AN ADDRESS TO STUDENTS.-In the Ledger of September 29th, there is given the report of an address by Prof. Drummond author of Natural Law in the Spiritual World," to the students of the University of Pennsylvania. He is engaged in the laudable effort to enlist educated young men in the service of Christ. The kind of appeal he makes may be perceived from the following extract: "We never interfere with a man's speculations; we respect the intellect. We try to make religion grow with them as they grow, so that instead of their holding religion, religion holds them. We have a creed, short and definite, and that is,Do right.' We carry along with us the men who live in the new ideas of this century. If a man believes in evolution we don't say to him, 'Cast it over. board,' but we show to him that where nature ceases, there a spiritual power must seize hold of him and develop his whole being to a likeness of perfect manhood We say not, save your souls, but save your lives. This word about the souls has no effect upon the best; and we are after the best. We ask them: What are you going to do with your lives? You will either waste your energies or achieve some truly great thing. Christianity will help you; it does not consist in going to meetings, but is a scheme set on foot by Christ for the amelioration of the world." This mode of address is open to criticism at more than one point. It fails to present the highest motives to a Christian life. Nor can Christianity ever be properly appreciated, if it be regarded merely as "a scheme set on foot by Christ for the amelioration of the world." We refer to this address, however, not to criticize, but to call attention to the great change that has come upon us in the forms in which the Christian faith is presented and urged, from those which prevailed a half a century ago. Saving the life for the highest and best uses is surely a different appeal from the one which would be used if the speaker were really convinced that these young men stood on the edge of an unspeakable torment of body and soul in an endless hell. Or if he believed that the unchangeable truth of God upon these highest subjects of man's origin and destiny had found expression in the Standards of his church, we would not have found this Scotch Presbyterian Professor urging upon these students, that Christianity does not deprive men of the right to investigate and to think. The effort we have made through this magazine to induce our church to revise its Standards, is an attempt to legitimize the liberty in thinking and preaching which has already come in upon us, and which has supplanted the old forms because the best Christian thought and feeling of our day has outgrown and discarded them. Above all things, the church's authorized formulas should be true to her convictions. The Rev. Joseph Parker, D.D., of London, is quoted as saying before the meeting of the Evangelical ministers of Boston that "the hope that the Lord's mercy would be found larger than the devil's malignity, is a growing hope and belief in England." We should say that the Christians in England are not making any new discovery. As long ago as the days of St. John it was a part of the Christian faith to believe that the Son of God was manifested for this very purpose-to destroy the works of the devil. The Andover Review, for October, makes out a strong case against those who, in their rejection of any possible hope for the heathen beyond the grave, open a wide door for their salvation in this life by an "implicit faith" in the essential Christ as presented to them in the voice of conscience. It quotes copiously from the early officers of the American Board, and from the opening sermons of its distinguished supporters appointed to open its sessions from time to time, to show that they gave no countenance to this theory that men may be saved through Christ without a knowledge of the gospel. CHRISTIANITY IN JAPAN.-A Japanese scholar, now in this country, in a recent article on "Japanese Religions and Christian ity," says: It is scarcely too much to say that the whole nation is ready to welcome Christianity, but it must be in its more rational and ethical form. I am fully convinced that Christianity, in its rigid orthodox form, will never obtain any general and firm hold over the minds of my countrymen. We believe this to be true. Only for the word "rational and ethical," we would substitute' scriptural." If the Bible scheme of Christianity were understood, it would be seen to be both rational and ethical" and even scientific The great defect in the socalled gospel that the church has been sending out to the nations is, that it has misconceived the very foundation doctrine of Christianity-converting its provision for a resurrection of the dead into a method by which God perpetuates the existence of countless myriads of His creatures for endless agony. EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. The Rev. E Petavel, of Geneva, Switzerland, who is well known as an able and fearless advocate of the truth of Eternal Life in Christ alone writes to us as follows: I heartily sympathize with your loyal and brave attitude; all the more as I happen to have been ordained also in a Presbyterian Church-the Church of the Reformer Farel at Neuchatel. Our Swiss Presbyterian Churches are not so tied up by written creeds as it seems yours are; nevertheless the views which we hold in common have not been received with great favor. It is only by hard fighting that they are gaining ground, but the more we are attacked, the more opportunities we have to testify on behalf of our convictions. The fortress of eternal torment is undermined and must surrender before very long. At Geneva for instance, no champion of the tradional dogma dares to meet us in a public discussion or even dares to preach on this subject, but we need to persevere strenuously until the living truth has replaced an effete superstition I feel inclined to admit that you are right in suggesting that the resurrection of the wicked may be the merciful means appointed for the ultimate probation and salvation of many; else we are somewhat at a loss to find the cui bono of their resurrection. A Presbyterian Clergyman writes to us from the West : While I cannot say that I accept your particular doctrine, yet I am in sympathy with the general drift and purpose of your labor to secure a revision and adjustment of our Confession, so that it shall express the convictions of the Bible students of to-day. We are approaching, if not already in, the current of theological transition from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. It ought to come and must come if the church is to go forward to her rightful conquest. VOL. III.] DECEMBER, 1887. [No. 12. JUST PUBLISHED: THE FIRE OF GOD'S ANGER: OR Light from the Old Testament upon the New Testament teaching concerning Future Punishment, by L. C. BAKER. This volume consists of a series of Bible Studies, from a new point of view, upon the great questions of human destiny, with Preface, and a copious Index of topics, and of Scripture Texts. Price 75 cents, or if sent by mail, 80 cents. Five copies to one address, $3.00. By enclosing $1.00, the magazine will be sent for three months with this volume: or for one year for $1.50. Address, L. C. BAKER, No. 2022 Delancy Place, Philadelphia, Pa. WHO WILL HELP? We urge our readers to aid in spreading the truth by aiding in the circulation of this book. The church at large is feeding on a mutilated gospel, because it has not learned the meaning of its primary fact-the resurrection of the dead. This book restores this doctrine to its true place of "hope" in the Christian scheme. If any of our subscribers will engage in the work of distributing it through a canvass, or in a more private way of obtaining a few purchasers among their friends, we will be glad to send to such a sample copy. Such helpers may retain a commission on each volume ordered of one-third the price. ANOTHER VOLUME CLOSED. This number closes the third volume of this magazine. It is but fair to our readers, to state that we for some time hesitated before deciding to encounter the labors and sacrifices of another volume. It was not because we do not believe this magazine to be needed and to be acomplishing a most important work. We know that it has made a strong impression on many thoughtful Christians. We believe that it has been laying the foundations of a new interpretation of the great plan of God as revealed in His Word, upon which the church can successfully resist all future assults upon it, and build itself up into that unity and perfection which shall make her to be such a channel of God's saving health as she has never been before. But, as was to be expected, men are very reluctant to move out of long established systems of interpretation, even though they feel them to be tottering under their feet. And hence such a work as ours has to make its way with but little human support. Many who secretly wish it success will not commit themselves to it, even to the extent of a subscription. And yet to accomplish its end it must be brought to the attention of those who do nothing to sustain it, or even look upon it with cold suspicion. This requires a large gratuitous distribution. It has been therefore a serious burden to carry on this magazine. And yet so satisfied are we that this work is of God that we have resolved to continue it for another year, and to ask the friends who have thus far aided it by their subscriptions and sympathies to stand by it for this coming year, until the will of God may be made more |