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THE    DISCIPLES    DIVINITY    HOUSE 

OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY    OF   CHICAGO 

j0^ 

Herbert  Lockwood  Willei  i 

Library 

Digitized  by  Vr\e  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

CARLI:  Consortium  of  Academic  and  Research  Libraries  in  Illinois 


http://www.archive.org/details/scroll1811910unse 


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THE    SCROLL 


VOLUME  XVIII     SEPTEMBER.  1921       NUMBER  I 

Published  by  The  Campbell  Institute  monthly  except 
July  and  August. 

Chicago,  111.  SEPTEMBER  1921 

The  present  issue  of  The  Scroll  contains  the  Consti- 
tution, By-Laws  and  Membership  List  of  the  Campbell 
Institute  revised  to  date. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  the  constitutional 
amendment  adopted  in  July,  1920,  opens  the  membership 
of  the  Institute  to  all  college  graduates.  No  election  is 
necessary.  Any  college  graduate  who  is  in  sympathy 
with  the  purposes  of  the  Institute,  as  expressed  in  Article 
II  of  the  Constitution,  is  entitled  to  be  enrolled  as  a 
regular  member  upon  sending  to  the  Secretary-Treasurer 
his  application  and  the  annual  fee  (three  dollars,  in- 
cluding subscription  to  The  Scroll). 

Section  3  of  Article  III  of  the  By-Laws  is  not  to  be 
strictly  construed.  No  one  is  expected  to  resign  because 
he  has  not  written  a  book  or  contributed  frequent  articles 
to  The  Scroll — however  highly  desirable  those  activi- 
ties may  be.  Read  again  the  definition  of  the  purposes 
of  the  Institute  in  Article  II  of  the  Constitution.  This 
is  to  be  taken  seriously.  Any  member  is  active  in  the 
work  of  the  Institute  who  is  keeping  alive  a  scholarly 
spirit,  trying  to  nourish  his  own  soul  and  his  neighbor's 
in  quiet  self -culture  and  deepening  spirituality,  and  en- 
deavoring to  do  productive  work  in  his  own  field.  These 
are  the  work  of  the  Campbell  Institute. 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

At  the  recent  annual  meeting  a  plan  was  approved  for 
the  establishment  of  a  loan  library  of  recent  important 
books  to  circulate  among  the  members  of  the  Institute, 
A  list  of  books  which  are  available  will  be  published  in 
an  early  issue  of  The  Scroll,  perhaps  the  next.  Mem- 
bers using  this  service  will  be  asked  to  pay  only  the 
postage  on  the  books  sent  to  them.  An  appropriation 
was  made  for  the  purchase  of  a  few  desirable  volumes 
for  the  nucleus  of  such  a  library.  Meanwhile,  please 
ixeed  two  requests: 

1.  Suggest,  on  a  post  card,  one  or  two  books  which 
you  think  might  profitably  be  circulated  or  which  you 
would  like  to  borrow.  This  will  guide  the  purchasing 
committee. 

2.  Send  a  book  or  two  which  you  have  read  and  found 
worthy  of  recommendation.  If  you  want  it  back  ulti- 
mately, write  in  it  your  name  and  the  date  when  you  wish 
it  returned.  Do  you  remember,  from  your  Anabasis,  how 
Cyrus  used  to  send  to  a  friend  a  half-eaten  fowl  or  a 
half-emptied  skin  of  wine,  saying:  'T  have  found  this 
so  unusually  fine  that  I  want  you  to  share  it  with  me." 
That  man  had  a  genius  for  friendship.  Try  it  with  a 
new  book  that  you  have  bought  and  read. 

Send  it  to  The  Scroll,  Box  277,  Faculty  Exchange, 
University  of  Chicago. 

In  a  later  issue  announcement  will  be  made  of  lectures 
by  members  of  the  Institute  which  will  be  available  at 
important  church  and  college  centers. 
« 

The  Twenty-fifth  Anniversary  meeting  of  the  Camp- 
bell Institute  was  in  every  way  a  success.  The  occasion 
v/as  properly  celebrated  by  adding  twenty-five  new  mem- 
bers, and  by  planning  to  widen  the  usefulness  of  the  In- 
stitute by  the  circulation  of  books  and  by  providing  lec- 
tures. 


THE  SCROLL Page  3 

THE  INSTITUTE  AT  THE  CONVENTION 


The  Scroll  must  leave  to  roomier  periodicals  the 
task  of  reporting  the  International  Convention  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ  at  Winona  Lake,  Ind.  It  was  far  too 
significant  an  event  to  be  disposed  of  in  a  paragraph  or 
two.  But  The  Scroll  cannot  omit  saying  that  it  was  an 
eventful  gathering  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Campbell 
Institute.  Owing  to  the  limited  possibilities  it  was  found 
impractical  to  hold  a  dinner,  and  as  a  substitute  an  in- 
formal meeting  was  called  for  ten  p.  m.  the  first  night  of 
the  convention.  The  next  night,  another.  And  so  on 
every  night  of  the  convention  with  growing  interest  and 
an  increasing  company  of  members  and  other  congenial 
spirits.  There  was  much  profitable  talk  about  the  new 
Institute  plans,  about  the  enlargement  of  its  membership, 
about  educational  movements  and  prospects  among  the 
Disciples.  Leslie  Morgan,  after  twenty-one  years  in  Eng- 
land, was  a  fountain  of  first-hand  information  about 
conditions  there.  The  arrival  of  Alva  Taylor,  who  came 
to  Winona  direct  from  London  and  Berlin,  where  he  has 
been  investigating  social  and  economic  conditions,  and 
his  presence  and  talk  in  these  gatherings  not  only  brought 
to  the  group  a  body  of  fresh,  authentic  and  direct  infor- 
mation about  European  conditions,  but  in  a  sense  symbol- 
ized the  very  things  which  the  Institute  most  earnestly 
stresses — Fellowship  and  Scholarship.  It  symbolized  fel- 
lowship both  because  it  was  good  to  grip  hands  with  a 
friend  who  had  so  recently  returned  from  abroad  ("land- 
ed yesterday,"  he  told  us),  and  because  he  had  been  upon 
an  important  errand  in  the  interest  of  international  amity 
and  understanding ;  and  scholarship,  because  he  came 
back  to  us  not  with  an  assortment  of  interesting  opinions 


Page  4 THE  SCROLL 

and  theories  about  European  affairs,  but  with  a  substan- 
tial array  of  facts  gathered  by  direct  observation. 

Friday  evening  Dean  Charles  R.  Brown,  of  Yale  Di- 
vinity School,  and  the  Yale  group  joined  in  the  Institute 
meeting  as  most  welcome  visitors.  Dean  Brown  had 
given  two  addresses  before  the  Convention  during  the 
day. 

There  was  no  roll-call,  but  forty-six  members  of  the 
Institute  were  counted  at  the  Convention.  There  were 
probably  more.  In  addition,  seventeen  men  gave  their 
names  as  new  members.  Their  names  are  included  in  the 
list  published  in  this  issue.  The  hand  of  greeting  is  here- 
by extended  to  them. 


IMPORTANT  NOTICE 


At  the  request  of  any  member,  The  Scroll  will  be 
sent  free  for  one  year  to  one  person  who  is  not  a  member 
of  the  Institute.  The  treasurer  believes  that  the  Institute 
can  afford  to  allow  each  member  two  copies  of  The 
Scroll,  one  to  be  sent  to  a  friend.  In  addition,  The 
Scroll  will  be  sent  to  any  number  of  friends  for  a  year 
at  one  dollar  each.  But  quite  apart  from  that  apparently 
mercenary — but  really  missionary — suggestion,  each 
member  is  entitled  to  one  extra  copy. 

Address  a  card  to  The  Scroll,  Box  277,  Faculty  Ex- 
change, University  of  Chicago,  giving  the  name  and  ad- 
dress to  which  you  wish  the  extra  copy  sent,  and  your 
own  name.  The  same  postcard  will  carry,  without  extra 
postage,  both  this  information  and  that  elsewhere  re- 
quested in  regard  to  books  for  the  circulating  library. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

THE  CAMPBELL  INSTITUTE 

(Founded  in  1896) 
OFFICERS  FOR  1921-1922 

President    .Henry  Atkins 

Secretary-Treasurer Edward  S,  Ames 

5722  Kimbark  Ave.,  Chicago 

Editor  of  The  Scroll W.  E.  Garrison 

Box  277,  Faculty  Exchange,  University  of  Chicago 


CONSTITUTION 

ARTICLE  I 

NAME 

The  name  of  this  organization  shall  be  THE  CAMP- 
BELL INSTITUTE. 

ARTICLE   II 

OBJECT 

The  purpose  of  this  organization  shall  be :  ( i )  To  en- 
courage and  keep  alive  a  scholarly  spirit  and  to  enable 
its  members  to  help  each  other  to  a  riper  scholarship  by 
the  free  discussion  of  vital  problems.  (2)  To  promote 
quiet  self-culture  and  the  development  of  a  higher  spirit- 
uality among  the  members  and  among  the  churches  with 
which  they  shall  come  in  contact.  (3)  To  encourage  pos- 
itive productive  work  with  a  view  to  making  contribu- 
tions of  permanent  value  to  the  literature  and  thought  of 
the  Disciples  of  Christ. 


Page  6 THE  SCROLL 

ARTICLE  III 

MEMBERSHIP 

Section  i.  Regular  Members.  Those  shall  be  invited 
to  regular  membership  who  have  completed  a  course  for 
a  bachelor's  degree  in  some  standard  institution.  Others 
may  be  elected  to  regular  membership  by  a  majority  vote 
of  those  present  at  any  annual  meeting. 

Sec.  2.  Associate  Members.  Those  may  be  elected  to 
associate  membership  who  are  preparing  for  the  ministry 
or  for  educational  work,  and  who  have  the  standing  of 
seniors  or  more  advanced  rank  in  a  standard  college. 

Sec.  3.  Co-operating  Members.  Those  business  and 
professional  men,  other  than  preachers  and  teachers,  who 
are  intelligently  sympathetic  with  the  Institute  and  dis- 
posed to  aid  in  the  diffusion  of  its  spirit  and  work,  shall 
be  eligible  to  co-operating  membership. 

Sec,  4.  Honorary  Membership.  Those  shall  be  eligible 
to  honorary  membership  who  have  attained  notable  dis- 
tinction in  scholarship  and  in  the  practical  activities  of 
the  church  and  who  are  known  to  be  in  sympathy  with 
the  Institute. 

ARTICLE  IV 
officers 
The  officers  of  this  organization  shall  be  a  President, 
a  Vice-President,  and  a  Secretary-Treasurer,  who  shall 
perform  the  duties  usually  pertaining  to  their  respective 
offices,  and  who  shall  be  elected  at  the  regular  annual 
meeting. 

ARTICLE   V 

amendments 
The   Constitution  may  be   amended  by   a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  members  present  at  any  regular  meeting. 


THE  SCROLL Page  7 

BY-LAWS 

ARTICLE  I 

ANNUAL   MEETING 

There  shall  be  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Institute  at 
such  time  and  place  as  shall  be  designated  by  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  at  which  members  shall  present  the  re- 
sults of  their  studies. 

ARTICLE   II 

COMMITTEES 

There  shall  be  the  following  standing  committees,  ap- 
pointed (except  the  Executive  Committee)  by  the  Presi- 
dent: 

Section  i.  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of  the 
President,  Vice-President,  and  Secretary,  for  the  trans- 
action of  all  business  of  the  society  which  demands  atten- 
tion when  the  Institute  is  not  in  session. 

Sec.  2.  Editing  Committee,  which  shall  have  charge 
of  the  studies  of  individual  members  and  the  publica- 
tion of  all  literature  put  forth  by  the  Institute  except 
\vhen  otherwise  arranged. 

Sec.  3.  Program  Committee,  which  shall  have  charge 
of  all  regular  meetings  of  the  Institute  and  shall  act  as  a 
liurcau  for  placing  speakers  whenever  opportunity  offers. 

ARTICLE    III 

FEES  AND  PRIVILEGES 

Section  i.  The  annual  fee  of  regular  and  co-operat- 
ing members  shall  be  three  dollars. 

Sec.  2.  There  shall  be  no  fee  attached  to  associate  or 
honorary  membership. 

Sec.  3.  Any  member  who  ceases  to  participate  in  the 
active  work  of  the  Institute  is  expected  to  resign. 

Sec.  4.     Not  more  than  twenty-five  new  co-operating 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

members,  nor  more  than  one  honorary  member,  shall  be 
elected  in  any  one  year. 

Sec.  5.  The  business  of  the  Institute  shall  be  con- 
ducted by  the  regular  members. 

Sec.  6.  All  classes  of  members  shall  receive  the  serial 
publications  of  the  Institute,  and  shall  be  admitted  to  the 
annual  meeting. 

Sec.  7.  The  Executive  Committee  is  authorized  to 
place  upon  the  membership  roll  the  names  of  all  appli- 
cants for  regular  .membership  who  satisfy  the  require- 
ments of  the  constitution  for  membership. 

ARTICLE  IV 

chambers 
The  Institute  shall  be  divided  into  five  Chambers  de- 
voted respectively  to  the  following  departments  of  study : 
(i)  Old  Testament  and  the  corresponding  Biblical  The- 
ology. (2)  New  Testament  and  the  corresponding  Bib- 
lical Theology.  (3)  Church  History,  Missions,  and  Com- 
parative Religion.  (4)  Philosophy,  Theology,  and  Edu- 
cation. (5)  Christian  Work  and  Sociology.  The  heads 
of  these  Chambers  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President 
and  shall  constitute  the  Editing  Committee. 


MEMBERS 


Abram,  Robert  C,  N.  Eighth  St.,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Alcorn,  W.  Garrett,  Fulton,  Mo. 

Alexander,  John  M.,  Marshall,  Mo. 

Ames,  Edward  S.,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Archer,  J.  Clark,  82  Linden  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Armstrong,  C.  J.,  iioi  Broadway,  Hannibal,  Mo. 

Armstrong,  H.  C,  Baltimore,  Md. 


THE  SCROLL ^ Page  9 

Atkins,  Henry,  516  Union  Central  Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Baillie,  Alexander  S.,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

Baker,  C.  G.,  202  N.  Holmes  Ave.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Barr,  W.  F.,  Drake  University,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Batman,  Levi  G.,  15 16  Florencedale  Ave.,  Youngs- 
town,  O. 

Bean,  Donald,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Bell,  Urban  Rodcliff,  810  Norwood  Ave.,  Toledo,  O. 

Blair,  Verle  W.,  2320  Washington  Ave.,  Terre  Haute, 
Ind. 

Bodenhafer,  Walter  B.,  Washington  Univ.,  St.  Louis, 
Mo. 

Borders,  Karl,  19  S.  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Bowen,  Kenneth  Blount,  Morgan  Hall,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Brogden,  John,  Milford,  111. 

Brelos,  C.  G.,  736  Litchfield  St.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Bruner,  B.  H.,  Lexington,  Mo. 

Buckner,  C.  C,  Ionia,  Mich. 

Buckner,  S.  G.,  Pomona,  Calif. 

Burgess,  Henry  G.,  Canton,  Mo. 

Burkhardt,  Carl  A.,  Plattsburg,  Mo. 

Burns,  H.  F.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Callaway,  Ralph  V.,  11 12  2nd  Ave.,  Stirling,  111, 
Campbell,  George  A.,  5536  Pershing  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Cannon,  Lee  E.,  Hiram,  O. 
Carr,  W.  L.,  73  S.  Cedar  St.,  Oberlin,  O. 
Cartwright,  Lin  D.,  Coffeyville,  Kan. 
Cassoboom,  Chas.  Orville,  Mt.  Healthy,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Castleberry,  J.  J.,  it  16  Cypress  St.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Chapman,  A.  L.,  Bozeman,  Mont. 

Chenoweth,  Irviag  S.,  Roosevelt  Rd.  and  Tenth  St.,  Phil- 
adelphia, Pa. 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

Clark,  O.  B.,  Drake  University,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Clark,  Thomas  Curtis,  6607  Ellis  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Cloyd,  Roy  Nelson,  Box  16,  Princeton,  Ind. 

Cole,  A.  L.,  Macomb,  111. 

Coleman,  C.  B.,  Allegheny  Coll.,  Meadville,  Pa. 

Cook,  James  Monroe,  Tallula,  111. 

Cooke,  A.  Harry,  1002  Pleasant  View  Drive,  Des  Moines, 

la. 
Cope,  Otis  M.,  1327  Wilmot  St.,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 
Cordell,  H.  W.,  Washington  State  Coll.,  Pullman,  Wash. 
Crowley,  W.  A.,  University  of  Cincinnati,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Dabney,  Vaughn,  6  Melville  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dailey,  B.  F.,  279  Ritter  Ave.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Daniels,  Elvin,  106  N.  Bluff  St.,  Monticello,  Ind. 
Davidson,  Hugh  R.,  11 12  N.  Eautaw  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Davison,  Frank  E.,  314  Tacoma  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Deadman,  Roy  Emmett,  Lebanon,  Ind. 
Dean,  Tom,  Jacksonville,  Tex. 

Deming,  Fred  K.,  5401  Tennessee  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
Deming,  J.  L.,  71  College  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Edwards,  G.  D.,  Bible  College,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Endres,  W.  D.,  3623  Park  Ave.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Eskridge,  J.  B.,  Weatherford,  Okla. 
Ewers,  J.  R.,  S.  Highland  and  Alder  Sts.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Faris,  Ellsworth,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 
Funk,  Chas.  Plume,  1642  Fairview  Ave.,  Wichita,  Kan. 
Flickenger,  Roy  C,  Northwestern  Univ.,  Evanston,  111. 

Gabbert,  Mont  P.,  5719  Kenwood  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Garn,  Herbert  M.,  Canton,  Mo. 
Garrison,  W.  E.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 
Garvin,  T-  L.,  1446  Northland  Ave.,  Lakewood,  O. 
Gibbs,  Walter  C,  515  S.  Fifth  St.,  Columbia,  Mo. 


THE  SCROLL Page  11 

Given,  John  P.,  Hoopeston,  111. 

Goodale,  Ralph  R.,  Hiram,  O. 

Coulter,  Oswald  J.,  5363  University  Ave.,  Indianapolis. 

Gordon,  Wildred  E.,  Ghariya  Phatak  Jansi,  U.  P.,  India. 

Grainger,  O.  J.,  1014  E.  61  st  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Guy,  H.  H.,  2515  Hillegass  Ave.,  Berkeley,  Calif. 

Hall,  Maxwell,  11 12  Madison  Ave.,  Columbus,  O. 

Hamilton,  Clarence  H.,  Univ.  of  Nankin,  Nankin,  China. 

Handley,  Royal  L.,  1201  W.  Edwards  St.,  Springfield,  111. 

Haushalter,  W.  M.,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Hawley,  Clarence  O.,  47  Norman  Ave.,  Dayton,  O. 

Henry,  Edward  A.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Hester,  Byron,  Electra,  Texas. 

Hieronymus,  R.  E.,  Urbana,  111. 

Higdon,  E.  E.,  Bloomington,  111. 

Higdon,  E.  K.,  450  Taft  Ave.,  Manila,  P.  I. 

Hill,  J.  Sherman,  Paola,  Kan. 

Hill,  Roscoe  R.,  Managua,  Nicaragua. 

Hirschler,  John  G.,  South  D.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Hoffman,  R.  W.,  Sullivan,  111. 

Holmes,  Arthur,  Drake  Univ.,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Hopkins,  Louis  A.,  15 17  S.  University  Ave.,  Ann  Arbor, 

Mich. 
Hotaling,  Lewis  R.,  State  Line,  Ind. 
Howe,  Thomas  C,  30  Audubon  Place,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Iden,  Thomas  Medary,   1018  E.  University  Ave.,  Ann 
Arbor,  Mich. 

Jaynes,  Frank  E.,  Drexel  Arms  Hotel,  Chicago. 
Jenkins,  Burris,  Kansas  City  Post,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Jensen,  Howard  E.,  Butler  College,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Jewett,  Frank  L.,  2009  University  Ave.,  Austin,  Tex. 
Jones,  Silas,  Eureka,  111. 
Jordan,  O.  F.,  831  Washington  St.,  Evanston,  111. 


Page  12 THE  SCROLL 

Kaufman,  Howard  Albert,  Kentland,  Ind. 
Kilgour,  Hugh  B.,  35  F.  W.  B.  B.,  Winnepeg,  Can. 
Kincheloe,  S.  C,  1007  E.  60th  St.,  Chicago. 
Kirk,  Sherman,  1060  31st  St.,  Des  Moines,  la. 
Knight,  F.  H.,  Univ.  of  Iowa,  Iowa  City,  la. 

Larson,  August  F.,  511  N.  William  St.,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Lee,  Charles  O.,  Flanner  House,  West  and  St.  Clair  Sts., 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Lemon,  Robert  C,  Keota,  la. 

Lineback,  Paul,  Atlanta  Medical  Coll.,  Atlanta,  Ga, 

Linkletter,  C.  S.,  5819  W.  Ohio  St.,  Chicago. 

Livengood,  Fay  E.,  Jubbalpore,  C  P.,  India. 

Lobengier,  J.  Leslie,  Oberlin,  O. 

Lockhart,  Clinton,  T.  C.  U.,  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 

Loken,  H.  J.,  Atascadero,  Calif. 

Longman,  C.  W.,  138  S.  Sacramento  Blvd.,  Chicago. 

Lumley,  Fred  E.,  Page  Hall,  Ohio  State  Univ.,  Colum- 
bus, O. 

Lytle,  W.  Vernon,  14  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

McCartney,  J.  H.,  Box  455,  Newark,  O. 

McDaniel,  Asa,  Muncie,  Ind. 

McQuary,  Rodney  L.,  College  of  the  Bible,  Lexington, 
Ky. 

McQueen,  A.  R.,  Somerset,  Pa. 

MacDougall,  W.  C,  Jubbalpore,  C.  P.,  India. 

Maclachlan,  H.  D.  C,  Seventh  St.  Christian  Church, 
Richmond,  Va. 

Marshall,  Levi,  Greencastle,  Ind. 

Martin,  Herbert,  Drake  Univ.,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Mathews,  William  B.,  Middle  D.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

Matthews,  Emerson  W.,  1658  Irving  St.,  N,  W.,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 


THE  SCROLL Page  13 

Mitchell,  C.  R.,  Lowry  Hall,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Melvin,  Bruce  Lee,  Delaware,  O. 

Moffet,  Frank  L.,  Box  80,  Marionville,  Mo. 

Moffet,  George  L.,  Veedersburg,  Ind. 

Moore,  Richard,  Bureau  of  Mines,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Morehouse,  D.  W.,  Drake  Univ.,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Morgan,  F.  A.,  7216  Jeffery  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Morgan,  Leslie  W.,  313  Upper  Richmond  Rd.,  Putney, 

London,  S.  W.  15,  England. 
Morrison,  C.  C,  706  E.  50th  Place,  Chicago. 

Nichols,  Fred  S.,  Niantic,  111. 
"Nelson,  R.  W.,  429  Harrison  St.,  Oak  Park,  111. 
Norton,  F.  O.,  Drake  Univ.,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Park,  Robert  E.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Parker,  W.  A.,  Adams,  Mass. 

Parr,  Leland  W.,  5641  Drexel  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Parvin,  Ira  L.  W.,  Jefferson  St.  Christian  Church,  Ft. 

Wayne,  Ind. 
Payne,  Wallace  C,   College  of   Missions,   Indianapolis, 

Ind. 
Pearce,  Chas.  A.,  Marion,  O. 
Peckham,  George  A.,  Hiram,  O. 
Philputt,  James  M.,  Eureka,  111. 
Pike,  Grant  E.,  Lisbon,  O. 
Place,  Alfred  W.,  Bowling  Green,  O. 

Rainwater,  Clarence  E.,  Univ.  of  Calif.,  Los  Angeles, 
Calif. 

Rearis,  Tolbert  F.,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina. 

Reidenbach,  Clarence,  81  N.  Hawthorne  Lane,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind. 

Rice,  Perry  J.,  19  S.  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago. 

Robertson,  C  J.,  5719  Kenwood  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 


Page  14 THE  SCROLL 

Robertson,  Julius  Barbee,  Hotel  Muelebach,  Kansas 
City,  Mo. 

Robison,  H.  B.,  Canton,  Mo. 

Rogers,  N.  O.,  Savannah,  Mo. 

Roosa,  W.  v..  South  D.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Rothenberger,  W.  F.,  934  S.  Fourth  St.,  Springfield,  111. 

Rowell,  Edward  Z.,  Carlton  Coll.,  Northfield,  Minn. 

Rowlison,  C.  C,  919  Main  St.,  LaCrosse,  Wis. 

Ryan,  William  D.,  South  End  Christian  Church,  Hous- 
ton, Tex.  ! 

Sarvis,  Guy  W.,  Univ.  of  Nankin,  Nankin,  China. 

Schooling,  L.  P.,  Standard,  Alberta,  Can. 

Serena,  Joseph  A.,  William  Woods  College,  Fulton,  Mo. 

Seymour,  Arthur  H.,  Aberdeen,  S.  D. 

Sharpe,  Charles  M.,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Slaughter,  S.  W.,  Gurnee,  111. 

Smith,  B.  H.,  3210  Forest  Ave.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Smith,  J.  E.,  Eureka,  111. 

Smith,  Raymond  A.,  T.  C.  U.,  Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

Smith,  T.  v.,  5524  Kimbark  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Smith,  W.  H.,  Danville,  Ky. 

Stauffer,  C.  R.,  Norwood  Station,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Stevens,  Chas.  A.,  Box  64,  Olathe,  Kan. 

Stewart,  George  B.,  167  Salem  Ave.,  Dayton,  O. 

Stubbs,  John  F.,  Corydon,  la. 

Swanson,  Herbert,  Vigan,  Ilocos  Sur,  P.  I. 

Swift,  Chas.  H.,  225  H.  H.  Bldg.,  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo. 

Taylor,  Alva  A.,  Lowry  Hall,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Taylor,  Carl  C,  611  S.  Fourth  St.,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Todd,   E.    M.,   Leland   Community   House,   Herlington, 

Tex. 
Trainum,  W.  H.,  304  E.  Monroe  St.,  Valparaiso,  Ind. 
Trusty,  Clay,  939  W.  31st  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

Turner,  J.  J.,  Hiram,  O. 

Vannoy,  Charles  A.,  Buenos  Aires,  Argentina. 
Veatch,  A.  D.,  1423  Twenty-third  St.,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Ward,  A.  L.,  250  N.  Home  Ave.,  Franklin,  Ind. 
Warren,  T.  Benjamin,  Nevada,  la. 

Watson,  Chas.  Morell,  1610  Colonial  Ave.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Wilhelm,  Carl  H.,  119  E.  North  St.,  Pontiac,  111. 
Willett,  Herbert  L.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 
Williams,  Mark  Wayne,  241  Park  PI.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Wills,  Alvin  L.,  1226  Ainslie  St.,  Chicago. 
Wilson,  Allen,  629  Green  St.,  Augusta,  Ga. 
Winders,  C.  H.,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Bldg.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Winn,  Walter  G.,  4035  Kedvale  Ave.,  Chicago. 
Winter,  Truman  E.,  846  Wynnewood  Road,   Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 
Wolfe,  J.  E.,  401  N.  Spring  St.,  Independence,  Mo. 
Wood,  Merritt  B.,  715  Wayne  St.,  Sandusky,  O. 


HONORARY  MEMBERS 

Breeden,  H.  O.,  1038  O  St.,  Fresno,  Calif. 

Garrison,  J.  H.,  163  N.  Alexandria  Ave.,  Los  Angeles, 
Calif. 

Haley,  J.  J.,  Christian  Colony,  Acampo,  Calif. 
Lindsay,  Nicholas  Vachel,  603  S.  Fifth  St.,  Springfield, 

111. 
Lobengier,  Charles  S.,  Shanghai,  China. 
MacClintock,  W.  D.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 
Powell,  E.  L.,  First  Christian  Church,  Louisville,  Ky. 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

CO-OPERATING  MEMBERS 

Carter,  S.  J.,  850  Newhall  St.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
Collins,  Dr.  C.  U.,  427  Jefferson  Bldg.,  Peoria,  111. 
Cowherd,  Fletcher,  Ninth  and  Grand,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Dickinson,  Richard  J.,  Eureka,  111. 
Duncan,  Dr.  W.  E.,  6058  Kimbark  Ave.,  Chicago. 
Haile,  E.  M.,  Texas-Knight  Oil  and  Gas  Co.,  Brecken- 

ridge,  Tex. 
Hill,  J.  C,  311  Bryant  Bldg.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Henry,  Frederick  A.,  914  Williamson  Bldg.,  Cleveland,  O. 
Hutchinson,  Dr.  Edward  B.,  1351  E.  56th  St.,  Chicago. 
Lind,  Frederick  A.,  Chicago. 

McCormack,  Harry,  5545  University  Ave.,  Chicago. 
McElroy,  Chas.  F.,  no  S.  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago. 
Minor,  Dr.  Wm.  E.,  926  McGee  St.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Morrison,  Dr.  Hugh  T.,  Springfield,  111. 
Nourse,  Rupert  A.,  751  Prospect  Ave.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
Ragan,  George  A.,  520  Main  St.,  El  Centro,  Calif. 
Throckmorton,  C.  W.,  Traveller's  Bldg.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Wakeley,  Chas.  R.,  6029  Woodlawn  Ave.,  Chicago. 
Webb,  A.  G.,  1874  E.  82nd  St.,  Cleveland,  O. 


