Sermon by the Rev. Thomas Wilcox.
—We publish in this issue a sermon by the Rev. Thomas Wilcox sent us by a lady friend, and which we are sure our readers will enjoy. The Rev. Thomas Wilcox was a celebrated Puritan divine. He was born about 1549, and became minister of a congregation which worshipped in Honey Lane, London. He was sent to prison in 1572 as being one of the authors of “An Admonition to the Parliament.” On his release he was deprived of his living, and preached chiefly at Bovington, in Hertfordshire. His works were published in folio in 1624 and consist of expositions of the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, etc. He died in 1608.
The Anglo-Catholics.
—This is the name by which the Romish party in the Church of England designate themselves. Recently they had a great Conference in London to which the Bishop of London gave a presidential address. A telegram was sent to the Pope, which stated 16,000 Anglo-Catholics in Congress in London, “beg to offer their reverent greeting to the Holy Father, humbly praying that the day of peace may quickly break.” The Bishop of Zanzibar, a notorious Romaniser, said that “if it had not been for the Bishop of London, the Anglo-Catholic position in London would not be what it is to-day.” It seems that the Anglo-Catholic strong meat is too much even for the Bishop of London, for at his request two of the hymns on the programme were cancelled. The hymns in question were: “Through the streets of heaven, Mary, thou dost tread,” and “Ave Maria, blessed Maid, Lily of Eden’s fragrant shade.” In announcing this exercise of episcopal authority, the Bishop of Zanzibar gently broke the news to the Romanisers as follows—”I appeal to you who reverence our Lady Mary to remember that she is the Queen of Courtesy, and out of courtesy to our President, let us deny ourselves the joy of singing these hymns.” O self-denial what sins are often committed in thy name!
Acting a Sermon.
—Such is the heading of a paragraph in a recent issue of the “Daily News.” The acting referred to is not living up to the truth of God as preached in the pulpit, a beautiful but somewhat rare thing. The kind of “acting” is that successfully carried on by the devil in places of amusement as the words of the actor (we will not call him a minister) the Rev. G. E. Thorn, of the Congregational Church of Strangers, Peckham, clearly indicate. “We have a stage in the church,” he says, “with footlights. I have saturated my mind with the history of Abraham’s time, and the congregation is coming back with me as Abraham to my birthplace, and following me through my life. I shall be Abraham just as much as Bransby Williams will be David Copperfield at the Lyceum tonight. And, take my word for it, they will go home and dig out their Bibles, that have perhaps lain in some out of the way place for years. If I preach a sermon about Abraham they go away and think no more about it.” From the foregoing we should regard it as a mark of intelligence that sermons preached by such a man should be so treated. But God shall yet require it alike of preacher and people who have turned His Father’s House into a theatre.
George Wishart, the Martyr.
— The “Scotsman” recently printed an article on “Elphinstone Tower in Scottish Church History” by Mr Forbes Gray, in which there was a vivid description of Wishart’s preaching in East Lothian, his apprehension, trial, and martyrdom. The description was too much for the Jesuit priest, Father Power, whose love for historical truth seems somewhat out of place in a member of such a Society, so he girded on his controversial armour and wrote to the “Scotsman,” whose columns always seem open to men of his views. Wishart, according to Father Power, was found guilty of riotous assembly and street brawling to the danger and hurt of the lieges, and was hanged for the offence. After this his dead body was burned. So, according to the Jesuit, George Wishart was not really a martyr for the truth. He is joined in his attack on Wishart by the Rev. W. L. Sime, parish minister of Smailholm, who recently made an attack on Knox. Dr Hay Fleming, in the May “Bulwark,” has no difficulty in showing that Father Power’s history is stronger on the imaginative side than on that of fact. And as for the Rev. W. L. Sime, he disposes of him as a lion might dispose of a mouse. “I neither remonstrate with Mr Sime,” he says, “nor expect to convince him of error. His opacity is much too dense for that, and his bitter prejudice too deeply rooted.” It is to be hoped that after this Mr Sime will learn wisdom, even though it may be impossible for him to acquire a knowledge of Scottish church history. Dr Hay Fleming’s letter has since been reprinted by the Knox Club.
