The Irish Presbyterian Church on the Down-grade.—
For years this Church, which was long a bulwark of orthodoxy, has been gradually slipping from the old moorings. The drift, to begin with, was not very perceptible; then came the tolerance and acceptance of the teaching of Prof. David Smith, Prof. J. E. Davey, and others. In June, Dr. Waddell, from the Moderator’s Chair, among other disturbing utterances, said: “He thought they might say Jesus did not claim infallible authority in everything.” He also said: “It used to be argued that the miracles of Jesus proved his divinity. As a matter of fact, His followers occasionally did similar things, and many of these miracles are to-day being done by people to whom we should never think of ascribing divine power.” These utterances indicate the strides Modernism has made in this once noble Church when they could be tolerated from the Moderator’s Chair. Is the Irish Presbyterian Church drifting to the Arianism from which under God she was delivered, in the early nineteenth century, by her great leader, Dr. Henry Cooke?
Situation in Palestine.—
At the time of writing this note, the situation in Palestine is very serious. Both Jews and Arabs have resorted to bombing and many deaths have resulted. Troops have been ordered to the disaffected parts and instructions given to warships to proceed to Haifa. All this is very disconcerting, especially to those who expected such great things through the Balfour Mandate. The spirit of civil war is evidently abroad and the Government of Palestine have a heavy task on hand. The curse invoked by their fathers is following them wherever the Jews go. When will the happy day dawn for them and for the Gentile nations when Israel shall acknowledge their true Messiah?
The Downward Trend of the Larger Presbyterian Churches in America.—
From the Presbyterian Guardian (July) just to hand, it is far from encouraging to learn that not only the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian Church) has drifted far from its original moorings, but that the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (Southern Presbyterian Church) is also evidently on the down-grade. At its last Assembly, it voted for a change in the Confession “so as to weaken the Biblical and Calvinistic statement on election.” In the Northern Presbyterian Church, “the-fighting-within-the-Church-party” are having their troubles as we anticipated. These conservatives are banded together in the “Presbyterian League of Faith.” Dr. Clarence E. Macartney, at a meeting of the League, protested against the recent appointment of Dr. Homrighausen to a professor’s chair in Princeton Seminary, of which Dr. John A. Mackay (who was brought up a Free Presbyterian) is President. Dr. Macartney’s proposed solution, now that Princeton is on the downward path, is to set up a new seminary. The true solution, in our estimation, is for the conservatives to clear out.
New Inroads on Sabbath Observance in Lorn.—
Sabbath-breakers are getting bolder and bolder. A few years ago Sabbath work and games would not be even thought of in the Highlands, to say nothing of being practised, but these days are gone. Only recently the Glen Cruitten Golf Course at Oban has been opened for play on the Lord’s Day, while the contractors of certain sections of the new Dalmally-Oban road have been remonstrated with for allowing work on the Lord’s Day. So serious have these inroads become, that the Presbytery of Lorn have entered an emphatic protest against these happenings. He would be a bold man who would plead necessity and mercy for sport and road-making. Public opinion, at one time, would hold these desecrators of the Lord’s Day in check but now they have become so emboldened that they flout the religious convictions of the community and ride rough-shod over the time-honoured and scriptural customs of the people of these districts. Since writing the foregoing we learn from the press that Oban Town Council have also protested against the Glen Cruitten Golf Course being open for play on the Lord’s Day.