The  Scroll  will  be  stimulated  and  strengthened  by 
an  enlargement  of  its  subscription  list  beyond  the  mem- 
bership of  the  Institute.  (Improved  circulation  always 
means  better  health,  in  man  or  magazine.)  To  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute  The  Scroll  is  sent  without  charge. 
Their  annual  dues  pay  for  it.  To  all  others,  One  Dollar 
a  year.  Persuade  one  or  two  members  of  your  church 
or  associates  to  risk  the  investment.  Every  issue  (ex- 
cept this  one)  will  probably  be  worth  a  dime  to  any 
thinking  religious  man.  Leading  article  next  month.  An 
Estimate  of  Confucianism,  by  Clarence  H.  Hamilton. 


THE    SCROLL 


VOLUME  XVIII       OCTOBER.  1921       NUMBER  II 

THE    CYNICS 

They  say  there  is  no  God ;  tiiat  what  appears  2 

As  good  is  only  so  to  bhnded  eyes, 
Which  will  not  see  the  ugly  and  the  vile. 
All  is  as  music  to  the  raptured  ears 
Of  tliose  who  choose  to  live  in  pleasant  lies, 
Who  in  the  face  of  death  cease  not  to  smile ! 
Thus  speak  those  cynics,  scribes  of  ugliness. 
Who  will  not  leave  their  tombs  of  doubt  and  hate, 
Who  loathe  the  sunshine,  boasting  of  their  night. 
Let  them  enjoy  their  proud  unhappiness. 
Their  scorn  of  love,  their  cursings  loud  at  fate. 
For  us  faith's  foolishness !     For  us  the  light ! 

Thomas  Curtis  Clark. 


BLIND 

"Great  Pan  is  dead!"  they  cried;  and  sad-robed  priests 

In  long  processions  gloried  in  his  death. 

But,  even  as  they  v.-ent  their  way,  the  breath 

Of  God  blev,^  over  hill  and  vale,  and  feasts 

Of  loveliness  were  set  for  men.     June  spread 

Upon  the  earth  a  carpeting  of  green. 

And  where  v/as  bleakness,  pink  and  gold  were  seen. 

The  priests  saw  not :  they  cried,  "Great  Pan  is  dead !" 

Thomas  Curtis  Clark. 


Page  18 THE  SCROLL 

AN  ESTIMATE  OF  CONFUCIANISM 
By  C.  H.  Hamilton 

When  one  surveys  that  many-sided  and  potent  factor 
in  Chinese  history  and  hfe  which  is  called  Confucianism, 
in  the  full  range  of  its  detail  and  influence,  it  is  difficult 
to  resist  the  conclusion  that  we  have  here  something 
which  has  functioned,  in  a  large  measure  at  least,  as  a 
religion.  It  has  its  sacred  books,  its  originating  person- 
ality, its  cult,  its  temples.  It  has  its  belief  in  deit)'.  It 
has  its  ethics.  True,  its  ethics  have  bulked  large  in  tlie 
emphasis  of  its  scholars.  But  to  say  that  it  is  merely 
ethics  and  not  religion  is  to  forget  that  ethics  is  integrally 
connected  with  the  religious  attitude.  Our  separation  of 
a  field  of  ethics  from  a  field  of  religion  is  for  convenience 
in  our  thinking.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  rather  tvvo 
functions  of  ongoing  human  life.  Moral  ideals  by  their 
\ery  nature  demand,  if  they  are  to  be  truly  acted  upon, 
the  faith  that  the  universe  is  such  as  to  permit  of  their 
realization.  Such  *faith  is  the  religious  side  of  the  eth- 
ical shield.  That  Confucianism  has  not  been  vvathout  that 
faith  is  amply  evidenced  by  the  regular  grounding  of  the 
Confucian  righteousness  throughout  all  the  classical  -writ- 
ings in  the  Will  of  Heaven.  An  underlying  conviction  of 
the  ethical  ideas  of  all  the  pre-Confucian  and  Post-Con- 
iucian  classics  is  that  the  innermost  structure  of  the  ir.ii- 
verse  is  essentially  moral.  On  the  basis,  then,  of  the 
actual  historical  characteristics  of  Confucianism  as  v.-ell 
as  the  general  considerations  of  the  Psycholog}'  of  Re- 
lif^ion  v/e  are  justified  in  viewing  this  system  as  a  religion. 

But  how  shall  we  estimate  the  value  of  this  religion? 
It  V\^ould  be,  of  course,  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to 
run  over  its  features  which  we  deem  good  or  bad  from 
.the  point  of  view  of  our  developed  Christian  conscious- 
ness.   In  that  case  we  would  put  on  one  side  its  exalted 


THE  SCROLL  Page  I9 

conception  of  T'ien  or  Shang-ti,  its  spirit  of  reverence 
and  gratitude  both  toward  Heaven  and  parents,  its  teach- 
ings of  benevolence,  dihgence,  magnanimity,  sincerity, 
and  the  like,  as  well  as  the  praiseworthy  aspects  of  the 
character  of  Confucius  himself — his  self-sacrificing  devo- 
tion to  the  ideal  of  reformation,  and  his  pov/er  to  stimu- 
late a  certain  moral  energy  in  his  disciples.  On  the  other 
side  we  would  point  out  the  weak  sense  of  personality  in 
die  idea  of  deity,  the  failure  to  make  love  central,  the  rev- 
erence for  bad  ancestors  as  well  as  good,  sacrifices  to 
spirits  and  ancestors,  divination,  the  low  status  accorded 
to  v/oman,  the  acceptance  of  polygamy,  the  lack  of  a  sense 
of  personal  sin  and  of  personal  worth  in  a  future  life,  the 
lack  of  a  genuinely  democratic  and  progressive  ideal;  and 
we  would  add  the  less  admirable  traits  of  Confucius  him- 
self— his  indifference  to  woman,  his  austerity,  his  coldness 
to  nature,  and  his  lack  of  deep  religious  fervor.  Out  of 
such  an  analysis  and  comparison  we  would  com.e  to  see 
that  Confucianism  has  som^e  qualities  that  are  more  uni- 
versal and  in  line  with  Christianity  and  others  that  are 
more  peculiar  to  the  East  generally  or  to  China  in  par- 
ticular and  not  in  line  with  Christianity.  And  we  would 
wish  to  preserve  and  build  upon  the  first  class  while  elim- 
inating and  supplanting,  or  at  least  transforming,  those 
of  the  second.  Most  likely  our  general  impression  v^^ould 
be  in  the  last  analysis  that  Confucianism  has  done  yeo- 
man service  as  a  conserver  of  the  best  in  China's  past 
culture,  but  in  the  same  capacity  has  been  a  heavy  drag 
upon  the  wheels  of  national  progress. 

This  method  of  arriving  at  a  valuation,  however,  does 
not  bring  us  to  a  point  of  view  from  which  we  can  well 
handle  the  phenomenon  of  Confucianism,  as  a  whole.  The 
radical  criticism  to  which  the  New  Culture  Movement  in 
China  today  is  subjecting  all  of  the  Chinese  institutions 


Page  20 THE  SCROLL 

demands  a  revaluation  of  Confucianism  in  the  categories 
of  the  modern  Philosophy  and  Psychology  of  Religion. 
For  the  problem  is  now  how  to  deal  with  it  extensively 
as  a  v/hole  rather  than  intensively  in  detail.  The  whole 
question  is  thrown  open  in  a  new  way.  What  is  Confu- 
cianism, anyway,  and  what  is  its  significance  v.ith  refer- 
ence to  the  new  social  order  toward  which  China  should 
move  ? 

Pondering  over  this  cjuestion  in  the  light  of  modern 
biological  and  functional  conceptions  of  religion,  one 
com.es  to  realize  that  Confucianism  presents  us  with  an 
extended  group  religion  and  group  morality.  It  might 
almost  be  called  a  religion  pre-eminently  of  racial  and 
family  solidarity.  Its  great  contribution  has  been  sta- 
bilit)^  Its  ethics,  its  ritual,  its  greatest  leader  and  its 
forms  of  v\Aorship  have  all  operated  to  bring  about  v.dthin 
Lhe  individual  obedience  to  norms  fixed  in  the  past  vv'hich 
v/ere  to  maintain  the  group  in  the  original  status  quo.  So 
long  as  the  Chinese  group  was  comparatively  free  from 
any  great  disturbance  from  v/ithout  and  situations  re- 
quiring radically  nev/  adjustments  did  not  arise,  the  au- 
tliority  of  the  group  as  reflected  in  the  Confucian  ideals 
remained  indisputable.  The  ideals  functioned  to  carry 
on  Vv'i^^h  but  little  change  the  placid  stream  of  Chinese 
life.  Internal  wars  betv/een  states,  as  well  as  attacks 
from  barbarous  states  Vi/^ithout,  were  but  ripples  or  flecks 
of  foam,  upon  the  surface  compared  with  tlie  vast  bulk 
of  the  v/hole.  But  today  we  see  the  group  being  pene- 
trated by  alien  forces  that  demand  either  reconstruction 
or  destruction,  readjustments  to  conditions  irnparalleled 
in  China's  past.  Ideals  that  simply  conserve  no  longer 
suffice.  The  collision  betvv'een  occidental  and  oriental 
customs  is  jarring  to  pieces  the  old  Chinese  family  group. 
The  times  call  for  change,  experimentation,  analysis  of 


THE  SCROLL Page  21 

present  facts,  and  reconstruction  in  the  light  of  modern 
needs.  In  so  far  as  some  stability  is  needed  even  in  the 
midst  of  change,  Confucian  conservatism  will  doubtless 
continue  to  function  as  a  ballast.  But  for  the  newer 
ideals  of  the  democratic  consciousness  of  the  modern  age 
China  must  look  to  another  than  the  imperialistic  mind  of 
Confucius.  Confucian  morality  and  religion,  like  all 
group  morality  and  religion,  have  been  "both  an  anchor 
and  a  drag."  Can  China  find  a  more  universal  religion 
that  will  function  more  efficiently  in  a  world  of  changing 
adjustments  and  progress? 


THE  LURE  OF  GENERALITIES 
How  easy  it  is  to  talk  pleasantly  and  favorably  about 
"Truth"  and  "Progress"  and  "Education"  and  other  gen- 
eralities with  a  connotation  of  progressiveness — provided 
no  dear  old  error  is  exposed  by  a  new-found  truth,  pro- 
vided progress  does  not  carry  us  av/ay  from  our  familiar 
mental  environment,  and  provided  education  does  not 
produce  a  generation  v/hose  ideas  are  different  from  our 
own.  A  recent  issue  of  "Leaves  of  Healing"  (Zion  City) 
proclaimed  triumphantly :  "Truth  is  more  pov/erful  than 
error !  Light  always  dispels  darkness."  This  being  the 
case,  one  might  suppose  that  it  would  be  safe  to  turn 
Truth  loose  in  the  world,  to  let  it  run  its  course  and  win 
its  way.  Of  course,  then,  it  v/ill  win  the  people  and 
speak  with  their  voice  and  triumph  in  their  lives.  There 
is  a  beautiful  basis  for  the  most  complete  democracy  in 
both  government  and  religion.  What  a  blessed  assur- 
ance— that  Truth  has  vitality.  It  does  not  need  the  ner- 
vous guardianship  of  its  official  custodians.  It  can  live 
out-of-doors  in  any  weather.     It  claims  our  acceptance. 


Page  22 THE  SCROLL 

our  admiration,  our  loyalty.  But  it  is  not  dependent 
upon  us;  we  are  dependent  on  it.  And  the  people  can 
be  trusted  to  think  and  to  act  freely,  because,  if  "truth 
is  more  powerful  than  error"  it  will  defeat  and  drive  out 
error  from  the  only  field  where  it  operates,  that  is,  the 
minds  of  men;  and  if  "light  always  dispels  darkness"  it 
will  do  so  in  the  darkened  understanding  and  the  murky 
consciences  of  men. 

And  then,  as  it  happens,  exactly  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  same  clipping,  when  we  had  cut  this  edifying  and 
progressive  text  from  the  page,  was  this  statemxcnt  ap- 
parently from  the  same  Vv'riter :  "Zion  is  theocratic !  .  .  .  . 
We  do  not  believe  in  democratic  principles.  We  say  it 
plainly.  When  you  tell  me  that  you  believe  in  'the  rule 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,'  I  tell 
you  that  is  a  rule  we  fight  against.  Why?  For  the  rea- 
son that  the  people  are  mostly  bad If  the  majority 

are  to  rule,  the  worst  will  rule." 

And  so,  after  all,  it  seems  that  the  prevailing  power 
of  Truth  holds  good  only  so  long  as  it  is  administered 
at  the  hands  of  its  specially  appointed  guardians  and  ut- 
tered with  the  voice  of  chosen  and  certificated  prophets. 

A  pitiful  outcome,  to  be  sure,  after  such  a  lofty  gen- 
eralization at  the  outset.  But  we  have  not  written  this 
for  the  sake  of  Zion  (Illinois),  for  The  Scroll  does  not 
circulate  largely  among  the  followers  of  the  late  John 
Alexander  Dowie,  but  for  the  sake  of  our  ovvu  Zion, 
and  even  of  that  choice  part  of  it  which  this  periodical 
reaches. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  23 

INDIA'S    LOVE    LYRICS 

The  philosophy  of  Omar  Khayyam — if  it  is  a  philoho- 
phy — has  seemed  to  many  not  ilHberal  spirits  to  present 
a  pathetically  pagan  view  of  the  world;  and  yet,  with 
all  his  preference  for  a  v/ine-cup  in  the  hand  rather  thart 
some  greater  but  vaguer  good  in  the  bush  of  a  doubtful 
future,  Omar  has  justified  himself  to  most  minds,  and 
we  are  the  richer  for  his  very  faulty  interpretation  of 
life,  though  it  left  him  poor  enough. 

The  general  appreciation  of  this  Persian  classic  has 
perhaps  stimulated  the  exploitation  of  other  cycles  of  ori- 
ental lyrics  possessing  at  least  a  superficial  resemblance 
to  the  Rubaiyat.  The  translation  of  "India's  Love  Songs" 
into  English  verse  is  verbally  attractive.  Some  of  the 
best  of  the  lyrics,  set  to  music,  have  become  familiar  on 
concert  programs.  Such  is  "Less  than  the  dust  beneath 
thy  chariot  v/heel."  But  the  general  substance  of  the 
whole  collection  is  erotic  pessimism ;  superheated  and  ec- 
static passion  tonight,  and  a  despairing  view  of  life  in 
the  morning.  The  only  bright  spot  in  human  experience 
seems  to  be  lawless  love,  and  a  dominant  sentiment  is 
that,  even  if  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  a  good  sin  is 
worth  the  price.  (That  price,  of  course,  is  lower  than 
it  sounds,  because  life  itself  is  so  nearly  worthless.) 
This  proposition,  embellished  with  appropriate  imagery, 
elaborated  with  intriguing  circumstance,  and  clad  in  a 
decent  garb  of  musical  verse,  makes  a  piece  of  literature 
which  would  scarcely  be  permitted  to  circulate  if  it  were 
not  oriental. 

The  writer.  Vv'ho  is  an  old  fogy,  disapproves  of  glorify- 
ing the  baser  passions,  and  thinks  that  rank  sin  is,  if 
anything,  rather  worse  when  it  is  set  to  good  music.  Is 
not  Oscar  Wilde's  "Charmides"  lovely  in   cadence  and 


Page  24  THE  SCROLL 

imagery,  musical  as  the  lapping  of  little  waves,  and  fra- 
grant as  a  field  of  wild  thyme  ?  Far  lovelier,  I  think,  , 
than  the  best  of  these  Indian  lyrics,  and  much  like  them. 
But  when  a  man's  last  word  is  that  a  sin,  if  it  be  suffi- 
ciently exquisite  and  intense,  is  its  ov/n  sufficient  reward 
and  a  great  goal  of  life  which  one  is  lucky  to  attain  be- 
fore one  sinks  into  the  night, — when  a  man  has  only  this 
to  say,  I  care  not  how  well  he  says  it.  He  spoils  good 
music  by  putting  poor  words  to  it.  He  gilds  a  drab  and 
dirty  business  with  too  much-  splendor  and  glory. 

Yet  it  must  be  granted  that  the  most  disgraceful  de- 
bauchery may  be  made  a  theme  for  real  lyric  poetry.  One 
may  sing  of  them,  if  one  has  talent  and  lacks  shame. 
Pessimism,  however,  does  not  lend  itself  to  charming 
verse.  Pegasus  goes  lame  when  asked  to  carry  that  load. 
At  best,  the  lines  are  ingenious,  didactic,  dull.  You  can 
make  poetry — vicious,  perhaps,  but  real — out  of  the  asser- 
tion that  some  base  thing  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the 
world ;  but  you  cannot  make  poetry  out  of  the  proposition 
that  nothing  is  worth  while.  These  eight  lines  are  a  fair 
sample  of  much,  and  seem  to  represent  not  a  passing 
mood  of  despair  but  a  settled  conviction : 

"I  am  so  vv'eary  of  the  curse  of  living, 
The  endless,  aimless  torture,  tumult,  fears. 
Surely  if  life  were  any  God's  free  giving, 
He,  seeing  his  gift,  long  since  went  blind  with  tears, 
Seeing  us,  our  fruitless  strife,  our  futile  pra3dng. 
Our  luckless  Present  and  our  blood-stained  Past, 
Poor  players,  who  make  a  trick  or  two  in  playing. 
But  know  that  Death  must  win  the  game  at  last." 

When  a  man  feels  that  way,  why  must  he  write  poetr}^  ? 


THE  SCROLL  Page  25 

He  ought  to  try  to  get  himself  into  some  situation  in- 
volving severe  exertion  and  imminent  danger  of  death. 
It  would  help  him  to  recover  his  sense  of  the  value  of 
life.  Or  if  not  that,  he  had  better  go  fishing.  We  leave 
this  pessimistic  voluptuary  and  join  ourselves  to  Walt 
Whitman  as  he  goes  out  to  dig  clams : 

"I  tucked  my  trouser-ends  in  my  boots, 
And  went  out  and  had  a  good  time." 


FROM   LITTLE    ESSAYS   OF   SANTAYANA 

Derision  is  not  interpretation,  and  the  better  method  of 
overcoming  erratic  ideas  is  to  trace  them  out  dialectically 
and  see  if  they  will  not  recognize  their  own  fatuity. 

Habit  is  stronger  than  reason,  and  the  respect  for  fact 
stronger  than  the  respect  for  the  ideal ;  nor  would  the 
ideal  and  reason  ever  prevail  did  they  not  make  up  in 
persistence  what  they  lack  in  momentary  energy. 

Fanaticism  consists  in  redoubling  your  effort  when  you 
have  forgotten  your  aim. 

It  may  indeed  be  said  that  no  man  of  any  depth  of 
soul  has  made  his  prolonged  existence  the  touchstone  of 
his  enthusiasmis.  Such  an  instinct  is  carnal,  and  if  im- 
mortality is  to  add  a  higher  inspiration  to  life  it  must  not 
be  an  immortality  of  selfishness.  What  a  despicable  crea- 
ture must  a  man  be,  and  how  sunk  below  the  level  of  the 
most  barbaric  virtue,  if  he  cannot  bear  to  live  and  die 
for  his  children,  for  his  art,  or  for  his  country ! 

To  be  bewitched  is  not  to  be  saved,  though  all  the  ma- 
gicians and  aesthetes  in  the  world  should  pronounce  it  to 
bo  so.  Intoxication  is  a  sad  business,  at  least  for  a  philos- 
opher; for  you  must  either  drown  yourself  altogether,  or 


Page  26  THE  SCROLL 

else  when  sober  again  you  will  feel  somewhat  fooled  by 
yesterday's  joys  and  somewhat  lost  in  today's  vacancy. 
The  man  who  would  emancipate  art  from  discipline  and 
reason  is  trying  to  elude  rationality,  not  merely  in  art, 
but  in  all  existence. 

Men  become  superstitious,  not  because  they  have  too 
much  imagination  but  because  they  are  not  av\^are  that 
they  have  any;  and  even  the  best  philosophers  seldom 
perceive  the  poetic  merit  of  their  systems. 

Love  is  a  true  natural  religion;  it  has  a  visible  cult,  it 
is  kindled  by  natural  beauties  and  bows  to  the  best  sym- 
bol it  may  find  for  its  hope;  it  sanctifies  a  natural  mys- 
tery; and,  finally,  when  understood,  it  recognizes  that 
what  it  worshipped  under  a  figure  was  truly  the  princi- 
ple of  all  good. 

Whoever  it  was  that  searched  the  heavens  with  his  tele- 
scope and  could  find  no  God,  would  not  have  found  tlie 
human  mind  if  he  had  searched  the  brain  with  a  micro- 
scope. 

The  failure  to  find  God  among  the  stars,  or  even  the 
attempt  to  find  him  there,  does  not  indicate  that  human 
experience  affords  no  avenue  to  the  idea  of  God — for 
history  proves  the  contrary — but  indicates  rather  the 
atrophy  in  this  particular  man  of  the  imaginative  faculty 
by  which  the  race  has  attained  to  that  idea.  Such  an 
atrophy  might  indeed  become  general,  and  God  vv'ould  in- 
that  case  disappear  from  human  experience  as  music 
would  disappear  if  universal  deafness  attacked  the  race. 

Instead  of  rising  to  imagination,  we  sink  into  mysti- 
cism. 

Take  almost  any  longish  poem,  and  the  parts  of  it  are 
better  than  the  whole. 


THE  SCROLL Page  27 

As  man  is  now  constituted,  to  be  brief  is  almost  a  con- 
dition of  being  inspired. 

Mature  interests  center  on  soluble  problems  and  tasks 
capable  of  execution;  it  is  at  such  a  point  that  the  ideal 
can  be  really  served. 

— Selected  by  Van  Meter  Ames. 


ARE    INSTINCTS    DATA    OR    HYPOTHESES? 

This  is  the  title  of  an  interesting  and  important  con- 
tribution to  psychology  by  Professor  Ellsworth  Paris 
which  appeared  in  the  last  number  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Sociology.  At  the  beginning  of  the  article  is 
an  abstract.  We  print  it  here  both  for  what  it  contains 
and  as  an  illustration  of  a  plan  which  Professor  Paris  is 
persuading  various  journals  to  adopt  for  all  articles. 
This  is  of  great  value  in  our  busy  age  not  only  for  quick 
reading  but  also  for  handy  reference. 

Lack  of  agreement  concerning  instincts. — William 
James  made  current  the  doctrine  that  man  has  more 
instincts  than  the  animals.  Later  discussion  has  re-  - 
vealed  much  disagreement  concerning  the  definition 
of  instincts  and  even  more  uncertainty  concerning 
their  number.  Lists  range  from  forty,  thirty,  twen- 
ty-six, twenty,  fifteen,  to  four,  two,  and  one.  The 
confusion  is  probably  due  to  the  hypothetical  nature 
of  instincts.  The  genetic  explanation  of  instincts. — 
The  genetic  explanation  is  a  sort  of  mythological 
effort  and  has  resulted  in  rather  ludicrous  stories 
which  pass  as  explanations.  The  corrective  lies  in 
the  study  of  ethnology  by  which  a  comparison  of 
different  human  customs  will  reveal  the  fact  that 
much  which  seemed  at  first  to  be  native  is  really  the 
result  of  social  customs.     Instincts  are  hypotheses:.  . 


Page  28  THE  SCROLL 

social  attitudes  are  data. — Instincts  emphasize  simi- 
arities  which  often  have  no  existence.  Sociology  has 
at  hand  empirical  data  in  the  form  of  attitudes,  de- 
sires, and  wishes,  whose  classification  and  explana- 
tion should  be  one  of  its  chief  concerns.  Tempera- 
ment.— The  study  of  temperamental  attitudes  is  far 
more  profitable  for  social  psycholog}^  for,  while 
temperament  is  also  a  hypothesis,  it  is  a  necessary 
one  and  it  concerns  individual  differences  which  are 
of  most  importance  in  dealing  with  problems  of  per- 
sonality. 


A  PRINTED  PROGRAM  FOR  CHURCH 
SERVICES 
One  of  the  marked  developments  in  church  life  of 
recent  3^ears  is  the  increase  in  the  use  of  printed  folders 
carrying  the  order  of  worship,  announcements  and  sug- 
gestions. They  should  be  more  v/idely  used.  A  printed 
program  furnishes  to  strangers  clues  to  the  teaching  and 
spirit  of  the  church.  It  puts  announcements  in  perma- 
nent form  which  avoids  misunderstanding  and  furnishes 
reminders.  Names  of  new  members  and  addresses  are 
placed  before  all.  The  minister  must  give  thought  to  the 
service,  to  the  selection  of  hymns  and  readings  and  to 
sermon  subjects.  It  is  a  great  gain  to  announce  the  sub- 
jects at  least  a  week  in  advance.  Suggestions  accumulate 
around  a  subject  which  one  carries  in  his  mind  for  ten 
days  or  more.  It  makes  preaching  easier  and  better. 
Some  find  it  of  surprising  value  to  print  a  poem  or  a 
quotation  from  good  prose  which  is  relative  to  the  theme 
of  the  day.  One  minister  has  been  interested  to  find 
these  selections  preserved  by  members  and  used  as  re- 
minders of  some  impressive  thought  or  ideal  or  comfort- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  29 

ing  word.  Not  infrequently  these  little  selections  have 
commended  the  church  and  led  people  into  it.  These 
programs  also  furnish  a  significant  record  of  the  history 
of  the  local  church  and  of  its  different  pastorates.  When 
they  are  kept  through  ten  or  tv/enty  years  they  become 
as  interesting  as  an  old  photograph  album.  As  one  turns 
t'^eir  pages,  names  and  events  come  trouping  back  with 
clearness  and  fond  recollections.  It  would  be  a  fruitful 
task  for  any  one,  and  might  be  commended  to  some  di- 
vinity student  in  search  for  a  thesis  subject,  to  gather 
from  several  hundred  churches  the  programs  of  a  year. 
The  sermon  subjects,  the  hymns,  the  instrumental  num- 
bers and  the  anthems,  the  announcements  of  social  gath- 
erings, financial  matters  and  the  rest  would  give  very 
concrete  facts  for  interpreting  the  actual  life,  thought  and 
activity  of  the  different  congregations  of  any  denomina- 
tion. They  v/ould  also  afford  means  for  comparing  dif- 
ferent denominations.  Nothing  furnishes  a  better  means 
of  getting  at  certain  kinds  of  facts  concerning  contem- 
porary rehgion.  E.  S.  A. 


THE  SECRETARY'S  DESK 

Extracts  from  letters 

Linkletter:  "I  am  very  much  interested  in  the  new 
plans  of  the  Institute  and  want  to  do  what  I  can  to 
help." 


Page  30  THE  SCROLL 

Lobingier :  "My  Dear  Fellow — You  see  I  am  begin- 
ning immediately  to  use  the  proper  form  of  salutation. 
If  it  does  no  more  than  save  us  from  the  use  of  such 
forms  as  'Dear  Brother,'  it  will  serve  a  good  purpose." 

Coleman:  "Sometime  when  you  are  on  your  way  to 
or  from  New  York  stop  off  here.  One  of  our  attractions 
will  appeal  to  you,  I  am  sure, — the  prettiest  nine-hole 
golf  course  you  ever  saw  in  your  life." 

Hall :  "I  am  pleased  to  know  the  program  vdiich  the 
Institute  has  been  working  out,  especially  the  circulation 
of  recent  books  among  members.  I  want  to  know  more 
about  this." 

Brogden :  "With  hearty  good  wishes  for  the  success 
of  the  Order  and  its  new  program." 

Lineback :  "Send  me  anything  in  the  way  of  literature 
to  put  into  the  hands  of  prospective  members :  I  only 
learned  a  few  weeks  ago  that  our  pastor,  L.  O.  Bricker, 
is  a  C.  I.  man.     I  am  glad  of  this.     He  is  A  ONE  BIG 

MAN." 

Judge  Henry:  "I  value  my  membership  and  the  liter- 
ature of  the  Institute  but  above  all  tlie  fellowship  which 
you  have  so  happily  characterized  in  the  opening  para- 
graphs of  your  letter." 

Allen  Wilson :  "  'Fellow'  is  good  here.  I  do  not  know 
anything  better.  I  think  I  shall  enjoy  the  fellovv'ship  of 
the  fellows.  I  have  known  many  of  them  for  a  long 
time." 


THE  SCROLL Page  31 

Lumley:  "My  work  is  going  along  quite  satisfactorily, 
although  the  teaching  load  is  rather  heavy  and  I  do  not 
have  much  time  for  research  or  writing.  I  shall  try  to 
send  something  to  The  Scroll  before  long.'^ 

Atkins :  "My  Dear  Fellow — I  like  the  new  salutation. 
I  respond  as  a  Fellovv^  should."  (He  enclosed  three  "iron 
men.") 

Cordell :  "I  vvas  acting  head  of  our  department  of  eco- 
nomics and  history  during  the  past  year  and  in  June  was 
made  the  regular  head  of  the  department."  C.  is  in  the 
State  College  of  Washington. 

Hieronymus :  "Hope  the  membership  will  be  extended. 
Shall  be  glad  to  do  what  I  can.  We  had  the  best  Com- 
munity Conference  tlius  far  held." 

Kershner:  "I  am  enclosing  my  check  for  subscription 
to  The  Scroll.  It  will  be  a  pleasure  to  receive  it  regu- 
larly." 

Kirk:  "I  secured  another  name  for  the  C.  I." 

Reidenbach :  "I  am  interested  in  the  plans  to  circulate 
books  and  hope  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  men  through 
this  sacrament." 

