may think
more seriously of God and our at
| titude toward Him. There is al
ready growing seriousness
among many. We can therefore
conclude that after the war the
church will have a great and i'm
pOrtant work to do A religious
awakening is necessary in order to
establish better conditions and
give mankind something far super
ior to cold, avariciOus and pleas
ure-mad materiaIism, which SO
long has held sway and hardened
human hearts and stifled true spir-
ituality.
I'VE have heard that after the
war a religion will have to be
shaped. May remote and recent
history teach us to be wise. There
has been no dearth in experiment
ing along the line of new religions.
Highly commended systems have
sprung forth with a great deal of
connection. They have been put
into practice with high expectation
of unheard of success. But they
have been tested and found want
ing in effective power, and soon
they have been reIegateG to his
tOry's scrap pile of promiscuous
mental products. beautiful in ap-
pearance, but intrinsicaIly worth
less.
Meantime the message of Jes-
u. Christ, the crucified one, has
been carrying out its invaluable
work in human hearts, gaining
new ground and establishing it
self. This message can not be i'm
proved upon for this simple reas-
on that it is not the product of fall
lible human mind. but it has
sprung forth from the heart and
mind of the triune God
A memorial service was held
Sunday evening for the pastors OF
the synod who have passed away
since the convention of a year ago
The Rev. S. c. HagIund of Provi-
dence. r. l., and the Rev. c. ..
MOrland of Madrid, Ia, were the
speakers.
The synod held its final business
sessions yesterday when matters
pertaining to the publishing house
and immigrant home were discus
sed. The concluding event was the
patriotic meeting, in the auditor
ium under auspices of the Luther
an Brotherhood Of America. Gov
ernor J. A. A. Burnquist and Rev
J. A. O. Smith, president of the
Brotherhood. delivered addresses.
The Rev. A Norrbom of Des
Moines, Ia, vice-president of the
organization. presented the Angus
tana Synod's service flag with APP
proXimately 10000 men represent
ed, and DR.. G. A. Brandelle of Dem
yer accepted the flag on behalf OF
the synod. Senator Henry \. Ben
son OF st. Peter presided.