Our Readers.—By the time this issue will be read another year will have begun its course. The last year has been one that has been peculiarly trying to many of our readers through the widespread depression in trade. Thousands have been thrown out of employment and cannot get work however keen they are to be employed. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to those families connected with us who have come within the sweep of the tidal wave of unemployment. To many of our readers the past year may have brought sorrow to their homes—there are vacant places never to be filled in time; for all such we pray that the Lord Himself would sanctify these dispensations of His providence. As a Church some of our outstanding laymen have been removed and others though not prominent in the public eye but true pleaders at a throne of grace have been called to their rest and we shall miss their prayers. We wish all our readers, old and young at home and abroad, the richest blessings of Heaven, and our prayer is that the sun may shine through the dark clouds of depression in the coming year. At the time of writing there are glimmers of a better time.
An Edited Bible.—The critics of the Bible are getting bolder—at least they are coming out more into the open. Only recently the utterance of a minister (Rev. Hamish Mackenzie) in reference to the Old Testament caused some controversy in the press. Nowadays one need not wonder at anything that may come from a certain school of ministers. They are the slaves of their German masters. The Bible also is coming under the fire of teachers. Recently an article on the “Bible in School” by Mr. William Welsh appeared in the Scottish Educational Journal. Mr. Welsh is an advocate for an “expurgated Bible.” Some of the Bible stories do not meet with his approval. If the Holy Ghost saw meet to record these stories, then we are more than impudent, we are daring, if we seek to have them omitted or changed. To such critics we advance the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Old Testament Scriptures. He laid His hand upon them and sealed them by His divine authority. The Pharisaic attitude was I am holier than thou, but it is ten thousand times worse when men say they are holier than the Lord Jesus Christ—at least that is quite a legitimate inference to draw from some of their statements. In connection with this subject we recommend to your younger readers Dr. Saphir’s Christ and the Scriptures.
Serious Religious Situation in Germany.—The religious situation in Germany is now becoming clearer. The extraordinary dictatorial powers of Hitler are not confined to the State. He is laying his hand ruthlessly on the liberties of the Church also. In a series of articles which appeared in the Manchester Guardian, cuttings of which have been kindly sent to us by a friend, there is presented as clear an account of the situation as we have read anywhere. Dr. Karl Barth, the leader of the Neo-Calvinism School, has spoken out in a pamphlet which has now been translated into English and is published by Hodder & Stoughton. Pastor Vogel has also published “65 Theses” in a German periodical, in which he joins issue with the Hitler ecclesiastical scheme. Whether there is sufficient stamina in these to make them leaders to join issues with a system that threatens the liberty and very life of the Church in Germany remains to be seen. We have some idea of Dr. Barth’s doctrinal standing, but we have no idea where Pastor Vogel stands. Were we assured that both these leaders took their stand on the infallible Word of God we would have more hopes of a successful issue in the struggle. Unfortunately Dr. Barth is not as sound on the doctrine of Holy Scripture as we would like him to be. This means going into the conflict with a wooden sword instead of one of tempered steel. But what, may some of our readers ask, is all the controversy about? We will endeavour to explain as briefly as we can in the succeeding note.
German Christians.—On 5th and 6th September the Prussian General Synod, which under pressure of the Hitler Dictatorship had become a packed jury, passed a number of regulations whereby the clergy in future were to be supporters of the National State. They were to be of Aryan descent and if married they were to be married to an Aryan. There was a good deal of opposition to these regulations, but it was brushed aside. The new “Single German Evangelical Church” is a union of the Churches of Prussia, Saxony, and the other federal States. Its Primate is Bishop Ludwig Müller, who supplanted the freely elected Bishop von Bodelschwingh against the will of the ecclesiastical authorities and the congregations. “The Church,” according to one the German Christians as the new organisation is called, “must be the Church of German Christians—that is to say, Christians of Aryan race.” The Hitler scheme is Erastianism of a more thorough going kind than existed in the Lutheran Consistorial polity. The Manchester Guardian correspondent says that 2000 pastors, followers of Dr. von Bodelschwingh, have entered into a covenant binding themselves to do their duty as servants “of the Word in sole allegiance to Holy Writ and to the Confessions of the Reformation as the true interpretation of Holy Writ.” We shall watch this struggle with interest, for there can be no doubt but Hitler has created an extraordinary situation not only in the State but also in the Church.
The German Religious Crisis.—New developments have taken place since the above notes were written. Reich Bishop Müller has made attempts to conciliate the opposition, but it would appear from latest reports he has not been successful. Hitler, who is a Roman Catholic, is reported as being annoyed at the publicity that has been given to the controversy. The Government are not sparing Roman Catholic priests who have criticised the Government. One has been imprisoned for five months for libelling the Chancellor and another to one month’s imprisonment in a fortress. These are the first that have been sentenced since the Concordat entered into with the Vatican in September. It will be interesting to watch the Vatican’s move.