Campbell :  "I  am  preaching  a  series  of  Sunday  morn- 
ing sermons  on  'What  Does  God  Do  For  Us?'  The 
Faith  Healer  says  He  cures  our  bodily  ills.  The  Mil- 
lennialist  says  He  is  about  to  end  an  evil  world.     The 


Page  32  THE  SCROLL 

Holinist  says  He  keeps  from  every  sin.  What  can  a 
Christian  preacher  say  about  this  that  is  reasonable,  yet 
definite  enough  to  grip  and  inspire  the  average,  more  or 
less  anxious  soul?" 

Alcorn :  "I  like  the  new  form  of  salutation  you  have 
chosen  and  hope  that  the  suggestiveness  of  it  may  per- 
meate the  Institute  until  a  new  deep  fellov/ship  shall  be 
felt  among-  us." 

Dickinson  :  "Accept  my  congratulations  !  'Fellow'  is 
right  and  I  hope  it  endures." 

Cope:  "I  am  very  much  interested  in  tlie  new  plans  for 
the  Institute,  particularly  the  circulating  library.  Please 
send  me  a  list  of  titles  as  soon  as  they  are  available." 

Duncan:  "I  am  glad  to  be  counted  a  'real  member' 
though,  unable  to  attend  the  meetings." 

Jordan :  "The  mortality  of  iron  men  in  your  armv 
seems  to  be  very  high.  I  know  mine  never  come  back 
from  service." 

Judge  Charles  S.  Lobingier,  of  the  United  States  Court 
in  Shanghai,  China,  is  now  in  Washington,  D.  C,  on  his 
biennial  vacation.  He  is  expected  in  Chicago  soon  on 
his  return. 

Professor  Robert  E.  Park  is  gi\'ing  a  course  for  the 
Disciples'  Divinity  House  this  autumn  on  Problems  of 
Personality.  He  and  a  colleague  have  just  published  "An 
Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Sociology"  tlirough  the 
University  of  Chicago  Press. 


VOLUME  XVIII    NOVEMBER.  1921    NUMBER  III 
WHEN  THE  GODS  PASS 


The  gods  pass,  one  and  all,  on  shining  ways 
That  darken  as  they  near  Oblivion's  shore. 

The  shadows  close  around  all-seeing  Kings, 

And  faith  draws  champions  from  the  skies  no  more. 

Unfevered,  disenchanted,  undismayed, — 

Man  takes  the  reins  of  earth,  as  Heaven  fades ; 

New  visions  light  the  cosmic  wilds ;  new  loves ; 
New  freedoms — for  the  gods  are  harmless  shades. 

On  mad  and  perilous  quests  he  ranges  out 
To  challenge  Life  and  Death  and  seize  their  plan; 
Tongues  that  proclaimed  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 
Hymn  now  the  rising  sovereignty  of  Man ! 

Yet  as  fierce  trials  and  tumults  wear  his  heart, 
An  old  enchantment  steals  into  his  song; 

Some  banished  Influence  descends  and  broods. 

And  with  an  ancient  strength  weak  arms  grow  strong. 

And  where  remorseless  winds  of  Change  sweep  down 
And  scatter  life,  as  petals  from  the  rose, 

Or  where  vainglorious  Youth  sells  all  for  Love, 
An  unimagined  radiance  comes  and  goes. 

In  morning  hours  tlie  roads  of  Sin  run  free 

Through  blossoming  valleys,  all  secure  and  bright ; 

But  from  the  hills  at  dusk  weird  voices  call ; 
Dim  Shapes  like  ghosts  or  demons  ride  at  night. 

Old  marvels  for  the  last  philosopher ! 

Dust  are  Jehovah's  altars  and  his  throne. 
To  other  hands  the  flaming  swords  have  passed. 

And  God,  almight}^  still,  commands  his  own. 

Helena  GA\qN. 


Page  34  THE  SCROLL 

"QUAE  CUM  ITA  SINT"       . 

By  METrETr;r^j«¥*N."H\  .P.  ^^^JH**Jh 

That  the  supply  of  men  for  the  ministry  is  not  equal  to 
the  demand  has  been  repeated  so  often  that  it  no  longer 
affects  us  very  much.  How  many  churches  are  there 
without  ministers  ?  Even  if  we  do  not  know  the  exact 
number  we  are  ail  aware  that  it  can  be  made  to  sound 
very  appalling.  It  has  been  no  more  than  a  fev^^  days 
since  I  heard  some  one  saying  that,  according  to  well- 
informed  persons,  this  is  the  strategic  time  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  China.  The  statement  was  also  made  that 
unless  we  take  immediate  advantage  of  this  favorable 
moment,  China  may  never  be  Christian.  But  China  is 
only  one  of  the  fields  in  which  the  scope  of  the  work 
which  can  be  attempted  is  definitely  related  to  the  num- 
ber of  men  who  are  available.  We  have  become  accus- 
tomed in  late  years  to  the  statement  that  the  most  press- 
ing problem  is  not  one  of  money  so  much  as  it  is  of  men. 
If  men  are  available,  money  will  not  be  lacking  for  their 
support. 

The  problem  of  men  is  not,  however,  one  of  number 
only.  It  is  no  less  a  problem  of  quality.  For  it  must  be 
evident  to  anyone  who  has  experience  of  churches  and 
preachers  that  while  some  churches  have  no  ministers  oth- 
ers would  be  better  off  if  they  were  rid  of  the  ones  they 
have.  If  you  know  a  good  many  preachers,  you  might 
even  be  forgiven  if  you  have  a  disposition  to  question 
whether  religion  persists  and  grows  hecause  of  or  in  spite 
of  its  preachers. 

Assuming,  however,  that  when  we  say  we  need  men, 
we  mean  that  we  need  a  certain  kind  of  men  rather  than 
a  certain  number,  we  will  all  agree  that  the  supply  is  not 
equal  to  the  demand.  If  we  go  further  and  say  that  in 
the  making  of  the  finest  communities  and  the  best  life 


THE  SCROLL  Page  35 

for  people  the  church  has  an  essential  contribution  to 
make;  particularly  if  we  say  the  church  has  its  function 
in  the  salvation  of  individuals  and  communities,  the  fact 
that  it  is  limited  in  the  service  it  can  perform  because 
there  are  not  enough  men  to  do  its  work,  this  lack  is  so 
important  that  whoever  has  any  responsibility  in  the  mat- 
ter must  see  that  he  is  not  rem_iss. 

The  second  fact  is  that  after  men  are  enlisted  it  takes 
ia  great  deal  of  time  to  train  them.  It  is  not  only  that 
there  are  years  of  college  and  seminary  training.  Quite 
apart  from  that  is  the  fact  that  a  certain  maturity  of  mind 
and  experience  is  essential.  ,  With  occasional  exceptions, 
the  church  must  carry  its  men  until  they  are  into  the 
thirties.  If  a  man  has  shown  ability  enough  to  give  more 
than  he  receives  from^  his  official  position  by  that  time,  he 
is  on  the  way  to  being  "one  of  our  outstanding  men." 
This  means  that  from  the  time  of  recruiting  until  there 
is  a  net  gain  from  the  recruits  there  arc  approximately 
ten  years  when  they  must  be  considered  liabilities  rather 
than  assets.  By  this  I  mean  that  the  recruit  gains  more 
from  the  fact  that  he  is  a  recruit  than  he  is  able  to  give 
back  to  the  church  in  service. 

There  is  also  the  cost  in  money.  It  ought  to  be  pos- 
sible to  figure  that  pretty  exactly.  Here  are  the  years  in 
college  and  seminary  during  whigh  there  is  the  cost  in 
actual  money  spent  and  the  cost  which  represents  the 
years  of  non-productivity.  The  cost  of  actual  instruction, 
of  overhead,  of  non-productivity,  and  other  phases  of 
the  education  of  ministers  will  run  into  large  figures.  My 
point  is  not  dependent  on  exact  amounts.  It  is  well 
knovi^n  that  our  great  industries  have  the  cost  of  their 
labor  turnover  carefully  calculated.  The  personnel  de- 
partment is  ver}^  much  interested  in  any  scheme  which 
will  make  the  turnover  less.     But  with  the  most  careful 


P^  36     ^ THE  SCROLL 

attention  to  the  problem  it  is  still  large  enough  and  ex- 
pensive enough  to  give  any  one  who  is  interested  in  social 
service,  and  who  is  able  to  offer  a  program  which  has  as 
part  of  its  effect  the  stabilizing  of  employes,  an  oppor- 
tunity and  financial  support  in  working  out  his  program. 
Good  business,  therefore,  joins  the  religious  motive  in 
making  it  of  the  utmost  importance  to  hold  desirable  men 
once  they  have  been  enlisted  and  trained. 

There  is  another  group  of  facts  which  must  be  put 
alongside  these.  I  note  only  a  few  instances  of  a  larger 
number  which  have  come  under  my  own  observation. 
Those  who  read  this  will  be  able  to  add  more  of  the  same 

kind.     Here  is  the  case  of  Mr.  H .     His  is  a  very 

devoted  family  of  Methodists.  He  had  practically  com- 
pleted his  college  course  when  he  married.  He  acquired 
a  hardware  and  farm  implement  business  which  was  mak- 
ing him  an  increasingly  good  income.  After  consulting 
with  his  wife,  he  left  the  business  and  entered  the  min- 
istry. During  tlie  several  years  while  he  was  pursuing  his 
theological  work  in  Garrick  Seminary  he  made  a  splen- 
did record  in  country  church  work,  and  in  county  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  work.  Just  a  few  months  before  he  would  have 
completed  his  work  in  Garrick  he  was  sought  by  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  take  charge  of  its  program  in  a  large 
industry.  After  careful  consideration  he  accepted,  and 
before  a  year  he  had  been  made  executive  secretary  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  in  a  large  district.  He  had  a  staff 
of  full  time  helpers  numbering  about  twelve,  and  a  budget 
of  more  than  thirty  thousand  dollars.  Within  less  than 
two  years  from  the  time  he  became  executive  secretary 
he  was  sought  by  an  organization  of  lumber  manufac- 
turers to  become  director  of  their  newly  organized  de- 
partment of  Industrial  Relations.  He  is  completing  his 
second  year  in  that  position.    He  is  now  in  his  early  thir- 


THE  SCROLL Page  37 

Mr.  C is  another  with  a  very  similar  experience. 

He  was  a  fellow  student  of  Mr.  H at  Garrick,  and 

was  also  looking  forward  to  the  Methodist  ministry.  The 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  found  him,  and  gave  him  an  opportunity 
which  he  could  not  refuse.  His  success  there  was  very 
marked,  and  before  long  he  was  offered  a  better  position 
with  a  service  organization  among  business  men.  After 
three  years,  during  which  he  did  the  sort  of  work  which 
brought  an  increase  of  salary  from  $3,500  to  $8,500,  he 
has  been  unable  to  resist  the  offer  of  another  organization 
of  similar  type. 

These  two  cases  are  no  more  outstanding  than  these 

to  which  I  give  less  space.    Mr.  S ,  who  did  fine  work 

in  the  Presbyterian  ministry  until  he  was  in  the  middle 
thirties,  has  now  been  managing  the  service  program  in 
a  large  industry  for  some  years.  Mr.  X— —  made  his 
Ph.D.  in  a  first  rank  seminary  and  planned  to  preach  or 
teach  in  the  schools  of  his  denomination,  the  Disciples. 
He  did  not  seem  at  all  happy  when  he  was  beginning  his 
work  as  teacher  in  a  good  but  "secular"   school.     Mr. 

C ,  another  volunteer  to  the  Disciple  ministry,  has 

the  best  of  evidence  that  he  has  been  successful  in  his 
teaching  in  a  large  state  university.     Another  Disciple, 

Mr.  C ,  after  completing  his  theological  training,  took 

his  Ph.D.  in  another  subject,  and  has  made  a  splendid 
record  as  a  teacher  in  one  of  our  municipal  universities. 
These  cases  are  not  all  which  have  come  under  my  per- 
sonal observation,  but  they  are  sufficient  for  the  present 
purpose. 

That  these  men,  all  of  whom  have  shown  ability  of 
much  more  than  ordinary  rank,  should  leave  the  min- 
istry after  having  practically  completed  their  period  of 
training  and  im.maturity  is  a  very  great  matter.  In  so 
far  as  it  indicates  a  more  mature  decision  that  they  do 


Page  38  THE  SCROLL 

not  care  to  continue  in  the  ministry,  or  in  so  far  as  it 
means  inability  to  do  just  the  particular  type  of  service 
which  is  needed  in  the  ministry,  it  can  be  accepted.  But 
the  thing  which  makes  it  a  matter  of  exceeding  impor- 
tance is  the  fact  that  in  practically  every  case  these  men 
have  been  lost  to  the  ministry  without  a  single  effort  being 
made  by  any  one,  either  officially  or  otherwise,  to  keep 
them  in  that  work,  or  to  find  out  whether  they  had  made 
a  new  decision  or  had  discovered  a  lack  of  the  peculiar 
ability.  And  I  have  the  best  of  reason  for  saying  that 
in  most  of  these  cases  none  of  these  things  are  true. 
What  is  more,  they  went  into  other  kinds  of  work  with 
a  great  deal  of  reluctance,  believing  they  could  accom- 
plish something  which  would  satisfy  the  same  ambition 
which  originally  took  them  into  the  ministry. 

Here  are  the  facts.  What  is  the  answer?  I  wish  to 
do  no  more  than  deny  that  the  answer  lies  in  a  failure 
on  the  part  of  the  men.  This  may  explain  some  cases, 
but  it  will  not  face  the  real  issue.  That  issue  places  the 
responsibility  in  a  different  direction,  assuming  that  there 
is  a  responsibility.  If  we  assume  the  need  of  more  men 
in  the  ministry,  and  if  we  assume  that  the  failure  to  sup- 
ply the  need  for  men  means  a  failure  Vv'hich  has  any  sig- 
nificance, someone  ought  to  have  part  of  his  business 
this  matter  of  finding  an  answer  to  these  facts.  Is  it 
not  so? 


THE    BROSS   LECTURES 

By  Fred  S.  Nichols. 
The  Bross  Lectures  of  Lake  Forest  College  have  in- 
cluded some  worthy  contributions,  among  which  may  be 
named :  The  Bible,  Its  Origin  and  Nature,  by  Marcus 
Dods ;  The  Bible  of  Nature,  by  J.  Arthur  Thompson  ; 
Tl*e  Stxirces  of  Religious  Insight,  by  Josioh  Roj'ce. 


THE  SCROLL  ^       Page  39 

The  purpose  of  this  Foundation  is  to  stimvilate  the  pro- 
duction of  the  best  treatises  or  books  "on  the  connection, 
relation,  and  mutual  bearing  of  any  practical  science,  the 
history  of  our  race,  or  the  facts  in  any  department  of 
knowledge,  with  and  upon  the  Christian  Religion." 

This  year  the  plan  was  varied,  and  in  place  of  one  man 
delivering  the  entire  course,  six  different  authorities  spoke 
upon  the  general  theme.  The  Application  of  Christianity 
to  Modern  Problems.    The  list  included  : 

Present  Conditions  in  the  Near  East  in  the  Light  of 
an  Archeologist's  Forty  Years  Experience.  Sir  William 
Ramsey. 

Religion  and  Social  Discontent.  Professor  Paul  El- 
mer More,  Princeton. 

From  Generation  to  Generation.  Mr.  John  Finley,  Ed- 
itorial Department,  New  York  Times. 

The  Teaching  of  Jesus  as  Factors  in  International  Pol- 
itics.    Professor  Jeremiah  W.  Jenks. 

Jesus'  Social  Plan.     Professor  Charles  Foster  Kent. 

Personal  Religion  and  Public  Morals.  Principal  Rob- 
ert Bruce  Taylor,  Queen's  University,  Canada. 

It  was  the  writer's  privilege  to  hear  all  of  these  except 
the  one  by  Principal  Taylor. 

Since  at  this  time  we  are  especially  interested  in  inter- 
national affairs,  I  shall  mention  only  a  few  of  the  things 
that  have  a  bearing  on  this  aspect  of  the  general  theme. 

Sir  William  believes  that  the  Near  East  problem  is  fun- 
damentally an  economic  question.  The  people  prefer 
work  to  war.  Many  of  the  massacres  are  basically  eco- 
nomic rather  than  the  result  of  religious  fanaticism — 
the  Moslems  want  the  jobs  the  Christians  happen  to  have, 
and  know  no  other  method  of  getting  them  than  by 
wholesale  killing.  The  lecturer  cited  conditions  of  trag- 
ically  low   wages ;    earning   possibilities   had    practically 


Page  40  THE  SCROLL 

ceased  everywhere.  Men  had  been  known  to  walk  five 
hundred  miles  for  work.  Many  in  desperation  had 
joined  the  National  Army.  National  Army  leaders  Vv'ho 
owed  their  positions  to  war  made  the  most  of  the  situa- 
tion. 

According  to  Dante,  whom  the  lecturer  quoted,  "Of 
all  things  in  the  social  world,  peace  is  the  best."  So 
the  Scotch  scholar  named  peace  the  first  condition  of 
social  growth,  the  only  way  commerce  and  prosperity 
can  grow.  To  try  to  run  a  country  on  charity  is  disas- 
trous. Since  the  Near  East  question  is  related  to  the 
entire  Asiatic  problem — for  the  people  of  Asia  Minor 
have  the  Asian  spirit — the  peace  of  the  world  depends 
upon  the  pacification  and  prosperity  of  the  Near  East. 
But  to  pacify  and  make  prosperous,  the  geophrachipal 
unity  of  entire  Asia  Minor  must  be  recognized.  He  advo- 
cated Home  Rule  for  the  various  districts — a  plan  not 
familiar  to  the  Asiatic — with  a  strong  centralized  external 
authority  over  all  the  districts  or  states  because  of  the 
natural  unity  of  the  land.  This  authorit}'  must  recognize 
the  necessity  of  guiding  the  natives  according  to  their 
racial  characteristics.  And  here  appeared  the  significant 
thing  for  us.  No  European  country  is  equal  to  this 
great  world-saving  task — only  the  United  States  can  sat- 
isfactorily and  successfully  do  the  work;  and  for  this 
we  must  send  our  very  strongest  men. 

Professor  Jenks  stated  that  political  and  economic 
questions  are  largely  questions  of  motive,  and  that  Jesus 
is  a  molder  of  motives.  The  basic  principles  of  Jesus 
are  Truth,  the  Worth  of  the  Common  ]\Ian,  and  Love,  or 
Devotion  to  the  Welfare  of  Others.  Truth,  the  lecturer 
contended,  is  the  greatest  social  virtue,  and  a  lie.  there- 
fore, the  greatest  social  vice.  Jesus  meant  for  man  to 
see  straight  and  talk  straight.     A  statement  of  thought 


THE  SCROLL Page  41 

and  opinion  was  to  be  so  clear  as  to  be  impossible  of 
misunderstanding.  It  was  not  difference  of  opinion,  but 
conscious  hypocrisy  that  aroused  the  indignation  of  Jesus. 
Purpose  and  intent  are  the  great  considerations  with  the 
Master.  In  all  this  there  is  room  for  diplomacy  in  the 
best  sense. 

Emphasis  upon  the  worth  of  the  common  man  was 
a  new  philosophy.  While  the  early  Hebrews  stressed 
some  rights  of  the  common  man,  they  delegated  to  him 
very  few  responsibilities.  So  here  was  a  revolutionary 
doctrine :  Individual  responsibility  goes  with  individual 
worth.  This  will  demand  independence  of  judgment,  a 
thing  Jesus  expected  of  his  followers.  It  naturally  fol- 
lows tliat  if  we  demand  independence  and  rights  of  our- 
selves, we  must  of  course  grant  the  same  to  others. 

Devotion  to  the  welfare  of  others  was  never  so  em- 
phasized as  by  Jesus.  This  the  test  of  right  or  wrong 
with  him.  Whatever  benefits  humanity  is  right,  and  this 
will  mean  humanity  at  large.  Jesus,  in  emphasizing  the 
v/orth  and  welfare  of  all,  became  the  founder  of  popular 
self-government. 

These  principles  should  rule  in  the  Washington  and 
all  international  conferences.  Every  problem  should  be 
faced  frankly  in  its  historical  development  and  in  the 
light  of  present  conditions.  The  truth  must  be  kindly 
but  firmly  stated  to  all  the  nations  involved.  In  the  mat- 
ter of  self-determination,  the  limitations  of  Jesus  must 
prevail.  Have  the  people  the  ability  to  govern  to  their 
own  good?  It  is  not  a  question  of  social  status,  for  Jesus 
considered  no  one  as  born  socially  inferior;  it  is  a  matter 
of  abihty;  and  with  Jesus,  the  question  of  individual 
wortli  involved  responsibility  as  well  as  rights.  Again 
the  welfare  and  rights  of  others  impose  limitations — a 
principle  that  applies  in  any  democratic  community.  With 


Page  42  THE  SCROLL 

these  limitations,  there  must  be  an  honest  effort  to  develop 
the  capacity  of  self-determination. 

In  the  question  of  the  Far  East,  the  truth  must  be 
fearlessly,  though  courteously,  stated.  No  conference 
has  as  yet  thus  accepted  this  principle  of  Jesus.  And  in 
the  matter  of  individual  worth  as  rights  and  responsibili- 
ties, all  decisions  should  be  based  upon  the  fact  as  to 
whether  the  decision  will  aid  in  the  trend  toward  democ- 
racy. In  the  light  of  these  principles  Japan  must  be 
made  to  see  the  truth  in  regard  to  expansion  due  to  in- 
creased population.  Why  should  her  designs  in  expan- 
sion be  toward  the  territory  more  densely  populated  than 
her  own?  She  must  see  the  possibility  of  developing 
higher  standards  as  a  commercial  nation,  and  that  coun- 
tries legitimately  open  to  her  may  be  industrialized.  It 
should  be  made  plain  that  an  open  door  for  raw  material 
does  not  involve  political  control.  Also  it  must  be 
brought  home  very  clearly  that  the  welfare  of  the  v>^hole 
is  not  promoted  by  the  people  of  an  inferior  standard 
entering  the  land  and  driving  out  the  people  of  a  higher 
standard,  as  is  the  inevitable  result.  This  policy  which 
Japan  has  been  pursuing  must  be  reckoned  with  firmly  in 
the  light  of  Jesus'  teaching. 

Three  strikes  have  been  called  on  me,  but  allow  me 
these  words  as  I  go  to  the  bench — Sir  William  had 
thought  with  the  loving  heart  passion  of  a  long  and  inti- 
mate experience.  Professor  More  was  scholarly  but 
coldly  academic.  Finley  was  wholesomely  inspirational, 
as  when  he  advocated  the  interest  on  the  allied  debts  to 
us  be  used  for  the  education  of  children  the  world  over, 
"and  plead  for  a  "Planetary  Consciousness."  Jenks  Avas 
thought  provoking.  And  Kent— well,  he  appeared  a  fine- 
ly equipped  prospector,  walking  around  in  the  woods 
looking  for  the  gold  he  couldn't  "zackly  locate." 


THE  SCROLL Page  48 

The  ministers  of  my  town  were  all  too  busy  to  attend 
these  lectures  ten  miles  away. 

I  attended  them. 

Oh,  Logic,  what  crimes  may  be  committed  in  thy 
name!! 


WHAT  IS  A  DENOMINATION? 

By  Geo.  B.  Stewart. 

There  once  lived  a  man  who  continued  to  throw  stones 
at  a  spectre,  only  to  discover  later  to  his  chagrin  that  he 
had  been  demolishing  a  beautiful  piece  of  statuary.  Lu- 
ther threw  an  ink  bottle  at  the  devil,  only  to  discover  later 
that  he  was  a  victim  of  hallucination.  The  devil  wasn't 
hurt  and  Luther  v/as  minus  a  bottle,  if  not  ink.  In  our 
zeal  to  get  rid  of  sectarianism  it  may  be  that  we  have  been 
unconscious  victims  of  some  sort  of  superstition.  When- 
ever anyone  happens  to  speak  of  us  Disciples  as  a  De- 
nomination, we  just  naturally  feel  that  an  awful  blunder 
of  speech  has  been  made.  We  are  so  sensitive  to  what 
we  think  ought  to  have  been  said. 

Are  we  a  Denomination  ?  One  of  two  things :  either 
we  are  the  Church  of  Christ  or  we  are  a  Denomination  of 
that  Church.  And  we  have  been  nursing  a  baby  of  no- 
menclature when  the  child  should  have  been  weaned  long 
since.  How  soon  will  we  discover  the  fact  that  in  this 
life  we  have  no  perfect  language  any  more  than  we  have 
perfect  laws.  We  are  subject  to  the  use  of  terms  approx- 
imating ideals,  not  realizing  them.  But  to  insist  upon 
some  eccentric  term,  used  by  provincial  and  ignorant 
cults,  not  to  mention  Holy  Rollers  and  Sanctificationists, 
casts  disfavor  upon  the  whole  body.  The  up-to-date  man 
today  knows  what  you  mean  when  you  refer  to  a  denomi- 
nation, but  he  is  at  least  doubtful  about  the  use  of  some 
term  less  generally  u-sed  throughout  Christendom.     Wfe 


Page  44  THE  SCROLL 

waste  precious  time,  in  comparison  of  vital  and  non-vital 
things,  to  insist  in  any  way  upon  the  use  of  antiquated 
and  unfamiliar  names.  Nomenclature  is  only  a  means  to 
an  end.  Why  foster  a  peculiar  brand  of  provincialism  in 
these  days  of  supreme  efforts  for  the  Kingdom?  We 
certainly  have  all  the  organization,  all  the  machinery,  all 
the  bric-a-brac  and  outward  appearance  of  a  full-fledged 
denomination.  Then  we  should  rejoice  that  God  has  seen 
best  to  raise  us  up  and  prosper  us  into  this  state  of  Unity 
rather  than  into  a  scattered  and  a  disintegrating  force. 
Why  longer  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel  ? 

Supposing  that  the  Disciples  are  not  like  other  bodies ; 
that  their  traditions,  hopes  and  ambitions  have  all  along 
been  dift"erent,  does  that  make  any  vital  difference?  Be- 
cause America  is  different  from  all  other  nations  does  it 
follow  that  she  is  not  a  nation  in  the  world  of  nations? 
Then  we  should  speak  of  Great  Britain  as  a  nation, 
France  as  a  nation,  Italy  as  a  nation,  but  the  United 
States  of  America — simply  as  the  United  States — or  be 
nicknamed  any  one  of  half  a  dozen  epithets.  We  know 
better  than  this ;  we  know  that  we  are  a  nation  and  no 
other  term  answers  though  it  is  the  name  applied  to  all 
the  others  vitally  different  in  their  governmental  concep- 
tions. 

Denominationalism  is  not  condemned  in  tiie  New  Tes- 
tament— only  sectarianism.  Corinthian  Christians  were 
not  the  same  and  Corinthian  Christians  were  not  the  same 
as  Roman  Christians.  Paul  recognized  the  dift'erence  in 
what  he  had  to  write.  His  well-known  utterances  were 
directed  against  bigotry  and  boasting,  both  heresies  of 
the  heart  and  not  of  the  head.  Even  so  we  hark  back 
to  primitive  times  entirely  too  much  to  know  the  mind  of 
Christ  in  church  politics.  Christ  today  as  ever  is  inter- 
ested in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  not  greatly  concerned  about 


THE  SCROLL Page  45 

the  niceties  of  expression.  He  did  not  use  antiquated 
and  patriarchial  expressions  to  convey  meanings  to  his 
hearers.  Jesus  Christ  was  no  provincial,  he  was  a  thor- 
ough-going cosmopoHtan. 

In  this  day  of  federated  work  when  the  Disciples  are 
compelled  by  every  necessity  of  the  case  to  forge  forward 
to  the  front,  we  should  gracefully  accept  the  spirit  of  the 
times  and  the  courtesies  of  polite  speech.  It's  not  even 
polite  to  be  calling  ourselves  Brotherhood  and  like  names, 
when  it  makes  others,  who  are  church  leaders,  feel  es- 
tranged by  the  use  of  such.  Sometimes  it  is  really  Chris- 
tian to  put  yourself  in  the  place  of  the  other  fellow.  Con- 
ceit of  view  would  then  dissolve  before  humility  of  view. 
We  cannot  and  we  will  not  lose  our  prestige  and  province 
by  using  common  sense  and  good  manners.  And  that's 
about  what  it  comes  to  be.  Liberty  on  the  tongue  is  poor 
beside  liberty  on  the  altar  and  liberty  on  the  field  of  sacri- 
fice. Not  what  we  are  called  but  what  we  are  will  count 
eventually. 

Denomination  in  essence  means  only  the  distinguishing 
name.  At  least  in  this  Miami  Valley  of  Ohio  it  would 
be  a  source  of  much  relief  to  be  recognized  by  the  name. 
It  would  relieve  much  embarrassment  to  be  recognized 
as  Disciples  instead  of  the  semi-farcical  distinction  be- 
tween Church  of  Christ  and  Christian  Church.  In  the 
sight  of  God  it  would  be  more  consistent  to  use  Disciples 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  than  to  appear  ridiculous  as 
Church  of  Christ  as  distinct  from  Christian  Church.  A 
fellow  preacher  and  myself  drifted  into  a  conference  of 
these  brethren  at  the  Columbus  Inter-Church  meeting  and 
we  had  to  stay  through  a  series  of  prayers  before  we  fully 
discovered  our  error.  True  they  prayed  to  the  same 
God  as  we,  but  it  was  not  our  conference.  Let  the  Chris- 
tian Connection  folks  use  tke  name,  sectarian  or  smr  ws^ 


Page  46  THE  SCROLL 

they  like,  but  let  us  have  the  good  sense  to  adopt  names 
readily  understood,  both  in  letter  and  spirit,  for  our- 
selves. Unless  we  are  the  Church  of  Christ  it  is  the 
Christian  thing  to  do.  We  are  known  to  the  world  at 
large  as  Disciples  of  Christ.  This  is  scriptural,  this  is 
logical.  Then,  without  apology  or  fear  of  heresy,  we 
should  speak  of  ourselves  as  the  denomination  of  Disci- 
ples. "And  the  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  in 
Antioch"  "could  well  be  changed -to  suit  our  present  need, 
— And  the  Christians  vv^ere  called  Disciples  of  Christ  first 
in  America."  Even  then  it  might  be  added,  but  hovv- 
worthy  are  we  of  this  name?  Brethren,  have  we  not 
been  vainly  throwing  stones  at  a  v.orthy  piece  of  statu- 
ary? 


