Publication date
8/15/05
Volume
26
Number
16
The WatchTower
Views from the Watch Tower
The Watchtower Magazines
../literature/watchtower/1905/16/1905-16-1.html
 
 
VOL. 
XXVI 
ALLEGHENY, 
PA., 
AUGUST 
15, 
1905 
VIEWS 
FROM 
THE 
WATCH 
TOWER 
No. 
16 
THE 
CHURCH 
AND 
THE 
SCHOOL 
"the 
greatest 
home 
missionary 
field 
in 
the 
United 
States 
is 
New 
The 
endeavor 
to 
bring 
the 
public 
school 
system 
of 
England 
York 
City, 
and 
the 
sooner 
the 
churches 
realize 
it, 
the 
better 
it 
under 
the 
supervision 
of 
the 
church 
of 
England 
is 
causing 
con· 
will 
be 
for 
our 
city 
and 
our 
land." 
The 
Sun, 
reviewing 
the 
siderable 
friction, 
and 
amounts 
to 
a 
modern 
persecution 
for 
report, 
says: 
conscience' 
sake 
that 
reminds 
of 
the 
persecutions 
of 
the 
long 
"At 
present 
the 
aggregate 
of 
the 
distinctively 
Christian 
ago. 
Good 
people, 
whose 
consciences 
are 
perhaps 
not 
backed 
population 
of 
the 
town 
is 
only 
two-fifths 
of 
the 
whole. 
This 
by 
proper 
knowledge 
of 
the 
Lord's 
teachings 
on 
the 
subject, 
and 
includes 
the 
whole 
of 
the 
Roman 
Catholic 
population 
and 
the 
who 
therefore 
lack 
some 
measure 
of 
"the 
wisdom 
that 
cometh 
total 
number 
of 
Protestant 
communicants. 
Besides 
these 
the 
from 
above," 
are 
refusing 
to 
pay 
school 
taxes 
because 
such 
Federation 
estimates 
a 
total 
of 
about 
half 
a 
million 
Protestants 
taxes 
would 
support 
schools 
which 
they 
disapprove. 
They 
who 
attend 
church 
more 
or 
less 
regularly, 
and 
more 
than 
a 
thereby 
bring 
upon 
them 
the 
regular 
penalties: 
their 
goods 
are 
million 
Protestants 
who 
are 
'churchless,' 
or 
outside 
of 
any 
re­ 
sold 
to 
meet 
the 
debt 
and 
some, 
in 
default 
of 
the 
money, 
have 
ligious 
faith. 
been 
imprisoned. 
"New 
York, 
therefore, 
cannot 
now 
be 
called 
a 
Christian 
city. 
In 
Canada 
the 
same 
question 
is 
up 
in 
an<)ther 
form-the 
,Tews 
and 
infidels 
and 
the 
religiom;ly 
indifferent 
or 
unattached 
division 
of 
moneys 
raised 
by 
school 
taxes 
amongst 
sectarian 
constitute 
a 
majority 
of 
the 
inhllbitants. 
The 
Protestant 
per· 
schools. 
Many 
Canadians 
see 
in 
this 
an 
attack 
on 
the 
public 
centage 
is 
becoming 
less, 
the 
vast 
preponderance 
of 
the 
addi­ 
school 
system 
that 
would 
favor 
Romanism. 
They 
see 
correctly; 
tions 
to 
the 
population 
being 
of 
Roman 
Catholics 
and 
Jews. 
but 
those 
who 
see 
that 
"the 
time 
is 
short," 
after 
voicing 
a 
The 
total 
of 
Protestant 
communicants 
and 
church 
attendants, 
reasonable 
protest 
may 
safely 
and 
quietly 
leave 
all 
in 
the 
hands 
as 
estimated 
by 
the 
Federation, 
is 
only 
about 
as 
great 
as 
that 
of 
the 
Lord. 
of 
the 
Jews 
alone, 
and 
by 
1910 
it 
is 
likely 
to 
be 
much 
less. 
By 
The 
"Churchman" 
(Episcopalian) 
makes 
some 
sensible 
com· 
that 
time 
there 
will 
be 
more 
Jews 
here 
than 
natives 
of 
native 
ments 
on 
the 
subject. 
We 
quote: 
parentage. 
