Christmas in Scotland.—The Scottish correspondent of the British Weely informs the readers of his paper that owing to Christmas falling on a Sabbath “the people of Scotland have been able this year to join unreservedly with those of England in the religious observance of the season. The difficulty in other years has been the fact that business is not suspended on Christmas day in Scotland, although there is a steadily growing tendency in that direction.” Steadily but surely English religious customs are creeping into Scotland. The sturdy religious independence, which at one time characterised the Scottish people, is fast passing away and will soon be a memory of the past. As has been stated time and again in our pages, there is (1) no scriptural authority for the observance of this Romish festival; (2) whatever the date of the Saviour’s birth was, it is generally recognised by the foremost chronologists that it could not be the 25th of December; (3) the observance of Christmas runs right in the face of the Puritan and Presbyterian dictum that what is not commanded in Scripture is not permissible. What the “judicious Hooker” in his plausible argument for the retention of ceremonies, holy days, etc., was not able to do the laxity of religion and the spurious charity of a people who have neither the desire nor courage to be singular has accomplished. As far as Presbyterianism is concerned it requires no prophetic vision to see that the acceptance of these Anglican customs is but the forerunner of the incoming of others from the same source.
Dancing and the Church.—A friend has sent us a copy of the Evening Star (New Zealand) in which there is a report of an animated debate on the above subject in the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand held at the beginning of November of last year. It appears that the Presbyterians, at least many of them, like so many Presbyterians
in our own country, are bent on having the world as an active partner in the Church. The Christchurch Presbytery had over-tured the Assembly asking for a definite pronouncement on dancing. Dr. Paterson moved that the Assembly affirm the principle of liberty of conscience, urge sessions to exercise careful supervision over dances where they are permitted as church functions, and recommend that funds for church purposes should not be raised by this means. The Rev. T. Miller spoke against the motion. He strongly denounced promiscuous dancing and condemned the practice introduced into the secondary schools permitting mixed dancing. Prof. Dickie, a Scotsman and a Modernist, boldly proclaimed on the floor of the Assembly that many members of the House enjoyed dancing. Dancing was regularly conducted at Knox College, under proper supervision and with full concurrence of the Master. “If the Presbyterian Church,” he said, “frowns on dancing, it is as turning to other churches and saying: ‘Look at us—we are holier than you are!'” Dr. Paterson’s motion was defeated by one vote. The vote indicates how successfully the world has invaded the New Zealand Presbyterian Church. We have no doubt there are many within her borders who are deeply grieved by the help the devil is receiving from professors, ministers, and members. When dances are permitted by the Authorities in Knox College, where the coming ministry is being trained, what need one expect.
Student Life at Westminster Seminary.—This is the theological training college for the students of the Presbyterian Church of America. In a brief article of the Presbyterian Guardian, preceding the account of the religious activities, there is the following paragraph: “The different activities of life at Westminster are directed by student committees. The athletic committee, for instance, has Mr. John Gray of Brooklyn, N.Y., as its chairman. Mr. Gray has recently coached our touch football team to two victories over other Philadelphia seminaries, and thus our team has the splendid record of being undefeated for the season. Likewise the fall invitation ping-pong tournament
aroused much interest; it was finally won by Mr. Susumu Ikezuki of Engaru, Hokkaido, Japan. As part of our recreational life, a Christmas party was arranged by Mr. John Hills of Trenton, N.J., head of the social Committee. The party was held on December 14th. After dinner appropriate dime-store gifts were distributed to the students by a make-shift Santa Claus. This was followed by “stunts.”
The Presbyterian Drift in U.S.A.—The drift of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian Church), is so serious that those who have left it and formed the Presbyterian Church of America do not hesitate to designate it an apostate Church. The conservatives who remained within to fight the battle, as they said, like the Constitutionalists in the Free Church in 1893, are not making very much headway, if any at all, in stemming the on-rush of liberalistic teaching. The United Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A., too, which at one time witnessed against instrumental music and hymns in divine worship has drifted away from its original moorings. The latest to be affected by this drift is the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern Presbyterian Church). For many years this Church stood out against the inroads of Modernism, but the theological discontent of men who have “scruples” as to doctrines contained in the Confession of Faith which they had signed, has acted as an urge for creed revision. The wider union cry will soon be heard, if not already, in the Presbyterian Church of the U.S. When one remembers some of the theologians of the Southern Presbyterian Church and their strong stand on the side of orthodoxy it grieves one to learn that this Church should follow in the train of so many of the Presbyterian Churches throughout the world.
“The Bible: What it is and what it is not.”—This is one of the latest booklets issued by the Church of Scotland Committee on Publications and is the work of the Rev. Fred. D.
Langlands, D.D., minister of Old and St. Paul’s Church, Galashiels. In view of the criticism to be offered it is only fair to this Committee to say that they state: “The writers of the booklets in this series have been given the fullest liberty in dealing with their respective subjects, and the Church of Scotland is not to be regarded as necessarily committed to all the views presented.” Dr. Langlands has dealt with his subject in a very interesting way and presented useful information to his readers. One regrets that commendation must here end for the booklet bare-facedly presents the viewpoint of the Modernist on the Bible. The author belongs to the “mediating school” of the Higher Criticism and after his kind he makes a bold effort to restore confidence in the Bible after striking at the very roots of its integrity. The hoary objections that the Bible is not a book of science, that it is not necessary for a Christian to believe that sin entered the world through Satan in the guise of a serpent, that Balaam’s ass spoke, that a whale swallowed Jonah, that every prophecy in the Bible is to be literally fulfilled, and that there are two accounts of the creation in Genesis, etc., have all been satisfactorily met and exposed by eminent conservative scholars but Dr. Langlands holds on his way as if these scholars never existed and their writings were never printed. Notwithstanding the fact that many of the foremost scientists and biologists have left the Darwinian Camp Dr. Langlands places Darwin on a high pedestal. The kind of inspiration held by him is worse than useless. There was a day in Scotland when the teaching set forth in this booklet would have caused keen controversy and would be denounced by men who received the Word of God in its integrity and infallibility. Surely there are still many in the Church of Scotland who are wounded and grieved at such teaching. It cannot be that all within this great Church are drugged by the poison of the newer teaching. It has always been an insoluble mystery to us how men who held office in the Free Presbyterian Church and joined the Church of Scotland, or are making an attempt to join it, can be at ease on entering this Church when such teaching is allowed.