In  "The  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,"  pages  367- 
369,  James  pleads  for  modern  equivalents  of  the  moral 
values  of  asceticism  in  these  words : 

Poverty  indeed  is  the  strenuous  life — without  brass 
bands  or  uniforms  or  hysteric  popular  applause  or  lies  or 
circumlocutions ;  and  when  one  sees  the  way  in  Vv-hich 
wealth-getting  enters  as  an  ideal  into  the  very  bone  and 
marrow  of  our  generation,  one  wonders  whether  a  re- 
vival of  the  belief  that  poverty  is  a  Avorthy  religious  voca- 
tion may  not  be  "the  transformation  of  military  courage," 
and  the  spiritual  reform  which  our  time  stands  most  in 
ne€d  of. 

Among  us  English-speaking  peoples  especially  do  the 
praises  of  poverty  need  once  more  to  be  boldl}^  sung.  We 
have  grown  literally  afraid  to  be  poor.  We  despise  anv 
one  who  elects  to  be  poor  in  order  to  simplify  and  save  his 
inner  life.  If  he  does  not  join  the  general  scramble  and 
pant  with  the  money-making  street,  we  deem  him  spirit- 
less and  lacking  in  ambition.    We  have  lost  the  power  of 


THE  SCROLL Page  47 

imagining  what  the  ancient  idealization  of  poverty  could 
have  meant :  the  liberation  from  material  attachments, 
the  unbribed  soul,  the  manlier  indifference,  the  paying  our 
way  by  what  we  are  or  do  and  not  by  what  we  have,  the 
right  to  fling  av/ay  our  life  at  any  moment  irresponsibly 
— the  more  athletic  trim,  in  short,  the  moral  fighting 
shape.  When  we  of  the  so-called  better  classes  are  scared 
as  men  were  never  scared  in  history  at  material  ugliness 
and  hardship ;  when  v^^e  put  off  marriage  until  our  house 
can  be  artistic,  and  quake  at  the  thought  of  having  a  child 
without  a  bank-account,  and  doomed  to  manual  labor,  it 
is  time  for  thinking  men  to  protest  against  so  unmanly 
and  irreligious  a  state  of  opinion. 

It  is  true  that  so  far  as  wealth  gives  time  for  ideal  ends 
and  exercise  to  ideal  energies,  wealth  is  better  than  pov- 
erty and  ought  to  be  chosen.  But  wealth  does  this  in  only 
a  portion  of  the  actual  cases.  Elsevv^here  the  desire  to 
gain  wealth  and  the  fear  to  lose  it  are  our  chief  breeders 
of  cowardice  and  propagators  of  corruption.  There  are 
thousands  of  conjunctures  in  which  a  wealth-bound  man 
must  be  a  slave,  whilst  a  man  for  whom  poverty  has  no 
terrors  becomes  a  free  man.  Think  of  the  strength  which 
personal  indifference  to  poverty  v/ould  give  us  if  we  were 
devoted  to  unpopular  causes.  We  need  no  longer  hold 
our  tongues  for  fear  to  vote  the  revolutionary  or  reforma- 
tory ticket.  Our  stocks  might  fall,  our  hopes  of  promo- 
tion vanish,  our  salaries  stop,  our  club  doors  close  in  our 
faces ;  yet,  while  we  lived,  we  would  imperturbably  bear 
witness  to  the  spirit,  and  our  example  would  help  to  set 
free  our  generation.  The  cause  would  need  its  funds, 
but  we  its  servants  would  be  potent  in  proportion  as  we 
personally  were  contented  with  our  poverty. 

T  recoTnmend  this  matter  to  your  serious  pondering,  for 
it  is  certain  that  the  prevalent  fear  of  poverty  among  the 


Ffeige  48  THE  SCROLL 

educated  classes  is  the  worst  moral  disease  from  which 
our  civilization  suffers. 


CORRECTED  ADDRESSES 

Borders,  Karl,  1080  West  14th  Street,  Chicago. 
Brogden,  John,  719  Campbell  Ave.,  Hamilton,  Ohio. 
Cook,  Gaines  Monroe,  Eureka,  Illinois. 
Deming,  Fred  K.,  1026  Eichelberger  St.,  St.  Louis,  AIo. 
Gabbert,  Mont  R.,  University  of  Pittsburgh,  Pittsburgh, 

Pa. 
Haile,  E.  M.,  1507  W.  T.  Waggoner  Bldg.,  Fort  Worth, 

Texas. 
Lineback,  Paul,  Emory  University,  Georgia. 
Nichols,  Fred  S.,  302  Cory  Ave.,  Waukegan,  111. 
Parker,  W.  A.,  i  Madison  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Reidenbach,  Clarence,  3700  Warwick  Blvd.,  Kansas  City, 

Mo. 
Roosa,  William  V.,  305  West  Elm  St.,  Urbana,  111. 
Rowell,  Edward  Z.,  2831  Benvenue  Ave.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 
Smith,  J.  E.,  Hiram,  Ohio. 

Stubbs,  John  F.,  331 1  East  60th  St.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Todd,  E.  M.,  HarUngen,  Texas. 


RENEWALS  OF  MEMBERSHIP 
Boynton,  Edwin  C,  1418  Avenue  "K,"  Huntsville,  Texas. 
Hieronymus,  R.  E.,  Urbana,  111. 
Lockhart,  W.  S.,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 
Myers,  J.  P.,  2915  Capitol  Ave.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Watson,  Charles  M.,   1610  Colonial  Ave.,  Indianapolis, 
Ind. 


Communications  for  The  Scroll  should  be  sent  to  the 
Editor,  Dr.  W.  E.  Garrison,  University  of  Chicago,  Chi- 
cago, Illinois. 


THE    SCROLL 

VOLUME  XVIIi     DECEMBER.  1921    NUMBER  IV 

THE  CAMPBELL  INSTITUTE 

President Henry  Pearce  Atkins 

516  Union  Central  Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Secretary-Treasurer .Edward  Scribner  Ames 

Box  94,  Faculty  Exchange,  University  of  Chicago 

Editor  of  The  Scroll Winfred  Ernest  Garrison 

Box  277,  Faculty  Exchange,  University  of  Chicago 

The  Scroll  is  published  ten  times  a  year  by  the  Camp- 
bell Institute.  It  is  sent  to  members  without  charge  other 
than  the  annual  membership  fee.  Each  member  is  en- 
titled to  have  one  copy  sent  regularly  to  a  friend  without 
charge.    Additional  subscriptions,  one  dollar  per  year. 

Ardcles  for  publication  should  be  sent  to  the  Editor. 
Members  are  especially  requested  to  send  brief  notes  in 
rejcrard  to  their  movements  and  activities,  their  reading, 
their  thinking,  their  experiences  and  experiments  in  the 
practice  and  promotion  of  religion.  Longer  articles  are 
also  solicited, — especially  such  as  come  within  the  limit 
of  about  one  thousand  words. 

Member.ship  dues,  subscriptions,  and  other  business 
communications  should  be  sent  to  the  Secretary-Treas- 
urer. 


A  Correction. — The  article  entitled  "Quae  cum  ita 
Sint,"  in  the  November  issue,  was  written  by  Dr.  M.  R. 
Gabbert  of  the  University  of  Pittsburgh.  By  a  clerical 
error  it  was  credited  to  the  author  of  the  poem  on  the 
preceding  page. 


Page  50 THE  SCROLL 

FUNDAMENTALS 

Certain  advocates  of  the  Old  Theology  in  its  most  ex- 
treme form  are  applying  the  term  "fundamentals"  in  a 
specialized  and  technical  sense  to  the  entire  content  of 
their  belief.  The  modernists  may  well  take  up  the  chal- 
lenge which  is  implied  in  the  appropriation  of  that 
word,  and  undertake  to  formulate  the  fundamentals  of 
Christianity  from  their  point  of  view. 

In  the  forthcoming  issue  of  the  Journal  of  Religion 
(January,  1922),  Prof.  Conrad  H.  Moehlmann,  of  Roch- 
ester Theological  Seminary,  presents  a  study  based  on 
an  effort  to  determine  what  has  been  the  actual  content 
of  the  term  "fundamentals"  in  different  periods  and 
among  different  groups  of  Christian  people.  Twenty  dif- 
ferent sets  of  fundamentals  are  given.  The  number 
might  have  been  doubled,  and  doubled  again,  but  these 
are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  insurmountable  (or,  at  least, 
hitherto  unsurmounted )  difficulties  in  the  way  of  coming 
to  a  common  statement  of  fundamentals  which  shall  in- 
clude all  matters  theological,  ecclesiastical,  liturgical  and, 
sometimes,  sartorial.  The  grounds  of  divergence  range 
all  the  way  from  predestination  to  feet-washing,  from 
premiillenialism  to  hooks  and  eyes.  And  every  one  of 
these  items  has  seemed  to  certain  sincere  and  Scripture- 
loving  persons — men  and  women  of  such  stuff  as  saints 
and  martyrs  are  made  of — to  be  absolutely  fundamental 
to  the  faith. 

A  consideration  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  reveals  the  fact 
that  agreement  upon  tliat  as  a  statement  of  the  funda- 
mentals is  both  impossible  to  get,  meaningless  even  if  it 
could  be  gotten,  because  of  diverse  interpretations  of  its 
ancient  phrases,  and  in  any  case  inadequate  because  it 
leaves   untouched   the   great   problems  of   the   Christian 


THE  SCROLL  Page  51 

man's  attitu  ic  to  the  world  today.  Professor  Moehlmann 
concludes  that  a  theological  statement  of  fundamentals 
is  impossible. 

This  suggests  the  article  by  Prof.  C.  J.  Cadoux  in 
tlie  Journal  of  Religion,  November,  192 1,  on  the  Re- 
cently Suggested  Creedal  Basis  of  Union.  The  sugges- 
tion is  that  put  forward  again  recently  from  Anglican 
sources  that  the  Christian  world  should  be  able  to  find 
a  doctrinal  basis  in  the  Nicene  Creed.  This  article  should 
be  read  in  its  entirety  by  everyone  who  cares  to  learn 
whether,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  tlie  Nicene  formula  repre- 
sented the  general  opinion  of  the  church  of  the  fourth 
century,  and  in  what  an  atmosphere  its  articles  were  de- 
bated, and  by  what  pressure  they  were  adopted.  One  is 
reminded  of  SchaiT's  statement  that,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Council  at  Nacaea,  the  majority  of  the  assembled 
bishops  wanted  to  adopt  a  simple  creed  in  Biblical  lan- 
p-uarre,  but  the  militant  minority  objected  to  the  first 
draft  that  was  presented  (and  presented  by  no  less  a 
theologian  than  the  great  and  tlioroughly  orthodox  Euse- 
bJus)  because  "they  wanted  a  creed  which  no  Arian  could 
honestly  subscribe."  The  Nicene  Creed,  viewed  in  the 
light  of  its  origin,  will  not  do  as  a  statement  of  funda- 
mentals.    Its  history  is  its  judgment. 

Dr.  Douglas  White,  quoted  in  an  article  in  the  Con- 
temporary Review,  November,  192 1,  suggests  this  new 
formula : 
"I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  of  all ; 

And  in  Jesus  Christ,  Revealer  of  God,  and  Savior 
of  men; 

And  in  the  Spirit  of  Holiness,  v/hich  is  the  Spirit 
of  God  and  of  Jesus; 

By  which  Spirit  man  is  made  divine. 

I  acknowledge  the  communion  of  all  faithful  people, 


Page  52  THE  SCROLL 

"■"n  beauty,  ,?joo''''ness,  and  truth. 

I  bel  e  ^   in  :he   forrjiveness  of  sins,  the  glory  of 

righteousness, 
The  victory  of  love,  and  the  life  eternal." 

Perhaps  such  a  statement,  more  convincingly  than  any 
argument  about  it,  proves  the  impossibility  of  doing  the 
thing  that  Dr.  White  v/as  trying  to  do  when  he  w^rote  it. 

Lyman  Abbott,  in  the  Outlook,  November  23,  1921, 
makes  this  contribution  to  the  search  for  the  fundamen- 
tals: 

'Tf  Christianity  is  a  system  of  philosophy,  then  cer- 
tain doctrines  might  be  regarded  as  fundamental  in  that 
system.  But  if  Christianity  is  a  life,  the  fundamentals 
are  not  understandings  by  the  intellect  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  Bible,  Christ,  and  of  Sacrifice,  but  acts  of  the  will, 
as  repentance,  love,  and  loyalt)^  And  if  so,  the  condition 
of  admission  to  the  Church  of  Christ  should  not  be  ac- 
ceptance of  a  creed,  ancient  or  modern,  simple  or  com- 
plex, but  the  consecration  of  the  life  to  the  service  of 
God' in  the  service  of  His  children  under  the  leadership 
of  Jesus  Christ." 


A  NEGLECTED  EPISODE  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF 
THE  DISCIPLES 

•  A  bit  of  almost  accidental  research  in  a  musty  volume 
recently  brought  to  light  a  most  refreshing  paragraph  in 
the  history  of  the  Disciples  and  in  the  development  of 
progressive  thought. 

In  January,  1869,  John  Shackleford  and  L.  L.  Pinker- 
ton  began  the  publication  of  The  Independent  Monthly, 
at  103  Main  Street,  Cincinnati.  The  Christian  Standard 
,..^r.  ^+  ^1-.^^  tii"e  a  Vt\e  over  two  years  old,  the  exponent 
of  a  conservatively  liberal  interpretation  of  the  message 


THE  SCROLL Page  53 

and  mission  of  the  Disciples,  and  the  American  Christian 
Review  was  proclaiming  the  apostasy  of  those  who  coun- 
tenanced missionary  societies  or  instrumental  music.  In 
those  days  a  man  was  counted  a  liberal  if  he  held  that 
the  church  was  free  to  adopt  expedients  in  matters  where 
the  Bible  has  not  spoken  authoritatively,  and  the  battle- 
grounds of  argument  were  chiefly  the  missionary  society, 
the  organ  question,  and  the  employment  of  pastors 
(known  as  "the  one-man  system").  The  emphasis  was 
,  upon  the  ancient  order  of  things,  the  ordinances,  doctrinal 
soundness,  the  technicalities  of  religion. 

The  Independent  Monthly  began  at  once  to  ring  with 
denunciation  of  the  attitude  of  those  who  were  so  won- 
derfully solicitous  for  these  minor  matters  but  neglected 
weightier  ones.  "There  has  been  more  commotion  aSout 
the  existence  of  a  missionary  society  than  anxiety  about 
all  the  ignorance  and  corruption  and  crime  of  earth. 
There  has  been  more  discipline  about  dancing  than  about 
all  covetousness  and  oppression  or  slander."  The  real 
danger  of  the  church  is  "cove'.ousness  and  selfishness  and 
the  loss  of  candor,  and  the  reproduction  of  that  Phari- 
saism which  for  a  pretense  makes  long  prayers  and  then 
devours  widows'  houses." 

The  American  Christian  Review  had  said  that  the  edi- 
tors of  the  Apostolic  Times  were  "sound  and  true  for  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  John  Shackleford 
comments:  "This  is  complimentary  or  not  as  the  writer 
uses  the  expression,  'the  faith'.  If  in  his  use  it  compre- 
hends the  whole  duty  of  man  as  revealed  in  the  Bible,  the 
thirteenth  of  Romans  as  well  as  the  second  of  Acts,  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  as  well  as  the  conversation  with 
Nicodemus,  then  to  be  'sound  and  true  for  the  faith'  is 
to  be  sound  and  true  indeed." 


Page  54 THE  SCROLL 

There  is  an  editorial,  worthy  of  being  reprinted  in  full, 
on  Robert  Burns'  Auld  Lang  Syne.  Admitting  that  the 
poem  perhaps  smacks  over-much  of  "wine  and  wassail," 
still,  it  continues,  "our  hope  is  that  the  number  of  Chris- 
tians who  cannot  find  any  religion  outside  of  a  catechism 
is  diminishing  rapidly.  Whatever  is  beautiful  and  true 
and  kind  and  gentle  and  generous  and  forgiving,  belongs 
to  Christ's  religion." 

There  is  a  word  of  not  unkindly  sarcasm  for  "those 
tragico-comedies  y-clept  Big  Meetings,"  and  a  smiling 
criticism  of  the  limitations  of  those  "reformers  whose 
views  of  reformation  extend  only  to  positive  ordinances 
and  church  order."  The  forced-draft  "revival  schemes" 
of  that  time  were  called  "essentially  vicious." 

Isaac  Errett  is  approvingly  quoted  a  saying  (Christian 
Standard,  March  6,  1869)  •  "Any  one  who  expects  to  ride 
safely  to  heaven  on  the  hobby  of  'the  ancient  gospel'  while 
neglecting  to  care  for  the  hungry,  the  sick,  or  the  de- 
graded— even  the  least  of  them — will  one  day  have  his 
sheep's  clothing  stripped  from  him  and  appear  in  his  true 
character  of,  if  not  a  v/olf,  certainly  a  goat." 

A  well-known  writer  in  the  Apostolic  Times  had  in- 
sisted that  we  must  think  of  God  in  human  form.  This 
called  forth  a  quite  wonderful  article  on  the  Nature  of 
God. 

An  article  entitled  "An  Infallible  Book"  points  out  the 
fact  that  even  "an  infallible  book  can  be  an  infallible 
guide  in  the  matters  of  which  it  treats,  onlv  so  far  as  it 
may  be  infallibly  interpreted  and  understood,  and  no  fur- 
ther." (This  sounds  not  unlike  Lhamon's  recent  article 
in  the  Christian  Centurv.)  The  A-'ord  haptlso.  for  exrn- 
ple,  not  being  an  English  word,  needs  translation  and  in- 
terpretation,  and    here   Christian   people    differ   widely. 


THE  SCROLL Page  55 

"An  'infallible  book'  v  ritten  in  Hebrew  and  Greek — when 
will  it  mabe  an  infallibls  church  of  people  who  know  not 
a  ^Ic'  re-  -  or  a  Greek  letter?"  Our  interpretation,  says 
Tlje  Indrpmdcnt,  are  an  impossible  basis  for  the  unity 
of  Christendom. 

A  series  of  articles  on  Inspiration  was  begun  but  dis- 
continued because  it  was  found  to  be  too  large  a  subject 
for  adequate  treatment  in  limitei  space,  but  not  before 
these  interesting  statements  hai  been  • -ritten :  ""^t  ii  no  / 
more  than  tv;enty  years  since  v;e  --ere  'o  ip  11 .  \  to  ibii- 
don  what  Neander  calls  'the  ol  1  theory  of  plenary  in- 
spiration of  the  scriptures.'  No  book  on  either  side  of 
the  question  had  then  been  real.  The  appearance  of  a 
late  work  by  President  IMilligan,  Reason  and  Revelation, 
seems  to  render  a  somewhat  thorough  investigation  of  the 
question  urgently  needful.  Young  men  who  go  out  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  these  lays  committed  to  a  theory 
which  requires  them  to  '  eliove  and  say  and  prove  that 
Psalm  137:9  was  inspired  by  Him  who  hears  t'-'e  cry  of 
the  young  raven,  will  be  liable,  as  we  think,  'o  perpetrate 
a  great  many  follies  in  the  name  of  the  Loril.  ]\Ioreover, 
in  yielding  a  theorv  tl^e  absurdity  of  which,  as  it  see  :is 
to  us.  borders  on  infinity- — a  theorv  that  thev  will  assur- 
edly be  compelled  to  yield — the  danger  is  that  many  of 
them  will  yield  their  faith  also.  Grant  us  the  substantial 
verity  of  the  synoptical  gospels,  and  the  authenticity  of 
Romans  and  Corinthians,  and  we  defy  all  theories  and 
theorists,  and  meet  them  with  the  challenge  of  the  de- 
moniac— 'Jesus  I  know  and  Paul  I  know,  but  who  are 
you  ?'  " 

O  noble  Pinkerton  !  O  rare  John  Shackleford  !  Men 
of  courage,  faith  and  vision.  They  were  anti-slavery 
men  in  Kentucky  in  the  troubled  days,  and  that  took  cour- 


Page  56  ]^™  *':^^^ 

age.  They  gave  the  orly  two  votes  in  the  Louisr  lie  Con- 
vention of  1869  against  the  well  meant  but  perf'ctly  im- 
practical "Louisville  Plan"  of  missionary  org-,,iization, 
and  the  outcome  shov/ed  Lhat  their  judgment  '/as  r:;^-'.t 
and  that  ol  all  the  rest  of  the  brotherhood  ^-as  -.vroig. 
W.  T.  Moore  in  his  Comprehensive  History  says  of  the 
Independent  Monthly  that  "what  it  stood  for  v/as  very 
much  needed."    It  still  is. 

John  Shackleford  taught  for  nearly  thirty  years  in 
Transylvania  and  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  Washington 
(state)  on  October  10,  1921. 


THE  MYSTERIOUS  MAN  V^ITH  A  LANTERN 

By  Fred  S.  Nichols 

"Is  that  'Old  Diogenes'  come  back  to  torment  our  self- 
righteousness  before  its  time?"  I  said  to  myself,  as  an 
old  man  with  a  lantern  walked  by  and  stationed  himself 
at  the  entrance  of  the  church  shortly  before  the  dismissal 
of  the  morning  service.  Approaching  him  closer,  for  I 
confess  an  occasional  curiousness,  I  discerned  the  fea- 
tures of  the  Semitic  rather  than  the  Greek.  This  small 
man  had  the  lines  on  his  face  that  spoke  of  an  unusual 
shrewdness.  His  countenance  reflected  a  profound  con- 
cern, the  kind  that  comes  only  after  an  unsuccessful 
quest  in  many  lands.  His  wanderings,  I  learned,  were 
not  those  of  a  visionary  pessimist  or  a  disagreeable  hobby- 
rider. 

But  why  this  spectacle  of  a  lantern  in  broad  diy-light, 
and  in  front  of  a  church?  Had  he  been  our  old  frienl 
Diogenes,  the  reason  could  have  been  surnised — "or  cyn- 
icism incessantly  pro\ds,  never  finding  an  oczas'onal 
green-pasture  of  nourishing  inspiration.  But  h;re  v/as 
a  traveler  whose  riystery  was  puzzling  and  whose  per- 


THE  SCROLL Page  57 

sistence  challenge.  He  had  come  to  the  church  only  after 
wardng  many  highways  and  past  many  an  office,  as  had 
Se  ^n  the  custom  of  his  discoverer  long  ago.  Finally,  as 
on?  v'ho  feels  he  knows  where  waters  flow  cool  and 
'  :  eet,  he  had  journeyed  to  this  spot  where,  of  all  places, 
i.Q  hope!  to  find  the  fruition  of  his  quest. 

The  architectural  design  and  the  name  would  have  in- 
licated  the  creed  did  nol  thrust  themselves  before  this 
traveler  as  he  came  up  to  the  church — for  his  emotions 
an  1  beliefs  always  beheld  the  never-ending  spiritual 
heights  beyond.  As  he  overheard  the  Bible  reading  where 
"Justice  is  to  roll  down  as  mighty  waters,"  and  where 
die  Good  Samaritan  walks  the  Jericho  road,  the  look  of 
expectancy,  as  of  one  about  to  enter  the  gates  of  some 
heavenly  city,  passed  over  his  face.  How  strange  he 
shoul  1  have  forgotten  the  blindness  that  staggers  in  the 
light  of  day ! 

The  "  ene  diction  pronounced,  the  congregation  filed  out. 
The  traveler  did  not  seem  to  notice  the  stir  of  the  luxuri- 
ous limousines,  those  symbols  of  the  world's  achievement 
'n  invention  and  finance.  Rather  his  penetrating  eye  had 
the  look  of  an  old  chief  who  was  searching  for  one  of  his 
tribe.  In  turn,  his  lifted  lantern  abruptly  confronted  the 
face  of  every  "representative"  person,  among  whom  were 
Lhe  "pillars"  of  the  church  and  the  "custodians"  of  soci- 
ety. For  in  this  group  were  those  who  gave  huge  sums 
for  religious,  benevolent  and  philanthropic  work  of  vari- 
ous kinds — v/hether  as  a  "through"  Purgatorial  ticket,  or 
because  of  the  "Jacobic"  instinct  of  bargain  that  seeks 
to  encourage  the  Yahwistic  blessing  proclivities,  I  had 
never  been  able  to  make  up  my  mind. 

As  the  last  of  the  procession  passed,  our  traveler  low- 
ered his  lantern  with  a  subdued  groan  that  revealed  a 


Page  58  THE  SCROLL 

troubled  sea  where  the  desire  of  the  heart  was  far  from 
port.     Plainly,  his  hope  was  unrealized.     Evidently,  here 

as  an  uncanny  po"  -er  t^-at  "as  quick  to  detect  the  varied 
hues  of  conscience  beneath  the  dignity  and  zeal  of  relig- 
ious expression.  His  was  the  gift  of  moral  and  ethical 
judgment  that  is  Christian.  Our  traveler  could  here  dis- 
cern the  legal  conscience,  shallow  and  brutal  in  its  satis- 
faction of  living  within  the  law ;  the  self-defense  con- 
science, acquitting  itself  with  such  ease  on  the  plea  of  be- 
ing the  victim  of  a  system ;  the  deserting  conscience,  that 
slinks  away  with  the  plunder  it  has  stolen  in  the  surround- 
ings where  the  odor  is  deathly  vile.  Thus  the  traveler 
with  his  lantern  saw  the  pulverizing  landlord,  the  gam- 
'  ling  grain  speculator,  the  mammonized  profiteer,  the 
cave-dwelling  millhead — all  specimens  of  a  belated  evolu- 
tion. And  all  this  was  seen  in  front  of  a  church  "suc- 
cessful" in  its  manifold  activities,  rich  services,  and  large 
audiences;  a  church  which  boasts  its  "full-gospel"  preach- 
ing and  its  courageous  loyalty  to  the  Word  of  God. 

Now  this  lantern-bearer  had  seen  many  drunkards  and 
people  from  the  humbler  walks  of  life  repent  and  confess 
in  sorrow  and  in  hope.  But  as  he  looked  with  that  dis- 
cerning power  that  comes  only  to  those  who  continually 
suffer  with  the  crucified,  into  the  faces  of  the  loyal  self- 
righteous  of  the  hybrid  conscience,  he  saw  no  token  of 
repentant  confessions  of  repudiation,  renunciation,  and 
restitution.  Alas !  he  was  looking  for  spiritual  descend- 
ants that  could  not  be  found,  for  they  were  not. 

In  a  voice  that  reminded  at  once  of  scourging  judgment 
and  revolutionizing  love,  he  said  "Has  Jesus  not  passed 
this  way?"  And  then  with  the  look,  expressive  of  a 
hope  soon  to  be  realized,  the  lonely  Zacchaeus  blew  out 
ihe  lighl  and  went  his  solitary  wa3^ 


THE  SCROLL Page  59 

BROTHERHOOD  HOUSE 

By  Karl  Borders 

So  far  as  I  know,  we  are  atte  apting  nothing  unique 
at  Brotherhoo'i  House,  though  ve  are  by  no  means  averse 
to  surh  action  if  o'^'^a^aon  sceins  to  de  nand  it.  Indeed, 
Disciples  abandoned  what  was  practically  an  unique  po- 
sition among  the  progressive  religious  communions  of 
America  when  such  institutions  as  Community  House  in 
New  York  and  Brotherhood  House  in  Chicago  were  es- 
tablished. 

The  Settlement  movement  in  America  from  which  all 
the  similar  variations  have  taken  their  cut,  is  only  as  old 
as  Hull  House  which  still  flourishes  under  the  guidance 
of  its  pioneer  founder.  Jane  Addams  must  have  many  a 
private  smile  today  to  see  around  her  some  of  the  very 
folk  whose  religious  piety  was  shocked  at  the  godlessness 
of  purely  social  service— if  there  is  any  such  thing — 
adopting  the  very  activities  which  they  had  been  erst- 
whlie  so  scathingly  decrying.  But  time  works  miracles, 
even  with  the  immobile  forces  of  religious  bigotry,  and 
church  settlements  dot  many  of  our  greater  cities  today. 

I  suppose  that  each  such  institution  defines  its  function 
for  itself  in  different  terms,  but  essentiallv  the  purooses 
and  methods  of  all  are  the  same,  and  find  their  differ- 
ence from  other  forms  of  service  in  the  simple  proposi- 
tion that  the  best  way  to  impart  life  is  through  life,  that 
daily  living  with  people  as  neighbors,  and  friends  and 
playmates,  is  worth  more  than  reams  of  sermons ;  that, 
in  short,  i':  is  through  "service  rather  than  services"  that 
the  thing  is  to  be  done. 

