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EDITORIAL COUNCILJohn P. Clelland John Patton Galbraith Edwin H. Rian

Leslie W. Sloat Ned B. Stonehouse

The Christian World OrderliThe Christian in the Twentieth Century World"-PART 1

By the REV. JOHN MURRAYProfessor of SystemaHc Theology In Westminster Theological Seminary

Ten eenh a Copy

Thomas R. BirchManagIng EdItor

BY THE term, "The Christian World Order", I takeit that what is meant is a world order that in all

its aspects and spheres is Christian, an order so con­formed to the principles of Christianity and so per­vaded by the forces that are operative in Christianitythat the whole of life will be brought into willingcaptivity to the obedience of Christ.

Are we justified in entertaining the conception ofChristian world order? Or, at least, are we justified inentertaining such an order as an ideal towards whichwe should work and strive? Do we have any assurancethat such a world order is attainable? And, if we haveno assurance that it is attainable, are we not mockingourselves and others by framing the conception and,particularly, by working' towards the achievement ofit? Should we'not rather descend from the clouds anddeal with more practical and sensible matters?

We shall have to acknowledge frankly that we donot have the right from God's Word to believe thata Christian world order in the purity and complete­ness of its conception will be realized on this side ofthat great and momentous event towards which thehistory of this world is moving, namely, the appearing

l of the glory of the great God arid our Saviour Jesus'Christ, the visible glorious advent of the Lord Himself.For a Christian world order, in the purity and com­pleteness of its conception, is a world order that has

brought to complete and perfect fruition the redemp­tive, regenerative and restorative forces that are em­bodied in the Christian redemption and revelation.Such an order would mean the complete eliminationof sin and of all its effects and the full attainment ofrighteousness and holiness. To whatever school ofeschatological persuasion we belong, we cannot believethat such an order will antedate the advent of the Lord.

It is true that the postmillenarian believes that be­fore Christ comes the world will become Christian.But even the most consistent supernaturalistic post­millenarian cannot hold that, even in that period ofunprecedented prosperity for the kingdom of Codupon earth which he posits as antedating the Lord'scoming, the world order will be so completely con­formed to the divine will that all sin will be eradicatedand righteousness and holiness be all-pervasive. He,with other supernaturalists, believes that such an orderwill have to wait for the new heavens and the newearth wherein dwelleth righteousness (II Pet. 3:13).A Christian world order, if the word "Christian" isapplied with consistency, means an order in which theprinciple of redemption and restoration is brought toits complete and all-pervasive expression and fruition.

So a Christian world order, in the purity and com­pleteness of its conception, will not antedate thatmanifestation of power and glory when Christ will

Th' P....~ytorlan Guardian I. pUbll.hed .elni.menthly from Slptelnbor to Juiy. Inclu.iye, and monthly In August by Th' Pre.bYterlan Guardian Publl.hln, Corpera.tl,n. 728 Sell.. Bulldl.,. 1505 Ra.e Street. Philadelphia. Pa .. at the tollowJngrat.e•• payable In adVance. for either old or new .ubocribers In &DY part of the world. pO.tacolIrePaoid: $2.00 _ year; $1.00 for five months; five or more copi.. either to s.Jl8,t&te addre.... or In .. paekage to one ..ddress, $1.211 e&eh Per year; introductory ra.te for now!lUbeeriberaonly. throe months for 2Ile; 10c per single coW. Entered as sOCOlll! Cla88 matter March 4. 1937. at tbo Poat OIIIee at PbiladelPbia. P.... under the Act of Mareb 3. 1879.

October 10

order is order brought into existenceby the deliverance from sin and evilwrought by redemption and regenera­tion. The principles and forces thatmust be at the basis and centre ofChristian order in any of its formsmust be the principles and forces ofGod's regenerative and sanctifyinggrace. Any idealism or reconstructionthat proceeds upon a program that iscongenial to fallen human nature orthat is readily adjustable to the im­pulses and passions and principles offallen human nature has denied thevery genius of Christian order.

There is, therefore, something dras­tic about the transformation thatChristian order effects. This is whywe are so reluctant to entertain aChristian program of procedure insome of the most practical spheressuch as those of education and indus­try. We are so often content to havea few amendments and correctionsthat give a Christian veneer to certaininstitutions. Without question thesecorrections may have, to a certainextent, a salutary influence, but theseamendments do not change the basi­cally nonchristian character of the prin­ciples and methods by which theseinstitutions or orders operate. TheChristian principle as applied to everyorder is radical and revolutionary inthe true sense.of these words, radicaland revolutionary because it is organ­ically regenerative. It deals not byhalf-measures nor by indirection butby honest, thoroughgoing effectivenesswith the reality of human sin andwith the all-pervasive corruption it hasbrought in its train.

Three Divine InstitutionsWhat then is this order that Chris­

tianity contemplates? There are threebasic divine institutions in human so­ciety-the family, the church and thestate. All of, these institutions aresocial in character; in each of themthere is a plurality of individuals. Thatplurality, it is true, may sometimes bethe minimum of plurality. The family,for example, is constituted first of allby two individuals. But in each casethere is plurality. This is such an ele­mentary, obvious fact that it may seempuerile to mention it. But, elementarythough it be, the implications forChristian order are of profound im-

(Continued on Page 278)

The Christian World Order , 273John Murray

Meeting Life's Problems 275Charles E. Stanton '

Our New Order in East Asia 276Floyd E. Hamilton

Editorial 281

With fhe Standing Committees 283Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

The Parables of Our Lord , 284Lawrence B. Gilmore'

Why Spiritism Is Popular 286T. C. Van Kooten

TABLE OF CONTENTS

October 10, 1943

that are inherent 'in the Christian re­demption and revelation. And this isjust saying that the ideal and goal im­posed upon us by the kingship andkingdom of our Lord and SaviourJesus Christ is nothing less thanChristian world order. To recede fromthis conception and aim is to abandonwhat is implied in the prayer Christtaught His disciples to pray, "Thykingdom come. Thy will be done inearth, as it is in heaven" (Matt.6:10). And it is to renounce what isovertly expressed in the words of theapostle, "For though we walk in theflesh, we do not war after the flesh:(For the weapons of our warfare arenot carnal, but mighty through Godto the pulling down of strongholds;)casting down imaginations, and everyhigh thing that exalteth itself againstthe knowledge of God, and bringinginto captivity every thought to theobedience of Christ" (II Cor. 10: 3"5) .

What Is the Christian Order?To the concrete question of what

constitutes Christian world order, wemay now address ourselves. It is neces­sary at the outset to premise any dis­cussion of this practical question uponthe fact of human sin and depravity.Any attempt to erect Christian orderupon the ruins of human depravitymust end in dismal failure. Indeed, itwould be an inherent contradiction.For Christian order is order that isChristian and, if Christian, it restsupon the supernatural and redemptivefoundations of Christianity. Christian

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN'274

come again without sin unto salvation,when He will bring to naught all ruleand all authority and power and whenall his enemies shall have been madeHis footstool.

Our dilemma would seem to be in­deed perplexing. If we have to wait forthe supernatural forces that Christ'sadvent will bring in its train beforethe order of absolute right and holi­ness will be ushered in, is there anysense in speaking of a Christian worldorder except as an eschatologicalhope? Particularly and most prac­tically, is there good sense in workingtowards the establishment of a Chris­tian order when we know that, in thecompleteness of its conception, it isnot attainable in what we generallycall this life?

We must be bold to say that theChristian revelation does not allow usto do anything less than to formulateand work towards a Christian worldorder in the life that we now live. Itis not difficult to demonstrate thevalidity and even necessity of thisthesis.

The, standard of thought and therule of conduct for us are divine obli­gation. The rule and standard for usare the irreducible claims and de­mands of the divine sovereignty, andthese irreducible claims are that thesovereignty of God and of His Christbe recognized and aprlied in thewhole range of life, a interest, ofvocation and of activity. That is justsaying that the demands of the divinesovereignty make it impossible for usto evade the obligation to strive withall our heart and soul and strengthand mind for the establishment of anorder that will bring to realization allthe demands of God's majesty, au­thority, .supremacy and kingship. Andthis, in a word, is simply the fullfruition of the kingdom of God wher­ever we are and in the whole compassof thought, word and action.

But, since we have fallen and sincethe only way now whereby the claimsof the divine sovereignty can even be­gin to be realized within the compassof our responsibilities is through theredemptive and mediatorial work ofChrist, then there rests upon us, withlike universal and unrelaxed strin­gency, the obligation to bring to bearupon the whole compass of life thesupernatural and redemptive forces

275

laid out on much the same principles.There is not one of us but has diffi­cult and heart-searching problems .toface, for the only way to the gates ofheaven leads through the forest oftrial and testing. We seldom knoweach other's greatest problems andoften do not know our own; and somecertainly have more difficult problemsthan others. But one thing seems al­ways to be true: The more whole­heartedly we give ourselves to Christ'sservice, the greater will be the prob­lems in our lives. And a study of theBible leads us to conclude that themost blessed among us are those whohave faced the most difficult problemsand the most severe trials. Moses,David, and Elijah of the Old Testa­ment and the apostles of the NewTestament are some of the greatestBible characters, and their lives standout for the severity of the trials theyendured. If we 'find our hearts oftenburdened with problems which wefind ourselves utterly helpless to solve,we may well be thankful, for this isthe divinely appointed way for thefullest development of our characters.