The 
Jewish 
population 
has 
increased 
from 
only 
"Does 
not 
the 
endeavor 
to 
ally 
the 
church 
and 
Christianity 
about 
3 
per 
cent 
of 
the 
whole 
in 
1880 
to 
nearly 
20 
per 
cent 
with 
the 
public 
school 
place 
the 
church 
in 
just 
as 
false 
a 
pOSI' 
in 
1905." 
tion 
as 
would 
the 
endeavor 
to 
ally 
it 
with 
the 
state? 
The 
NOMINAL 
CHRISTIANS 
DESCRIBED 
church 
represents 
Christ 
infinitely 
more 
than 
through 
a 
mere 
We 
hear 
boasts 
of 
the 
progress 
of 
Christianity 
in 
connection 
code 
of 
laws 
or 
a 
system 
of 
education. 
She 
is 
in 
the 
world 
with 
the 
project 
of 
converting 
the 
world. 
We 
see 
the 
estimate 
to 
convert, 
to 
inspire, 
and 
to 
furnish 
the 
enabling 
power 
for 
of 
four 
hundred 
millions 
of 
Christians. 
It 
is 
well 
that 
we 
the 
life 
of 
men 
and 
of 
society 
in 
its 
entirety. 
examine 
the 
following 
picture 
of 
some 
of 
this 
number-the 
"Definite 
religious 
teaching 
should 
be 
left 
where 
it 
belongs, 
great 
mass 
of 
them. 
We 
quote 
from 
the 
.New 
York 
Herald 
a 
to 
the 
church 
and 
to 
the 
horne. 
State 
officials 
could 
not 
teach 
description 
of 
the 
emigrants 
now 
coming 
to 
our 
shores. 
Alasl 
even 
the 
Ten 
Commandments 
in 
other 
than 
a 
perfunctory 
way 
the 
name 
Ohristian 
has 
corne 
to 
be 
a 
byword 
by 
reason 
of 
the 
without 
arousing 
controversy. 
It 
is 
because 
the 
church 
and 
attempt 
to 
count 
large 
numbers, 
and 
to 
stimulate 
the 
hope 
Christian 
parents 
have 
failed 
to 
give 
the 
religious 
instruction, 
that 
some 
day 
the 
heathen 
world 
will 
be 
converted 
to 
as 
good 
that 
they 
ought 
to 
have 
given, 
that 
the 
demand 
is 
made 
for 
conditions 
as 
is 
Christendom 
now. 
Alas! 
Christendom 
is 
such 
instruction 
in 
the 
public 
schools. 
With 
anxiety, 
it 
seems 
"Babylon" 
in 
God's 
esteem 
(Rev. 
18:4) 
and 
really 
worse 
than 
sometimes 
almost 
with 
desperation, 
they 
ask 
that 
the 
state 
heathendom-more 
excusable 
because 
of 
its 
grosser 
darkness, 
shall 
do 
what 
the 
church 
has 
failed 
to 
do. 
The 
state 
cannot 
denser 
blindness. 
If 
the 
400,000,000 
of 
Christendom 
commit 
do 
what 
they 
ask, 
but 
the 
church 
can. 
With 
renewed 
zeal 
and 
more 
and 
greater 
crimes 
and 
are 
every 
way 
more 
profane 
than 
the 
best 
educational 
methods 
she 
must 
supply 
the 
religious 
the 
1,100,000,000 
heathen, 
which 
most 
needs 
converting? 
instruction 
that 
the 
state 
and 
its 
schools 
cannot 
give." 
The 
Herald 
says: 
OHURCH 
UNION 
IN 
THE 
MAY 
OONVENTIONS 
"They 
are 
barbarians 
most 
of 
them. 
Subtracting 
a 
certain 
A 
marked 
tendency 
toward 
church 
union 
characterized 
the 
small 
percentage 
of 
fairly 
intelligent-a 
percentage 
drawn 
for 
May 
meetings 
of 
the 
various 
denominations 
this 
year. 
Among 
the 
most 
part 
from 
the 
better 
class 
of 
Scandinavians, 
Scotch 
the 
definite 
steps 
taken 
were 
the 
organizing 
by 
the 
Northern 
and 
Germans-the 
great 
residuum 
are 
to 
all 
appearances 
so 
and 
Southern 
Baptists 
of 
a 
permanent 
body 
to 
be 
known 
as 
the 
densely 
ignorant, 
so 
utterly 
alien 
to 
all 
our 
preconceived 
no, 
General 
Convention 
of 
the 
Baptists 
of 
North 
America; 
the 
tions 
of 
what 
constitutes 
civilization, 
that 
it 
is 
only 
with 
great 
agreement 
of 
the 
United 
Brethren, 
at 
their 
quadrennial 
con· 
difficulty 
that 
we 
force 
ourselves 
to 
remember 
that 
most 
of 
ference 
in 
Kansas 
City, 
to 
accept 
the 
plan 
of 
federation 
with 
them 
have 
been 
born 
and 
bred 
in 
the 
'Very 
8trongholds 
of 
OhriB­ 
the 
Congregationalists 
and 
the 
Methodist 
Protestants, 
l<;,oking 
tendom." 
to 
a 
complete 
consolidation 
in 
the 
future; 
and 
the 
action 
of 
REV. 