It  turns  out  that  in  seeking  to  render  service  where  it 
'S  most  needed,  we  have  been  in  most  instances  led  to  the 
districts  of  the  great  cities  where  our  immigrant  popula- 


60 __„ THE  SCROLL 

abound.  This  injects  another  departure  in  approach 
nethod  from  that  pursued  in  the  conventional  insti- 
lal  work  of  the  church.  The  worker  among  immi- 
;s  to  be  most  effective  must,  just  as  the  foreign  mis- 
ry,  familiarize  himself  with  the  background,  both 
[  and  religious,  from  which  his  constituency  has 
n,  and  if  possible  even  with  enough  of  the  language 
ike  some  conversation  possible  in  the  tongue  of  the 
jner.  The  ability  merely  to  exchange  salutations  in 
ranger's  native  tongue  will  open  doors  of  sympathy 

other  way  so  easily  unfastened. 

greater  mistake  in  judging  the  whole  settlement 
ment,  whether  the  institution  be  nonsectarian  or  dc- 
lational,  can  be  made  than  to  regard  it  as  a  vast 
r  of  sentimental  charity.  No  less  great  a  periodical 
the  classic  Atlantic  Monthly  gave  circulation  to  an 
e  recently  in  which  this  very  accusation,  along  with 
s,  was  brought  in  an  effort  to  point  out  that  all  such 
ties  as  are  now  conducted  by  private  organizations 
social  and  philanthropic  nature  should  be  conducted 
e  state.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  author  betrays  a 
itable  ignorance  of  the  spirit  and  program  of  the 
rn  social  institutions  of  a  private  nature,  as  well  as 
ig  somewhat  roseate  views  of  the  ability  of  the  state 
nction  in  these  fields,  in  the  light  of  previous  at- 
s  and  present  practices. 

2  notion  of  doing  things  with  people  in  fellowship 
-  than  for  them  has  always  been  uppermost  in  the 
ment.  In  the  case  of  charity,  for  instance,  it  is  a 
ifferent  thing  to  help  a  neighbor  in  time  of  need. 
I  man  a  room  or  even  lend  him  some  money  until 
ds  work,  from  descending  like  a  lady  bountiful  from 
fairy  land  and  dropping  alms  at  the  door  of  the 


THE  SCROLL Page  61 

Po.  too.  in  Ameri-^anization,  without  i*^.  the  least  min- 
iriiz'ng  t'e  primary  place  of  ihe  government  in  promot- 
ing this  pro'-ess  in  a  technical  way,  what  is  needed  most 
of  all  is  Americans.  And  this  is  true  likewise  of  Chris- 
tianization.  Perhaps  store  room  missions  with  flights  of 
inspired  exhortation  have  thair  place.  Preaching  on  the 
street  corners  is  good,  and  there  should  be  more  of  it 
done.  But  something  more  than  talk  is  neede  1  if  fie 
fait!i  of  thousands  of  tlose  ho  have  lost  it  i  to  Se  re- 
vitalized. If  it  cannot  be  demonstrated  that  Christian^' 
is  livable  and  that  it  pays  here  and  now,  there  is  very 
lit  le  need  of  theorizing  a'or.t  the  future. 

At  Brotherhood  House  we  are  really  engaged  in  two 
different  tasks.  One  is  our  v/ork  among  the  women  and 
children  and  the  other  the  men's  work. 

The  children  of  whatever  nationality  soon  learn  to 
speak  English  even  if  they  have  not  been  born  here, 
thanks  to  the  public  schools.  Our  program  in  this  de- 
partment begins  with  the  kindergarten  in  the  morn'ng  an  1 
continues  often  until  late  at  night.  So  far  as  our  limited 
equipment  will  permit,  we  try  to  make  it  possible  for  the 
children  of  our  neighborhood  to  find  here  an  interesting 
and  profitable  place  to  spend  their  i  lie  hours  Our 
groups,  whether  they  be  sewing  or  cooking,  folk-dancing 
or  gi^mnastic,  are  never  permitted  to  become  larger  than 
the  leader  is  capable  of  knowing  intimately.  For  after 
all  our  endeavor  is  rather  to  convey  personality  than  to 
teach  lessons  in  domestic  science  or  what-not. 

Tt  is  an  easy  step  from  the  children  to  the  mothers. 
This  leads  to  classes  in  En-ylish,  problems  in  domestic 
relations,  helping  those  in  distress,  and  those  thousand 
and  one  contacts  that  cannot  be  reported  in  the  terms  of 
their  real  significance.     Communication,  of  course,  be- 


Page  62 THE  SCROLL 

comes  more  difficult  when  in  the  course  of  an  afternoon 
of  calls  one  may  meet  three  or  four  different  tongues. 
But  there  are  always  the  children  to  act  as  interpreters 
and  besides  there  is  a  language  of  helpfulness  and  sym- 
pathy which,  if  inarticulate,  is  nevertheless  understood. 

Among  the  men  we  have  established  a  lodging  house 
catering  to  Russian  men,  which  seems  to  be  filling  a  real 
need.  Investigation  proved  tliat  not  less  than  tliree- 
fourths  of  the  Russians  in  Chicago  are  non-family,  fre- 
quently living  three,  four  or  five  to  the  room,  in  rooms 
kept  as  rooms  usually  are  kept  where  there  are  only  men 
to  do  the  keeping.  The  two  upper  floors  of  our  three-story 
remodeled  flat-and-store  building  were  devoted  to  rooms 
with  steam  heat,  electric  light  and  maid  service,  which 
we  rent  for  a  price  within  reach  of  the  laboring  man.  At 
first  there  was  general  suspicion  and  doubt,  and  the  whole 
enterprise  v/as  regarded  as  another  overture  of  capital- 
ism with  a  catch  in  it  somev/here.  But  little  by  little  we 
are  overcoming  this  notion  by  the  frankest  explanation 
of  our  purposes  and  the  freest  sort  of  liberty  of  speech, 
until  now  the  roster  of  lodgers  is  composed  of  every 
shade  of  political  and  religious  belief — excluding  Tsarists 
— from  the  conservative  puritanical  Evangelical  to  the 
rankest  of  Bolshevists.  I  will  not  say  that  our  family 
lives  in  entire  harmony.  There  is  scarcely  a  day  without 
its  heated  "discoosion,"  as  they  euphemistically  call  it, 
but  thus  far  we  have  avoided  physical  combat,  and  there 
is  a  gradual  development  of  a  mutual  tolerance  which  is 
most  encouraging. 

On  Saturday  evenings  a  straight-out  Gospel  meetin?^ 
is  conducted  by  tlie  pastor  of  our  Russian  church.  A 
very  successful  forum  is  being  conducted  on  Sunday  aft- 
ernoons by  a  Russian  student  from  the  University  of  Chi- 


THE  SCROLL Page  63 

cago  who  is  also  a  teacher  in  our  evening  school  which 
meets  three  times  a  week.  Once  each  month  we  have 
what  we  term  a  Fellowship  Supper  to  which  all  the  resi- 
dents, the  members  of  the  evening  classes  and  their 
friends  are  invited.  The  women  of  the  various  local 
churches  take  turns  at  preparing  and  serving  the  supper 
and  bring  along  their  husbands  to  sit  do-'-n  "dth  the 
Russians  for  such  intercourse  as  is  possible  in  the  limited 
vocabulary  familiar  to  both  parties.  We  run  true  to 
American  form  and  have  after  dinner  speeches  on  these 
occasions,  which  are  always  interpreted,  let  me  add,  and 
we  are  frequently  favored  with  music  as  v/ell. 

This  supper  is  a  sort  of  symbol  of  the  thing  we  try- 
always  and  on  every  occasion  to  do,  to  bring  Americans 
and  Russians  together  and  to  interpret  each  to  the  other, 
and  this  is  essentiallv  the  task  of  all  those  engaged  in  this 
kind  of  woi-k,  in  its  larger  aspects. 

Our  church  is  entirelv  seoarated  fron  Brotherhood 
House,  both  geographicallv  and  organically,  though  the 
pastor  works  amonof  the  Russians  in  both.  It  \^''as  felt 
from  tlie  beginning  that  both  might  have  greater  fre-^lom 
by  such  an  arrangement,  particularly  since  some  of  the 
mem.bers  of  the  church  have  not  yet  come  to  realize  the 
religious  significance  of  some  of  the  activities  we  con- 
duct'at  the  House.  Thus  by  the  happy  arrangement 
the  consciences  of  both  are  guarded  and  the  work  of 
l.oth  prospers. 

In  all  that  v/e  attempt,  we  are  constantly  aware  of  the 
fact  that  we  are  neophytes  in  this  latest  field  of  service 
projected  by  the  Disciples  but  are  determined  to  continue 
our  training  in  this  most  thorough  school  of  experience. 


Page  64  THE  SCROLL 

SOME    SCIENTIFIC    PROBLEMS 

The  Scientific  Monthly  offers,  interesting  articles  each 
month  on  current  problems  and  achievements.  In  the 
December  issue,  David  Starr  Jordan  presents  a  study  of 
genealogy.  He  observes :  "The  eldest  sons  of  'good  fami- 
lies' or  of  the  nobility  naturally  developed  into  Pvoyalists 
and  Cavaliers ;  younger  sons  and  daughters'  sons,  left 
without  inheritance,  became  as  easily  Roundheads,  Dis- 
senters and  Puritans."  He  also  says :  "The  average  New 
England  farmer  has  as  good  a  claim  to  royal  blood  as  any 
house  in  Europe." 

In  this  same  number  Dr.  John  B.  Watson  and  Rosalie 
Rayner  Watson  contribute  a  significant  article,  the  result 
of  years  of  careful  experimentation  and  observation,  on 
Infant  Psychology.  They  say:  "Children  of  five  years 
of  age  and  over  are  enormously  sophisticated."  "We 
believe  that  by  the  end  of  the  second  year  the  pattern  of 
the  future  individual  is  already  laid  down."  They  con- 
clude tliat  from  birth  three  fundamental  inherited  emo- 
tional patterns  may  be  observed — fear,  rage  and  love. 
"When  one  realizes  that  probably  more  than  the  income 
from  a  million  dollars  is  spent  each  year  in  the  several 
marine  biological  institutions  for  the  study  of  three  lower 
forms — the  sea  urchin  and  its  progeny,  the  coral  and  the 
jelly  fish — it  seems  not  unreasonable  to  point  out  that  it 
(endowonent  of  research  on  infancy)  would  be  one  of  the 
most  profitable  research  investments  that  could  be  made 
at  the  present  time. 

Tlie  article  on  "The  Researcher  in  Science"  will  be  of 

h-\'^se■'^l  '"o  an;^."one  wlio  thinks  about  the  relation  of  science 
and  relijrion.. 


THE    SCROLL 

VOLUME  XVIII     JANUARY,  1922      NUMBER  V 

WHO   ARE   CHRISTIANS? 

Not  long  after  the  great  nineteenth  century  movement 
in  advocacy  of  Christian  Union  had  developed  into  a 
definite  group  of  churches  v/ith  a  consciousness  of  sepa- 
rateness  from  others  and  a  special  unity  among  them- 
selves, inevitably  the  question  arose,  "Who  are  Chris- 
tians?" This  question  has  risen  in  four  forms  in  suc- 
cessive generations : 

First  :  Whom  may  we  coll  Christians  ?  This  ques- 
tion was  squarely  put  to  Alexander  Campbell,  and  in 
1837  was  clearly  answered,  by  him  in  a  series  of  state- 
ments in  the  Millcnial  Harbinger,  extensive  quotations 
from  which  are  given  belov/. 

Second:  With  whom  may  v/e  coninmne  as  Chris- 
tians? In  1S61  and  1862  the  American  Christian  Re- 
viezv,  with  a  strong  backing  of  conservative  brethren, 
advocated  the  practice  of  "close  communion" — that  is, 
the  exclusion  of  all  except  immersed  believers  from  the 
Lord's  Supper.  Isaac  Errett  and  W.  K.  Pendleton, 
then  co-editors  of  the  Millenial  Harbinger  vdth  Mr. 
CampbeH,  gave  answer.  Extracts  from  their  statements 
are  given  below\ 

Third:  With  whom  may  we  co-operate  as  Chris- 
tians? When  the  era  of  inter-denominational  co-opera- 
tion began,  question  was  raised  as  to  the  propriety  of 
our  participation  in  these  movements.  Can  we  join  in 
the  Clrristian  Endeavor  movement  and  encourage  our 
young  people  to  form  close  fellowship  with  those  of 
other  religious  bodies?  Can  we  take  part  in  the  co- 
op'^ra'^^vc    activities    of    home    and    foreign    missionary 


Page  66  THE  SCROLL 

boards,  and  agree  to  allotments  of  territory,  and  partici- 
pate in  union  educational  enterprises  on  the  foreign 
field?  Can  we  encourage  and  countenance  Federation? 
The  various  answers  that  have  been  given  to  these  ques- 
tions are  matters  of  common  knowledge  and  will  not  be 
discussed. 

Fourth  :  Whom  may  we  receive  into  membership  in 
our  churches  as  Christians?  This  is  a  current  issue. 
It  will  not  be  discussed  herein. 

The  follovring  extracts  from  the  Fathers  are  pub- 
lished purely  for  historical  information,  with  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  reader  consider  for  himself  whether 
tlie  principles  stated  are  true  and  what  may  be  their 
implications  for  the  present.  It  is  open  to  the  reader 
to  conclude  either : 

(a)  That  these  successive  liberalizing  steps  show  how 
inevitabb/  the  course  of  development  is  tov/ard  degener- 
ation and  disintegration  when  the  first  false  step  has 
been  taken,  and  that  to  save  ourselves  and  restore  our 
loyalty  we  should  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  proc- 
ess, undo  the  evil  work  of  promiscuous  fellowship,  and 
recognize  no  one  as  a  Christian  who  has  not  fulfilled 
all  the  New  Testament  requirements  as  our  fathers  have 
understood  them.     Or, 

(b)  That  these  four  questions  are  unrelated;  that  the 
answers  to  them  are  not  successive  steps  but  separate 
decisions ;  that  v.e  might  logically  call  persons  Chris- 
tians but  not  commune  with  them,  or  commune  but  not 
co-operate,  or  co-operate  but  not  receive  into  member- 
ship.    Or, 

(c)  That  the  reasons  given  and  generally  accepted 
as  valid  for  the  wider  fellowship  in  the  first  and  sec- 
ond cases  (printed  herewith)  are  also  good  and  valid 
reasons  for  wider  fellowship  in  the  third  and  fourth, — 
even  though  the  men  who  gave  them  in  1837  and  1862 


THE  SCROLL  Page  67 

may  not  have  seen  or  admitted  these  implications  com- 
pletely, as  they  certainly  did  not. 

I.    Whom  May  We  Call  Christians? 

In  the  Millenial  Harbinger  for  September,  1837,  ap- 
pears the  following  letter  from  a  troubled  sister : 

"Dear  Brother  Campbell — I  was  much  surprised  today, 
•while  reading  The  Harbinger,  to  see  that  you  recognize  the 
Protestant  parties  as  Christian.  You  say  you  'find  in  all 
Protestant  parties  Christians.' 

"Dear  brother,  my  surprise  and  ardent  desire  to  do  what 
is  right  prom.pt  me  to  write  to  you  at  this  tim.e.  I  feel  well 
assured,  from  the  estimate  you  place  on  the  female  character, 
that  you  will  attend  to  my  feeble  questions  in  search  of  knowl- 
edge. 

"Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  let  me  know  how  any  one  be- 
comes a  Christian?  What  act  of  yours  gave  you  the  name  of 
Christian?  At  v\'hat  time  had  Paul  the  name  of  Christ  called 
on  him?  At  what  time  did  Cornelius  have  Christ  named  on 
him?  Is  it  not  through  this  name  we  obtain  eternal  life? 
Does  the  name  of  Christ  or  Christian  belong  to  any  but  those 
■who  believe  the  gospel,  repent,  and  are  biiried  by  baptism  into 
the  death  of  Christ?" 

To  the  above  letter,  Alexander  Cam.pbell  published  the  fol- 
lowing reply  in  the  Millenial  Harbinger  for  September,  1837. 
He  was  at  that  time  forty-nine  years  old.  Tv/enty-eight 
years  had  elapsed  since  the  issuance  of  the  Declaration  and 
Address,  and  twenty-one  since  the  famous  Sermon  on  the 
Law.  He  had  been  an  ordained  minister  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years.  He  had  published  the  Christian  Baptist 
for  seven  years  and  the  Millennial  Harbinger  for  other  seven 
years.  The  great  debates  were  all  in  the  past,  except  the 
■one  with  Mr.  Rice.  The  separation  from  the  Baptists  and 
the  union  with  the  followers  of  B.  W.  Stone  had  occurred  five 
or  six  years  earlier.  Mr.  Campbell  was  at  the  height  of  his 
powers.  Whether  or  not  he  had  worked  out  all  the  impli- 
cations of  his  positions,  it  is  evident  that  his  views  of  the 
essential  nature  of  Christianity  had  been  well  matured  when 
he  wrote  the  following  reply: 

Mr.  Campbell  wrote:  In  reply  to  this  conscientious 
sister,  I  observe  that  if  there  be  no  Christians  in  the 
Protestant   sects,   there   are    certainly   none   among   the 


Page  68 THE  SCROLL 

Romanists,  none  among  the  Jews,  Turks,  and  Pagans; 
and  therefore  no  Christians  in  the  world  except  our- 
selves, or  such  of  us  as  keep,  or  strive  to  keep,  all  the 
commandments  of  Jesus.  Therefore,  for  many  cen- 
turies there  has  been  no  church  of  Christ,  no  Christians 
in  the  world ;  and  the  promises  concerning  the  everlast- 
ing kingdom  of  Messiah  have  failed,  and  the  gates  of 
hell  have  prevailed  against  his  church!  This  cannot  be; 
and  therefore  there  are  Christians  among  the  sects. 

But  v.'ho  is  a  Christian?  I  answer.  Every  one  that 
believes  in  his  heart  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  Mes- 
siah, the  Son  of  God;  repents  of  his  sins,  and  obeys 
him  in  all  things  according  to  his  measure  of  knov/1- 
edge  of  his  will.  A  perfect  man  in  Christ,  or  a  per- 
fect Christian,  is  one  thing;  and  a  babe  in  Christ,  a 
stripling  in  the  faith,  or  an  imperfect  Christian,  is  an- 
other. The  New  Testament  recognizes  both  the  perfect 
man  and  the  imperfect  man  in  Christ.  The  former,  in- 
deed, implies  the  latter.  Paul  commands  the  imperfect 
Christians  to  "be  perfect"  (2  Cor.  3:11),  and  says  he 
wishes  the  perfection  of  Christians.  "And  this  also  we 
wish"  for  you  saints  in  Corinth,  "even  your  perfection :" 
and  again  he  says,  "We  speak  wisdom  among  the  per- 
fect" and  he  commands  them  to  be  "perfect  in  under- 
standing," and  in  many  other  places  implies  or  speaks 
the  same  things.  Now  there  is  perfection  of  will,  of 
temper,  and  of  behavior.  There  is  a  perfect  state  and 
a  perfect  character.  And  hence  it  is  possible  for  Chris- 
tians to  be  imperfect  in  some  respects  without  an  abso- 
lute forfeiture  of  the  Christian  state  and  character.  Paul 
speaks  of  "carnal"  Christians,  of  "weak"  and  "strong"" 
Christians;  and  the  Lord  Jesus  admits  that  some  of  the 
good  and  honest-hearted  bring  forth  only  thirty-fold, 
Vvhilc  others  bring  forth  sixty,  and  some  a  hundred  fold 
increase  of  the  fruits  of  ricrhteousness. 


THE  SCROLL Page  69 

But  every  one  is  wont  to  condemn  others  in  that 
in  which  he  is  more  intelUgent  than  they;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  is  condemned  for  his  Pharisaism 
or  his  immodesty  and  rash  judgment  of  others,  by  those 
that  excel  in  the  things  in  which  he  is  deficient.  I 
cannot,  therefore,  make  any  one  duty  the  standard  of 
Christian  state  or  character,  not  even  immersion  into 
the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  in  my  heart  regard  all  that  have  been 
sprinkled  in  infancy  v/ithout  their  own  knowledge  and 
consent,  as  aliens  from  Christ  and  the  well-grounded 
hope  of  heaven.  "Salvation  was  of  the  Jev\'S,"  acknowl- 
edged the  Messiah ;  and  yet  he  said  of  a  foreigner, 
an  alien  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  a  Syro- 
Phoenician,  "I  have  not  found  so  great  faith — no,  not 
in  Israel." 

Should  I  find  a  Pedobaptist  more  intelligent  in  the 
Christian  Scriptures,  more  spiritually-minded  and  more 
devoted  to  the  Lord  than  a  Baptist,  or  one  immersed 
on  a  profession  of  the  ancient  faith,  I  could  not  hesi- 
tate a  moment  in  giving  the  preference  of  my  heart  to 
him  that  loveth  most.  Did  I  act  otherwise,  I  would 
be  a  pure  sectarian,  a  Pharisee  among  Christians.  Still 
I  will  be  asked.  How  do  I  know  that  any  one  loves  my 
Master  but  by  his  obedience  to  his  commandments?  I 
answer.  In  no  other  way.  But  mark,  I  do  not  substi- 
tute obedience  to  one  commandment  for  universal  or 
even  general  obedience.  And  should  I  see  a  sectarian 
Baptist  or  a  Pedobaptist  more  spiritually-minded,  more 
generally  conformed  to  the  requisitions  of  the  Messiah, 
than  one  wj^o  precisely  acquiesces  with  me  in  the  theory 
or  practicetj&f  immersion  as  I  teach,  doubtless  the  for- 
mer rather  Ifiatn  the  latter  would  have  my  cordial  appro- 
bation and  Imk  as  a  Christian.  So  I  judge  and  so  I 
feel.     It  is  tlite^  image  of  Christ  the  Christian  looks  for 


Page  70  THE  SCROLL 

and  loves;  and  this  does  not  consist  in  being  exact  in 
a  few  items,  but  in  general  devotion  to  the  whole  truth 
as  far  as  known. 

With  me,  mistakes  of  the  understanding  and  errors 
of  the  affections  are  not  to  be  confounded.  They  are 
as  distant  as  the  poles.  An  angel  may  mistake  the 
meaning  of  a  commandment,  but  he  will  obey  it  in 
the  sense  in  which  he  understands  it.  John  Bunyan 
and  John  Newton  were  very  different  persons,  and  had 
very  different  viev/s  of  baptism,  and  of  some  other 
things ;  yet  they  were  both  disposed  to  obey,  and  to 
the  extent  of  their  knowledge  did  obey  the  Lord  in 
everything. 

There  are  mistakes  with  and  without  depravity. 
There  are  vv^ilful  errors  which  all  the  world  must  con- 
demn, and  unavoidable  mistakes  which  every  one  will 
pity.  The  Apostles  mistook  the  Savior  when  he  said 
concerning  John,  "What  if  I  will  that  John  tarry  till 
I  come" ;  but  the  Jews  perverted  his  words  when  they 
alleged  that  Abraham  had  died,  in  proof  that  he  spake 
falsely  when  he  said,  "If  a  man  keep  my  word  he 
shall  never  see  death." 

Many  a  good  man  has  been  mistaken.  Mistakes  are 
to  be  regarded  as  culpable  and  as  declarative  of  a  cor- 
rupt heart  only  v/hen  they  proceed  from  a  wilful  neg- 
lect of  the  means  of  knowing  what  is  commanded.  Ig- 
. norance  is  always  a  crime  when  it  is  voluntary;  and 
innocent  when  it  is  involuntary.  Now,  unless  I  could 
prove  that  all  who  neglect  the  positive  institutions  of 
Christ  and  have  substituted  for  them  something  else 
of  human  authority,  do  it  knowingly,  or,  if  not  know- 
ingly, are  voluntarily  ignorant  of  what  is  written,  I 
could  not,  I  dare  not  say  that  their  mistakes  are  such 
as  unchristianize  all   their  professions. 

True,   indefe^d,  that  it   is   always  a  misfortune   to   be 


THE  SCROLL Page  71 

ignorant  of  any  thing  in  the  Bible,  and  very  generally 
it  is  criminal.  But  how  many  are  there  who  cannot 
read ;  and  of  those  who  can  read,  how  many  are  so 
deficient  in  education;  and  of  those  educated,  how  many 
are  ruled  by  the  authority  of  those  whom  they  regard 
as  superiors  in  knowledge  and  piety,  that  they  never 
can  escape  out  of  the  dust  and  smoke  of  their  own 
chimney  where  they  happened  to  be  born  and  educated ! 
These  all  suffer  many  privations  and  many  perplexities 
from  which  the  more  intelligent  are  exempt. 

The  preachers  of  "essentials"  as  well  as  the  preach- 
ers of  "non-essentials,"  frequently  err.  The  Essential- 
ist  may  disparage  the  heart,  while  the  Non-essentialist 
despises  the  institution.  The  latter  makes  void  the  in- 
stitutions of  heaven,  while  the  former  appreciates  not 
the  mental  bias  on  which  God  looketh  most.  My  cor- 
respondent may  belong  to  a  class  who  think  that  we 
detract  from  the  authority  and  value  of  an  institution 
the  moment  we  admit  the  bare  possibility  of  anyone 
being  saved  without  it.  But  we  choose  rather  to  asso- 
ciate with  those  who  think  that  they  do  not  undervalue 
either  seeing  or  hearing,  by  affirming  that  neither  of 
them,  nor  both  of  them  together,  are  essential  to  life. 
I  v/ould  not  sell  one  of  my  eyes  for  all  the  gold  on, 
earth ;  yet  I  could  live  without  it. 

There  is  no  occasion,  then,  for  making  immersion,  on 
a  profession  of  the  faith,  absolutely  essential  to  a 
Christian — though  it  may  be  greatly  essential  to  his  sanc- 
tification  and  comfort.  My  right  hand  and  my  right 
eye  are  greatly  essential  to  my  usefulness  and  happi- 
ness, but  not  to  my  life,  and  as  I  could  not  be  a  per- 
fect man  without  them,  so  I  cannot  be  a  perfect  Chris- 
tian v/ithout  a  right  understanding  and  a  cordial  recep- 
tion of  immersion  in  its  true  and  scriptural  meaning 
and  design.     But  he   that   thence   infers   that   none   are 


Page  72  THE  SCROLL 

Christians  but  the  immersed,  as  greatly  errs  as  he  who 
affirms  that  none  are  ahve  but  those  of  clear  and  full 
vision. 

I  do  not  formally  answer  all  the  queries  proposed, 
knowing  the  one  point  to  which  they  all  aim.  To  that 
point  only  I  direct  these  remarks.  And  while  I  would 
unhesitatingly  say  that  I  think  that  every  man  who 
despises  any  ordinance  of  Christ,  or  who  is  willingly 
ignorant  of  it,  cannot  be  a  Christian;  still  I  would  sin 
against  my  own  convictions  should  I  teach  any  one  to 
think  that  if  he  mistook  the  meaning  of  any  institu- 
tion, while  in  liis  soul  he  desired  to  know  the  vrhole 
will  of  God,  he  must  perish  forever.  But  to  conclude 
for  the  present — he  that  claims  for  himself  a  license 
to  neglect  the  least  of  all  the  commandments  of  Jesus, 
because  it  is  possible  for  some  to  be  saved  who,  through 
insuperable  ignorance  or  involuntary  mistake,  do  neglect 
or  transgress  it;  or  he  that  wilfully  neglects  to  ascertain 
the  will  of  the  Lord  to  the  whole  extent  of  his  means 
and  opportunities,  because  some  who  are  defective  in 
that  knowledge  may  be  Christians,  is  not  possessed  of 
the  spirit  of  Christ  and  cannot  be  registered  among  the 
Lord's  people.  So  I  reason;  and  I  think  in  so  reason- 
ing I  am  sustained  by  all  the  Prophets  and  Apostles  of 
both  Testaments.     {Mill  Harh.,  1837,  pp.  411-414.) 

A.  C 

The  foregoing  is  Mr.  Campbell's  complete  reply  without 
omission  or  condensation.  As  might  have  been  expected, 
there  were  criticisms.  To  these  criticisms  Mr.  Campbell 
makes  further  reply  in  the  next  two  issues  of  the  Harbinger. 
(Pages  506  and  561).  Again  he  feels  it  necessary  to  repel 
the  assumption  that  he  is  belittling  baptism.  He  re-asserts 
his  belief  in  the  immersion  of  believers  as  an  ordinance  of 
Christ,  but  asserts  also  that  his  statement  that  "immersion 
is  not  absolutely  essential  to  a  Christian"  is  "as  bold  an 
answer  as  we  ever  gave,  yet  nothing  differing  from  our  for- 
mer expressed  views  on  that  subject." 


THE  SCROLL Page  73 

The  following  passages  are  taken  from  these  later  replies 
by  Mr.  Campbell  without,  we  think,  in  any  way  clouding  his 
meaning  by  the  emission  of  the  context: 

We  cheerfully  agree  that  the  term  Christian  Vv-as  given  • 
first  to  immersed  believers  and  to  none  else ;  but  we  do 
not  think  that  it  was  given  to  them  because  they  were 
immersed,  but  because  they  had  put  on  Christ.     .     .     . 

As  the  same  ApOstle  (Paul)  reasons  on  circumcision, 
so  Vv^e  would  reason  on  baptism: — "Circumcision,"  says 
the  learned  Apostle,  "is  not  that  which  it  outv.-ard  in 
the  flesh,  but  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heart,  in  the 
spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter  (only),  whose  praise  is  of 
God  and  not  of  man."  So  is  baptism.  \Ye  argue  for 
the  outv/ard  and  the  iuAvard.     .     . 

Now  the  nice  point  of  opinion  on  which  some  breth- 
ren differ,  is  this :  Can  a  person  who  simply,  not  per- 
versely, mistakes  the  outward  baptism,  have  the  inward 
baptism  .  .  .  wdiich  changes  his  state  and  has  praise 
of  God,  though  not  of  all  men?  To  v.diich  I  answer 
that,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  possible.  (Mill  Harh.,  1837, 
p.  .=^07.) 

