Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1756-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more
Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA
Newspaper Page Text
Jos 4>i < UuHmHY I a! ? I ^ iThe Presbyterian of the South V0L 95- RICHMOND, VA., MARCH 30, 1921. No. 12 gc W VT'^'BI B I PROGRESSIVE \M | llkU>V ? B Uii HOME Mission receipts, at last accounts, were far behind. The last report showed that they were on March 21st $273,979 short of the amount asked by the General Assembly. The Assembly directed that 27 per ccnt. of all given for general benevolences should be assigned to this cause. Last year we are told i hat the Atlanta Committee did not receive anything like that proportion. The cause needs all of its apportionment and more. It needs special gifts from those whom God has Messed, in order that it may give the gospel to the people of our own land. + + + EXTENSION work in connection with edu cational institutions has become quite common. Members of the faculty go to other communities and by lectures and otherwise carry to those who cannot attend the college or university some of the educational advantages that are given to its students. A somewhat ?similar plan has been put into operation throughout our Church. Recently five great Regional Laymen's Conventions have been held, :ind there have also been held a number of ^mailer conventions. Heretofore it has been felt that these conventions did not accomplish very much, as comparatively few of the men of any church attended and received the vi sion and inspiration of the convention. Now we are hearing from all over the Church that these men, since they have returned home, fully enthused with the desire to do more for the Master, are making public reports to their churches of what they learned and experienced in the conventions. The result is that these n?en themselves are receiving a greater benefit than they could in any other way. As they try to make others catch a vision of what they have seen and to feel what they have felt, their own vision is extended and their feelings are deepened. And they arc doing much to arouse the interest of their fellow-members in the Lord's work, and are inspiring them to enter more heartily into it. This is meaning far more to the Church than some may realize. Watch the results and see. PENNSYLVANIA seems determined to en force the prohibition law. That State is not waiting for the United States Government to look after its enforcement. A bill is now l>efore the Legislature to amend the State law so as to greatly increase the penalty attached to the violation of this law. For the first of fense the penalty will be a fine of from $100 to $1,000, or imprisonment for from 30 days to a year. For subsequent offenses the penalty will be a fine of from $500 to $5,000, or im prisonment for from 30 days to three years. In either case, the court may impose both fine and imprisonment at its discretion. No state ought to leave the enforcement of law within as its borders to the National Government, until it has used its own means to the limit. It is said that there is every reason to believe that this bill will soon become a law. ? + + TITHING is taking a strong hold upon the Church throughout this country. Several of the churches are making special effort to ad vance the practice among their people. The Northern Methodists have adopted as their slogan: "A Million Tithers in Methodism." The Baptists are saying: "A Million Tithers by 1022." The Disciples are trying to enlist 25 per ccnt. of their membership as tithers. The practice of tithing is growing rapidly in our own Church. There lias been in the past much discussion as to whether the law of the tithe is binding upon Cristians of this day. This question has not been decided and as a theoretical matter, it may never be decided. But the laymen of the Church are taking up the matter in a very practical way, trying to get as many people as possible to take the tithe as a basis for Christians of this day. They generally take the ground that a man ought to be willing to give at least that much in recognition of his obligations to God for 1 1 is goodness to him. One thing is very sure, if all the members of the churches gave a tithe of their income, the treasury of the Lord would be fuller than it has ever been, and more work for the salvation of the world would be done than has ever been done. We are sure that the Lord would raise no objection to this result of the application of the principle of the tithe, even if the law of the tithe is not now ? in force. DEMONIACAL possessions were common in the days of our Saviour on earth. It seems that the ilevil took that form of opposing the Saviour's work as what seemed to him the most effective he conld employ. When he felt that the Son of God was about to make a spe cially vigorous attack npon his stronghold on earth, he put forth his greatest efforts to resist it. Most people feel that this use of the demons of hell belonged only to those days. But there are some wise men who say that Satan is using the same means today to oppose the advance of the kingdom of God, especially where it seems to be making notable inroads into parts of the world where the devil has been reigning su preme. Rev. Hugh W. White, of our mission in China, along with other missionaries in that great republic, is ao thoroughly convinced that there are cases of demonical possession among the Chinese that ho is writing a book on the subject. We are looking forward with much interest to its publication. Accepting his view correct, the Church ought to put forth the most earnest effort to send increasing numbers of missionaries to carry to that country, which is certainly bound bv Satan, the gospel of the I;ord Jesus Christ, which alone can set the peo ple free from the bondage of Satan. HE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN says: "The announcement has been made bj the King of Siam of his betrothal to the Prix* cess Valabcha Devi, daughter of Prince Narad hip. She is a graduate of the Presbyterian School at Bangkok and a firm believer in the Christian faith. Following the betrothal, the father of the bride gave a reception to the teachers and pupils of the school in which his daughter had been educated. The King of Siam is well educated and sympathetic with the Christian work going on in his kingdom. It is expected that his marriage to this Christian princess will mean much to the work of the missionaries in Siam." + + + + ON SOLID ATION of the Boards of the 1 Church is one of the subjects that will occupy, the attention of the Northern General Assembly at its next meeting. They now have a large number of boards and it is proposed to follow the example of our Church and to re duce the number of them to about four. At first sight that would seem to be a good plan, but our well informed and wise contemporary, the Philadelphia Presbyterian, is of the opin ion the proposed plan will not bring about some of the improvements, which are said to l>e needed. Those who advocate the plan say that it will reduce the number of secretaries, that it will save expenses, and that it will remove friction. Our contemporary says: "The pos sible plan of consolidation as set forth in cur rent discussion is as follows: The boards of the Church are to be reduced to four, and a business house for publication. These boards after consolidation will be the Board of For eign Missions, New York; the Board of Home Missions, New York; the Board of General Education, New York; and the Board of Min isterial Belief and Sustentation, probably Philadelphia. The business house will be the Board of Publication, Philadelphia, whose sole work will be that of printing and publishing. The Board of Church Erection, the Board for Freedmen, the Board of Temperance, the Sal> bath-school, Educational and Young People's Departments of the Board of Publication, and the Permanent Committee on Evangelism will all become departments of the Board of Home Missions and all under liberal influence now already felt in the llome Board and in New York City. As we have indicated above, this will neither reduce expenses nor repress rivalry,"