Is it the Turn of the Tide?
—In these times it is so common to find appointments to theological chairs given to men who are supporters of higher critical views that it is refreshing to read the inaugural address by Prof. F. J. Smith, M.A., on his appointment to the Chair of Hebrew in the Theological Hall of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria. Prof. Smith speaks out courageously in defence of the Bible and is hopeful the tide is turning. “Even in Germany,” he says, “the tide seems to be turning: Konig of Boun, in his ‘Commentary on Genesis’ of 1919, has, to a great extent, declared against them. St Clair Tisdall, in his article on ‘The Continental Criticism of the Higher Critics,’ shows how in Holland and Germany the tide is turning; and he blames the English text books and magazines for concealing the fact. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that Sayce and Flinders, Petrie and Naville, and similar archæologists, have never ceased to protest against both the Historical Criticism and the Higher Criticism founded upon it; while fine and exact English scholars, like Redpath, Lias, and Girdlestone, to say nothing of Scottish scholars, like Robertson and Orr, have never accepted the Higher or the Historical Criticism even from the first.” We know not what Prof. Smith’s doctrinal beliefs are, but if they are in keeping with the views held by the larger Presbyterian bodies of Australia we would not care to vouch for them; but it gives one pleasure to read the words of one bearing such an ill-omened name in biblical learning (for have we not had our Prof. Robertson, Smith, Principal Sir G. A. Smith, and Prof David Smith, with their American namesakes, Prof. H. P. Smith and Prof. Smith, of Chicago, all active and zealous propagators of erroneous views of the Bible) to find that there is one Smith whose anvil gives a truer ring than that which we have been accustomed to hear from his namesakes.
The Baptists of America and the Bible.
—In another place in this issue we make reference to the victory of the Modernists in the Northern Baptist Conference. The Fundamentalists have taken their defeat in the Conference by showing their opponents that while out-voted they are not to cease bearing witness to the inerrancy of the Scriptures. They have, accordingly, formed the Baptist Bible Union composed of all those in that denomination who believe the Bible to be the Word of God. Their chief spokesman is Dr Shields, of Toronto, whose fight in that city against Modernist and other forces we have watched with interest, for though Dr Shields holds views widely different from ours on certain points, and adopts methods with which we can not agree, yet we believe he is doing the right thing, though it should split the Baptist denomination in the States and Canada, in fighting the Modernist forces with all the eloquence of his voice and skill of pen. We watch with keen interest the battle going on in the Presbyterian and Baptist denominations of America on this vital matter, and pray that the Lord would arise and defend His own truth.
Liverpool and Games on the Lord’s Day.
—Recently the Liverpool City Council, by a vote of 66 to 25, declined to allow games in the city parks on the Sabbath. A few years ago the Council refused permission for even what is called sacred music to be played in the parks on the Lord’s Day. The newspaper report adds in reference to the above decisions:—”Religious bodies exercise much municipal political power in the city.” Liverpool is thus putting to shame a number of our Scottish cities and towns. The supporters of games on the Sabbath bear names that reveal unmistakably their nationality and in all probability their creed—they are Councillors Grogan and Hogan. If these gentlemen belong to the religious creed to which we surmise they do, they will probably have their consciences salved on the morning of the Lord’s Day by the priest, so that they may with greater liberty ignore God’s commandment for the rest of the day. It is encouraging to find the City of Liverpool by such a large majority taking its stand against the introduction of a “Continental Sunday.”
Population of Palestine.
—In view of the interest taken in Palestine, it is interesting to learn that there has been a great increase since the time it was visited by Dr Andrew Bonar and Mr Robert Murray Mac-Cheyne. The Jewish population at that date (1839) was reckoned to be about ten to twelve thousand. When Palestine came under the British mandate the Jews were estimated at seventy-six thousand. From a forecast of the latest census the number is reckoned at one hundred and twenty thousand. The Arab population is computed at 400,000 to 500,000. The whole population of Palestine at present is smaller than the population of Galilee in the days of the Redeemer’s sojourn on earth.