Mr.  Campbell  quotes  ten  passages  from  the  ChHstiayi  Bap- 
tist and  his  other  published  works  to  show  that  this  has  been 
his  constant  and  consistent  view.  He  is  solicitous  that  the 
unimm.ersed  should  not  find  too  much  satisfaction  in  his 
statement  and  conclude  that  they  are  under  no  responsibility 
to  learn  the  truth;  and  those  who  would  for  this  reason 
■^'reioice  in  this  opinion  for  their  own  sakes,  are  not  included 
in  it."     .      .      . 

"When  I  see  a  person  who  would  die  for  Christ; 
whose  brotherly  kindness,  sympathy,  and  active  benevo- 
lence know  no  bounds  but  his  circumstances ;  whose 
seat  in  the  Christian  assembly  is  never  empty ;  whose 
invv^ard  piety  and  devotion  are  attested  by  punctual  obe- 
dience to  every  known  duty ;  whose  family  is  educated 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord;  whose  constant  companion  is 
the  Bible;  I  say  v/hen  I  see  such  a  one  ranked  among 


74  THE  SCROLL 

en  men  and  publicans,  because  he  never  happened 
juire,  but  always  took  it  for  granted  that  he  had 
scripturally  baptized ;  and  that,  too,  by  one  greatly 
ute  of  all  these  public  and  private  virtues,  whose 

or  exclusive  recommendation  is  that  he  has  been 
rsed,  and  that  he  holds  a  scriptural  theory  of  the 
1 :  I  feel  no  disposition  to  flatter  such  a  one ;  but 
"  to  disabuse  him  of  his  error.  And  Vv'hile  I  Vv'ould 
:ad  the  m.os't  excellent  professor  in  any  sect  to  dis- 
e  the  least  of  all  the  commandments  of  Tesus.  I 
I  say  to  my  immersed  brother  as  Paul  said  to  his 
h  brother  who  gloried  in  a  system  v/hich  he  did 
-dorn:  "Sir,  will  not  his  uncircumcision,  or  un- 
im.,  be  counted  to  him  for  baptism?  and  will  he 
ondemn  you,  who,  though  having  the  literal  and 
baptism,  yet  dost  transgress  or  nejlect  the  statutes 
lur  King?" 

^reat  part  of  these  1887  articles  was  recri'.'ited  in  the 
lial  Harbinger  by  W.  K.  Pendlet-cn  in  1862  as  represen- 

of  Mr.  Campbell's  fully  matured  opinion.  (Pp.  179- 
231-234.) 

^ith  Whom  May  We  Commune  As  Christians? 

the  MiUenial  Harbinger  for  December,  1861,  R.  Haw- 
fers  to  the  "interesting  and  able  articles  of  1837"  which 
Lrs  have  not  been  seen  by  many  of  the  brethren.  (These 
les  of  1837"  include  the  one  reprinted  above.)  He  asks 
iitors  to  express  their  opinion  upon  the  propriety  of 
vating  friendly  and  confidential  relations  with  all  who 
)ur  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  and  truth."  Mr. 
jy  says: 

ther  Robert  Richardson  [Mr.  Campbell's  life-long 
I  and  his  biographer]  informs  us  that  the  parent  church 
s  Reformation  was  originally  composed  of  Pedobaptists; 
t  was  a  considerable  time  before  anyone  questioned  the 
ty  of  his  infant  baptism,  and  a  still  longer  time  before 
ibject  of  immersion  occupied  their  attention.  Now  how 
snt  would  be  our  estimate  of  that  band  of  Disciples, 
ated  together  for  a  noble  purpose,  had  they,  upon  the 


THE  SCROLL  Page  75 

aforesaid  discoveries  of  truth,  immediately  instituted  a  pro- 
scriptive  course  toward  all  who  had  not  been  equally  fortu- 
nate or  successful  with  themselves.  Would  we  not  say  that 
their  mission,  the  promotion  of  Christian  union,  would  have 
been  at  an  end?  that  their  influence  would  have  been  in  the 
scale  of  repulsion  rather  than  in  that  of  attraction? 

To  this  letter,  answer  was  made  by  Isaac  Errett,  Robert 
Richardson,  and  W.  K.  Pendleton.  Errett  and  Pendleton 
were  at  this  time  co-editors  of  the  Millenial  Harbinger  with 
Mr.  Campbell.  Mr.  Pendleton  was  Mr.  Campbell's  son-in- 
law,  and  his  successor  as  President  of  Bethany  College.  All 
of  them  favored  the  admission  of  the  unimmersed  to  the  com- 
munion, though  their  reasons  v/ere  not  quite  identical. 

Isaac  Errett  said: 

We  are  compelled  to  recognize  as  Christians  many 
who  have  been  in  error  on  baptism,  but  who  in  the 
spirit  of  obedience  are  Christians  indeed.  I  confess, 
for  my  own  part,  did  I  understand  the  position  of  the 
brethren  to  deny  this,  I  would  recoil  from  my  position 
among  them  with  utter  disgust.  It  will  never  do  to  un- 
christianize  those  on  whose  shoulders  v/e  are  standings , 
and  because  of  v/hose  labors  we  are  enabled  to  see  some 
truths  more  clearly  than  they.  .  .  .  Our  practice  is 
neither  to  invite  nor  reject  particular  classes  of  persons. 
My  impression  is  that  fully  two-thirds  of  our 
churches  in  the  United  States  occupy  this  position. 
(Mill.  Harh.,  i86i,  p.  711.) 

Dr.  Robert  Richardson  took  the  position  that  no  Scripture 
could  be  cited  in  favor  of  either  admitting  unimmersed  believ- 
ers to  the  Communion  or  rejecting  them  from  it,  because 
there  were  no  unimmersed  believers  in  the  days  of  the  Apos- 
tles.    He  says: 

We  simply  leave  it  to  each  individual  to  determine 
for  himself.  It  is,  as  the  brethren  you  refer  to  say,  an 
"untaught  question."  It  could  not  rise  anterior  to  the 
apostasy.  It  is  one,  therefore,  v\^hich  v/e  cannot  Scrip- 
turally  either  discuss  or  decide.  These  brethren,  how- 
ever, act  very  inconsistently  when,  after  declaring  it  an 


Page  76  THE  SCROLL 

"untaught  question,"  they  then  proceed  to  discuss  it,  or 
what  is  still  worse,  to  determine  it  without  discussion, 
against  ail  but  immersed  believers.  If  they  would  re- 
flect a  moment,  they  might  see  that  on  their  own  prem- 
ises, if  it  is  an  untaught  question,  they  can  have  no 
right  to  decide  it  against  those  concerned.  And  further, 
that  in  so  deciding,  they  presume  to  decide  two  ques- 
tions, first,  that  no  unimmersed  persons  are  Christians ; 
second,  that  all  immersed  persons  are  Christians — nei- 
ther of  vdiich  propositions  can  be  proved.  {Mill  Harh., 
1861,  p.  712.) 

Mr.  W.  K.  Pendleton,  in  substantial  agreement  with  the 
a.bove,  points  out  the  practical  advantage  of  a  fraternal  atti- 
tude toward  those  with  whom  we  differ.     He  says : 

Such  is  the  influence  of  passion  and  prejudice  upon 
the  actions  and  opinions  of  men,  that  it  is  next  to  im- 
possible to  influence  any  one  for  good  whilst  we  treat 
him  vv'ith  distance  and  distrust.  To  plead  for  union,  and 
at  the  same  time  exclude  the  really  pious  from  the  com- 
munion of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  savior,  is,  in  the 
very  nature  of  things,  to  destroy  the  practical  power  of 
our  plea.  .  .  .  Error  as  to  ordinance  may  exist 
where  there  is  genuine  faith.  Error  is  always  injuri- 
ous, but  not  necessarily  fatal.  In  some  points  we  do 
all  ofl^end — and  in  humility  let  us  forbear.  .  .  The 
transition  from  systems  of  error  to  the  prescribed  order 
of  revelation  must  be  gradual.  .  .  Will  any  .^ne  take 
the  absurd  position  that  the  noble  list  of  illustii-nts  men 
who  have  been  the  light  and  ornament  of  religion  in 
the  ages  that  are  past,  and  whose  piety  and  learning 
are  still  the  admiration  and  glory  of  the  Lord's  people 
— that  all  these,  because  of  an  error,  not  on  the  signifi- 
cancy  or  divine  authority  of  baptism,  but  what  vve  must 
be  allowed  to  call  its  mode, — that  all  these,  because  of 
such  an  error,  must  be  pushed  from  our  ranks  as  repro- 


THE  SCROLL Page  11 

bate- — torn  from  our  Christian  affections  as  hciotics — 
thrust  from  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
the  Savior,  whom  for  a  long  Hfe  they -so  truly  loved 
and  devotedly  served,  and  counted  no  more  Vv^oidiy  of 
our  Christian  fellowship  than  so  many  heathens  and 
publicans!  The  conclusion  is  too  monstrous  for  c*.iy  but 
the  hide-bound  zealot  of  a  cold  and  lifeless  forujalism. 
{Mill  Harh.,  1861,  p.  713.) 

These  utterances  of  Errect,  Richardson,  and  Pendleton  did 
not  go  unchallenged.  In  the  following  issue  of  the  Millenial 
Harbinger,  (Jan.,  1862,  pp.  39-42),  G.  W.  Elley  replied  with 
a  clear-cut  argument  in  favor  of  close  communion.  "Except 
a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit  he  cannot  com.e 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God."  The  unimmersed  have  no  claim 
to  pardon,  salvation,  citizenship  in  the  Kingdom,  or  partici- 
pation in  the  Lord's  Supper.  "Am  I  wrong  in  assuming  that 
no  one  can  lavvfully  claim  the  ordinance  of  God,  who  cannot 
lawfully  claim  church  association?  If  I  were  at  liberty  to 
act  in  accordance  with  my  feelings,  I  would  receive  thousands 
of  Pedobaptist  friends,  both  into  the  church,  as  well  as  to 
its  ordinances.  This  I  am  not  allowed  to  do  by  the  law  of 
Christ.  Consequently,  I  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  feelings. 
We  must  rigidly  adhere  to  our  Lord's  will.  In  refusing  the 
bread  and  wine  to  unimmersed  persons,  Vv^e  act  consistently 
with  all  our  pleadings." 

The  answers  to  this  by  W.  K.  Pendleton  {Mill.  Harh., 
1862,  pp.  60-66)  and  Isaac  Errett  (pp.  120-1.32)  go  deep  into  the 
principles  involved  in  the  question  of  the  status  of  unimmersed 
believers.  It  will  be  remembered  that  there  was  no  question 
of  open  membership  at  this  time.  Mr.  Pendleton  says:  "Even 
the  open  communion  Baptists  do  not  allow  of  open  member- 
ship. Meanwhile,  I  will  promise  Bro.  Elley  that,  should  any 
one  propose  such  a  rule  among  us,  I  will  most  cordialy  unite 
with  him  in  resisting  it."  (Mil.  Harh.,  1862,  p.  184.)  The 
reader  is  entitled  to  judge  for  himself  whether  or  not  his 
reasoning  in  regard  to  communion  is  applicable  to  member- 
ship. 

Mr.  Pendleton  says: 

The  rule  that  Bro.  Elley  requires  us  to  be  governed 
by  is  an  inference.  .  .  If  there  Vv'cre  any  divine  com- 
mand saying,  "Let  none  but  those  v/ho  have  been  im- 


Page  76  THE  SCROLL 

rnersed  in  the  name  of  Christ,  partake  of  the  supper," 
then  we  could  have  no  discussion  about  it.  But  there 
is  nothing  of  this  sort  in  all  the  folds  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  rule  prescribed  by  Bro.  Elley  is  an  inference 
oi  the  fallible  human  mind,  and  hence  it  may  be  exam- 
ined without  presumption  and  questioned  wirnout  blas- 
phemy.    .     .     . 

It  is  a  well  established  concession  of  the  Reformation 
for  w^hich  we  are  pleading,  that  we  shall  prescribe  no 
rule  of  faith  or  practice  for  which  we  cannot  adduce 
either  an  express  precept  or  a  clearly  implied  precedent. 
But  here  is  a  rule  for  which  there  can  be  adduced  nei- 
ther,— a  rule  elaborated  by  argument,  and  resting  upon 
human  judgment,  which  we  are  asked  to  adopt  and  in- 
sist on  as  the  lav/  of  church  action.  There  is  no  express 
precept  forbidding  a  pious,  exem.plary  and  zealous  dis- 
ciple, because  he  is  mistaken  as  to  one  ordinance,  from 
enjoying  the  beneftt  of  another.  There  is  no  precedent 
in  all  the  Ne-,v  Testam.ent  which  can  be  tortured  into 
such  a  meanirg. 

Our  Savior  instituted  it  (the  Lord's  Supper)  before 
Christian  baptism  was  announced,  and  gave  it  to  dis- 
ciples who  never  v/ere  baptized  in  the  Christian  bap- 
tism— before  or  after  the  giving  of  the  supper. 

Mr.  Errett's  article,  in  entire  agreement  with  that  of  Mr. 
Pendleton,  elaborates  two  points:  First,  that  positive  ordi- 
nances and  institutions  have  always  been,  in  a  measure,  flex- 
ible and  adaptable,  and  that  a  faithful  heart  wins  acceptance 
with  God,  even  without  a  perfect  performance  of  the  law; 
and  Seco7id,  that  the  question  as  to  what  attitude  to  take 
tov/ard  the  millions  of  unimmersed  believers  today  is  a  ques- 
tion not  known  in  primitive  times  and  therefore  not  to  be 
settled  by  direct  appeal  to  apostolic  procedure.  Mr.  Errett 
■says : 

"Where  the  spirit  of  faitJi  and  obedience  is  found  a 
person  is  accepted  with  God,  even  wdien  failing  to  obey 
positive  commands.     The  law  of  baptism  is  not  uttered 


THE  SCROLL Page  79 

in  language  more  imperative  than  the  law  of  circum- 
cision. Yet  in  millions  of  instances,  the  letter  of  this 
law  was  violated  without  the  visitation  of  the  penalty. 
(Josh.  5:1-9.)  The  Passover  was  kept  'otherwise  than 
as  it  was  written'  without  forfeiting  the  approbation  of 
God.  (2  Chron.  30:1-20.)  The  Savior  also  over- 
stepped the  letter  of  his  mission  to  satisfy  the  spirit  of 
it.  He  did  so  in  healing  sickness  and  in  plucking  ears 
of  corn  on  the  Sabbath  day;  and  in  extending  religious 
recognition  to  Gentiles  and  Sam.aritans,  although  he  de- 
clares that  he  v.-as  not  sent  but  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel.     .     . 

These  brethren  (favoring  close  communion)  insist 
that  if  the  Bible  knows  nothing  of  these  parties,  v/e 
should  know  nothing  of  them.  They  triumphantly  ask, 
"Did  the  first  Christians  commune  with  unimmersed 
persons?  Shall  v/e  then  deliberately  do  vrhat  v/e  admit 
they  did  not  do?"  Not  too  fast,  brethren.  We  too  v/ill 
ask  questions ;  and  v/e  flatter  ourselves  we  shall  assist 
these  worthy  brethren  to  see  that  this  is  not  dealing 
fairly  with  a  question  not  knozvn  in  primitii'e  ti'iies.  .  . 
Did  the  first  Christians  receive  money  from  unimmersed 
persons  ?  Did  they  ask  unimmersed  persons  to  sing,  or 
pray,  or  give  thanks?  Did  they,  in  any  sense,  recognize 
as  Christians  the  unimmersed?  Did  they  have  fellov/- 
ship  v/ith  immersed  persons  not  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  ?  And  shall  v/e  deliberately  do  v/hat  we 
admit  they  did  not  do?  Will  he  please  give  us  the 
Scripture  v/liich  aT:>proves  of  persons  immersed  by  Bap- 
tist and  Methodist  preachers,  and  w^ho  hold  member- 
ship in  Baptist  and  Methodist  churches  .  .  .  being 
invited  to  the  Lord's  table,  m^erely  because  they  have 
been  immersed  ? 

It  will,  we  thin'-,  be  a^'iarent  bv  t^is  ti'^.e.  t^^it  to 
attempt  to  settle  this  question  in  the  light  of  conditions 


Page  80  THE  SCROLL 

which  were  submitted  when  no  question  Hke  this  was 
in  controversy,  is  unfair. 

Mr.  Errett  further  says : 

The  normal  entrance  into  Christ  is  by  baptism  into 
him.  Yet  tlie  Jerusalem  chureli  Jiad  at  least  one  hun- 
dred ai:d  tvjenty  members  zulio  never  zvere  baptized  into 
him.  (Itahcs  his.)  Were  they  therefore  not  in  Christ? 
There  were  many  others  in  the  first  churches  who  were 
never  baptized  into  Christ.  They  were  exceptional  cases. 
They  grew  out  of  the  transition  from  Judaism  to  Chris- 
tianity   by    the    ministries    of    John    and    Jesus.      {Mill. 

Harb.,  1S62,  p.  260.) 

In  the  last  article  which  Isaac  Errett  wrote  on  this  sub- 
ject, at  least  in  this  particular  discussion,  he  sums  up  the 
advantages  to  be  gained  by  receiving  unirnniersed  Christians 
to  the  Lord's  Supper: 

1.  We  harm.onize  our  practice  with  our  plea  for 
Christian  union. 

2.  We  preserve   catholicity  of   spirit. 

3.  We  guard  against  closing  the  way  of  access  to 
the  cars  and  hearts  of  the  Prote-stan-t  v^orld,  in  v\d:iose 
hands  mu.st  shortly  be  lodged  the  destinies  of  the  human 
race. 

4.  We  avoid  doing  injustice  to  any  one  whom  God 
may  he  pleased  to  accept. 

5.  We  save  ourselves  from  a  position  which  would 
justly  be  regarded  as  presumptuous  and  arrogant,  so 
long  as,  without  superior  piety  and  benevolence,  our 
exclusiveness  is  based  on  accuracy  in  regard  to  a  single 
ordinance. 

6.  We  will  ha^'e  no  change  to  malre  when  the  union 
of  Christians  shall  have  been  accomplished.  It  \x\\\  still 
be  the  Lord's  table  for  the  Lord's  people,  to  which  every 
one  must  come  on  his  ov/n  responsibility.  (Mill.  Harb., 
1862,  p.  263.) 


THE    SCROLL 


VOLUME  XVIII    FEBRUARY.  1922    NUMBER  VI 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  WORDS 


(From  "The  Singing  Caravan,"  by  Robert  Vansittart) 

The  Suns  trembled  :   "Open,  open  mide, 

Dismiss  us  to  illum.inate  the  East."  . 

Old  Ghaffir  fumbled  the  reluctant  bolts,  : 

Lifting  his  hands  and  eyes  as  for  a  feast. 
And  this  was  their  viaticum.    His  words 

Were  mingled  with  their  eagerness  like  yeast. 

Go  forth,  poor  words  !  _j|| 

If  truly  you  are  free,  ^  \ 

Simple,  direct,  you  shall  be  v/inged  like  birds,  ij    ,  : 

Voiced  like  the  sea.  '      ; 

Walk  humbly  clad!  '    .     'I 

Be  sure  those  v/ords  are  lam.e  ;!       ■.    ] 

That  ride  a-clatter,  or  that  deck  and  pad  l  '  '  | 
A  puny  frame. 

As  in  your  dress. 

So  in  your  speech  be  plain. 
Be  not  deceived ;  the  mighty  meaningless 

Are  loud  in  vain.  ' 

Be  not  puffed  up 

Nor  drunk  with  your^  own  sound  ! 
Shall  men  drink  deeply  when  an  emipty    cup 

Is  handed  round  ? 


Page  82  THE  SCROLL 

Shout  not  at  heaven  ! 

Say  what  I  bade  you  say. 
SimpHcity  is  beauty  dweUing  even 

In  yea  and  nay. 

Be  this  your  goal. 

Beauty  within  man's  reach 
Is  poetry.    You  cannot  touch  man's  sovil 

Save  with  man's  speech. 

Therefore  go  straight. 

You  shall  not  turn  aside 
To  vain  display ;  for  yonder  lies  the  gate 

AVhere  gods  abide 

Your  coming.     Go  ! 

The  Vv-ay  was  never  hard. 
What  would  you  more  than  common  flowers,  or  snov/  ? 

For  your  reward, 

Be  understood. 

And  thus  shall  you  be  sung. 
Aye,  you  v,"ho  think  to  shovv^  us  any  good, 

Speak  in  our  tongue. 


DENOMINATIONALIZING  THE  VISION 
George  A.  Campbell 

Our  vision  has  been  the  United  Church.  For  a  hun- 
dred years  it  has  been  our  passion.  Both  experience  and 
the  Bible  have  supported  us  in  our  dream  of  inclusive- 
ness.     In  our  vision  we  have  seen  the  visible  church  pos- 


THE  SCPvOLL  Page  83 

sessed  with  the  spirit  of  friendliness  and  unity,  and  made 
into  an  effective  organism. 

All  Protestants,  all  Catholics,  all  of  the  Greek  Church, 
come  within  the  purview  of  this  vision.  No  Christian  is 
to  be  left  out  of  the  fellowship.  In  its  far  reach,  in  its 
compelling  necessity,  the  visions  has  grown  vvdth  the  dec- 
ades. It  has  novv'  tiie  aspect  of  magnitude  and  grandeur. 
No  group  of  Christians  in  the  history  of  the  church  has 
had  this  vision  so  clearly  as  the  Disciples.  It  is  a 
worthy  contribution  to  the  grov.dng  kingdom. 

Our  plan  is  to  build  on  truth — whole  and  complete 
rather  than  on  partial  truth.  The  latter  is  ahvays'  di- 
visive, the  formier  always  unifying.  "Wdiere  the  Scrip- 
tures speak  we  speak,  where  the  Scriptures  are  silent  we 
are  silent"  was  the  slogan  in  the  early  stages ;  but  later 
Christ  was  recognized  as  the  central,  complete  truth. 
The  exaltation  of  Him  and  of  Him.  alone  is  the  hope  of 
unity. 

Are  we  denominationalizing,  even  sectarianizing  the  vi- 
sion ?  Are  we  forming  parties  within  the  movement  ? 
Are  we  fellowshipping  in  groups  instead  of  fellowship- 
ping  with  the  vdiole?  Do  our  institutes  and  Congresses 
and  newspapers  and  foundations  and  competing  mission- 
ary organizations  point  to  the  repetition  of  the  history  of 
divisions  ?  Are  we  selecting  partial  truths  as  tests  ?  We 
should  guard  v.-ell  the  vision.  It  should  not  perish  from 
the  earth. 

Views  that  are  partial,  zealously  held  are  dogmatic, 
separating,  unlovely,  unbrotlierly.  Christianity  at  last  has 
to  do  with  personal  relationship.  Therefore,  if  we  shall 
keep  our  vision  from  being  denominationalized  and  sec- 
tarianized,  we  mrast  stress  good  feeling,  neighborliness, 
fairness,  and  friendship. 

We  need  to  be  inclusive  in  our  fellov/shio.     It  is  fine 


Page  84 THE  SCROLL 

when  you  can  like  the  man  who  differs  from  you.  Aren't 
you  glad  when  the  man  you  have  tried  to  win  to  your 
way  of  thinking  asserts  his  own  right  of  freedom  ?  How 
precious  is  freedom !  It  is  better  to  be  free  than  to  be 
right;  but  no  one  can  be  right  if  not  free. 

I  have  a  parishioner  who  believes  that  rheumatism  is 
cured  by  putting  the  shoes  under  the  bed  at  night  and 
turning  the  soles  upward;  but  she  is  not  seeking  to  form 
a  new  sect,  and  so  we  stay  in  the  same  church  yet  awhile. 


CAN  WE  STILL  HAVE  HOPE? 

B.  H.  Bruner 

In  the  preface  of  a  very  striking  and  suggestive  book, 
"Civilization  in  the  United  States,"  edited  by  Mr.  Harold 
E.  Stearns,  v/e  find  these  words:  "There  must  be  (in 
American  Civilization)  an  entirely  nev/  deal  of  the  cards 
in  one  sense ;  we  must  change  our  hearts.  For  only  so, 
unless  through  the  humbling  of  calamity  or  scourge,  can 
true  art  and  true  religion  and  true  personality,  with  their 
native  v/armth  and  caprice  and  gaiety,  grov/  up  in  Amer- 
ica to  exorcise  these  painted  devils  we  have  created  to 
frighten  us  away  from  our  spiritual  poverty."  We  all 
recognize  this  as  a  fine  ideal,  but  can  we  hope  for  its 
realization? 

Man  is  a  creature  of  hope.  He  has  always  believed  in 
the  possibility  of  living  a  higher  type  of  life  than  his  own 
immediate  age  portrays,  and'  it  is  this  hope  which  has 
raised  the  general  level  of  life  through  the  centuries.  Be;- 
cause  man  has  believed  in  the  possibility  of  his  own  prog- 
ress he  has  believed  in  the  progress  of  society.  But  in 
this  hope  man  has  had  to  fight  continually  against  the 
blight  of  hopelessness. 

The  race  has  won  its  greatest  victories  and  registered 


q 

^ 


THE  SCROLL Page  85 

its  greatest  achievements  during  those  periods  when  the 
star  of  hope  has  shone  brightest.  It  has  sunk  to  its  low- 
est levels  when  the  blight  of  hopelessness  has  entered  its 
soul.  There  are  very  many  evidences  of  this  blight  of 
hopelessness  in  our  ovvn  age.  It  is  far  more  wide-spread 
than  we  think.  There  is  an  "extraordinary  lack  of  spirit- 
ual hope,  a  rooted  conviction  in  the  unchangeableness  of 
human  nature,"  and,  therefore,  in  the  unchangeableness 
of  human  society.  This  mood  is  very  common,  even  in 
the  Christian  church,  where  hope  ought  always  to  shine 
the  brightest. 

The  average  church  today  is  not  living  in  an  expect- 
ant mood.  We  are  rather  startled  when  we  are  re- 
minded of  the  fact  that  the  vast  multitude  outside  the 
churches  are  expected,  according  to  the  plan  of  the 
gospel,  to  become  sons  and  daughters  of  God.  We  have 
rather  taken  it  for  granted  that  about  all  the  people  who 
ought  to  be  in  the  church  are  already  there.  Most 
churches  are  not  expecting  great  ingatherings  of  souls, 
and  they  are  not  disappointed.  We  are  surprised  when 
some  outstanding  sinner  turns  to  Christ.  We  ought  to 
be  surprised  at  the  apathy  and  indifference  of  a  church 
which  makes  such  an  ineffective  appeal  to  sinners,  when 
its  Master  came  that  he  might  "seek  and  save  that  which 
is  lost." 

Almost  every  great  religious  body  in  the  world  is 
preaching  unity  today.  Yet,  when  most  people  approach 
the  subject  of  unity  in  the  concrete,  of  actually  getting 
together,  they  approach  it  with  a  spirit  of  utter  hope- 
lessness. The  leaders  of  the  churches  meet  together  in 
conference  and  their  addresses  generally  begin  in  some 
such  manner  as  this :  "While  it  is  hardly  possible  for 
us  to  have  an  immediate  unity  among  the  churches 
(meaning  by  this  that  they  are  unwilling  to  give  up 
any  of  their  authority  or  their  official  positions  for  the 


Page  86  THE  SCROLL 

sake  of  unity)  it  is  a  good  thing  to  come  together  and  | 
talk  over  our  problems" — which  to  my  m.ind  is  utter  ' 
nonsense,  hypocrisy,  and  a  waste  of  valuable  time  unless 
we  really  mean  business.  "Hot  air"  has  no  welding 
pov'/ers.  The  meagerness  of  our  actual  practical  ac- 
complishments in  unity  is  due  to  this  spirit  of  hope- 
lessness.   AVe  have  just  what  most  of  us  have  expected. 

We  have  preached  Jesus  Christ  as  the  "Prince  of 
Peace"  for  centuries,  and  yet,  most  people  have  ap- 
proached The  Hague,  the  League  of  Nations,  and  the 
Armament  Conference  in  a  mood  of  hopelessness.  This 
accounts  for  the  readiness  of  most  people  to  continue 
to  be  tax-burdened  in  our  preparations  for  war.  While 
the  world  seems  to  be  fairly  well  convinced  of  the  abso- 
lute economic  necessity  of  reducing  armaments,  there 
still  remains  this  povv^erful  spiritual  and  psychological 
factor  of  hopelessness  v/hich  is  the  underlying  cause  for 
the  maintaining  of  large  offensive  armaments  as  opposed 
to  mere  policing  forces.  In  his  "The  Fruits  of  Vic- 
tory," Air.  Norman  Angell  takes  up,  and  refutes  in  a 
fairly  satisfactory  manner,  what  he  considers  to  be  the 
supreme  fallacy  which  contributes  pov-erfully  to  our  un- 
readiness to  face  the  fundamental  causes  of  war.  It  is 
the  popular  belief — "You  may  argue  as  much  as  you 
like.  All  the  logic  chopping  will  never  get  over  the  fact 
that  human  nature  is  always  what  it  is.  Nations  will 
alwa}-s  fight  ....  always  retaliate  at  victory." 

In  the  face  of  this  hopelessness  can  we  still  have 
hope  <:  Yes,  if  we  are  willing  to  turn  to  its  greatest 
source.  It  is  into  such  a  world  as  this,  where  men  dare 
to  hope  for  the  perfection  of  self  and  of  societv,  and 
v/here  so  often  these  hopes  are  never  realized,  that 
Jesus  Christ  comes  v/ith  his  great  message  of  hope.  If 
we  are  Vvdlling  to  believe  in  Him  we  can  still  have  hope. 
He  comes  to  tell  men  that  all  they  have  ever  dreamed. 


I 


THE  SCROLL Page  87 

both  for  theiiiselves  and  for  humanity,  is  possible,  and 
that  he  is  the  way  to  tlie  reahzation  of  these  dreams. 

