Mr. Brider’s Mission to Soldiers and Sailors.
Mr. Brider still continues his useful and praiseworthy work of sending good literature to our soldiers and sailors and he is encouraged by the grateful letters he receives often from the recipients. The Mission, like many other good causes, is feeling increasingly the financial depression and last year has been one of the worst ever experienced. It is to be hoped that Mr. Brider will receive encouragement to continue his good work. His address is:—Mr. R. E. Brider, 21 Firfield Street, Bristol.
The Oxford Group Movement or Buchmanism.
In notice of a booklet we made reference recently to this extraordinary movement in the religious world. Since then we have read some of the literature issued by supporters of the Movement. In our estimation it has serious defects. (1) Stress is laid upon sin as selfishness—this is very inadequate. (2) The Movement as such, whatever may be said of some of its supporters, does not seem to give the place to the atonement which it occupies in Scripture. (3) It does not emphasise the principle of separation from the world as it ought to do. It has made its effect felt in Scotland, England, South Africa, U.S.A., and Canada. It is not to be confused with the Oxford Movement which was launched a century ago and which headed towards Rome. Christianity To-day (January) calls attention in an editorial note to a statement made by the Rev. Harold T. Commons, a Baptist pastor of Atlantic City, N.J. Mr. Commons says: “After three years on ‘the inside’ I finally severed my connection with the Group out of loyalty to my Lord, for I realized that it is actually far removed from real New Testament Christianity.” Mr. Commons concludes that Buchmanism (pronounced Bookmanism) so called after its founder, Rev. Frank Buchman is “one of the many counterfeits and delusions of the latter days.” Dr. Craig says in his editorial note: “Such knowledge as we have of this movement does not lead us to rejoice greatly at the apparent success that is attending its advocates. We cannot agree with them that what they are propagating is in any adequate sense of the word first century Christianity or even that the methods they employ are those that the Apostles employed. The very fact that Modernists and Fundamentalists seem equally at home within its fellowship indicates that there is nothing very distinctively Christian about the Movement”—Christianity To-day (Philadelphia, U.S.A.).