Entering Another Year.
We wish for all our readers at home and abroad, at this time, the blessing of the Lord, that maketh rich the soul in grace, and in view of all the experiences which may lie ahead in time, and especially in contemplation of Eternity. Many at this time may be recalling past trials, bereavements and sorrows, but as far as the children of the Covenant are concerned, the bitterest adversities will work for their good. There are, without doubt, past mercies which ought not to be forgotten. “Forget not all his benefits.” And there are those who have been laid aside in sickness and trouble, among them the servants of the Lord in the gospel, and for them, we and other friends desire restoration to health and vigour, with encouragement from the Word of Truth. We do not forget those in Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, who in these far off lands are connected with us as a Church, and desire the good of Zion. May they indeed be strengthened, encouraged and comforted by Him who is the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. We have reason to recognise that, “With us
he dealt not as we sinned,” and that we have been unprofitable. But may the Father of mercies shine upon us and all our readers, through His Son, Jesus Christ; and guide us in the way everlasting, as we take one step after another, as but sojourners on this earth, as all our fathers were. As others have said, “We know what is past, but we do not know what future days hold for us”; and we would remind our readers that there is One who is free from all changes, the Covenant God of Israel. May we all be enabled to put our trust under His wings of love and power, for time and eternity.
Women Proposed as Preachers.
An Overture from the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, of last May, sent down to Presbyteries of that Church, recommended the licensing of women who are designated deaconesses, to preach. By this procedure all the Presbyteries of above Church are required to give their official view of the proposal. So far the decisions of but one or two Presbyteries have been made known. The Presbytery of Strath Bogie, Aberdeenshire, rejected the recommendation, as it feared the standards of selection and training might be lower than those for men. And in the Presbytery of Turriff one minister opposed the idea of women preachers because “According to the Bible the sexes are not equal,” he said. Another minister of this Court supported the proposal, and he said that he had once heard an address by a woman on the subject of the Motherhood of God, and he could never have handled the theme as she did. What was meant by the “Motherhood of God” we can only conjecture. We do not find this strange doctrine in the Scriptures. Yet it influenced this Presbytery to vote for women preachers by 13 to 5. The dearth of candidates for the ministry and the difficulty in filling vacant congregations is behind this move to get the Church of Scotland ministers and office-bearers to agree to women being licensed to preach. If successful, the next step will be to propose that women be permitted into the full office of the ministry. The guidance of the Word of God is not sought, but deliberately ignored in the consideration of this recommendation. Paul, as an inspired writer, declares, “Let your women keep silence in the Churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak . . .” (I Cor. xiv.), and “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (I Tim. ii. 11-12, etc.). The Apostolic, Scriptural, and of course divine guidance is relegated to the background in this as in other concerns.
Glasgow Political Demonstration on a Sabbath.
Three thousand tickets were said to have been issued by organisers for Mr. Attlee’s Budget protest demonstration in St. Andrew’s Halls, Glasgow, held on the Lord’s Day, 4th December, last. This political Sabbath desecration will have its own reward. On his recent retiral
from leadership of the Labour Party and elevation to the House of Lords, Mr. Attlee was described by more than one speaker as a man of integrity. We would like to agree with this view so far. But true integrity is associated with truth; that is, with the Word and law of God and reverence for the same. But materialism, wherever it reigns, does not recognise the divine laws.
The Pope and a Vision.
It was reported recently that the Pope had seen a vision of Christ during his illness a year ago. He is said to have seen the figure of Christ at his bedside, and that it was not a dream. It was said that Jesus had come to comfort him. We know what we think of all this as coming from the Vatican. No doubt the Pope would like to claim what some of the Apostles actually experienced. The vision of Christ which will save a sinner and comfort a genuine Christian in trouble is by faith in Christ as He is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. The Church of Rome is so famed for reports of ludicrous visions and supposed miracles that this vision must be treated as religious propaganda.
St. Paul’s Cathedral Gives Place to Idolatry.