Now let us see what Hezekiah didin this seemingly hopeless situation.Sennacherib sent a letter to Hezekiahdemanding immediate surrender ofJerusalem. But Sennacherib said some­thing else in that letter that disturbedHezekiah even more than did the de­mand for the surrender of the city;He said that none of the gods of theother nations had been able to pre­vent him from conquering those na­tions, and neither could the God ofIsrael keep him from conquering Jeru­salem. Hezekiah did the one. thingthat everyone of us can do when our •hearts are heavily burdened and wecannot see the way ahead. He turnedto God. He took the blasphemousletter from Sennacherib up into thetemple and spread it out there beforethe Lord and asked God to save Hispeople and His city, that all menmight know that He was God. Heze­kiah knew that the situation was abso­lutely hopeless, unless God shouldintervene, but he had' the faith tobelieve .that God could and woulddeliver [erusalem- if that should be

have had the courage and vigor toset about it in the face of strongopposition. This vision, courage andvigor is the natural, God-given en­dowment of young manhood, but itis too often squandered in the seek­ing of pleasure and excitement.

Religious reformation was the firstthing to which Hezekiah gave hisa~ention upon becoming king, but itwas not the only thing that he did.He saw the military weakness of Judahand he set about making improve­ments. He built forts and arrangedfor an adequate supply of water inJerusalem in case of a siege, and weread that the Lord was with him andprospered him whithersoever he went.

Then one day his problem came.It was the crisis of his life, and it be­came a turning point and a landmarkin the history of the Jews. Senna­cherib was the King of Assyria, whichwas at that time the most powerfulnation of the world. Sennacheribcame marching down through Pales­tine, taking every city as he went. Theinhabitants who yielded peaceablywere deported, but those who re­sisted were sometimes punished bybeing skinned alive. As Sennacheribdrew near to Jerusalem, Hezekiah andhis people were terror-stricken. Senna­cherib agreed not to besiege Jeru­salem, if Hezekiah would pay hima huge sum. Unwisely, Hezekiah com­plied. and even stripped the gold offthe temple doors in his frantic effortto raise the sum. But Sennacheribwas like our modern dictators; hisword was not worth much and, afterhe had received the money, hemarched against Jerusalem and de­manded its surrender. As Sennacheribapproached Jerusalem, he was utterlyconfident that nothing could stophim. Within the city, Hezekiah andhis people knew that, humanly speak­ing, there was no chance at all thatthe city could hold out. against thispowerful army.

Now we may feel that there is noreal parallel between this problem inHezekiah's life and our own prob­lems, because our lives are so entirelydifferent. And yet our lives are notreally so different. All our lives are

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN

•

1943

THE study of the principles ofChristian conduct is like learning

the alphabet. First we must see theletters written large and by themselvesto recognize them. Then we .mustlearn to recognize them in many dif­ferent associations. We can learn torecognize the various principles ofChristian conduct by first findingthem in the Bible where they arewritten largest. We can then see howthey apply to the lives of all men, andespecially to our own. The principleof Christian conduct to which wenow turn our attention is that of de­pendence on God in meeting life'sproblems. We find this principledemonstrated more or less in the lifeof every believer, but there is oneoccasion in the Bible which furnishesus with a particularly outstandingillustration of this principle in opera­tion. It is the occasionwhen Hezekiahdefied the king of Assyria and. byfaith in God was victorious over himand his powerful army. We shall studythis story, then, as an illustration ofhow we ought to meet life's problems.

Let us first see what Hezekiah'sproblem was. Hezekiah became kingat the age of twenty-four. In so doing,he stepped into a difficult job, for hisnation was in very bad circumstances.Ahaz, his father, had not been astrong ruler, and he had left the na­tion in a rather weak condition. Butworse than this, Ahaz had been a verywicked man. He had taken many ofthe valuable things out of the temple,allowed it to become filled with rub­bish, and then closed it entirely. Inthe meantime, he caused many altarsto be erected for the worship of idols.With courage and vigor, Hezekiahbegan a great reformation in Judah,opening the temple, cleaning out theaccumulated rubbish, destroying thealtars which his father had built forthe worship of pagan idols, and call­ing the people together to observe thePassover feast which for many yearshad been neglected;

It is worth noticing that almostalways, both in Bible times and inchurch. history, it has been youngmen who have had the vision to seethe need of reformation, and who

Meeting Life's ProblemsA Study in Christian Ethics by the REV. CHARLES £. STANTON

Pastor of the Cornville Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Cornville. Maine

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN October 10

dreams of world conquest. It is be­cause the emperor is alleged to be agod that the National Shintoists be­lieve Japan's destiny is to dominatethe rest of the world. Just as Chris­tians claim the whole world as thedominion of the triune God, so theNational Shintoists teach that thewhole' world belongs to the "divine"emperor. It thus becomes evident thatwe could not allow him to continueto exercise even a semblance of hisformer office and pomp. It would bedangerous to allow him,' or any mem­bers of the imperial family, even toremain in Japan, for they would al­ways be a rallying point for the im­perialistic elements in the nation.Banishment would probably be thebest solution. Expropriation of all theimperial estates and financial holdingswould have to follow, so that the im­perial clan would .retain none of theglamour and religious prestige in theeyes of the people that its wealth atpresent bestows. In order to protectour country from the danger of an­other war twenty or thirty years fromnow, we must not only prevent theJapanese from rearming but also fromusing the emperor as a rallying pointfor a "holy war" in defense of theNational Shintoist claim that if is thedestiny of the "divine" emperor torule the rest of the world.

all aglow, tell of their new-joy in lifewhen first they learned to look to Godin prayer arid discovered that Goddoes answer their prayers. It is truly'a joyous experience and the greatestthrill life can afford. There is not asingle problem of any kind in our livesbut that God will work it out in away that will be to His honor andglory and to our blessing.

It takes real faith to believe this­faith that comes after years of look­ing to God and discovering His faith­fulness. But faith like this is life'srichest treasure and life's most joyousexperience.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the sec­ond of three studies by Mr. Stantonin the field of Christian Ethics. Thethird will appear in an early issue.)

CONCLUSION

IN OUR plans for post-war Japan,one of the most important ele­

ments must be the abolition of theimperial form of government. Somewill doubtless challenge any attemptto refuse to a conquered country theright to choose a particular form ofgovernment. On general principles thechallengers' position would be correct,but the situation in Japan is entirelydifferent from that in other countries.In Japan' the form of government isitself so completely identified with thereligion of National Shinto, and thatin turn is so dangerous to the peaceof the rest of the world, that in self­defense we are forced to deny to theJapanese the right of choosing the im­perial form of government for thefuture, however much we may advo­cate as a matter of principle non­interference by the conquerors withthe internal politics of the nationconquered.

It is true that the emperor of Japanis a mere puppet today, but he is asymbol, because it is claimed that heembodies, in his own person, all thespirits of his ancestors back to andincluding the spirit of the so-calledsun-goddess. This religious element inthe claims regarding the emperor tiesin directly with National Shintoist

Our New Order in East AsiaBy the REY. FLOYD E. HAMILTON

Missionary to Korea for More Than ,Twenty Years

the angel of the' Lord came to thecamp of Sennacherib and smote onehundred and eighty-five thousand ofhis soldiers. On the morrow Senna­cherib, in rage and shame, took theremnant of his once-powerful armyand returned to Nineveh, where hewas soon after killed by two of hissons.

This prayer of Hezekiah's and theremarkable answer is one of the mostspectacular events of Old Testamenthistory. It illustrates exactly the sameprinciple that we may and ought toput into operation in our lives. Godwill answer our prayers just as surelyand abundantly as He answered Heze­kiah's, We often do not recognize.the answers to our prayers when theycome, but God does answer. I haveseen young people, with their faces

276

His will.This is the kind of faith God wants

us to have. It is one thing to believethat everything in the Bible' is trueand that God is able to take care ofHis people. Satan and all his angelsbelieve this. The question is, Do webelieve Cod will lead us through everyproblem? Do we believe it enough totake every problem to God in prayer?Do we' believe it enough to comeback from prayer with the calm assur­ance that God has answered ourprayer and all is well? Do we believeit enough to find peace of heart inthe midst of trouble?

Psychology teaches us that fear isthe greatest destroyer of character andpersonality. More mental abnormali­ties are caused by fear than by any­thing else. Fear makes people selfish,narrow-minded, worried and unattrac­tive. Faith does the exact opposite. Itmakespeople generous,broad-visioned,calm and attractive, and allows themto be at their best at all times. Thereare two kinds of calmness-that ofthe fool and that of the believer.There are many around us who livevery calm and efficient lives, yet whoare not Christians. Their calmness isthat of the fool who has closed hiseyes to the truth and hurries on tohis destruction. That sort of calmnessis based on the wisdom of men. Theother kind of calmness is that whichcomes. from a steadfast assurance thatall is well, and it is based upon theunchanging Word of God.

Every Christian has faith, but notevery Christian has faith like that ofHezekiah. And Hezekiah was notborn with this faith-he acquired it.The first time Sennacherib sent toHezekiah, Hezekiah was frightenedinto sending Sennacherib what he de­manded; and for this lack of faithIsaiah the prophet rebuked Hezekiah.But the next time Sennacherib sentto Hezekiah, he was dealing with adifferent man-a man who had goneto God in prayer and had come backwith the calmness of one who knowswhat he is going to do.