Jesus  Christ  revealed  what  has  been  called  his  "im- 
measurable optimism"  in  the  confidence  with  which  he 
announced  his  gospel  and  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The 
boundless  hope  of  his  great  soul  caused  him  to  believe 
absolutely  in  three  things.  First,  the  changeableness  of 
absolutely  in  three  things.  First,  the  changeable  of 
human  nature.  Second,  the  possibility  of  a  permanent 
unity  among  his  disciples.  Third,  the  ultimate  perfec- 
tion of  human  society. 

Jesus  believed  that  human  nature  could  be  changed. 
When  he  commanded  men  to  repent,  to  turn  around, 
to  adopt  nev/  standards  of  thinking  and  living  which 
v/ould  work  a  moral  and  spiritual  revolution  in  their 
charactetrs,  he  v/as  not  mocking  them  by  asking 
something  which  was  imipossible.  When  he  demanded 
of  all  kinds  of  men  and  women  that  they  be  "born 
again,"  he  vvas  not  making  an  impossible  demand. 
When  he  urged  his  hearers  to  become  converted,  to  be- 
come as  little  children,  he  v/as  sure  of  the  ability  of 
human  nature  to  respond  to  that  call.  When  he  said, 
"Ye  shall  therefore  be  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  in 
heaven  is  perfect,"  he  was  not  setting  up  an  impossible 
ideal.  Everything  vvhich  Jesus  said  to  man  or  did  for 
man  v\^hile  lie  v/as  on  earth,  was  said  and  done  on  the 
assumption  that  human  nature  was  changeable.  And  his 
ministry  on  earth  demionstrated  that  his  program  v/as 
v/orkable.  All  of  his  disciples,  save  one,  v/ere  living  ex- 
amples of  changed  human  nature.  And  the  influence 
of  the  "Christ  Ideal"  in  the  life  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  re- 
mains for  ?.l\  hrr.e  the  greatest  example  of  a  man  who 
was  ETtually  "born  again." 

Eecr.^ise  Jesus  believed  that  those  marks  of  human  na- 
ture  v/hich   divide   human    society   can   be   changed,   he 


Page  88  THE  SCROLL 

believed  that  unity  among  his  followers  was  possible. 
In  fact,  Jesus  never  planned  for  it  to  be  otherwise. 
Those  who  have  tried  to  read  into  his  parable  of  the 
vine  and  the  branches  his  sanction  of  our  present  divi- 
sions are  grossly  misrepresenting  him.  It  is  a  m.ere 
piece  of  hypocrisy  for  modern  Christians  to  read  the 
Master's  prayer  for  the  unity  of  his  followers  and  then 
say  that  unity  is  impossible,  or  try  to  justify  our  divi- 
sions. Jesus  uttered  that  prayer  in  an  expectant  mood. 
He  believed  that  it  would  be  answered.  The  length  of 
time  which  has  elapsed  since  it  was  uttered  does  not 
prove  that  it  cannot  or  will  not  be  answered,  for  all 
time  belongs  to  God.  Perhaps  the  Father  in  His  infi- 
nite wisdom  is  waiting  until  we  have  seen  the  shame  and 
disgrace  and  impotence  of  our  unholy  divisions  in  a 
world  which  is  in  danger  of  relapsing  into  paganism, 
before  He  ansvrers  that  prayer  for  a  united  church.  But, 
if  for  no  other  reason  than  this  one  prayer,  I  am  just 
so  sure  that  unity  is  not  only  possible,  but  that  it  is 
coming  sooner  than  miost  of  us  realize,  as  I  am  of  God 
and  Jesus  Christ.  God's  plans  and  purposes  for  a  re- 
deemed hum.anity  cannot  be  thwarted.  Without  a  unit- 
ed church  they  can  never  be  fulfilled. 

And  Jesus  believed  in  the  final  perfection  of  human 
society.  That  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  was  the 
basis  and  burden  of  his  life  and  message,  was  an  im- 
possible dream,  never  occurred  to  Jesus.  He  set  no 
definite  time  for  its  final  consumation.  He  did  not 
ignore  the  fact  that  the  world  would  be  torn  by  wars 
and  rumors  of  wars,  and  that  famine  and  suffering 
would  be  wide-spread.  But  he  believed  that  in  spite  of 
all  this,  in  fact,  in  the  very  midst  of  it,  tlie  leaven  of 
the  Kingdom  would  be  working  and  laying  the  founda- 
tions for  a  permanent  structure.  Just  as  surely  as  the 
leaven  works  in  the  bread  or  the  mustard  seed  grows 


TUB  SCROLL Page  89 

into  a  tree,  the  ideal  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  will  come 
to  its  fruitage  in  a  perfected  and  glorified  human  society. 
Jesus  did  not  go  to  the  cross  a  disappointed  and  hope- 
less man.  "He  goes  down  into  the  abyss  of  death  pre- 
dicting his  own  resurrection  and  coming  reign;  and, 
rising  from  the  grave,  sends  his  disciples  through  all 
the  world  to  evangelize  the  human  race.  .  ."  By  his 
cross  he  made  his  own  living  hope  a  reality  in  human 
experience,  and  through  its  power  his  disciples  in  the 
first  century  and  in  all  other  centuries  have  conquered. 

John  Oxenham  tells  us  in  his  "Vision,"  how 

"One  took  me  up  into  a  lofty  place. 
And  opened  windows  that  my  soul  should  see 
.    Visions  of  this  and  that,  touched  by  His  grace — 
Of  that  which  was  .  .  .  and  is  .  .  and  yet  may  be. 

"From  the  first  lattice  we  looked  out 
Upon  a  boundless  waste  of  night-black  sea. 
So  vast  and  void  that  my  soul  chilled 
At  its  black  misery. 

That  stark  black  empty  darkness  filled 
Me  with  despair — no  smallest  sign 
Of  life  was  there. 
No  ray  of  light  to  enlumine 
The  darkness  saturnine. 

"Then,  as  I  gazed, — far  off — 
A  pulse  of  light, — ■ 

A  little  throb  of  light,  as  when  the  dawn 
First  quickens  in  the  womb  of  night, — 
Ajiny  glow,  scarce  visible; 
But,  as  I  watched,  I  saw  it  grow  and  grow; 
And  then, — within  the  glow, — 


Page  90  THE  SCROLL 

A  cross,  upon  a  low  dark  hill, 
Far-off  and  small,  and  yet  my  soul  did  thrill 
At  the  sight  of  theni ;  for  in  that  cross 
Was  HoiDe  Invincible." 


A  NEW  LIFE  OF  CHRIST 

Readers  of  Italian  will  be  interested  in  a  new  Life 
of  Jesus,  "Vida  di  Cristo,"  bv  Giovanni  Papini  (Yal- 
lechi,  Florence,  1921).  Papini  has  been  known  as  a 
brilliant  writer  of  the  comical,  ultra-modern  tvpe,  some- 
times considered  an  atheist,  certainly  considering  himself 
a  highly  sophisticated  person  with  no  illusions,  no  cre- 
dulity, and  quite  superior  to  religion.  The  change  is 
complete.  With  enthusiasm  he  sets  himself  to  paint 
anew  the  portrait  of  the  everlasting  Christ.  The  his- 
torical and  theological  problems  presented  by  the  life 
of  Jesus,  he  considers  insoluble.  It  is  hopeless  to  try 
to  produce  an  ordered  biography.  The  gospels  do  not 
afford  the  data.  Therefore  only  the  procedure  of  the 
artist  and  the  poet  is  possible.  "Every  century  re- 
makes the  Gospel.  It  is  necessary  to  ma!:e  a  new  ver- 
sion of  the  eternal  Good  News.  Every  enoch  has  the 
right  to  assimilate  the  Christ  to  itself  and  to  make  an 
image  of  him  suited  to  its  own  needs." 


PERSONALITY   AND  "ENTITY   X" 

Harper's  Magazine  for  February  contains  an  article 
by  Charles  P.  Steinmetz,  consulting  engineer  with  the 
General  Electric  Company,  under  the  title,  "Science  and 
Religion."  The  modern  study  of  the  pbxenomena  of 
physics  and  chemistr}/,  according  to  Mr.  Steinmetz, 
makes  it  not  unreasonable  to  believe  in  the  existence  of 
a   type   of   reality   which   he   designates    as    "entity   X," 


THE  SCROLL  Page  91 

which  may  be  correlated  in  nature  with  the  entities  en- 
ergy and  matter. 

The  mind  and  personahty  are  presumably  forms  of 
entity  X,  which,  however,  also  exists  in  lov/er  and  dif- 
fused forms  throughout  the  world  of  things  and  forces^ 
just  as  the  entity  energy  exists  in  vague,  hidden  and  dif- 
fused forms  as  well  as  in  its  more  vivid  and  recogniz- 
able aspects. 

In  the  various  transformations  of  energ}/,  familiar  to 
all  under  the  concept  of  the  conservation  of  energy,  the 
tendency  is  for  the  specialized  and  individualized  forms 
of  energy  to  sink  back  into  the  lower  and  more  general- 
ized forms ;  that  is,  for  energy,  though  not  destroyed, 
to  be  lost  to  sight  and  use.  It  does  not  follow^  that  the 
same  tendency  holds  good  in  the  case  of  entity  X.  If  it 
does,  it  means  that  this  mind-stuff  or  entity  which  un- 
derlies personality  tends  to  become  depersonalized  and 
to  lapse  tovv^ard  an  unspecialized  and  diffused  form  com- 
parable to  the  Buddhistic  Xirvana.  But  if  the  tendency 
is  in  the  other  direction,  it  vv'ould  issue  in  the  fixation 
and  permanency  of  personality,  a  conclusion  consistent 
with  the  Christian  doctrine  of  immiortality.  The  choice 
between  these  two,  says  Steinmetz,  lies  beyond  the  limits 
of  scientific  knowledge,  but  scientific  knowledge  does 
suggest,  at  least,  that  personality  represents  a  type  of 
entity  v/hich  is  as  ultimiate  and  indestructible  as  ph3'sical 
or  chemical  energy. 


BEHAVIORISM  IN  RELIGION 
Readers  of  The  Scroll  who  are  also  readers  of  the 
Nezv  Republic  have  been  interested  in  the  recent  edi- 
torial assertion  in  the  latter  periodical  that  the  churches 
are  not  contributing  to  the  cause  of  v/orld-peace.  Dr. 
Charles  S.  Macfarland  replies,  citing  various  resolutions 
of  the  churches  in  favor  of  peace.     (He  might,  v/e  think. 


Page  92  THE  SCROLL 

fairly  have  challenged  the  original  editorial  on  sundry- 
matters  of  fact.)  The  editor,  Mr.  Henry  Croly,  re- 
peats the  charge,  with  argument  much  more  interesting 
and  farther-reaching  than  before. 

The  Federal  Council,  representing  the  attitude  of  the 
churches  in  general,  "conceives  Christian  truth  as  a  spir- 
itual impulse  which  they  can  read  into  the  conduct  of 
Christian  people  by  propaganda."  It  is  true  that  they 
are  now  carrying  on  such  a  propaganda  to  persuade 
Christians  to  believe  in  a  war-less  world.  But  before 
conceding  that  that  activity  constitutes  a  service  to  the 
cause  of  peace,  one  must  ask,  "How  much  of  a  drag 
has  opinion  upon  behavior?"  The  method  of  the  church 
consists  chiefly  in  efforts  to  propagate  opinion,  by  cir- 
culating the  Bible,  by  sermons,  by  books,  tracts  and 
papers.     But  these  do  not  take  hold  upon  behavior. 

The  only  v.^ay  out  of  the  present  condition  of  the 
world  is  through  a  "new  affirmation  of  Christian  truth 
as  a  way  of  life  and  the  solemn  belief  in  it  by  Chris- 
tian peoples  as  more  formative  and  sacred  than  any  of 
the  special  gods  of  natural  science,  politics,  economics, 
and  the  world."  The  modern  world  rejects  the  au- 
thority of  a  verbally  inspired  text,  as  it  does  the  au- 
thority of  the  Pope  as  Vicar  of  Christ.  The  only  valid 
test  of  salutary  truth  is  its  ability  to  bestow  on  men 
and  women  who  believe  in  it  enough  to  live  by  it  the 
will  and  the  knowledge  to  fulfill  and  ameliorate  their 
lives. 

Two  radical  but  costly  steps  are  necessary  to  liberate 
Christianity  from  its  present  subjectivism  and  to  make 
Christian  opinions  an  introduction  to  a  Christian  life. 
The  adherents  of  Christianity  must  congregate  in  large 
numbers  on  the  platform  of  a  common  interpretation  of 
Christian  truth  and  a  common  understanding  of  how  al- 
legiance to  it  can  transform  human  nature.     They  have 


THE  SCROLL Page   93 

divided  upon  theological  technicalities,  and  it  is  absurd 
to  expect  Christianity  to  be  the  force  to  unify  the  world 
unless  it  can  unify  itself.  They  have  multiplied  and 
emphasized  doctrinal  and  ethical  specialties,  and  then, 
when  it  suits  their  purpose  to  do  so,  they  act  as  though 
their  divergent  interpretations  of  Christianity  had  ceased 
to  be  of  any  importance. 

In  order  to  re-interpret  Christianity,  they  must  square 
accounts  with  m.odern  science,  and  particularly  with  the 
science  of  human  nature.  No  religion  whose  vision  of 
truth  disregards  or  violates  the  standards  and  achieve- 
ments of  secular  knowledge,  can  penetrate  the  life  or 
modify  the  conduct  of  the  modern  world. 

Modern  science,  like  Jesus,  views  human  nature  as 
potentially  regenerate,  hovv^ever  unregenerate  it  may  ap- 
pear to  be.  Human  nature  is  essentially  modifiable  and 
redeemable.  Modern  science,  like  Christianity,  is  com- 
ing to  see  human  nature  as  a  combination  of  actual  un- 
regeneracy  and  possible  regeneracy.  We  consist  of  war- 
ring elements,  Vv^hich,  from  the  point  of  view  of  moral 
integrity,  appear  to  be  fortuitous,  irreconcilable,  hope- 
less. But  this  is  in  part  illusion.  The  human  mind  is 
essentially  an  instrument  of  adjustment.  Psychology 
and  anthropology  find  increasing  reasons  for  believing 
that  human  life  can  be  modified  for  good  under  the  in- 
fluence not  merely  of  natural  selection  but  of  creative 
intelligence. 

Modification  upv/ard  can  come  only  if  modern  civil- 
ized peoples  v/ill  accept  and  practice  as  a  necessary  re- 
ligious hypothesis  or  faith  the  Christian  conception  of 
the  sacredness  of  human  personality,  and  will  give  real- 
ity to  it  in  behavior.  Human  nature  will  continue  to  be 
actually  unregenerate  except  in  so  far  as  it  affirms  as  an 
actuality  its  future  regeneracy. 

The  needed  affirmation  in  advance  of   experience  is 


Page  94  THE  SCROLL 

what  men  mean  by  religion.  As  religion,  it  can  sum- 
mon to  its  assistance  the  resources  of  symbolism,  dis- 
cipline and  concentration,  which  v.ill  enable  it  to  purge, 
renew,  and  possess  the  human  soul. 

But  such  aitirmation  must  be  artfully  adjusted  to  the 
facts  of  the  known  world.  Modern  science  is  just  be- 
ginning to  supply  the  necessary  knowledge  of  human  be- 
iiavior.  For  the  first  time  in  history,  science  is  endo\v- 
ing  religion  with  the  material  out  of  which  to  fashion 
an  art  and  discipline  of  humane  living.  IModern  science 
now  uses  its  resources  to  increase  control  of  man  over 
.nature,  and  of  some  men  over  other  men.  Some  day 
it  Vvdll  dawn  on  the  Christian  ministry  that  the  new 
knowledge,  as  it  penetrates  the  secrets  of  human  nature, 
may  be  used  to  increase  beneficial  control  of  man  over 
.society  and  over  his  ov/n  behavior  and  destiny. 


FROGHAM  OF  THE  CONGRESS 

Columbus,  C,  April  17-20,   1922 

Monday,  8:15  p.m. — The  Present  Inter-Racial  Situation. 

Howard  E.  Jensen. 
Tuesday,  9  :oo  a.m. — Should  the  Distinctive   Tenets   of 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  be  Taught  on  the   Foreign 
Mission  Field?     H.  C.  Calhoun,  J.  C.  Archer. 
11:15    a.m. — The    Christian    Minister    in    a    Tvlodern 

World.     Finis  S.  Idleman. 
2:1^    p.m. — Christianity    and    Present    Moral     Ideals. 

Edward  S.  Ames. 
3  :oo  p.m. — Present  Tendencies  in   Higher  Education 
among  the  Disciples  of  Christ.     R.  E.  Hieronymous. 
8:00  p.m. — What  Labor  Wants.     Alva  W.  Taylor. 
Wednesday,  9  :oo  a.m. — Should  the  Disciples  of  Christ 
Receive  the  Unimm^ersed  into  their  Churches  ?   John 
Ray  Ev/ers,  Henry  F.  Lutz. 


THE  SCROLL     Page  95 

11:15  a.m. — The  Christian  Church  in  Modern  Soci- 
ety.    Finis  S.  Idleman. 

2:05  p.m. — The  International  Convention  of  the  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  should  be  Abandoned?     S.  S.  Lap- 

2:50  p.m. —  ihe  Disciples  of  Christ  should  become  a 
Representative  Democracy  in  control  of  their  Mis- 
sionary, Benevolent  and  Educational  i\gencies.    Mile 
J.  Smith. 
8:00  p.m. — The   Church,   the   State,   and  the   Movies, 
Earie  Wilfley. 
Thursday,   9:00    a.m. — Any   Theory   of    Evolution    that 
derives   Man  from  the  Lovv'er   Orders   of   Creation 
is   Unscientific   and  tends   to   destroy   Faith   in   the 
Christian  Religion.     W.  N.  Eriney,  H.  D.  C.  Aiac- 
lachlan. 
11:15   'I-™- — -^  Re-interpretation  of   the   Disciples   of 
Christ  in  the  light  of   one  hundred  years  of   His- 
tory.    Finis  S.  Idleman. 
2:15   p.m. — Are   the   Disciples   of   Christ   drifting  to- 
ward the  formulation  of  a  Creed?    VV.  J.  Llahmon, 
P.  FI.  Welsheimer. 
8:00  p.m. — The   Co-operative  Approach  to    Christian 

Unity.  H.  P.  Atkins. 
A  m.eeting  of  the  members  of  the  Campbell  Institute 
v.'ill  be  held  on  Tuesday  evening  after  the  close  of  the 
session  of  the  Congress.  Those  who  remember  the 
profitable  gatherings  at  Winona  after  the  evening  ses- 
sions of  the  convention  will  not  willingly  miss  this  one. 


CIRCULATING  LIBRARY 

The  following  volumes  are  available  for  circulation 
among  the  members  of  the  Institute.  Any  of  them  will 
be  loaned  for  three  vv'eeks  upon  paym^ent  of  postage  by 


Page  96  THE  SCROLL 

the  borrower.  Postage  may  be  estimated  at  ten  cents 
per  volume  (twenty  for  Wells'  Outline).  If  it  is  more, 
the  borrower  may  enclose  the  balance  when  returning 
the  book. 

Members  are  especially  requested :  First,  to  mention 
any  books  which  they  would  like  to  have  added  to  this 
list;  Second,  to  indicate  any  new  books  in  their  posses- 
sion which  they  would  be  willing  to  place  at  the  disposal 
of  other  members  for  a  time  through  this  loan  library. 
Jackson  and  Lake — Beginnings  of  Christianity  (Vol  I). 
Wells — The  Outline  of  History  (2  vols.). 
Irwin — The  Next  War. 
Mirrors  of  Dovv-ning  Street. 

Bird — Einstein's  Theories  of  Relativity  and  Gravitation. 
Clarke — Sixty  Years  with  the  Bible. 
Marvin— The  Century  of  Hope. 
Abbott — What  Christianity  Means  to  ^.le. 
Roberts — That  One  Face ;  Studies  of  the  Place  of  Jesus 

in  the  Minds  of  Poets  and  Prophets. 
Stock — The  Story  of  the  Bible. 
Kehnan — The  Foundations  of  Faith. 
Palmer — Christianity  and  Christ. 
Fitch — Preaching  and  Paganism. 
Glover- — Jesus  in  the  Experience  of  I\Ien. 
Bernard  Shaw — On  Going  to  Church   (pamphlet). 
Wells — The  Country  of  the  Blind  (pamphlet). 
Anatole  France — The  Majesty  of  Justice  (pamphlet). 
Rauschenbusch — Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis. 
Peabody — The  Approach  to  the  Social  Question. 


J 


THE    SCROLL 


VOLUME  XVm      MARCH.  1922      NUMBER  VII 

Though  we  needs  must  suffer, 

Shall  we  sing  the  worse  that  we  sing  in  vain? 
Our  songs  shall  rise  as  the  road  grows  rougher. 

In  the  breathless  hills,  in  the  fevered  plain, 
They  mount  as  sparks  from  the  night's  oases 

And   fall   far   short   of   the   idol's    feet. 
They  are  stored  by  God  in  his  secret  places, 

The  least-lit  stars  of  his  darkest  street. 
Yet  ten  worlds  hence  they  shall  dance,  my  brother. 

To  travelling  winds.     If  our  songs  are  worth 
One  gleam  of  light  to  the  way  of  another 

We  bless  the  sorrow  that  gave  them  birth. 

Robert  Vansittart. 


"TRUE  TO  THE  BOOK" 

By  Fred  S.  Nichols 


.J 


To  conceive  the  Bible  as  the  record  of  a  developing 
religious  consciousness  whose  highest  expression  is  in 
the  teachings   and  spirit   of  Jesus — 

To  cherish  the  faith  that  this  record  is  essential  to  a 
progressive  personal  and  social  salvation — 

To  welcome  the  historical  method  of  study  as  a  dis- 
coverer of  the  truths  of  this  record — 

To  proclaim  the  convictions  of  disciplined  study  and 
enlarging  experience  in  the  spirit  of  courageous  humil- 
ity: 

This  is  to  be  "True  to  the  Book." 


Page  98  THE  8CROLL 

THE  "WHY"  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY 

Bruce  L.  Melvin 

All  those  interested  in  the  rural  field  at  the  present 
time  recognize  the  need  of  more  ministers  who  will  de- 
vote themselves  to  the  rural  work  for  life.  \Vith  all  the 
agitation  that  has  been  on  for  the  last  few  years  the 
rural  church  problem  still  remains  unsolved.  Preachers 
travel  many  miles  each  Sunday  and  rural  churches  are 
declining.  Why  does  this  condition  of  the  rural  minis- 
try exist?  The  explanation  lies  perhaps  in  two  or  three 
directions. 

In  the  first  place  the  divided  church  makes  for  di- 
vided ministry.  In  the  second  place  our  whole  educa- 
tional system  stimulates  the  young  man  who  is  enter- 
ing the  ministry  to  go  to  the  city.  The  culture  of  the 
school  is  such  that  the  young  man  fits  better  in  the 
parlor  of  a  city  church  than  he  does  in  the  barnyard  of 
a  farm.  In  the  third  place  young  men  who  are  in 
college  to  do  work  of  actual  service  are  led  to  go  into 
other  fields  of  activity  because  so  far  the  opportunities 
that  have  been  open  for  real  service  to  humanity  have 
been  very  limited,  especially  when  we  consider  the  open 
country. 

Do  we  need  a  distinct  rural  ministry?  or  is  our  evolu- 
tion taking  place  in  such  a  manner  at  the  present  time 
that  the  minister  of  the  town  church  can  adequately 
look  after  the  surrounding  country  territory?  Almost 
arbitrarily  the  writer  would  answer:  yes,  we  need  a 
rural  ministry  although  this  rural  ministry  may  be  lo- 
cated in  a  village  with  a  population  of  not  more  than 
i,ooo  or  1,500  for  such  a  village  bears  a  close  eco- 
nomic and  social  relationship  to  the  people  surrounding, 
w^hich  necessitates  the  minister  knowing  something  of 
the  problems  of  the  people  living  on  the  farms.  The 
village  in  fact  is  very  largely  rural  in  its  tliinking  and 


THE  SCROLL  Page  99 

the  village  problem  of  today  is  so  closely  related  to  the 
problem  of  the  open  country  that  the  two  must  un- 
doubtedly be  solved  together. 

Can  the  rural  minister  succeed?  The  time  has  come 
•when  the  challenge  is  to  the  rural  man  to  get  out  and 
succeed.  He  can.  Many  specific  cases  can  be  pointed 
out  where  men  who  were  in  this  v\'Ork  v/ere  receiving  an 
adequate  salary  and  giving  very  substantial  service. 
Many  commiunities  are  ready  for  this  work.  Various 
comm.unity  churches  can  be  pointed  to  as  examples 
where  the  salary  has  been  raised  fifty  and  even  one 
hundred  per  cent  after  the  first  year,  vv'hich  shows  that 
country  people  will  pay  even  in  money  for  service  that 
is  really  rendered.  The  writer  knows  of  dift'erent  com- 
munities where  rural  ministers  are  succeeding  and  other 
commiunities  where  with  a  little  conscientious,  self-sac- 
rificing work  the  minister  would  also  make  a  success. 
The  time  is  really  arriving  when  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  young  man  cannot  devote  himself  to  service  to  the 
people  in  the  open  country  as  well  as  in  the  city,  hold 
himiself  as  a  respected  member  of  the  community  and 
attend  church  conventions  as  well  as  the  average  man 
of  the  city.  My  own  personal  observation  leads  me  to 
say  these  things.  Many  cases  point  to  the  fact  of  why 
the  rural  minister  can  succeed. 

Ohio  Weslej'an  University. 


"BACK  TO  THE   FATHERS" 

Has  the  thing  ever  happened  in  sober  truth  which 
the  poet  Vansittart  describes  in  these  v.-ords,  put  into 
the  mouth  of  a  prophet? 

They,  founding  a  new  sect 
On  premises  that  I  had  wrecked, 
Gave  me  the  credit. 


fig>  100 THE  SCROLL 

A  LETTER  TO  THE  DEVIL 

Dear  Devil: 

As  in  the  case  of  many  other  letters,  I  have  intended 
for  a  long  time  to  write  this  one  to  you.  You  know- 
how  it  is  with  us  mortals.  Indeed  it  is  commonly  be- 
lieved among  us  that  you  are  not  a  little  responsible  for 
the  fact  that  we  plan  to  do  things,  cherish  the  hopes 
of  realizing  them  and  not  infrequently  find  ourselves 
completely  bafBed  by  unforeseen  circumstances.  Con- 
sequently I  must  begin  this  letter  to  you  in  the  char- 
acteristic way,  by  saying  that  I  have  intended  for  a 
very  long  time  to  write  it.  Several  years  ago  I  began 
what  my  friends  thought  a  rather  presumptuous  cor- 
respondence with  certain  celestial  beings.  I  wrote  to 
Father  Time  and  to  Mother  Nature  and  to  Jesus  and 
one  day  I  wrote  a  letter  to  God.  Of  course  it  was 
natural  to  think  also  of  you  but  the  letter  to  you  was 
deferred  and  neglected  and  crowded  out  by  just  one 
thing  after  another.  Since  then  the  Great  War  has 
run  its  bloody  course  to  the  cessation  of  battles  and  we 
have  come  to  the  sufferings  of  post-war  disease  and 
famine  and  bankruptcy  and  despair. 

What  wonderful  days  these  must  be  for  you.  With 
what  ecstatic,  fiendish  glee  you  must  gloat  over  tlie 
world  your  eyes  behold.  It  gives  me  a  strange  feeling 
like  the  onset  of  nausea,  to  think  of  your  being  able  to 
enjoy  the  spectacle  of  our  earth  and  the  pageant  of  its 
crippled  men,  weeping  women  and  starving  children.  I 
can  have  a  little  more  appreciation  of  your  mood  when 
you  listen  in  at  a  Peace  Conference  or  a  Disarmament 
Conference  or  a  session  of  Congress.  For  in  all  these 
there  is  such  a  mixture  of  interests.  The  seeds  of 
hatred  and  suspicion,  of  petty  nationalistic  and  partisan 
loyalties  which  you  have  so  diligently  sown  in  the  souls 
of  men  are  bearing  fruit.     The  best  and  the  wisest  of 


THE3CRQLL Pag<  101 

the  counsellors  are  perplexed  and  confused.  They  look 
anxiously  about  at  their  confreres  and  then  remember 
the  discordant  voices  at  home  among  the  people  they 
represent.  Bewildered  and  perplexed  by  the  overwhelm- 
ingly vast  and  complex  ruin  of  the  world,  the  wisest 
men  stagger  and  tremble  under  the  burden  of  uncer- 
tainty and  fear. 

But  it  must  puzzle  even  you  that  they  hold  out  at  all. 
I  wonder  when  the  war  approached  whether  you  did 
not  think  it  would  be  the  end  of  man's  efifort  to  build 
what  he  calls  civilization.  It  was  clever  of  you  to  sug- 
gest that  the  wonderful  inventions  of  science  could  be 
used  by  one  powerful  nation  to  conquer  all  other  na- 
tions of  the  earth.  You  have  reason  to  distrust  those 
inventions.  They  destroy  themselves.  And  there  are 
other  inventions  which  make  it  easier  for  good  men  to 
band  themselves  together.  Your  enemies  can  conspire 
against  you  more  effectively  than  of  old.  The  police 
have  telephones  and  automobiles  and  motor  cycles.  They 
carry  more  deadly  weapons  and  they  are  more  intelli- 
gent and  better  trained.  For  every  rogue  you  can  teach 
mischief,  a  good  man  and  a  detective  are  in  preparation 
by  the  schools  and  the  reformers.  And  now  the  war  by 
which  you  would  have  laid  waste  all  the  civilization  men 
have  so  laboriously  builded  has  itself  become  a  stupen- 
dous object  lesson  of  the  futility  of  force  and  intrigue. 
The  world  conferences,  leagues  and  peace  councils  never 
were  so  numerous  and  earnest.  You  are  stirring  up  the 
peoples  of  the  world  through  what  you  make  them 
suffer  and  they  are  threatening  to  sink  your  battleships, 
dismantle  the  big  guns  and  take  to  the  ploughs  and  the 
pruning  hooks. 