The London Evening Standard of 28th November last prints a large photograph of what is called the figures of the Virgin and Child. These are seen being completed in plaster by a woman sculptor in the artist’s studio. They were to be “the central figures in a set-piece of the stable at Bethlehem” for last “Christmas,” as it is called, in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Then they are to continue on view until the beginning of February. St. Paul’s, of the professed Protestant Church of England, is being wittingly and increasingly used for the introduction of things Romish, contrary to the law governing the Church of England. The image of the Virgin and Child depicts the Saviour as a helpless child. Two things appear here. Firstly, idolatry introduced to the House of God. And, secondly, Mary is set up overwhelmingly prominent. This is Roman Catholicism in St. Paul’s. What retrogression in religion as well as heinous sin. How possibly can spiritually needy sinners and exercised true Christians derive spiritual benefit or honour God through the instrumentality of plaster figures? They cannot.
New Status of Missionaries in India.
The English Churchman revealed recently that a new official policy towards the activities of Christian missions in India was made public last August, in the Indian Government Yearbook. In future no new missionaries will be permitted to enter India, either as replacements or as additional members of the mission unless Indians are not available. And while missionaries already in India will not be disturbed by the new policy “unless they come under adverse notice,” new arrivals must have outstanding qualifications or specialised experience. Other restrictions are mentioned. We have noted before in these
Notes that there is an organised movement in India, as in other Asian countries, to oppose and restrict the activities of anyone or anything specially related to Christ and the activities of the Gospel. This, of course, is the opposition of Pagan darkness actuated by Satan, the Prince of Darkness, which He who reigns at the right hand of God will overcome in His time.
Baptist Union of Scotland and World Council of Churches.
On Tuesday, 25th October, 1955, the Annual Assembly of the Baptist Union of Scotland met in Glasgow. At this meeting the Baptist Union decided not to rejoin the World Council of Churches for at least seven years. In a report of the Union’s debate on the subject, Rev. Murray MacLeod spoke and said it was a known fact that the aim of the World Council was to get Rome in by all possible means, and their missionaries were being persecuted by Rome in many parts of the world. Before the Union there was a majority recommendation of a special committee to rejoin the World Council of Churches, and in face of this recommendation the Assembly of the Union decided against rejoining for a period of seven years, when the situation would be reviewed. This was a right, essential and vital decision for the Baptist Union of Scotland to take. But we find that, “At its Church meeting on October 6th, 1955, Charlotte Baptist Chapel, Edinburgh, passed by an overwhelming majority the following resolution:—’That we the members of Charlotte Chapel, now withdraw from the membership of the Baptist Union of Scotland in view of its affiliation with the World Council of Churches, but we pledge ourselves to consider all means whereby we may continue to support the Evangelical Baptist Witness in Scotland'” (Irish Evangelical, December, 1955). As the Editor of the Irish Evangelical points out, this decision in Edinburgh was taken before the Baptist Union resolved to withdraw for seven years from the World Council of Churches, and that it does not satisfy the Edinburgh congregation, for it was taken, not altogether because of dissatisfaction with the World Council, but partly to preserve unity in the denomination. Now, in viewing the matter from outside, we perceive a modern trend in the Baptist Union which is rightly obnoxious to some within its pale; and which trend appears to have a majority backing, who did not force the issue, merely to preserve unity within the denomination, although the congregation in Edinburgh has separated from the Union and made a stand on principle. We know of like divisions within other denominations respecting questions of a like nature, although not immediately connected with the World Council of Churches. And where no action like the Charlotte Baptist Chapel’s has taken place. On this case of the Baptist Union there is a peculiar comment in the December issue of the Free Church of Scotland Monthly Record, viz., “It is highly probable that if the case for or against the W.C.C. had been taken on its merits, a majority would have been found for the W.C.C. That
so many declined to exercise their moral rights in the interests of their denomination’s unity is highly commendable and reflects a spirit which is not always found in our own assemblies. That it is in line with Scripture teaching there can be no doubt.” What gratuitous praise is here lavished upon a majority of men who at heart are supporters of the dangerous World Council of Churches! We are at a loss to assess the “moral rights” of these men who would, if they could (all things being equal) involve their denomination in the evil, modernistic and Romish outlook of such an organisation as the W.C.C. And yet they are thus publicly and highly commended for preserving what we call a hollow, external denominational unity. To say that modernistic minded men by not exercising their vote in a Church Assembly are “in line with Scripture teaching” is, to us, to say the least of it, amazing. We think it will require “Un-Reformed” theology to make more of this than we can.