How Heretics are Treated Nowadays.—Recently the Baptist Union for sufficient reasons struck the name of Pastor Eric Roberts, Grantown, off the list of accredited ministers of the Union. Mr. Roberts, it seems, had adopted Arian views. One would have thought that such a lapse from orthodoxy would be regarded as a dishonourable thing, especially by those professing to believe in the Deity of the Lord Jesus, but what do we find? The services of Mr. Roberts to the town are to be honoured and the newspapers report that the promoters of the public testimonial include the two Church of Scotland ministers and the Episcopalian minister. Now we take nothing to do with the claim that Mr. Roberts may have to the recognition of his work as a citizen of Grantown, but we predict that Mr. Roberts’ services though he lived to the age of Methuselah might possibly go unrecognised had it not been for his heresy and the faithful dealing of the Baptist Union in casting him out. Then, why should ministers who profess to be servants of the Lord Jesus lend their influence in promoting a testimonial to one who so dishonoured that Master by denying His true Deity? Things have come to a strange pass when such things are possible.
The Holy Tryst.—In a preface to this booklet we are informed that its purpose is “to help members [of the Church of Scotland Prayer Union] to maintain the habit of daily prayer for the work of the Church at home and abroad, both in private and at family worship.” Information is given with regard to each mission field and the nature of the work carried on by the missionaries for quickening sympathy and making the prayers more intimate and direct. With this end in view the compilers have not only made suggestions for prayer, but they have composed a considerable number of prayers for use. In a short space like this we cannot enter into a detailed criticism of these prayers, but three outstanding defects may me mentioned, viz.: (1) The universal Fatherhood doctrine is acknowledged; (2) there is a woeful lack of confession of sin; (3) dependence on the Holy Spirit’s work is rarely acknowledged. These are serious defects prevailing as they do in so many of the prayers. We are opposed to composed prayers like this on any occasion, and when we discover such defects as mentioned above there is all the more reason for condemnation. The booklet has a foreword by the Moderator, Dr. Lauchlan Maclean Watt, which concludes as follows:—
“For I have a Tryst to keep:
It was plighted long ago,
With some who lie asleep.”
The Tryst-keepers weave peace around the world, and bind this dusty star, with its graves, about the feet of God, clothed in a resurrection hope.” This may be the language of a Celtic mystic; to us it is worse than meaningless.
Gospel Book Mission to the Army and Navy.—Mr. Brider has sent us his annual report. Parcels and boxes of literature to the number of 2250 were sent to various garrison towns and naval stations at home as well as distant stations in the nation. We are sorry to see that this good cause, like so many others, is badly hit by the trade depression. The amount subscribed last year was £74 9s. 6d., which taken in connection with the following quotation from the report, speaks for itself:—“As my friends know,” writes Mr. Brider, “I do not possess any private means whatever, neither do I take anything from the Book Mission Funds, but am wholly dependent upon the Lord for personal support.”
Christmas and New Year Festivities.—More and more Christmas as a religious observance is creeping into Scotland. Every year the number of Presbyterian Churches having Christmas services is growing. In the Scottish Episcopal Church and in the Ritualistic section of the Church of England the ritual is fast approaching that of Rome, if it has not already reached it. While Christmas is ostensibly held in commemoration of the birth of Christ it is too often given over to festivity and revelries which had their origin in paganism. As Presbyterians we should not forget that such festivals as Christmas, Easter, etc., were cast out by our Presbyterian forefathers at the Second Reformation, and we do not view their return as a sign for good. It is gratifying that the drunken revelry that used to accompany the beginning of the New Year in Scotland is dying out, but there is still too much of it. It is a poor way of beginning the New Year by ushering it in with rioting and drunkenness.
The Church and the Drama.—In an interview with Dr. Charles Warr, minister of St. Giles’, Edinburgh, reported in “Life and Work: the Record of the Church of Scotland,” we quote the following:—”The attitude of the Church to the drama should be one of genuine interest and friendly sympathy. The Church should bless every sincere effort towards the intelligent interpretation of human life. We must try to preserve a large heart for humanity. Above all, the clergy should regard it as their duty to widen their cultural horizon. Let us remember that if the Church is to be the spiritual home of mankind, it must spread its arms very wide. The attitude of the Church to the theatre has undergone strange fluctuations. From the sixth to the eleventh century the theatre was completely obliterated from Europe through the Church’s hostility, and then, curiously, in the twelfth century, by the Church itself embarking on the production of the Miracle and Mystery play, to be followed later by the Morality play, the drama was reborn in the Western World. The theatre, thus, was both killed and resurrected by the Church.” It would seem that some ministers are not satisfied with the worldliness which characterises so many churches in Scotland they must open the doors as wide as possible.
New Year’s Day Services.—Most of our congregations, we believe, are in the habit of meeting for a short religious service on New Year’s Day. It has been said by some that while we condemn the religious observance of Christmas we are observing New Year’s Day instead. This is not so, we attach no religious significance to the day. The Free Presbyterians were not the originators of these New Year’s Day services. They were begun by those who considered it becoming on a day which is observed as a holiday and which marked the beginning of a new year and reminds us of the passing of the years that those so inclined should meet for prayer—rendering thanks to God for His kindness in the year that had passed and seeking his guidance for the year that had begun. Usually a short address appropriate to the occasion is given at these services.