Hezekiah did not have to wait longfor an answer to his prayer. The Bibleseems to indicate that, on that veryday, Isaiah came to Hezekiah and gavehim God's answer to his prayer. Theanswer was that Sennacherib wouldnever come into Jerusalem, but thatGod would put a hook in his nose anda, bridle in his mouth and lead himback whence he had come. That night

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUA.DIAN1943

Except for thus prohibiting themfrom perpetuating National Shintothrough the imperial form of govern­ment, 'we might allow them to decidefor themselves what their form ofgovernment should be, though prob­ably the only alternative would bedemocracy. Assistance would doubtlesshave to be given by the allied nationsfor some time in the future, to insurethe perpetuation of such a democraticgovernment.

Religion,The most dangerous point in the

whole system of foreign control ofJapan would be in the realm of reli­gion. Now INe believe in the principleof freedom of religion and consciencefor all. But a vital distinction in thedefinition of freedom of religion needsto be made. No man has naturalright to freedom of religion. All menare naturally under the obligation toworship and obey only the TriuneGod according to His revealed will.The state, however, has a right to dealonly with the outward acts of itscitizens, not with their thoughts orbeliefs. The principle of freedom ofreligion is concerned then with thepolitical right of all men to believeand teach and worship according tothe dictates of their own consciences,as long as they do not interfere withthe similar rights of others, or othernations, and as long as the propaga­tion of their teachings and beliefsdoes not violate common morality anddecency, or attack and endanger theexistence of the government itself. Itwould, however, be the inherent rightof any government to defend itselfagainst attacks by religionists whosought to overthrow the government,and it would also be the right of agovernment to interfere with thepropagation of a religion which vio­lates common morality or decency..For .example, it would be proper forthe government in India to prohibitthe propagation of those forms of theHindu religion which maintain sexualimmorality as a religious rite. Whetherit is expedient for a government to'exercise such rights is another ques­tion, and one for the' governmentitself to decide.

Another distinction needs to bemade at-this point between religiousmatters concerned with domestic poli­tics and religious matters concernedwith international politics. We wouldhold that a government would havea right to interfere inside its own

borders with the propagation of a re­ligion. advocating as a religious beliefthe overthrow of the government, orsome other doctrine dangerous to theexistence of the state. However, insuch an instance another nationwould have no right to interfere inthat country for the purpose of sup­pressing that religion or forbidding itspropagation. On the other hand,when those religionists begin to propa­gate the teaching that it is the des­tiny of their nation to rule the restof the world and when, by that propa­gation, the nation actually embarkson a career of conquest, the coun­tries so attacked would have everyright not only to resist the aggres­sion but also, if victorious, to inter­vene in the aggressor nation in orderto. forbid, the propagation .of theteaching itself. In other words, whena religion invades the realm of in­ternational politics, other nationsconcerned have a right to interveneif their own safety is imperilled. Suchintervention, however, should be con­cerned only. with the propagation ofsuch dangerous beliefs. No govern­ment would have the right to interferewith the mere holding of such beliefsor with the gathering together of per­sons holding such beliefs.

Now in regard to National Shintowe face a difficult problem. It goeswithout saying that all restrictionsagainst the free propagation of Chris­tianity and the organization ofchurches should be removed. The in­iquitous "Religions Law" in Japanshould be repealed, and - completefreedom of religion should be re­established. But National Shinto, indistinction from Sect Shinto, is thesource of all the trouble we are in.It not only claims to be supreme overevery other religion but also refusesto allow other. religions to exist un­less they recognize the supremacy ofNational Shinto. Moreover, NationalShinto is identified with the stateitself, so that its veliY existence de­pends on the imperial form of gov­ernment. At present, a good Chris­tian cannot possibly be a good Jap­anese, for a good Japanese must rec­ognize the emperor as the divineembodiment of all the spirits of theimperial ancestors back to and includ­ing the sun goddess. Of the essenceof National Shinto is its claim thatthe destiny of Japan is to dominatethe rest of the world, and that theJapanese are supreme over the rest ofthe human race because they are de- ..

277

scended from the gods.It seems quite clear that it would

be dangerous to the safety of all othernations for us to allow NationalShinto to propagate such beliefs inthe future. We would be in dangerof another attack from Japan as soonas she had recovered her strength andas soon as foreign supervision wereremoved. For the safety of the world,therefore, National Shinto raust beoverthrown.

Immediately someone will objectthat if we were' to destroy the Na­tional Shinto shrines, withdraw finan­cial support of the priesthood by pub­lic funds, and prohibit the propaga-,tion of the claim that it is the destinyof Japan to nile. over the rest of theworld, we would violate the very prin­ciples of religious freedom we .areseeking to establish in Japan. If thiswere purely a religious question, therewould certainly'be ground for such anobjection. But it is also apoliticalquestion, and the Japanese themselvesare witness to that fact. [apanese gov­ernment officials in the past haverepeatedly insisted that NationalShinto was not religion but patri­otism. From the Christian point ofview-since spirits were said to in­habit the shrines and since citizenswere ordered to bow before shrines sodedicated-it seems clearly to be areligious question as well as a patri­otic one. There is no doubt, however,about .the political character of Na­tional Shinto, and we unquestionablyhave a right therefore to deal withit in the political realm, even thoughit has religious implications through­out. In our insistence on religiousfreedom, we cannot abrogate the po­litical rights of nations, attacked be­cause of the teachings of NationalShinto, to insure themselves againstsimilar attacks in the future. Weshould deal with the whole matter,therefore, as a political one, which allagree it unquestionably is.

.Let us at this point make it un­mistakably clear that it is not SectShinto which we are attacking, hutNational Shinto. Objectionable asSect Shinto is, I feel we should notinterfere with it except as its teach­ings take it into the realm of inter­national politics. I would advocatecomplete freedom for anyone to be­lieve what he pleases about the deityof the emperor, but since, by thepropagation of the teaching that it isthe destiny of Japan to dominate theworld, he would be enterillg the

THE PRE 5 BY T ER I A N G U A R D IAN278

political realm and endangering thesafety of other nations, the propaga­tion of such teaching should be pro­hibited. We have a right to overthrowthat which would endanger the peaceof the world. But we would have noright to seek to interfere with thebeliefs and worship even of a re­ligion such as Sect Shinto, as long asit did not endanger world peace.

EducaHonIf, however, our control 'of Japan is

to be effective and successful over along period of time, a primary con­sideration must be the correcting ofthe educational system of Japan. Thetextbooks which now inculcate theteachings of National Shinto will haveto be edited closely to eliminate suchdangerous doctrines. All requirementsof shrine worship, bowing toward theEast, and before the pictures of theemperor must be abolished. Theteaching of, or the compulsory re­ligious observance of the teachings of,National or Sect Shinto in the publicschools should be prohibited. Com­plete freedom should be establishedfor private schools under religiousauspices to teach anything that wouldnot violate the principles we havepreviously laid down. Not even a pri­vate. school should have the right toadvocate the overthrow of the govern­ment by force, or to teach immorality,and the government concerned wouldhave the right to forbid such teach­ing. Within these limits we shouldallow a freedom of education as wellas religion.

Let no one underestimate thepower of education. National Shintoowes most of its popularity and suc­cess to the.fact that it has been taughtconstantly in the public school sys­tem of the country. Remove suchteaching and, with the emperor outof the way, the next generation ofJapanese will have forgotten it.

ConclusionThis blueprint of our new order in

East Asia may seem to some too de­tailed and too drastic, but I am con­vinced that anything short of thiscomplete control of Japan over a longperiod of time would imperil the peaceof the world. We must constantlybear in mind the fact that, in orderto be successful, such control mustavoid arousing hatred and oppositionamong the majority of the Japanese.If the occupation forces feed thestarving, make it clear that there is

no intention of exploiting the coun­try, assist economic recovery in everyway, and insist on the reforms hereinsuggested, I believe opposition willdisappear in a very short time and theJapanese will realize that we reallyhave in mind not only the peace ofthe world but also their own bestinterests.

Naturally as Christians the thingwe are most interested in is the freeopening up of the Japanese Empireto the propagation and teaching ofChristianity. When all restrictions areremoved, I believe that Christianitywill take care of itself, and that Chris­tian missions to Japan will enter uponan era of success of which we havenever before dreamed. God grant thatvictory will soon be ours, and Godprotect us from failing to exerciseChristian principles in the peace thatfollows!

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This discussion byMr. Hamilton, which was begun inthe issue of July 25th and is here con­cluded, raises many very importantquestions in the fields at religiousliberty and at the relation at churchand state. With some at the positionsexpressed by Mr. Hamilton the edi­torial council is in rather definite dis­agreement. On the editorial page atthis issue appears a brief discussionat one at these points at disagree­ment. It is the editorial council's pur­pose also to express more fully in anearly issue some at its convictions' onthese matters and its reasons forholding them.)

The ChristianWorld Order

(Continued trom Page 274)

portance. When we say that th~se

basic institutions comprise a pluralityof individuals, we must not forget thatit is a plurality of individuals, and wemust not overlook the importance ofeach individual in his singularity. Thishas too often been the bane of socialtheories and movements. The indi­vidual is the ultimate unit in everysocial organism and organization" an~Christianity never overlooks the indi­vidual person.

In dealing with Christian worldorder there is no concept with whichChristianity 'has furnished us that ismore expressive and comprehensive

Odober 10

than that of the kingdom of God, andit was none other than our Lord Him­self who said, "Except a man be bornagain, he cannot see the kingdom ofGod" (John 3:3), "Except a man be.born of water and of the Spirit, hecannot enter into the kingdom ofGod" (John 3:5), "Except ye be con­verted, and become as little children,ye shall not enter into the kingdom ofheaven" (Matt. 18:3). The kingdomof God begins its reconstruction withthe individual. It never submerges theindividual in the social mass. It neversuppresses or blurs the needs, the in­terests, the obligations and the des­tinies of the individual in his relationsto God or to men. Christian worldorder in its zeal to renovate and recon­struct the orders of society must in­sure that the needs of the individualare fully met and his interests fullyguarded and prornoted..