A. 
BEET, 
D. 
D. 
the 
General 
Assembly 
of 
the 
Presbyterian 
church 
to~ard 
com· 
pleting 
organic 
union 
with 
the 
Cumberland 
Presbyterians. 
The 
Some 
time 
ago 
we 
called 
attention 
to 
Professor 
Beet's 
aecep· 
vote 
approving 
the 
latter 
merger 
was 
taken 
on 
May 
22. 
Says 
tance 
of 
the 
Bible 
teaching 
of 
man's 
mortality: 
that 
eternal 
life 
a 
correspondent 
of 
the 
New 
York 
Herald 
in 
reference 
to 
this 
is 
God's 
gift 
through 
Christ 
to 
those 
only 
who 
become 
his 
fol- 
vote: 
lowers. 
"It 
was 
the 
final 
action 
of 
the 
General 
Assembly 
on 
one 
The 
following, 
clipped 
from 
the 
London 
Daily 
New8, 
explains 
of 
the 
greatest 
questions 
which 
have 
come 
before 
it 
since 
the 
the 
present 
situation. 
Professor 
Beet's 
fidelity 
to 
the 
truth 
Civil 
War, 
and 
brings 
back 
into 
that 
organization 
a 
branch 
he 
has 
already 
seen 
has 
led 
him 
to 
renounce 
his 
honorable 
posi­ 
which 
went 
out 
during 
the 
war 
because 
or 
differences 
over 
negro 
tion 
and 
good 
salary 
for 
conscience' 
sake. 
May 
he 
be 
abundantly 
slavery. 
blessed 
and 
led 
into 
the 
still 
deeper 
truths 
now 
due 
to 
the 
"If 
the 
opposition 
to 
the 
union 
has 
made 
any 
fight 
it 
has 
household 
of 
faith. 
We 
quote 
as 
follows: 
been 
chiefly 
at 
the 
secret 
meetings 
of 
the 
special 
canvassing 
When 
a 
man 
loves 
truth 
better 
than 
dignities 
and 
emolu­ 
committee 
appointed 
last 
Saturday, 
but 
there 
were 
today 
no 
ments, 
he 
is 
a 
man 
to 
be 
noted. 
Such 
a 
man 
is 
Dr. 
Agar 
Beet, 
signs 
of 
such 
a 
contest. 
The 
special 
committee 
in 
its 
report 
Theological 
Professor 
at 
Richmond 
Wesleyan 
College, 
England. 
canvassed 
the 
votes 
taken 
by 
presbyteries 
on 
the 
question 
of 
For 
eight 
years 
he 
has 
been 
under 
a 
cloud 
and 
an 
object 
of 
sus­ 
union. 
It 
showed 
144 
yeas 
to 
39 
noes. 
Two 
took 
no 
action, 
picion 
in 
certain 
Methodist 
circles 
on 
account 
of 
his 
Eschato- 
one 
goave 
conditional 
assent 
and 
five 
made 
no 
report." 
logical 
views. 
Under 
pressure 
he 
withdrew 
his 
book,. 
"Last 
The 
same 
correspondent 
gives 
the 
following 
further 
details: 
Things," 
from 
circulation, 
and 
gave 
reluctantly 
a 
promise 
not 
"The 
special 
committee 
in 
its 
recommendations 
asked 
that 
to 
issue 
another 
edition, 
"in 
order 
to 
avoid 
danger 
to 
the 
peace 
the 
proposition 
be 
referred 
to 
the 
Committee 
on 
COOperation 
of 
the 
church," 
and 
generally 
to 
keep 
silent 
on 
the 
dark 
ques· 
and 
Union; 
that 
the 
committee 
be 
increased 
in 
membership 
to 
tion 
of 
the 
doom 
of 
the 
lost 
until 
the 
Wesleyan 
Conference 
gave 
twenty-one; 
that 
it 
have 
power 
to 
confer 
with 
a 
committee 
permission 
for 
the 
book 
to 
be 
published. 
from 
the 
Cumberland 
church; 
that 
it 
find 
what 
details 
must 
be 
To 
an 
earnest 
seeker 
after 
truth 
the 
position 
became 
in­ 
worked 
out 
to 
consummate 
the 
union, 
and 
that 
a 
report 
be 
tolerable 
and 
impossible. 
