The Shettleston Free Church Concert.
The following letter from the pen of the Rev. Adam Hunter, regarding the report of the above concert which we reproduced in last issue, was published in the Eastern Argus on Saturday, 30th May:—
“SIR,—My attention has been drawn to a report, in a recent issue of the Eastern Argus, of a concert said to be under the auspices of the Shettleston Free Church. As the Moderator of the Kirk-Session of Shettleston Free Church, I beg to state that the Kirk-Session had nothing whatever to do with it. I feel that it is due to the Kirk-Session and the congregation that this should be stated. I hope, therefore, that the party who circulated so extensively the issue containing the report, will be good enough to circulate as extensively this issue containing a contradiction of the report.—I am, etc.,
ADAM HUNTER.”
Now, we had no desire to return to the subject of this “Grand Concert” at Shettleston, but this letter compels comment and criticism. It may be perfectly true that the Kirk-Session of Shettleston Free Church as a Kirk-Session had nothing whatever to do with the getting up of the said concert, but what of this, when the Moderator and several elders, members of Kirk-Session, were on the platform along with the chairman, presiding over the gathering, while the gentleman “chiefly responsible” for the programme was Mr. G. Macdonald, their representative elder at the last Free Assembly? The concert was attended by the Free Church people of the congregation, and the object—we are reliably informed—was to raise money with a view to help the congregational fund for building a Free Church at Shettleston. What other name could be given the affair than a Free Church concert, and under whose auspices was it if it was not under the auspices of the Shettleston Free Church? Further, we have to state that this is not the first concert, but the second, which has been got up by office-bearers and members of the Shettleston Free Church congregation for the same purpose. A third event of a similar kind was the annual soiree, held a few months ago. These are the facts about the Shettleston Free Church. They may not be pleasant reading for Free Church people who do not approve of such performances, but they are true all the same. Personally we regard these carnal amusements as entirely unbefitting professing Christians, either in the privacy of their homes or in connection with the public work of the Church, and they appear to us to be particularly out of place in a body that makes a profession of standing for “the old paths” in religion.
Literary Undertakings of the General Assemblies.
A report was given in to the Established Church Assembly announcing that the continuation of Dr. Hew Scott’s monumental work, Fasti Ecclesie Scoticae, was being actively prosecuted, and that there was a proposal for a complete revisal of the Fasti. Such an announcement will be welcome news to students of Scottish Church history. In the Free Church Assembly it was intimated that a contribution of £50 was offered by a friend to assist in the gathering of materials for a history of the religious life of the Highlands. Professor Cameron stated that the late Rev. John Noble had made considerable headway towards the accomplishment of such a purpose, and that a good deal of material had been left by the late Dr. Aird, of Creich. This subject, notwithstanding the vast amount of material that has accumulated within a decade or two, has as yet no volume covering the whole field. We shall look forward with interest to the appearance of the pioneer venture.
“Cave Calvinum.”
Under this heading a correspondence has been going on in the columns of the Glasgow Herald. It was begun by the Jesuit priest, Father Power, who denounced Calvin as a man that stands at the bar of history condemned. A feature of the correspondence has been that he has been supported in his attack by a few so-called Protestants. The Scottish nation has no need to feel ashamed of Calvin, and still less the Presbyterian Churches of this country. He takes the honourable position of a place among the first three in the noble line of mighty theologians. And in the history of the Church of Christ his name will be forever associated with those of Paul and Augustine. He needs not our defence; his intellectual superiority ought to make the theologians of the twentieth century feel that they are but dwarfs before him.
The National Protestant Church of Geneva.
In 1907, by the vote of the Cantonal electors, it was resolved that the Genevan Church should be separated from the State. A Draft Constitution has been prepared; in the first chapter of this Draft it is set forth that this Church “associates itself with the Churches of the Reformation, and specially with the Reformed Churches in Switzerland, and places at its base the Bible, freely held in the light of history and of the experiences of the Christian life.” When one remembers how freely the Bible has been used by the Genevan Church during a part of its history, the above expression cannot but be regarded as of sinister portent. The ministers are also to be allowed to preach freely without being bound to any Confession.
A Fallacious Argument for Union Exposed.
A writer in the May issue of the Quarterly Register, the organ of the Alliance of Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian system, has some sane, and we believe Scriptural remarks on certain fallacious arguments that are often on the lips of those who will have union at all costs. “It is affirmed,” he says, “that by reason of its numerical strength the one large church may more easily obtain advantages than can the smaller churches. It is possible, however, that the aggregate membership of the smaller churches may far exceed that of the one large church; and we are by no means sure that in such a case, the moral weight and social influence of the latter would be greater in a community than that of the smaller churches. Apart from this question, however, altogether, we confess that, from its very nature, we cannot recognise this consideration. It is a consideration taken from the natural world, when such things as wealth, numbers and social influence, are in a measure legitimate; but, inside the Church of Christ—as a motive for any particular action on her part—such cannot count for a moment.”
What may be True in the Natural World is not necessarily True in the Spiritual.
The same writer goes on to say:—”We know that in the physical world, a hundred men unitedly can accomplish much more than can the same number of men working separately, but this is only a question of brute force applied in a skilful or in an unskilful manner; and it does not follow that because it should be true in the natural world, it is necessarily true in the spiritual. The spiritual influence of the Church of Christ never depends on her wealth or her numbers or her social position, but on the presence of the Eternal God with her. On the consideration under review He seems to pour withering contempt since all the victories of the Church on every field of struggle have been won—not by the skill of leaders nor the strength of armies, but by the labours of her individual soldiers, her witnesses and martyrs, an old man here, and a weak man there, yet who had been faithful unto death. Down through all the ages is given the lesson, that the efficiency of the Church of Christ for her distinctive work comes exclusively from the presence with her of the Master. Gideon’s Three Hundred; David in the valley of Elah; Elijah at Carmel; Stephen outside the city; Athanasius contra mundum; Luther at Worms; Calvin at Geneva—one and all show that the experience of the Church is overwhelmingly against this class of considerations as availing to guide her as to conduct, however efficient it may be, in obtaining for a civil community or its members certain social and political advantages which may be desired.”
New Edition of Dr. Duncan’s “Colloquia Peripatetica.”
Messrs. Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier published last year the sixth edition of the Colloquia Peripatetica, a volume of the deepest interest, containing as it does some of the most remarkable utterances of that eminent saint and scholar, Dr. John Duncan. These sayings were noted down by Prof. Knight, and published by him as far back as 1870. The book is now in its sixth edition, and some new material has been added. Those who wish to have some conception of what a remarkable thinker and saint Dr. Duncan was, and who are not afraid to face the deep problems to which he introduces them, might well invest in such a volume as this. It costs three shillings and sixpence.