The FamilyIt is, nevertheless, true that when

we are dealing with order we haveprincipally to do with the organizationof individual persons. The first is thefamily; it is the fundamental ordinanceof divine institution. The familyexisted prior to the fall. God said, "Itis not good that the man should bealone; I will make him an help meetfor him" (Gen. 2:18). Implanted inthe very nature of man is the necessityfor, and the instincts towards, familylife. But sin has brought ruin into thefamily institution. And perhaps noinstinct has been more abused and nosanctity more desecrated than theinstinct that is related to, and thesanctity that finds its basis in, thatordinance of marriage with which thefamily begins. The history of thisworld is strewn with the wrecks causedby the abuse and distortion of the seximpulse.

The family is the primary socialordinance. When sin wreaks its havochere, when the sanctities, that guardand ennoble family life are desecratedand when family honor is laid in thedust, then all social order is out ofjoint and degradation reigns supremein every realm.

The history of our generation andthe commanding facts of develop­ments in science, economics and poli­tics, the exigencies arising from theclose interdependence of all nations,are compelling us to give more atten­tion to the question of world orderthan ever before in the history of our

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN1943

era. Weare all aware of the urgentconcern that the leading statesmen ofall countries are entertaining with re­spect to this question. As Christianswe are compelled to face the responsi­bility of Christian world order. Let usnot camouflage the issue. Until thefamily, the basic social institution, theinstitution through which also the in­dividual as the ultimate unit of societyis brought into being and throughwhich he receives the heritage, thenurture and the training that will fithim for every social responsibility andfunction-until the family is redeemedfrom its sin, whether it be the sin ofcoarse immorality or the sin of refinedgodlessness, and until it is renewedand rehabilitated by the grace of God,it is a moral, psychological and socialimpossibility for Christian 'world orderto be instituted.

"Husbands, love your wives, even asChrist also loved the church, and gavehimself for it" (Eph. 5:2 5). "Wives,submit yourselves unto your own hus­bands, as unto the Lord" (Eph.5:22 ). "Children, obey your parentsin the Lord: for this is right. Honourthy father and mother; which is thefirst commandment with promise; thatit may be well with thee, and thoumayest live long on the earth. And, yefathers, provoke not your children towrath: but bring them up in the nur­ture and admonition of the Lord"(Eph. 6:1-4). "But fornication, andallunc1eanness, or covetousness, let itnot be once named among you, asbecometh saints" (Eph. 5:3). Theseare the affections, instincts and prin­ciples that must regulate marital andfamily life, and only then can anyChristian foundation be laid. for thatsocial organization that can be calledChristian. The Christian program isradical, and we see how grave the re­sponsibility and colossal the task whenwe face the dismal fact that the rarityof the Christian family makes it asprecious as diamonds.

The ChurchThe second basic divine institution

is the church, the visible church. Itmight seem that, since the church isan ordinance of redemption and pre­eminently the institution of God's re­demptive grace; since it is the com­parly of the faithful, renovation andreconstruction would not have to beapplied to the church as to the indi­vidual and to the family. It mightseem, rather, that from the church

would radiate the influences and forcesof renovation. But alas! we have todeplore the fact that the professingchurch has to a lamentable extent be­come the habitation of dragons andthe scene of abominations. If thechurch had been unfalteringly faithfulto the principle of its origin, constitu­tion, witness and operation, then thesituation would simply be that itshould have to continue to unfold andapply with ever-increasing perseverancethe principles upon which it rests. Butthe sad fact of our situation today isthat judgment must begin at thehouse of God and the church musthave applied to it the same radical,revolutionary and reconstructive prin­ciples and forces which we' have al­ready found to be indispensable toChristian world order.

The church is the church of Christ.It is subject to Him, derives its .faithfrom Him, owes obedience to Him,performs the functions prescribed byHim, restricts itself to the sphere ap­pointed by Him and advances Hisglory. Faith, testimony, worship, gov­ernment-these four words sum upthe function of the church. It is faithabsolutely faithful to the Word ofGod. It is worship in accordance withthe prescriptions of His will. It is gov­ernment directed by the ecclesiasticalorder instituted by Christ and Hisapostles. It is testimony to the wholecounsel of God to all nations and kin­dreds and peoples and tongues.

Truly it is not the function of thechurch to put Christian world orderinto effect. The church must occupyits own sphere of operation and limititself severely to that sphere appointedto it by Christ. When the church at­tempts to become totalitarian then ithas violated Christian order. But it isthe function of the church to establishand promote Christian order withinits own divinelyinstituted domain, andit is- the function of the church toproclaim the world order to whichGod's sovereignty and Christ's head­ship obligate in every sphere.

o how crushing is the shame thatrests upon the church! Christian worldorder is an impossibility when the in­stitution that is preeminently the in­strument of testimony to Christ isitself the chamber of abominations. Itis surely mockery and hypocrisy forthe church to point the way when sheherself has committed whoredom inthe sanctuary of God.

Judgment must begin at the house

279

of God, judgment that will issue inpurification of faith, of testimony, ofworship, and of government. Purifiedand renewed, sound in faith, steadfastin testimony, pure in worship andfaithful in government, the churchwill become the channel of redeeminglight and grace to a world lost andstaggering in the confusion that therejection of the counsel of the Kingof kings has brought upon it. "0 thatthou hadst hearkened to my com­mandments! then had thy peace beenas a river, and thy righteousness asthe waves of the sea" (Isa. 48: 18) .When the church puts on her gar­ments of glory and beauty, then underthe captaincy of Him who is Faithfuland True, the King of kings and Lordof lords, she will go forth, fair as themoon, clear as the sun and terrible asan army with banners. Then it will besaid again, "In Judah is God known:his name is great in Israel. In Salemalso is his tabernacle, and his dwellingplace in Zion. There brake he thearrows of the bow, the shield, and thesword, and the battle. Thou art moreglorious and excellent than the moun­tains of prey" (Psalm 76: 1-4). Hu­miliating .indeed is our reproach. Butby God's grace and Christ's power,how glorious our vocation and re­sponsibility!

The StateThe state is the third basic divine

institution. It might be thought that,while the redemptive and regenerativeforces of Christianity have an obviousbearing upon the individual, the fam­ily and the church, yet the state can­not be regarded as coming in anydirect way under the demands andinfluences of the Christian revelation.The state has to do with civil order,the preservation and promotion ofcivil righteousness, liberty and peace.It will be said that the civil magistratein the discharge of his official func­tions has no religious obligations andtherefore should not and cannot beregulated in the discharge of his officeby the Christian revelation, in otherwords, that the Bible is not the ruleof conduct for the civil magistrate asit is for the individual, for the familyand for the church.

This position embraces a strangemixture of truth and error. There istruth in this position insofar as itrecognizes the limits of civil authority.Civil authority is not totalitarian.Civil authority must never trespass the

THE PRE 5 BYT ER IAN G UA RD IAN280

sphere of the family, or of the church,and it must guard the God-given rightsand prerogatives of the individual. Ifthe distinction of spheres is onceblurred or obliterated, then good orderis impossible and Christian principlesare negated.

It is also true that those in whom<is vested the right of civil governmentmust exercise that government in ac­cordance with the laws of the com­monwealth. If they are not able to dothis in accordance with conscience,then they must abdicate their' officeor seek by the constitutional meansprovided by the commonwealth tochange those laws. Especially is thisthe case with believers who recognizethat their supreme obligation is toGod and to Christ.

But a fatal element of error inheresin this position, if it is thought thatthe 1 Christian revelation, the Bible,does not come to the civil authoritywith a demand for obedience to itsdirection and precept as stringent andinescapable as it does to the individual,to the family and to the church. Thethesis we must propound as overagainst such a conception of the rela­tion of the Bible to civil authority isthat the Bible is the only infalliblerule of conduct for the civil magistratein the discharge of his magistracy justas it is the only infallible rule in otherspheres of human activity.

God alone is sovereign. His author­ity alone is absolute and universal. Allmen and spheres are subject to God.The .civil magistrate derives his au­thority from God. Apart from divineinstitution and sanction, civil govern­ment has no right to exist. "Thepowers that be are ordained of God"(Rom. 13:1). Since civil governmentderives its authority from God, it is

<, responsible to God and therefore obli­gated to conduct its affairs in accord­ance with God's will. The infalliblerevelation of His will God has de­posited in the Scriptures. It will surelybe granted that there is much in theScriptures that has to do with the con­duct of civil government. And thissimply means that the Word of Godbears upon civil authority with all thestringency that belongs to God'sWord.

Furthermore, the Word of God re­veals that Christ is Head over allthings, that He has been given all

, authority in heaven and in earth. Thecivil magistrate is under obligation toacknowledge this headship and there-

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fore to conduct his affairs, not only insubjection to the sovereignty of Godbut also in subjection to the media­torial sovereignty of Christ and musttherefore obey His will as it is re­vealed for the discharge of that au­thority which the civil magistrateexercises in subjection to Christ.Christian world order embraces thestate. Otherwise there would be noChristian world order.