It 
was 
not 
a 
matter 
of 
surprise 
that 
made 
to 
the 
General 
Assembly 
next 
year. 
after 
the 
last 
Conference 
had 
refused 
to 
unseal 
his 
lips 
he 
"This 
committee 
is 
to 
consider 
the 
corporate 
and 
legal 
promptly 
announced 
his 
intention 
to 
vacate 
his 
chair 
this 
year 
rights 
of 
both 
general 
assemblies. 
The 
purpose 
is 
to 
keep 
and 
claim 
freedom 
of 
thought 
and 
action. 
It 
was 
the 
only 
the 
consolidation 
within 
legal 
limits, 
that 
all 
civil 
suits 
and 
course 
possible. 
Better 
cease 
to 
be 
a 
Professor 
than 
be 
placed 
injunctions 
may 
be 
avoided." 
under 
an 
embargo 
of 
silence. 
THE 
RELIGIONS 
OF 
NEW 
YORK 
Rev. 
Dr. 
Beet 
said 
to 
a 
reporter: 
A 
journal 
styled 
Federation 
has 
gathered 
statistics 
of 
re- 
"What 
has 
brought 
about 
this 
crisis 
is 
that 
I 
can 
no 
longer 
ligious 
conditions 
in 
New 
York 
City. 
Its 
conclusions 
is 
tha.t 
withhold 
from 
the 
world 
a 
book 
that 
has 
already 
brought 
light 
(243-244) 
[3610] 
Vou. XXVI ALLEGHENY, PA., AUGUST 15, 1905 No. 16 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL The endeavor to bring the public school system of England under the supervision of the church of England is causing considerable friction, and amounts to a modern persecution for conscience’ sake that reminds of the persecutions of the long ago. Good people, whose consciences are perhaps not backed by proper knowledge of the Lord’s teachings on the subject, and who therefore lack some measure of “the wisdom that cometh from above,” are refusing to pay school taxes because such taxes would support schools which they disapprove. They thereby bring upon them the regular penalties: their goods are sold to meet the debt and some, in default of the money, have been imprisoned. In Canada the same question is up in angther form—the division of moneys raised by school taxes amongst sectarian schools. Many Canadians see in this an attack on the public school system that would favor Romanism. They see correctly ; but those who see that “the time is short,” after voicing a reasonable Protest may safely and quietly leave all in the hands of the Lord. The “Churchman” (Episcopalian) makes some sensible comments on the subject. We quote: “Does not the endeavor to ally the church and Christianity with the public school place the church in just as false a position as would the endeavor to ally it with the state? The church represents Christ infinitely more than through a mere code of laws or a system of education. She is in the world to convert, to inspire, and to furnish the enabling power for the life of men and of society in its entirety. “Definite religious teaching should be left where it belongs, to the church and to the home. State officials could not teach even the Ten Commandments in other than a perfunctory way without arousing controversy. It is because the church and Christian parents have failed to give the religious instruction, that they ought to have given, that the demand is made for such instruction in the public schools. With anxiety, it seems sometimes almost with desperation, they ask that the state shall do what the church has failed to do. The state cannot do what they ask, but the church can. With renewed zeal and the best educational methods she must supply the religious instruction that the state and its schools cannot give.” CHURCH UNION IN THE MAY CONVENTIONS A marked tendency toward church union characterized the May meetings of the various denominations this year. Among the definite steps taken were the organizing by the Northern and Southern Baptists of a permanent body to be known as the General Convention of the Baptists of North America; the agreement of the United Brethren, at their quadrennial conference in Kansag City, to accept the plan of federation with the Congregationalists and the Methodist Protestants, looking to a complete consolidation in the future; and the action of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church toward completing organic union with the Cumberland Presbyterians. The vote approving the latter merger was taken on May 22. Says a correspondent of the New York Herald in reference to this vote: “It was the final action of the General Assembly on one of the greatest questions which have come before it since the Civil War, and brings back into that organization a branch which went out during the war because or differences over negro slavery. “If the opposition to the union has made any fight it has been chiefly at the secret meetings of the special canvassing committee appointed last Saturday, but there were today no signs of such a contest. The special committee in its report canvassed the votes taken by presbyteries on the question of union. It showed 144 yeas to 39 noes. Two took no action, one gave conditional assent and five made no report.” The same correspondent gives the following further details: “The special committee in its recommendations asked that the proposition be referred to the Committee on Codperation and Union; that the committee be increased in membership to