Prizing our Sabbaths.—Dr. Charles Brown used to say, “Prize your Sabbaths, as the miser his gold, for converse with God, eternity, heaven. Give your Sabbaths wholly to these ends, excepting so much as you may occupy in seeking the welfare of others.” The Sabbath should be to us, if rightly understood and used, a day of holy gladness and of happy service for God—a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath in Heaven above. . . . It is to be feared there is little true meditation nowadays. There is too much rushing about to hear this man and that man; criticizing and gossiping; skimming over any quantity of books, good, bad, and indifferent; but little feeding on the word of God, little true waiting upon God in prayer and holy meditation. How much need we have to ask ourselves, with Francis Quarles, each Sabbath day: “Oh, my soul, see to it, hast thou profaned this day thy God hath sanctified? Hast thou encroached on that which heaven hath set apart? If thy impatience cannot rest a Sabbath twelve hours, what happiness canst thou expect in a perpetual Sabbath? Is six days too little for thyself, and one too much for thy God?”—Our Sabbaths and How to Keep Them, by J. Forbes Monerieff.
Archbishop Mannix’s Welcome.—Notwithstanding all his rebel utterances, it would appear the Archbishop was thought worthy of a public welcome on his return to Sydney. The Grafton Daily Argus publishes a letter by Sir Thomas Henley declining to take part in the civic welcome. We quote the third and fourth reasons he advances for declining the Lord Mayor’s invitation:— “Thirdly, his commendation and open approval of the terrible doings of the Sinn Fein murder gang, who, during the war and since, have been ravaging Ireland, and assassinating men and women, even of his own religious faith, for no other declared reason than that they were loyal to the Constitution they chose to live under. Then, if, by aiding and abetting, his hands are stained with innocent blood, he is unworthy of a public welcome, the offence against the public conscience being all the more heinous to me because these great evils are carried on under the cloak of religion, by which many otherwise innocent people are deluded. “Fourthly, and finally, because he is reported to have said, in Brisbane on Saturday last, ‘I have come back to Australia ready to repeat every word I have ever said—because I come back unchanged and unrepentant for anything I have said or done.’ His former actions and the recital of that terrible admission placed him outside the pale of citizenship, and our city is being disgraced by giving him a public reception. I cannot be a party to such wrong-doings.”
Bible League Quarterly.—The October to December number of the Quarterly has a number of very interesting and instructive articles in defence of the inspiration of the Word of God. There is a noteworthy article by the Rev. W. S. Hooton dealing with the testimony of the Lord Jesus to the Holy Scriptures. Other articles deal with His testimony to the Book of Jonah, the Book of Psalms, and the Pentateuch. The testimony of the Apostles to the Old Testament is dealt with by the Rev. Samuel Wilkinson.
The Higher Criticism in the China Mission Field.—In the October number of the Princeton Theological Review Dr. Griffith Thomas deals in a trenchant way with Higher Criticism in the China Mission Field. The article, though depressing, is much needed to open the eyes of people at home as to what is going on in the Mission field. The deadening effect of unbelieving teaching can well be imagined. It is paralysing missionary effort. Those who believe in the Bible as the Word of God are binding themselves together to defend it against its traducers.
Its Effect on Chinese Students.—The following extract from the North China Daily News will give an idea of how serious the situation is:—”It only remains to say that everywhere there is apparent a questioning by our students of the foundations of the faith itself. The seed sown by radicals without our ranks is bearing fruit within. ‘Why should we have a religion,’ a Christian student asks, ‘since it is superstition and causes stagnation in progress?’ Christian worship is compared with the worship of idols by the ignorant, and all alike stigmatized as superstition. And in many and many schools there is evidence that thoughtful students, who have been under Christian instruction for years, are reaching the point where, over against all religion, Christianity as well as the rest, they are writing the sinister word: Superstition.”
The Bible Union of China.—The statement issued calling on those who received the Bible as the Word of God to band themselves together in defence of its inspiration and its truths is interesting, and we quote the opening paragraphs, which are as follows:—”Being convinced that the state of both the Christian and non-Christian world demands unity of purpose and steadfastness of effort in preaching and teaching the fundamental and saving truths revealed in the Bible, especially those now being assailed, such as the Deity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, His Virgin Birth, His Atoning Sacrifice for Sin, and His Bodily Resurrection from the Dead; the Miracles, both of the Old and New Testament; the Personality and Work of the Holy Spirit; the New Birth of the Individual and the necessity of this as an essential prerequisite to Christian Social Service. We reaffirm our faith in the whole Bible as the inspired Word of God and the ultimate source of authority for Christian faith and practice. And unitedly signify our purpose ‘to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.’
A New-Year Address for the Young.—Mr. Forbes Moncrieff has issued his annual New-Year Address to the Young in a tastefully-printed and illustrated booklet. The author has a special talent in presenting sound, scriptural advice to the young in language which they can understand, and which arrests their attention. The illustrations help to catch the interest, which is maintained by the interesting style in which lessons of worth are taught the young. The booklet, which is remarkably cheap considering its get-up and the expense of printing, may be had from Mr. W. F. Henderson, George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh, for twopence, which, of course, does not include postage.