To recede from this position or toabandon it, either as conception or asgoal, is to reject in principle thesovereignty of God and of His Christ.The goal fixed for us by the Christianrevelation is nothing less than a Chris­tian state as well as Christian indi­viduals, Christian families and a Chris­tian church. And this just means thatthe .obligation and task arising fromChrist's kingship and headship arethat civil government, within .its ownwell-defined and restricted sphere,must in its constitution and in itslegislative and executive functionsrecognize and obey the authority ofGod and-of His Christ and thus bringall of its functions and actions intoaccord with the revealed will of Godas contained in His Word. We thussee how radical and reconstructive isa philosophy of Christian world order,if we are to face that conceptionfrankly and address ourselves to theresponsibility it entails.

It is, of course, true that all of lifeis not exhausted by the family, thechurch and the state. These, however,are the basic divine institutes of so­ciety. A Christian world order willembrace every department of life­industry, agriculture, education, recrea­tion. But since these institutions arebasic, it is inevitable that the Chris­tianizing of every other departmentof life will proceed apace with theChristianizing of these basic insti­tutions.

When we contemplate such stu­pendous responsibility as that arisingfrom the sovereignty of God and ofChrist's supreme kingship and lord-

October 10

ship, we may well be crushed by thesense of our own insufficiency. Howweak we are and how formidable arethe enemies of God and of His king­dom! Who is sufficient for thesethings? We are indeed totally insuffi­cient and the task is overpowering.

But this overpowering sense of ourweakness and inability is no reasonfor faintheartedness. It is rather thevery condition of true faith and per­severance. The responsibility is ours:it is stupendously' great. The insuffi­ciency is ours: it is complete. But thepower is God's. The grace is of God.The promise is His. "Thou hast amighty arm: strong is thy hand, andhigh is thy right hand.· Justice andjudgment are the habitation of thythrone: mercy and truth shall go be­fore thy face" (Psalm 89:13, 14) .How necessary it is to remember thatChrist has spoiled principalities andpowers, triumphing over them in Hisdeath, and that He is now exalted farabove all principality and power andmight and dominion and every namethat is named not only in this worldbut also in that to cornel Being by theright hand of God exalted and havingreceived the promise of the Father,He hath sent forth the Holy Spirit.We must do honor to Christ and toHis kingly authority and might. Wemust also do honor to the Holy Spiritwho convicts the world of sin, ofrighteousness and of judgment. Wehave not only an almighty advocatein heaven at the right hand of Godbut also an almighty advocate uponearth. How puny and helpless are thepowers of evil when they are set overagainst the irresistible grace and powerof Him who is Himself God, possess­ing with the Father and the Son thetotality of Godhood, the Spirit of theFather and of the Son! And howshameful and vile is our fainthearted­ness and unbelief! "Greater is he thatis in you, than he that is in the world"(I John 4:4)' It is the peculiar pre­rogative of the Holy Spirit to take ofthe things of Christ and show. themunto us. It is His to glorify Christ.Let us lay hold upon the promise, "Ifye then, being evil, know how to givegood gifts unto your children: howmuch more shall your heavenly Fathergive the Holy Spirit to them that askhim" (Luke 11:13), and let us in Hisstrength go forth to claim every realmfor Him who must reign until all Hisenemies shall have been made Hisfootstool.

:i

THE PRE 5 BY T ERI A N G U A R DI AN1943

EDITORIAL

Freedom of Religionand Political Expediency

AS intimated in the editorial note" following the article of the Rev.Floyd E. Hamilton, which is con­cluded in this issue, a number of im­portant questions are raised by itspublication. The positions taken bearin a decisive way upon one's wholeview .of the relation of church andstate. The publication of : the articlealso thrusts forward certain questionsas to the editorial policy of thisjournal. Such issues call for clarifica­tion, and we intend to publish edi­torials and articles that will achievethat end. This editorial makes onlya beginning, and confines its com­ment to one issue only, namely,theissue of freedom of religion in rela­tion to political expediency.,

The question we raise is whether,without impinging upon our mostfundamental Christian convictions,we dare to deny to the Japanese peo­ple the right of real freedom of wor­ship. Mr. Hamilton indeed affirmshis belief in "the principle of thefreedom ,of religion and consciencefor all," and maintains, moreover,that the state "has a right to dealonly with the outward acts of itscitizens, not with their thoughts andbeliefs." Yet he insists that, for thesafety of the world, National Shintomust be overthrown and its propaga­tion prohibited. In other words, inspite of Mr. Hamilton's affirmationof his belief in freedom of religion,he is, willing, purely for reasons ofpolitical expediency, to advocate thatthe United Nations shall deny to theJapanese any real freedom of thoughtand expression, at least if these takethe form that it is the destiny of theJapanese, as descended from the gods,to become supreme over the rest ofthe human race.

On our part, we are not convincedthat there is not a wiser and morepractical plan of dealing with the situa­tion after the war-a way of dealing

which will carefully distinguish be­tween the political and religious as­pects, taking all proper and necessarysteps in the former sphere and yetscrupulously avoiding any violationof the right of the Japanese to holdand propagate any religious beliefsthey may choose. But even if wecould not immediately discover any.wise and practical .way to proceed inorder to guarantee our own politicalfreedom, it would be, in our judg­ment, an unconscionable sacrifice ofprinciple to allow that political con­si~erations might require· the settingaside, even temporarily, of the princi­ple and exercise of freedom of re­ligion. In fact, it is exactly here, in asituation where the state may so easilytransgress its proper limits of sov­ereignty and encroach upon the sphereof religion, that it is the urgent dutyof Christian believers to be on theirguard. If we are on our guard, weshall· be prepared to insist that thestate shall not assume to dictate whatmen shall believe or to interfere withtheir liberty to make propaganda fortheir beliefs. .. If freedom of religion and worshipIS to possess any real meaning, itmust be acknowledged,to exist by di­vine sanction. "God alone is lord ofthe conscience", This is not to saythat God will not judge men's wor­ship by His Word, but it is to affirmthat such liberty, so long a~ it remainsliberty and does not invalidate otherdivinely bestowed liberties, may notbe abridged by men; Least of all maywe allow that the state may waive thisfre~d?m because of, or adjust it to,political expediency. This would betantamount to the subordination offreedom of worship to freedom fromfear of aggression, the latter hardlybeing an inalienable right.

We are grateful to Mr. Hamiltonfor his interesting and stimulatingcontributions to the pages of THEPRESBYTERrAN GUARDIAN. With mostof what he says we are in heartyagreement. The dissent from hisviews, intimated and set forth above. 'IS not presented in any censoriousspirit.. Our dissent .is presented onlybecause of the profound implicationsof these matters for our whole viewof doctrine and life, and because webelieve that we must resist everytemptation to swerve from our coursei~ maintaining and defending the di­vmely bestowed liberties of mankind.

-N.B.S.

281

Non-DiscriminatingJournalism

ALTHOUGH we ourselves with­'" drew from the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A. some yearsago because we were convinced thatwe could not in good conscience re-·main, we have never taken the posi­tion that there were not true Chris­tians still in that denomination. Andalthough we were convinced that anyeffort . to reform that church fromwithin was doomed to failure from1936 onward, we have never takenthe position that there were not thosewithin that church who were, or atleast thought they were, really tryingto reform it from within.

Certainly if there is ever to occurany reforming of that church fromwithin, it must come through somegroup which has a voice and makesit heard. The weekly magazine calledTh.e Presbyterian has repeatedlyclaimed to be the voice of the con-

• servatives within the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A. There have~een times when we could applaudI~S efforts, even though we were con­vinced that they would, accomplishnothin~. And we would gladly ap­plaud ItS efforts for the historic faithstill today, if we felt that it werereally interested in making a fight forthat faith.

Evidence continues to accumulate,~owever, that it has practically thrownm, the sponge. In a recent issue ofTHE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN an ar­ticle appeared concerning the viewsof Dr. Hugh T. Kerr, Jr., on theatonement of Christ." The significantthing was not so much that Dr. Kerre~ther held or wanted to express suchyIe",:s. There are many in that denom­ination much more radical than hemuch more unbelieving and anti:christian. But the significant thing wasthat the only regular magazine in thedenomination which claims to be con­servative, The Presbyterian, made itspages the medium for transmittingDr. Kerr's views to the church andthe public. Apparently even such con­servativism as has found a place inThe Presbyterian has been obnoxiousto the liberal elements in the church,and the paper is to be taken over inthe interests of the "inclusivist"policy.

Again, in the September 2 3rd issueof The Presbyterian, we are con-

'" Issue of Sept. 10, 1943, pp. 241ff.

THE PRE S BYTE RI A N G U A R D I A N

ii1

Odober 10

possible. There are no other Protes­tant churches on this entire side ofthe city. A survey of the neighbor­hood, consisting of one thousand callsby the pastor and an equal numberby members of the congregation, in­dicated that the residents were wellpleased that we had located here".

A fifty per cent. increase in attend­ance has resulted from the move tothe new location. Summer Bibleschool was in session for two weeks,beginning August 9th, with an enroll­ment of fifty-five, all but seven ofwhom were new to the church.

Dedication services were held onSeptember 26th, with the Rev. EdwinH. Rian of Westminster Seminarypreaching the dedicatory sermon.

tion, but investigation proved that itcould be purchased for far less thanits assessed valuation. Consequently,the necessary loans were secured atlow rates of interest. The present ex­penses of the church are actuallylower than when rent was paid for ameeting place as well as a manse.

"The new building", said Mr. At·well, "is remarkably adapted to thedual purpose of providing room forchurch and Sunday school servicesand living quarters for the pastor andhis family. In fact, it is just aboutideal for both purposes, and everyoneis agreed that the location is the best

new church home at the comer ofWestfield Avenue and Dorian Road,and first services in the new propertywere held on August 8th.