twenty-one; that it have power to confer with a committee from the Cumberland church; that it find what details must be worked out to consummate the union, and that a report be made to the General Assembly next year. “This committee is to consider the corporate and legal rights of both general assemblies. The purpose is to keep the consolidation within legal limits, that all civil suits and injunctions may be avoided.” THE RELIGIONS OF NEW YORK A journal styled Federation has gathered statistics of re ligious conditions in New York City. Its conclusions is that (243-244) “the greatest home missionary field in the United States is New York City, and the sooner the churches realize it, the better it will be for our city and our land.” The Sun, reviewing the report, says: “At present the aggregate of the distinctively Christian population of the town is only two-fifths of the whole. This includes the whole of the Roman Catholic population and the total number of Protestant communicants. Besides these the Federation estimates a total of about half a million Protestants who attend church more or less regularly, and more than a million Protestants who are ‘churchless,’ or outside of any religious faith. “New York, therefore, cannot now be called a Christian city. Jews and infidels and the religiously indifferent or unattached constitute a majority of the inhabitants. The Protestant percentage is becoming less, the vast preponderance of the additions to the population being of Roman Catholics and Jews. The total of Protestant communicants and church attendants, as estimated by the Federation, is only about as great as that of the Jews alone, and by 1910 it is likely to be much less. By that time there will be more Jews here than natives of native parentage. The Jewish population has increased from only about 3 per cent of the whole in 1880 to nearly 20 per cent in 1905.” NOMINAL CHRISTIANS DESCRIBED We hear boasts of the progress of Christianity in connection with the project of converting the world. We see the estimate of four hundred millions of Christians. It is well that we examine the following picture of some of this number—the great mass of them. We quote from the.New York Herald a description of the emigrants now coming to our shores, Alas! the name Christian has come to be a byword by reason of the attempt to count large numbers, and to stimulate the hope that some day the heathen world will be converted to as good conditions as is Christendom now. Alas! Christendom is “Babylon” in God’s esteem (Rev. 18:4) and really worse than heathendom— more excusable because of its grosser darkness, denser blindness. If the 400,000,000 of Christendom commit more and greater crimes and are every way more profane than the 1,100,000,000 heathen, which most needs converting? The Herald says: “They are barbarians most of them. Subtracting a certain small percentage of fairly intelligent—a percentage drawn for the most part from the better class of Scandinavians, Scotch and Germans—the great residuum are to all appearances so densely ignorant, so utterly alien to all our preconceived notions of what constitutes civilization, that it is only with great difficulty that we force ourselves to remember that most of them have been born and bred in the very strongholds of Christendom.” REV, A. BEET, D. D. Some time ago we called attention to Professor Beet’s acceptance of the Bible teaching of man’s mortality: that eternal life is God’s gift through Christ to those only who become his folowers, The following, clipped from the London Daily News, explains the present situation. Professor Beet’s fidelity to the truth he has already seen has led him to renounce his honorable position and good salary for conscience’ sake. May he be abundantly blessed and Jed into the still deeper truths now due to the household of faith. We quote as follows: When a man loves truth better than dignities and emoluments, he is a man to be noted. Such a man is Dr. Agar Beet, Theological Professor at Richmond Wesleyan College, England. For eight years he has been under a cloud and an object of sus icion in certain Methodist circles on account of his EschatoTogical views. Under pressure he withdrew his book, “Last Things,” from circulation, and gave reluctantly a promise not to issue another edition, “in order to avoid danger to the peace of the church,” and generally to keep silent on the dark question of the doom of the lost until the Wesleyan Conference gave permission for the book to be published. To an earnest seeker after truth the position became intolerable and impossible. It was not a matter of surprise that after the last Conference had refused to unseal his lips he promptly announced his intention to vacate his chair this year and claim freedom of thought and action. It was the only course possible. Better cease to be a Professor than be placed under an embargo of silence. Rev. Dr. Beet said to a reporter: “What has brought about this crisis is that I can no longer withhold from the world a book that has already brought light [3610]

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