For some time prior to. the pur­chase, it had been clear to the pastor,the Rev. Robert L. Atwell, and mem­bers of the congregation that the workof the church would be greatlystrengthened by the acquisition of abuilding of its own. As the result ofa survey in which the church wasaided by the Rev. George W. Mars­ton, field missionary of the Commit­tee on Home Missions and ChurchExtension, the new property waschosen. At first it seemed likely thatthe building would be far beyond thefinancial resources of the congrega-

New Property of Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Westfield, N. J.

WESTFIELD CHURCH MEETSIN NEWLY-ACQUIRED HOME

GRACE Orthodox PresbyterianChurch of Westfield, New

Jersey, has this summer purchased a

take heed that they be not misled bythis magazine. For The Presbyterianapparently has ceased to be a cham­pion of conservatives. The fountaingives forth bitter waters as well assweet. -L. W. S.

282

fronted with an example of the samesort of thing. Here we find an articleon "The Bible". In the course of thearticle, the Bible is held up as a mostpowerful force which should be the"lamp to our feet and the light toour path". But then the author, Dr.Dwight R. Guthrie, tells us, with re­spect to the Old Testament, that dur­ing the exilic and post-exilic "literaryage priests and scribes and other menof God edited the books of the Law,the historical books, the books of poe­try, and even the prophetical books,changing, or even making additionsto, many of these writings". We arealso informed that it was not untilthe council of Jamnia in 118 A.D."that a .definite decision .was reachedto the effect that the thirty-ninebooks . . . were officially declaredthe Old Testament".

This whole statement is merely ataking over, lock, stock, and barrel,of the higher critical position withrespect to the Old Testament, a posi­tion which the old Princeton so com­pletely demolished, and which hasmore recently been shown to be with­out foundation by Dr. O. T. Allis inhis volume, The Five Books of Moses.

It is not surprising that people, in­cluding ministers in the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A., hold this posi­tion which destroys both the truthand authority of the Old Testamentand which is clearly contrary to theconstitution of the church itself. It isfar more disturbing, however, thatthis supposedly conservative magazinelends itself to the propagation of suchunbelief. Many people in the Pres­byterian Church in the U.S.A. stilllook to that paper for conservativeleadership. How mistaken they are isbecoming apparent. For if there is aknowledge of the true historic Chris­tian position on the part of its direc­tors, there is at least no discrimina­tion. The false is placed alongside thetrue. A double and uncertain voice isheard. And the sway of liberalism be­comes increasingly dominant.

In fact such non-discriminatingjournalism really contributes. to thewell-being of the foes of truth, for itgives real comfort and encouragementto the enemy. They have a voice evenin the supposedly conservative camp.Let those within the PresbyterianChurch in the U.S.A. who truly sor­row over the plight of that churchas it lies under the control of Mod­ernism, but who are convinced thattheir place is in and not out of it,

283

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to a unique plan. Most of us havefelt for some time the desirability otemphasizing the teaching of the cate­chism in the Sunday school, yet theonly way that it has been done in thepast is by tacking on a question andanswer to each lesson, with perhapsa little time spent in explaining themeaning of the answer. There wouldthus be little or no relation betweenthe question and the regular Sun­day school lesson and, since the em­phasis is usually on the lesson, toooften the catechism question was ig­nored by teacher and pupils.

According to the plan now con­templated, instead of teaching thecatechism incidentally, the lessonswill be built around the catechismquestions. For example, suppose wedesire to teach Question 11 of theShorter Catechism, "What are God'sworks of providence?" In consideringthe passage of Scripture that mightprofitably be used to teach the provi­dence of God, the story of Josephcomes immediately to mind. Thusone, two or more lessons would thenbe developed from the story ofJoseph, dealing with the providentialcontrol of Joseph's life and circum­stances, and bringing in the answerto the eleventh question as a clearpresentation of the truth of God's

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Of THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Foreign Missions

THE Rev. Clarence W. Duff lefton the S.S. Serpa Pinto on Sep­

tember 3rd for Lisbon, Portugal.Word was received on September24th of his safe arrival in Portugal. Anumber of missionaries of various de­nominations sailed on the same ship.

The Rev. Bruce F. Hunt has beguna very successful itineration on thePacific Coast. Excellent groups haveattended a number of the meetings.At the Westminster Church of LosAngeles a hundred were in attend­ance, and at a special rally. for whichthe Los Angeles churches secured theuse of the building of the Christianand Missionary Alliance, there wereover two hundred in attendance. Hisservices in connection with the fallmeeting of the Presbytery of Cali­fornia were a great inspiration to thepresbytery. He will visit all the PacificCoast churches, completing the itin­eration about October roth.

The Foreign Missions Committeehas appointed a subcommittee to in­vestigate the possibility pf securinglanguage study for the Rev. and Mrs.Charles E. Stanton prior to their de­parture to the Ethiopian field. It haslargely been the custom of missionscommittees to assign the missionariesto language study on the field, andusually a large part of the first termis occupied in that useful work. Latelynew methods of study have been de­veloped, so that much of the ground­work can be accomplished in thiscountry and thus valuable time besaved on the field.

The general assembly requested theCommittee, in connection with itsefforts to open a new work in Peru,to conduct a further investigation ofthe implications of association withmissionary work now carried on inthat country. The Foreign MissionsCommittee has appointed a subcom­mittee to consider the directive andto report to the next meeting of theCommittee. The Rev. Messrs. Sloat,Kellogg and Dyrness were appointedto this subcommittee,

Christian Education

IT HAS been decided to prepare ourcontemplated Sunday school les­

sons, departmental graded, according

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN

•Home Missions

ON THE evening of September19th the first of a series of Bible

classes was held under the auspicesof the Committee by Gordon H.Clark, Ph.D., at his home inWheaton, Illinois. Readers of theGUARDIAN will remember that Dr.Clark was compelled to resign his pro­fessorship at Wheaton as a result ofhis vigorous presentation of the sys­tem of doctrine taught in the Scrip­tures (April 25, 1943). Since Wheatonhas long been recognized as a leadingChristian college which outstandingevangelical Christian young peoplehave attended and from which a greatmany of our ministers have been grad­uated, the Committee felt the neces­sity of continuing the witness of his­toricPresbyterianism on the campus.Dr. Clark consented to accept the in­vitation of the Committee to becomeOrthodox Presbyterian Student Ad­visor, effective September 1St. In ad­dition to the regular Sunday. Bibleclasses which he has conducted in pre­vious years, Dr. Clark plans to offercourses in various phases of Biblicaltruth throughout the year. The classeswill be conducted in his home whichhas long been a rendezvous for stu­dents who have been interested in aserious study of the Bible as theWord of God. Dr. Clark is wellequipped to give an adequate philo­sophical basis for the faith which heholds, and his training as a success­ful pedagogue has enabled him veryadequately to give an intelligent pres­entation of Biblical Christianity toinquiring students.

September 26th marks the openingof the newest Orthodox Presbyterianchapel. On that day were held theopening services of our chapel inPortland, Oregon. The Rev. GeorgeW. Marston has secured a store build­ing at 8130 N. E. Sandy Boulevard inPortland, and it has been completelyrenovated and adequate equipmenthas been secured prior to the opening.The Westminster Church of Bend,Oregon, has taken a special- interestin this work, and sizable contribu­tions have been made by that congre­gation in order to secure the physicalequipment necessary for the openingof the chapel.

With the Standing Committees

1943

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN

.The P,arables of Our LordAn Introductory Meditation

By the REV. LAWRENCE B. GILMORE, Th.D.Stated Supply of the Fint Orthodoll: Presbyterian Church. Cincinnati

i

J

October 10

Forms of P~rablesParables differ in form and content.

A short comparison stated by suchwords as like and as is a simile. "Asa sheep before its shearers is 'dumb"(Isa. 53:7) is a simile. A parableproper is really an extended simile. Aparable accordingly is a short fictitiousstory told to teach a moral or religiouslesson. Such a parable is that of thekingdom of heaven likened unto amerchant seeking goodly pearls, who,having found one pearl of great price,sold all that he had, and bought it(Matt. 13:45).

A metaphor is an implied compari­son, as where the Lord Jesus says ofHerod Antipas, "Go and say to thatfox. . . ." (Luke 1 3:32). The similewould make the comparison explicit,as "Herod is a fox," or "Herod is likea fox," while the metaphor keeps thecomparison implicit.

An allegory is a description of oneobject in terms of another. It em- \ploys a tissue of detail-compatisons.An allegory, therefore, is really an ex­tended metaphor, as where the Saviourdescribes Himself as the .true vine­(John 15). The allegory is an elabo­rated picture. It lacks the story-move­ment of the parable proper, whosebeginning can be expressed by "onceupon a time", as in the familiar intro­duction, "Behold, a sower went forthto sow" (Matt. 13: 3).

The fable is a type of parable ourLord does not use, although two fablesare found in the Old Testament(Judges 9:8-15; II Kings 14:9)' Thefable is a creation of fancy, as whenthe trees choose a king (Judges 9)'The parable presents events and rela­tions true to real life, as where thewoman hunts the lost coin (Luke15:8) .

The Underlying PhilosophyThe parables are based on the real .

similarity existing between the twostrata of creation, the natural arid thespiritual (redemptive), both strata be­ing the creation of the one God. "Itwas not necessary for Jesus to inventillustrations", said Dr. GeerhardusVos. "All He had to do was to call

which means a comparison, proverb,or gnomic saying. Just as in the OldTestament the word maschal covers

.varied forms of illustration, so in theNew Testament the word paraboIe isapplied to various illustrative sayingsof our Lord.

pupils -in the doctrines of the Re­formed Faith, as well as to persuadethem to commit the catechism tomemory. They would understand themeaning of each answer, and be con­vinced that it is taught in the Bible.

During the summer, thirty-onechurches used the summer Bibleschool material put out by the Com­mittee, and 1,573 junior summerBible school books were sold.Churches report unusually steady at­tendance at the various vacationschools. Due to illness and pressureof work, Dr. Lawrence B. Gilmorehas felt compelled to give up thepreparation of the summer Bibleschool' material for next year, andMrs. Richard W. Gray has beenasked to prepare the junior lessonsand the teacher's.manual, andto cor­relate the work of the other depart­ments and prepare a daily programfor the schools. Other writers arebeing selected to prepare primary, in­termediate and senior lessons.

everyday life."Parable" is the word usually ap­

plied to the illustrative or gnomic say­ings of our Saviour. It occurs forty­eight times in the Synoptic Gospels.Elsewhere in the New Testament wefind it only in Hebrews 9:9 and 11 :19·It is not used in John's Gospel, whichhas the synonym paroimia, a wordoriginally denoting a wayside saying,but meaning in the New Testament aparable or allegory. The Lord JesusHimself used the word "parable", asin Matthew 13:18, where He said,"Hear ye then the parable of thesower".

In Matthew 13:34, 35, the word"parable" is connected with the OldTestament terminology, for Matthewsays: "All these things spake Jesus inparables unto the multitudes; andwithout a parable spake he nothingunto them; that it might be fulfilledwhich was spoken through theprophet, saying, I will open my mouthin parables; I will utter things hiddenfrom the foundation of the world[Psalm 78: 2 l" . The word parabolehere translates the Hebrew maschal,

284

WE ARE now beginning a devo­tional study of the parables of

the New Testament. These parablesall come from the Lord Jesus Him­self. Few books have been written onthe Old Testament parables. The NewTestament" parables, en the contrary,are so voluminously set forth in com­mentaries, treatises and sermons thatour minds are in danger of becomingsurfeited and confused. The unevenmerit of these expositions further de­mands that we select with discrimina­tion. We must also ourselves examinethe wording of the parables, and seekmost earnestly the illumination of theHoly Spirit. For we need in devo­tional study a true and sober interpre­tation, just as much as do theologianswhile making their doctrinal formu­lations.

The Word "Parable"It is well to recall that the word

"parable" is the Greek word parabole,which means a placing beside, a corn­paring. Parabolic teaching, therefore,is a method of illustrating moral andreligious truth by a comparison with

providential guidance. The otherquestions would be taught in thesame way, finding a Scripture storyor passage which teaches the truthset forth in a particular question andanswer, and then developing the storyitself around the catechism answer asthe central theme.

While the subjects of the variouslessons would be chosen according tothe logical development of thought inthe catechism, rather than the con­secutive history of the Bible, onequarter of each year would be devotedto consecutive historical study, andat least one whole year in the seniordepartment to the teaching of God'splan of redemption as it is histori­cally worked out in the whole Bible.Thus each important doctrine setforth in the catechism would havebeen taught at least three times, andpossibly more, during the Sundayschool life of each pupil, before heenters the senior department. In thisway we would- hope to ground our

THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN 285

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the guests' excuses, the lost sheep, ,thelost coin, the prodigal son, the unjuststeward, the rich man and Lazarus,the unprofitable servants, the impor­tunate widow, the Pharisee and thepublican, the pounds (Luke 10:25­19:27)'.

III. Parables concerning judgmentand the consummation of the king­dom: The laborers in -the vineyard(Matt. 20:1-16), the two sons (21:28-32), the wicked husbandmen (21:33-44), the marriage feast and the­wedding garment (22: 1-14), the figtree (24:32-34), the ten virgins (25:1-13), the talents (25:14-30)'

A question for Us TodayAs we look at the subjects of our

Lord's parables, we are again impressedwith the rich provision in God's Wordfor our study and meditation. But, aswe reflect on the reason for our Lord'sincreased use of parables, we mustask ourselves if our own hearts are dulland hard in the presence of Christ's

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general to know the mysteries of thekingdom of heaven, since they did notrightly see, or hear, or understand(Matt. 13:19-16). The time had comemore explicitly to instruct His dis­ciples but, at the same time, the truthwas to be concealed from hearers wholistened with hard and unrepentanthearts. It was to be spoken cautiouslyin the presence of enemies waiting totwist and tum it against Him. It wasto be veiled from fickle throngs whowould be unwilling to hear His wordsif they realized their full impact(Mark 4:11, 12, 33, 34)'

Outline of Christ"s ParablesIn addition to the shorter pictorial

sayings of our Lord, there are thirtyor so parables proper which we shallclassify, following for the most partthe arrangement in A Dictionary ofthe Bible by the late Professor J. D.

. Davis:I. Parables illustrating the nature of

the kingdom of heaven: the sower,the tares, the seed. growing secretly,the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidtreasure, the pearl of great price, thenet (Matt. 13:1-5°; Mark 4:26-29),and one by way of application, thehouseholder bringing out things newand old (Matt. 13:51, 52). .

II. Parables illustrating the king­dom of heaven in the individual life:the two debtors (Luke 7:41-43), theunmerciful servant (Matt. 18:21-35),the good Samaritan, the friend at mid­night, the rich fool, the waiting serv­ants, the barren fig tree, the shut door,the chief seat, the great supper and

attention to what had been lying hid­den more or less since the time ofcreation. This seems to be the mean­ing of Matthew's quotation fromPsalm 78:2. The marvellous acquaint­ance of Jesus' mind 'with the entirecompass of natural and economic life,observable in His parables, may be ex­plained from this, that He had beenthe divine Mediator in bringing thisworld with all its furnishings into be­ing, and again was the divine Mediatorfor producing and establishing theorder of redemption. This fact under­lies as a broad substratum all the para­bles in the Synoptics" (New Testa­ment Biblical Theology, p. 53)' Inthis connection various writers ap­propriately quote the question sug­gested by the angel to Adam and Evein Milton's Paradise Lost, V, 424-426:

"What if earthBe but the shadow of heaven, and

things thereinEach to other like, more than on earth

is thought?"

Why Our Lord Used ParablesCertain advantages of parabolic

teaching have often been pointed out.For one thing, it makes the truthmore vivid, gains the listener's atten­tion, and impresses truth on his mem­ory. For example, no abstract state­ment of the duty of neighborlinesswould have had an effect equal tothat produced by the parable of theGood Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).

A further advantage is that theparable avoids prejudice by makingthe truth clear in a story before thehearer realizes the story is directed tohimself. Thus when the chief priestsand Pharisees had heard Christ'sparables of the Wicked Husbandmen,and of the Rejected Stone, they real­ized that He spoke of them (Matt.21:45)·

A third advantage of the parable isthat it can be employed to veil thetruth hom unworthy hearers (Matt.13:13-16; Mark 4:11, 12; Luke 8:10).Our Lord indeed used parables fromthe beginning of His ministry (Mark2:19, zo-e-the bridegroom taken away;Mark 3:25-the house divided againstitself; Luke 6:39-the blind leadingthe blind; Luke 7:40-5o-the twodebtors) . But· there came a timewhen, in the face of rising opposition,He. evidently greatly increased His useof parables. He explained this by say­ing it was not given to His hearers in

1943

THE PRE 58 Y T ERIAN G U A RD I A N October 10

plicit factors which contribute to itsgrowth.

(1) The first impetus to Spiritismis found in man's tenacious clingingto the loved ones who have gonebeyond, and an uncontrollable desireto communicate with them. It is notwrong to love the departed, but it iswrong to seek to communicate withthem when God explicitly prohibitsit. Nevertheless, here we find the rea­son for most sitters' first adventure inSpiritism. This fact also explains themarked increase in seances directlyafter the first World War. Loved oneswere .looking for messages from thespirits of their departed soldier sonsand husbands. (Dorothy Walworthpoints out in her article in The Amer­ican Mercury that the second WorldWar, with its mounting casualty list,is again playing into the hands of theSpiritists, and is again being exploitedto the full by them.) The fact thatman succumbs to this desire to com­municate with the dead, in direct vio­lation of God's will, shows the abso­lute antichristian motive from whichbasic Spiritistic desire arise.

(2) The second factor that playsan important role in Spiritism is curi­osity. Spiritism itself emphasizes andplays with the mysterious. There is afascination about these mysterieswhich leads many to experiment­especially those who are not inhibitedby religious convictions. There is anatural curiosity in all men to knowexactly what lies beyond the grave.How many have gone to a seance onlyfrom curiosity? They saw or heardsomething. They were deceived, andfinally completely convinced in theirdeception. Careless curiosity has ex­posed many to the poison of Spirit­ism. We may not allow our curiosityfree reign. If God meant that weshould know more of the facts beyondthe grave, He would have furnishedus with authentic information. Let usnot seek to know what God has notrevealed.

(3) Spiritism also fits in with thesuperstitions which constitute the re­ligion of many paganized moderns.Superstitious people gravitate towardSpiritism. In fact, Spiritism for someis little more than an exalted animism.Spiritism plays upon the fears of theseaddicts of superstition. They fear theforces of the spirits about them. Theyseek to communicate with these spiritsso they may know who the spirits are,and arrive on a friendly footing with

the last days, speaks of lying wonders."For there shall arise false Christs,and false prophets, and shall shewgreat signs and wonders; insomuchthat if it were possible, they shall de­ceive the very elect." Spiritistic phe­nomena are sometimes amazing andthe unwary are completely convinced.Even the child of God sometimes be­gins to wonder. In II Thessalonians2 :8, 9 we are also warned of lying .wonders: "And then shall that wickedbe revealed whom the Lord shall con­sume with the spirit of his mouth,and shall destroy with the brightnessof his coming; even him whose com­ing is after the working of Satan, withall power and signs and lying won­ders". Revelation 16:13, 14 gives usan even more vivid picture: "And Isaw three unclean spirits like frogscome out of the mouth of the dragon,and out of the mouth of the beast,and out of the mouth of the falseprophet. For they are the spirits ofdevils, working miracles, which goforth unto the 'kings of the earth andof the whole world, to gather themto the battle of that great day of GodAlmighty". These unclean spirits andtheir deceiving miracles' apply toSpiritism. All of these texts are appli­cable, in part at least, to Spiritism.There many of Satan's lying wondersare performed. The fact that Spiritismmay do something which appearssupernatural proves absolutely noth­ing. Let us not be deceived. Let usheed God's warning and "not havefeIIowship with devils".

Spiritism's PopularityIf Spiritism is so false a religion,

how can we account for its great suc­cess? That it has many devotees can­not be denied. Of course there is asmattering of truth in Spiritism-theimmortality of the soul and the exist­ence of the spirit world-but, in themain, Spiritism is Satanically false.However that may be, there are ex-

that thou didst hide these things fromthe wise and understanding, and didstreveal them unto babes: yea, Father,for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight"(Matt. 11:25, 26).

286

Why Spiritism Is PopularBy the REV. T. C. VAN KO.OTEN

Pas.tor of the Christian Reformed Church of Volga. South Dakota

truth. May God by His grace makeus rather more and more worthy ofthat word which Christ uttered con­cerning the elect: "I thank thee, aFather, Lord of heaven and earth,

IN I Corinthians 10:20 we are told,"But I say that the things that the

Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice todevils and not to God; and I wouldnot that ye should have fellowshipwith devils". Paul warns and speaksexplicitly of worshiping demons. Inthe Book of Revelation, which gives.us various panoramic views of the en­tire Christian era, we are repeatedlywarned that devils will be worshipedin the latter days: "The rest of themen which were not killed by theseplagues, yet repented not of the worksof their hand, that they should notworship devils". "They worshiped thedragon which gave power unto thebeast". These prophecies are at leastpartially fulfilled in Spiritism. Theprediction of I Timothy 4:1-3 is evenmore directly applicable to Spiritism."Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,that in the latter times some shall de­part from the faith, giving heed toseducing spirits, and doctrines ofdevils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; hav­ing their conscience seared with a hotiron; Forbidding to marry and com­manding to abstain from meats, whichGod hath created to be received withthanksgiving of them which believeand know the truth". God warns thatman will give heed to "seducing spiritsand doctrines of devils". That isexactly what Spiritism is. It is alsoan interesting fact that at a Spiritisticconference held in Rhode Island, thefollowing four resolutions were passed:"(1) That the Sunday schools shouldbe discontinued; (2) that all Chris­tian ordinances and worship shouldbe abandoned; (3) that sexual tyrannyshould be denounced; (4) that ab­stinence from animal food should beaffirmed" (Spiritism Unmasked byW. E. Vine, page 25)' Compareresolutions three and four with versethree of I Timothy 4.

Lying WondersChrist, in His characterization of

1943 THE PRESBYTERIAN GUARDIAN

Floyd E. Hamilton Delivers Address on "The Tragedy of the ChristianMinistry"; Student Body This Year Totals Thirty-five

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were a dozen years ago. Some havetaken refuge in the Barthian fold.andothers appear to be swinging some­what in the direction of the orthodoxcamp. Is Westminster Seminary thensuperfluous? No, declared ProfessorKuiper, because a return to orthodoxywhich is not a return to the Bibleas the inerrant Word of God is noreturn at all. Secondly, the world isin need of an emphasis on the lawof God in this day of moral laxity.We at Westminster, he said, stresshuman responsibility just because westress the sovereignty of God. TheReformed Faith insists that the lawof God as expressed in the decaloguehas. eternal validity. Thirdly, in ourday the devil seems to be having hisway. It is therefore high time thatwe emphasized the kingship of Christand proclaimed to the world thatSatan can do nothing without per­mission of the King of kings. In thefourth place, we live in an age oftotalitarianism. No greater problemthan this confronts the world, andit will still be with us after the presentwar is won. The Reformed Faith isthe antidote for state. totalitarianism;for it is of the essence of the Re-

found? The Scriptures! One might goon to show how much of Spiritism isborn of a lack of faith, but in eachcase the only true and the only satis­fying answer for the searching soul isfound in God's Word.

Pray God that none of us may ceaseto call upon the Lord, and go on theroad to Endor as did Saul, for thatroad leads only one way, and that isto hell. In the words of RudyardKipling,

"Oh, the road to Endor is the oldestroad,

And the craziest road of all.Straight it runs to the witch's abodeAs it did in the days of Saul.And nothing has changed of the sor­

row in storeFor such as go down on the road to

Endor."

them. These poor superstitious soulshave had no real religious experience,and the experiences of Spiritism seemto come so easily and appear so veryconclusive.

(4) The last contributing cause toSpiritism is lack of faith-lack of faithin general, lack of faith for the future,lack of faith in immortality, and soforth. Lack of faith for the future liesbehind much Spiritistic endeavor.The novice is uncertain of the future,especially the future beyond the grave.He desires a certainty he can verifywith his own senses. He looks to com­munications from the spirits whohave traversed the great beyond andsurely know whereof they speak.Others are searching for proof of theimmortality of the soul and seek tofind such proof in Spiritism. Why notseek the answer where it can be

THE fifteenth annual opening ex­ercises of Westminster Theological

Seminary were held on the afternoonof Wednesday, September 22nd, onthe campus at Laverock, near Chest­nut Hill, Philadelphia. Promptly atthree 0'clock, students, alumni andfriends of Westminster gathered inthe auditorium, and the exercisesopened with the singing of the doxol­ogy. The invocation was pronouncedby the Rev. Frank L. Stewart, pas­tor -of the Second Church of theCovenanters, Philadelphia. After thesinging of a hymn,the fifty-thirdchapter of Isaiah was read by the Rev.John P. Clelland of Wilmington,Delaware, and prayer was offered bythe Rev. Robert L. Atwell of West­field, New Jersey.

The Rev. Professor R. B. Kuiper,chairman of the faculty, presided andbrought a greeting to the enteringstudents. He welcomed them, he said,specifically for such a time as this,for there has never been a greaterneed for Westminster Seminary thanthere is today. The institution wasfounded to combat Modernism. Butcertain liberals seem today to be lesssure of their Modernism than they

October 10. 1943

minister with that message faces acoldly uninterested world today. Since'many nominal Christians doff theirChristianity when they return fromchurch on Sunday, and since Protes­tant ministers are largely concernedeither with social problems or, at theother extreme, with the minutiae ofeschatology, the voice of the clergy isdiscounted by those who shape ournational policies.

Those who today enter Westmin­ster Seminary, said Mr. Hamilton,seem to be joining a dwarfed minoritycompletely out of step with the times.They will acquire a burning zeal forthe glory of God and dedicate theirlives to the furtherance of His king­dom, but they will preach to emptypews and a comparative handful ofpeople. This need be no tragedy tothe Calvinist, however, for his Godis a sovereign God who asks only thatHis servants be faithful in the plant­ing and watering of the seed, and whoHimself has promised to give the in­crease.

One of the reasons the paganworld refuses to hear our message, con­tinued Mr. Hamilton, is that Chris­tianity seems to have nothing to sayin most fields of secular existence. IfChristians are to regain for Christian­ity the high place it should hold inthe councils of the world, they musteffectively challenge the reigningpagan philosophy of life. And theycan do so only by applying their Cal­vinism to every field of human ex­istence. Through Christian educationfrom primary class to university, wemust train men who will see eachspecialized field through Christianeyes. This is the tremendous task towhich we must be dedicated.

"If you go forth from WestminsterSeminary believing that your God istruly the sovereign God", concludedMr. Hamilton, "you may have someshare in regaining that lost intellec­tual empire for your King".

After the singing of a hymn andthe closing prayer, tea was served inMachen Hall by the wives of mem­bers of the faculty and a time ofhappy sociability was enjoyed byfriends of the seminary and formerclassmates.

Total enrollment this year is thirty­five. The junior class has ten membersand' there are eight graduate students.The seminary is encouraged by thissplendid registration in the midst ofthe complications and emergencies ofa war year.ST. LOUIS 5. MO.

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The address of the afternoon wasdelivered by the Rev. Floyd E. Ham­ilton, general secretary of the Com­mittee on Christian Education ofThe Orthodox Presbyterian Church,on the subject, "The Tragedy of theChristian Ministry". The message ofthe rule of the triune God, declaredMr. Hamilton, is the message of theReformed Faith, but the Christian

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formed Faith to insist on the separa­tion of church and state and on thesovereignty of the family, the churchand the state in their respectivespheres. These, said Professor Kuiper,

. are a few of the reasons why West­minster Seminary is, more neededtoday than ever before and why hewelcomed the entering students spe­cifically for such a time as this.