On  account  of  such  consequences  of  your  poHcies  I 
wonder  whether  you  are  so  very  clever  after  all.  It 
must  excite  an  awful  rage  in  you  to  have  a  mortal  think 


Page  102  THE  SCROLL 

you  stupid,  but  isn't  it  your  own  fault?  Do  you  not 
blunder?  Is  it  not  your  eternal  doom  to  have  your 
machinations  defeat  themselves?  I  would  really  like 
to  know  just  how  you  feel  when  a  gang  of  thieves  and 
cut-throats  fall  out  among  themselves,  and  destroy  their 
own  works.  Are  you  a  pessimist  or  an  optimist?  If 
you  are  a  pessimist  you  should  wish  to  have  evil  suc- 
ceed, but  the  only  success  evil  can  have  is  destruction 
and  loss.  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  really  be  hopeful  of 
the  fulfillment  of  evil  without  being  a  sort  of  optimist. 
We  are  told  that  it  is  your  highest  joy  to  turn  things 
into  emptiness  and  disaster.  But  if  your  policy  wins  it 
means  loss,  and  if  you  lose  you  are  yourself  defeated. 
Your  happiest  moments  are  when  things  go  wrong  but 
as  fast  as  they  go  wrong  people  are  aroused  against 
you.  No  wonder  you  work  all  the  time  with  a  haunting 
fear  and  a  relentless  sense  of  failure. 

In  this  mood  I  almost  pity  you.  I  say  to  myself. 
Poor  Devil,  he  must  go  on  with  this  stupid  business 
age  after  age,  trying  to  make  himself  think  it  is  inter- 
esting and  adventurous  and  effective,  while  he  knows  all 
the  time  that  it  is  only  the  old  intrigue  and  deception 
and  imposture.  Then  I  remember  that  you  have  seen 
better  days.  Once  you  had  a  high  seat  in  heaven.  Your 
ambition  mounted  too  high  and  you  could  not  fulfill 
your  dream.  The  scheme  failed  and  you  were  hurled 
down  to  the  depths  of  hell.  Naturally  that  made  you 
bitter.  It  bred  cynicism  in  your  heart.  Always  you 
seem  now  to  go  about  impressed  by  the  futility  of  effort 
but  still  impelled  by  a  quenchless  energy  to  carry  on 
intrigue  and  imposture.  Maybe  that  is  the  reason  why 
your  favorite  device  for  compassing  the  downfall  of 
mortals  is  to  flatter  and  cajole  them  into  cherishing  vast 
plans  and  hopes  only  to  bring  them  down  from  high 
pride  to  base  humiliation.    Thereafter  they  distrust  life. 


THE  SCROLL Page  103 

smile  at  boupant  youth  and  protect  themselves  against 
the  illusions  of  faith, 

I  call  you  "Dear  Devil"  w^ith  some  misgiving.  It  is 
partly  because  there  is  a  kind  of  strange  fascination 
about  you.  At  times  you  seem  very  attractive.  When 
you  appear  without  disguise,  I  have  no  trouble  in  hat- 
ing you  vi'ith  my  whole  soul.  But  when  you  come  in 
gay  attire,  smiling  and  enchanting,  I  wonder  if  I  have 
not  often  done  you  injustice.  You  know  too  well  how 
to  impersonate  the  bearing  and  the  manner  of  a  friendly 
spirit.  Your  soft  speech  and  insinuating  grace  charm 
me,  into  confidence  and  disarm  all  my  suspicions.  If 
you  always  shovv^ed  your  hoofs  and  horns  I  could  stead- 
ily oppose  you,  but  you  know  too  well  the  art  of  attir- 
ing in  costume.  I  am  compelled  to  acknowledge  your 
cleverness  and  your  adaptation  to  your  task.  You  are 
too  wise  to  appear  any  longer  in  our  world  as  an  old 
pirate  with  slouch  hat  and  drooping  mustache  and  a 
knife  at  your  belt.  You  wear  fine  clothes,  speak  with 
refinement  and  use  the  lures  of  art. 

In  my  poverty  you  come  to  me  with  charming  tales 
of  magic  stocks  in  oil  companies  or  coke  ovens  or 
banana  groves.  Then  you  show  endless  ingenuity  in 
thwarting  the  enterprises.  You  make  the  directors  of 
the  companies  disagree.  You  promote  stronger  compet- 
ing companies  and  crowd  the  small  investors  to  the  wall. 
Often  you  elect  an  inefficient  manager  or  you  throttle 
the  industry  upon  which  the  profits  were  to  be  made. 
Now  I  know  how  to  withstand  you  in  these  things.  I 
have  only  to  tell  you  that  I  accept  my  poverty  and 
have  surrendered  all  the  old  desires  to  have  treasures 
of  gold  and  silver  and  lands.  I  can  hear  you  laugh  with 
incredulity  and  amazement  but  in  spite  of  your  effort 
at  ridicule  I  know  how  completely  I  have  defeated  you 
in  that  one  field.     You  can  do  nothing  where  desire  is 


Page  104 THE  SCROLL 

dead.  Nothing  weakens  you  and  turns  you  away  in 
such  confusion  as  the  absence  of  attention  when  you 
parade  the  old  apples  of  temptation. 

Still  we  must  give  you  credit  for  being  resourceful 
and  tireless  in  returning  to  your  endless  task.  For 
when  I  dismiss  your  offer  of  gold  you  beset  me  in 
some  other  way.  If  I  gird  myself  to  go  in  quest  of 
the  truth,  you  weary  my  flesh  with  sitting  all  day  at 
my  desk.  You  show  me  the  long  shelves  of  the  books 
I  must  read  and  you  do  not  fail  to  make  it  clear  that 
wisdom  is  written  in  many  languages.  And  if  I  persist 
and  force  my  way  among  the  dusty  tomes  you  find  in 
them  and  lay  upon  my  table  a  vast  profusion  of  be- 
liefs and  opinions.  Seemingly  great  men  have  held  op- 
posite views  of  the  most  vital  things  in  life.  You  know 
how  that  insistent  fact  confounds  the  minds  of  mor- 
tals. Then  in  the  moments  of  fatigue  and  perplexity 
you  suggest  that  of  making  many  books  there  is  no 
end  and  that  much  wisdom  is  only  weariness  to  the 
flesh. 

Many  times  I  have  seen  you  by  sheer  exhaustion  flat- 
ten out  a  soul  upon  a  noble  but  gigantic  undertaking. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  young  woman  whom  you  per- 
suaded to  throw  herself  fanatically  into  conventional 
forms  of  religious  work  when  she  came  to  this  city. 
That  was  several  years  ago.  She  was  earnest  and  sacri- 
ficial. With  a  grand  abandon  she  labored  on  commit- 
tees and  in  personal  work.  You  let  her  think  that  tlie 
salvation  of  the  city  depended  upon  her.  In  a  few 
months  she  broke  down,  moved  to  another  part  of 
town,  burrowed  into  a  quiet  little  flat  and  let  herself 
believe  that  the  distant  roar  of  the  great  metropolis  car- 
ried no  longer  any  moral  challenge  for  her.  Neitlier 
do  I  forget  the  business  man  who  devoted  himself  with 
such  fury  and  financial  sacrifice  to  his  church  tliat  he 


THE  SCROLL Page  15 

could  not  support  the  strain  and  then  became  an  easy 
victim  to  the  idea  that  the  effort  was  useless  and  the 
cause  chimerical.  I  wonder  whether  your  countenance 
lights  up  or  darkens  when  I  remind  you  that  both  of 
these  overwrought,  exhausted  souls  took  refuge  in 
Christian  Science. 

But  I  think  you  like  it  better  when  you  succeed  in 
getting  folks,  by  fatigue  and  revulsion,  to  renounce  the 
good  works  of  religion  altogether.  You  have  encour- 
aged zealous  parents  to  urge  religious  services  and  dis- 
ciplines upon  their  children  to  such  an  extent  that  when 
they  are  grown  they  earnestly  depart  from  religion  alto- 
gether. "Too  much  of  a  good  thing"  is  apparently  one 
of  your  favorite  mottoes, — too  much  learning,  too  much 
money,  too  much  love,  too  much  religion.  And  one  of 
the  texts  of  scripture  which  doubtless  strikes  terror  to 
your  mind  is  this :  "Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto 
all  men."  Sometimes  I  think  the  quiet,  patient,  persis- 
tent souls  who  know  how  to  mix  their  work  and  tlieir 
play,  who  are  earnest  but  do  not  take  themselves  too 
seriously,  who  are  willing  to  work  on  the  committees 
for  which  they  are  fitted  but  who  do  not  try  to  manage 
the  whole  campaign,  are  the  ones  you  would  most  like  to 
defeat. 

I  suppose  you  have  some  surprises  now  and  then  in 
your  sport  of  trapping  human  souls.  It  is  interesting 
to  think  of  you,  with  all  your  arts  and  your  long  experi- 
ence, being  baffled  by  some  unpretending  little  person 
with  a  mind  of  his  own.  And  it  is  disconcerting  to  see 
you  carry  off  without  a  struggle  some  Benedict  Arnold, 
or  bank  president,  or  United  States  Senator.  But  the 
greatest  surprise  you  have,  I  imagine,  is  to  find  how  lit- 
tle you  gain  for  all  your  pains  through  the  long  years 
of  your  struggle.  I  once  read  that  you  sometimes  tire 
of  the  endless  competition  with  Deity  for  the  souls  of 


Page  106 THE  SCROLL 

men  and  seek  to  end  the  contest,  but  without  success. 
They  say  you  are  engaged  upon  a  kind  of  cosmic  game 
of  chess  with  the  Creator.  He  "creates  the  board,  the 
pieces,  and  the  rules ;  he  makes  all  the  moves ;  he  may 
make  as  many  moves  as  he  likes  whenever  he  likes; 
(and  you  are)  permitted  only  to  introduce  a  slight  in- 
explicable inaccuracy  into  each  move,  which  necessitates 
further  moves  for  its  correction."  You  cannot  win  the 
game  but  neither  can  you  lose  so  long  as  you  keep  it 
going. 

You  present  a  variable  and  shifty  character.  ]\Iilton 
gave  you  a  certain  grandeur  after  you  were  cast  out  of 
heaven  dov/n  to  the  lowest  depths  of  hell.  I  cannot  sup- 
press a  certain  admiration  at  the  spirit  and  desperate 
determination  wnth  which,  in  his  picture,  you  accepted 
your  fate.  "Farewell,  happy  fields,  where  joy  forever 
dwells,"  you  said,  and  "Hail,  horrors,  hail,  infernal 
world."    "Better  to  reign  in  hell,  than  serve  in  heaven." 

I  have  been  reading  your  history  and  tracing  your 
origin  in  the  superstitious  and  fear-bound  mind  of  early 
man  and  following  you  up  to  the  more  majestic  and  ter- 
rible Satan  of  Dante  and  Martin  Luther.  Your  man- 
agement of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  and  of  the  burning 
of  witches  seems  now  rather  clumsy  work.  It  should 
fill  you  with  chagrin  to  think  of  the  awkward  instru- 
ments you  allowed  them  to  use  when  you  might  have 
invented  modern  dentists  'tools  or  chemists'  slow  poisons 
or  the  marvellous  tortures  of  suppressed  complexes  and 
the  delusions  of  hysteria. 

I  think  one  of  your  cleverest  arts  is  to  keep  people 
from  too  close  and  harmonious  association.  When  they 
try  to  get  together  you  know  how  to  make  them  jealous 
and  suspicious.  Grand  Opera  stars  become  envious  of 
one  another.  Great  philosophers  have  confessed  that 
a  powerful  motive  in  their  search  for  truth  was  to  ex- 


THE  SCROLL Page  107 

cell  the  philosopher  across  the  way.  When  the  Pope 
dies,  old  partisan  cliques  within  the  college  of  cardinals 
array  themselves  in  the  struggle  to  elect  their  candidate. 
When  the  Christian  Scientists  begin  to  attract  great 
numbers  of  people  into  their  temples,  the  directors  of 
the  mother  church  and  the  trustees  of  the  publishing 
company  fall  out  and  go  into  the  secular  courts  to  find 
out  what  is  right  and  proper  for  mere  men  to  do.  When 
I  asked  one  devoted  to  that  way  of  religion  how  it  hap- 
pened that  these  leaders  went  into  the  courts  at  all,  she 
said  it  was  to  find  out  the  truth.  But  they  had  all  in- 
sistently professed  to  the  world  that  they  had  more 
certain  access  to  absolute  truth  through  their  own  teach- 
ers than  through  any  human  agency.  That  was  a  fiend- 
ish thing  to  do  to  a  nice,  new,  fresh  religious  movement 
which  was  going  along  with  such  smooth  and  cumulative 
momentum. 

You  have  so  impressed  many  sensitive  souls  with  the 
difficulties  of  working  with  their  fellow  men  that  they 
adopt  the  theory  and  the  policy  of  independent,  individ- 
ual living  so  far  as  it  is  possible.  Your  favorite  method 
seems  to  be  to  take  a  capable  person,  train  him  in 
criticism  and  dissent,  and  then  make  him  so  conceited 
about  himself  that  he  does  not  believe  it  is  good  for 
him  to  associate  with  ordinary  mortals.  He  becomes 
censorious  and  unhappy  and  unproductive.  He  does  not 
believe  in  democracy  nor  in  social  programs.  Marriage 
is  a  yoke  and  his  profession  an  irritating  necessity. 
Your  tactics  are  employed  upon  the  most  favored  of  our 
kind.  Young  men  and  women  in  college  are  given  ex- 
tensive sophistication  in  knowledge  about  life  with  rela- 
tively little  cultivation  in  the  habits  of  happy  living  or 
in  the  things  that  can  most  encourage  and  inspire  them 
to  useful  and  satisfying  careers  in  cooperation  with  the 
masses  of  men.     You  have   succeeded  in  tainting  the 


Page  108  THE  SCROLL 

fountains  of  intellectualism  with  too  much  cynicism  and 
selfishness. 

But  no  one  knows  this  better  than  the  educated  man 
himself  and  he  is  rapidly  realizing  what  a  collossal  im- 
position your  devilish  individualism  is.  You  will  have 
to  devise  some  new  corruptions  to  dissuade  men  from 
the  growing  conviction  that  the  work  of  the  world  is  a 
task  for  collective  effort.  We  are  beginning  to  know 
what  the  collective  mind  of  a  group  or  a  community  is 
and  how  it  may  be  developed  and  expressed.  What  do 
you  think  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  amending 
their  constitution  to  abolish  the  saloon  and  to  enfran- 
chise woman?  Those  two  amazing  accomplishments 
struck  at  two  of  your  greatest  strongholds.  What  can 
a  poor  Devil  do  with  a  world  where  there  are  no  open 
saloons  to  entice  the  youth  and  plot  against  the  order 
of  the  world?  And  no  race  of  subject  women  to  ex- 
ploit? To  think  of  the  world  becoming  sober  and  fem- 
inine in  one  mighty  movement  of  intelligence  and  of 
idealism  is  to  imagine  your  throne  shaking  under  you. 
I  have  read  that  at  your  smile  "the  criminal  statistics 
of  a  myriad  planets  displayed  an  upward  wave."  This 
leads  me  to  conjecture  that,  with  a  single  thrill  of  terlfor 
in  your  breast  over  the  success  of  some  popular  re- 
form, the  spirits  of  the  saints  on  all  the  shining  stars 
send  forth  a  new  and  radiant  effulgence. 

When  with  Faust  you  saw  Margaret  flee  into  the 
church  to  purge  her  soul,  I  remember  how  you  turned 
away  from  tlie  light  which  streamed  from  the  Cross. 
You  shaded  your  face  and  shuddered.  What  would  you 
do  if  mankind  should  rise  in  a  new  fervor  of  aspira- 
tion and  gather  about  that  Cross,  under  the  high  altar, 
and  in  the  presence  of  God?  How  do  you  regard  the 
enterprises  which  mean  greater  intelligence,  less  disease, 
the  elimination  of  poverty  and  the  building  of  one  broth- 


THE  SCROLL Page  109 

€rhood  out  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth?  Do  you 
think  you  can  invent  sophistries  and  hatreds  and  preju- 
dices and  ambitions  rapidly  enough  to  cope  with  the 
growing  powers  of  light? 

It  is  doubtless  whimsical  and  foolish  for  me  to  be 
writing  to  you  in  this  way,  but  it  helps  me  to  clarify 
my  estimates  of  you.  I  do  not  wish  to  underrate  you. 
We  mortals  encourage  each  other  to  give  even  the 
Devil  his  dues.  We  honor  you  in  certain  ways  for  we 
often  acknowledge  your  power  and  ingenuity.  We  com- 
pliment a  man  by  saying  he  is  as  clever  as  the  DeviL 
We  express  our  amazement  over  some  great  achieve- 
ment or  some  quite  surprising  turn  of  fortune  by  ex- 
claiming that  it  beats  the  Devil.  There  are  times  when 
we  magnify  you  too  much.  We  make  you  an  easy  ex- 
cuse for  all  the  things  which  do  not  turn  out  to  our 
liking.  It  is  a  great  temptation,  which  you  no  doubt 
fully  appreciate,  to  blame  some  one  else  whenever  things 
go  wrong.  We  mortals  dislike  responsibility.  We  de- 
cline to  take  the  risks  if  we  can  make  any  one  else  bear 
them.  Children  blame  their  parents  for  their  faults, 
parents  blame  their  own  lack  of  training,  or  the  pres- 
sure of  the  circumstances  and  we  all  blame  every- 
thing on  you.  We  are  beginning  to  realize  that  this  is 
a  very  bad  habit.  It  prevents  us  from  taking  ourselves 
seriously  enough.  For  when  we  do  face  the  fact  that 
we  must  take  our  affairs  in  hand  more  than  we  do  and 
be  responsible  for  the  outcome,  it  makes  us  more 
thoughtful,  more  cautious,  more  resourceful  and  in  the 
end  more  confident. 

It  has  been  some  gain  over  you  to  find  that  you  were 
not  so  important  a  factor  in  our  mistakes  as  ourselves. 
And  now  that  we  have  begun  to  learn  how  to  think 
of  an  individual  in  terms  of  his  environment  and  asso- 
ciations we  are  becoming  more  hopeful  of  breaking  your 


Page  110  THE  SCROLL 

hold  upon  us.  We  have  begun  to  translate  you  into 
human  and  social  terms.  So  long  as  we  continued  to 
tliink  of  you  as  remote,  dwelling  in  the  far-off  infernal 
regions  we  could  not  seem  to  avail  much  against  you. 
But  we  are  getting  more  assurance  now  by  conceiving 
you  in  terms  of  our  own  inner  struggles  for  happiness 
and  success.  Instead  of  a  huge  creature  treading  the 
marl  of  hell  and  commanding  an  army  of  imps,  we 
regard  you  as  the  personification  of  the  impulses  which 
arise  in  us  in  conflict  with  the  good.  When  we  are  be- 
set by  a  sense  of  duty  and  a  craving  for  pleasure 
which  v.^ould  defeat  that  duty,  we  experience  the  very 
stuiT  out  of  which  your  whole  being  is  constituted.  It 
is  not  abvvays  a  simple  matter  to  determine  how  much 
recreation  \yq  need,  hov\^  much  rest  and  leisure  and 
reverie.  It  is  as  if  there  were  a  point  where  these  inno- 
cent and  useful  things  begin  to  change  their  character, 
for  a  wholesome  pleasure  too  long  sustained  is  trans- 
formed into  ennui  and  disgust.  It  is  a  fine  point  which 
llie  wise  men  have  not  settled  as  to  when  play  becomes 
work  and  joy  changes  into  pain.  Thus  every  quality  of 
■our  character  may  become  a  defect.  It  is  necessary  to 
have  some  initiative  but  too  much  of  it  makes  one  pre- 
sumptuous and  inefficient.  Courage  and  persistence  are 
important  to  acliievement  in  this  world  but  fear  may 
make  us  wise  to  run  away  and  live  to  fight  another  day. 
Generosity  and  charitableness  smooth  and  heal  the  rough 
edges  of  our  social  life  but  the  generous  soul  may  un- 
wittingly encourage  dependence  and  helplessness  in  oth- 
ers. Optimiism  is  wholesome  if  it  is  sufficiently  alert 
and  timid,  but  undue  faith  in  the  rosy  promises  of  the 
future  may  lead  to  false  security  and  failure.  Every 
m.an  should  bear  his  own  burdens  so  far  as  he  is  able 
but  if  he  attempts  to  bear  them  entirely  by  himself  he 
will  break  under  the  load.     We  are  told  to  bear  one 


THE  SCROLL Page  111 

another's  burdens  but  if  we  go  too  far  in  that  direction 
we  become  meddlers  and  busy-bodies.  We  are  exhorted 
to  cultivate  meditation  and  the  quiet  life  but  if  we 
withdraw  too  much  from  the  world  we  wither  and  die. 
The  life  of  action  is  alluring  but  it  quickly  engulfs  us 
in  a  fierce  struggle  where  it  is  difficult  to  cling  to  the 
things  of  the  mind  and  the  spirit. 

But  you  are  ready,  I  know,  Great  Spirit  of  Evil,  to 
encourage  all  such  balanced  reflections  upon  life  for  you 
well  know  how  it  paralyzes  our  wills  and  turns  us  aside 
into  the  nearest  shelter  from  the  heat  and  turmoil  of 
our  earthly  existence.  And  therefore  I  do  not  take 
these  difficulties  too  seriously.  I  know  that  life  is  an 
adventure.  It  can  not  be  lived  to  the  full  by  our  fears 
and  our  counsels  of  prudence.  I  hearten  myself  by 
looking  at  the  records  which  time  has  inscribed  for  our 
guidance.  I  see  the  lives  of  many  men  who  were  under 
your  tutelage — Nero  and  Judas  and  Caesar  Borgia  and 
Pope  John  Twelfth  and  Ivan  the  Terrible.  I  look  about 
me  in  my  own  time  and  see  people  drifting  and  wan- 
dering, selfish  and  unhappy.  I  see  also  the  long  line 
of  the  royal  souls  who  have  built  themselves  into  the 
cumulative  history  of  our  race — Socrates  and  Buddha 
and  Jesus  and  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi  and  Martin  Lu- 
ther. There  is  no  confusion  as  to  the  broad  outlines 
of  the  path  they  trod  and  the  deeds  they  did.  And  you 
know  full  well  that,  for  him  who  keeps  his  eyes  upon  the 
signs  along  the  thoroughfare  we  travel,  it  is  increasingly 
easy  to  discern  the  way  that  leads  to  fruitfulness  and 
peace. 

Therefore  I  seek  no  magic  to  overpov.-er  you.  I  re- 
peat no  formulae  cf  words  to  dispossess  you.  I  deal 
with  you  quite  directly,  acknowledging  that  you  have 
power  but  believing  also  that  you  cannot  stand  against 
the   light   of    truth   and   the   appeal   of    suffering   love. 


m THESQUDLL 

Again  and  again  you  have  been  dispossessed  of  your 
seat  in  heaven  and  the  warfare  w^ill  not  cease  while 
there  is  yet  a  mortal  soul  seeking  the  celestial  light  and 
the  peace  of  God. 

Very  sincerely, 

E.   S.  Ames. 


EVOLUTION 


Now  that  evolution  has  suddenly  become  a  burning 
issue  in  both  theological  and  legislative  circles,  it  may  be 
well  to  recall  the  modesty  of  Mr.  Darwin.  In  The  De- 
scent of  Man  (p.  82),  he  says: 

"In  what  manner  the  mental  powers  were  first  de- 
veloped in  the  lowest  organisms  is  as  hopeless  an  in- 
quiry as  how  life  itself  first  originated.  These  are 
problems  for  the  distant  future,  if  they  are  ever  to  be 
solved  by  man.  .  .  .  Such  variations  (of  the  simpler 
instinctive  actions)  appear  to  arise  from  the  same  un- 
known causes  acting  on  the  cerebral  organlzr^tion  wni:!! 
induce  slight  variations  or  individual  differences  in  other 
parts  of  the  body ;  and  these  variations,  owing  to  our 
ignorance,  are  often  said  to  arise  spontaneously." 


NOTES 

The  following  is  an  incomplete  list  of  churches  among 
the  Disciples  which  practice  "open-membership"  in  some 
form : 

New  York,  First ;  Philadelphia,  First ;  Baltimore 
(some  of  the  smaller  and  outlying  churches)  ;  Pitts- 
burgh, East  End ;  Kenton,  Ohio ;  Evanston,  111. ;  Gurnee^ 
111.  (Community  Church);  Chicago,  Memorial;  Chicago, 
University;  Chicago,  Monroe  Street  (Federated  with 
Congregational);  Corydon,  Ind. ;  Kansas  City,  Linwood 
Boulevard. 


THE    SCROLL 


VOLUME  XVIII       APRIL,  1922         NUMBER  VIII 

BROTHERHOOD 

The  crest  and  crowning  of  all  good, 
Life's  final  star,  is  Brotherhood; 
For  it  will  bring  again  to  earth 
Her  long-lost  Poesy  and  Mirth  ; 
Will  send  new  light  on  every  face, 
A  kingly  power  ujjon  the  race. 
And  till   it  conies,  we  men  are  slaves, 
And  tra\'el  downward  to  the  dust  of  graves. 

Come,  clear  the  wa}^  then,  clear  the  v^-sly  ;  i 

Blind  creeds  and  kings  have  had  their  day.  ; 

Break  the  dead  branches   from  the  path.  '; 

Our  hope  is  in  the  aftermath  ; 

Our  hope  is  in  heroic  men,  : 

Star-led  to  build  the  world  again. 
To  this  event  the  ages  ran ; 
Make  wa}-  for  Brotherhood;  make  way  for  j\Ian. 

Edv>'ii\   Markiia:m. 


Page  114  THE  SCROLL 

THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  GROUP  IN  RELIGION 

The  normal  man  is  the  man-in-a-group,  not  the  man- 
by-himself.  The  individuahstic  presupposition  of  the  so- 
cial contract  theory  is  fallacious.  It  is  equally  wrong  in 
rationalistic  religion. 

Mob  psychology— e.g.  Le  Bon,  and  A'incent — empha- 
sizes the  pathological  aspects  of  group  consciousness; 
that  man  does  in  a  group  what  he  would  not  do  as  an 
individual.  Certainly  he  does.  He  also  does  what  he 
could  not  do  as  an  individual.  Social  psychology'  con- 
siders the  normal  and  beneficent  aspects  of  group  con- 
sciousness as  more  important  than  the  abnormal  ones. 

It  is  reasonable  and  human  to  be  a  loyal  member  of  a 
group,  and  to  feel,  think,  and  do  some  things  which 
would  not  justify  themselves  to  an  isolated  individual. 
For  example,  the  "old  grad"  at  a  college  class  reunion 
would  not  care  to  have  his  conduct  measured  by  purely 
individualistic  standards.  The  back  seat  is  not  always 
the  best  point  of  observation  for  an  enthusiastic  assem- 
bly, religious  or  other.  The  detached  individual  critic 
does  not  get  the  whole  experience  and  therefore  vrorks 
with  incomplete  data.  The  critical  attitude  which  would 
destroy  loyalty  without  building  a  larger  loyalty  to  a  big- 
ger or  better  group,  is  not  helpful.  By  the  pragmatic  test, 
the  outcome  of  its  reasoned  processes  is  not  truth. 

.Separation  from  the  group  is  often  used  as  a  punish- 
ment, because  membership  in  it  is  a  real  value.  E.g., 
expulsion  from  a  school  or  club;  banishment  from  a 
country;  excommunication  from  a  church.  These  acts 
are  intended  not  merely  to  free  the  group  from  a  nuis- 
ance, but  also  to  serve  as  a  deterrent  to  others,  and  some- 
times to  bring  the  excluded  person  to  a  more  adequate 
sense  of  the   value  of  his   forfeited  group-relationship; 


THE  SCROLL  Page  115 

fundamentally  perhaps  to  maintain  the  necessary  (or 
supposedly  necessary)  disciphne  and  homogeneity  within 
the  group. 

Transfer  of  loyalty  from  one  group  to  another  is  often 
a  painful  process,  often  considered  as  culpable  disloyalty 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  group  abandoned.  E.g.,  run- 
ning away  from  home;  changing  one's  political  party 
("The  Lost  Leader")  ;  entering  a  new  social  "set"  by 
reason  of  increasing  prosperity;  changing  from  one  re- 
ligious denomination  to  another.  The  latter  especially 
appears  to  the  deserted  group  as  a  reprehensible  act. 
Even  those  religious  groups  whose  members  consider 
tliemselves  most  independent  and  individualistic,  have  a 
strong  feeling  for  disloyalty  to  the  group. 

Devices  for  stimulating  group  loyalty  may  easily  be 
criticized  from  the  standpoint  of  individual  reason,  but 
some  such  devices  are  necessary.  They  find  their  justi- 
fication from  the  standpoint  of  their  effect  upon  the 
morale  of  the  group  as  a  whole,  and  therefore  upon  its 
efficiency,  and  the  reaction  of  this  upon  the  individual 
by  way  of  some  sort  of  enlargement  or  enrichment.  Such 
devices  are  found  in  connection  with  political  rallies ;  col- 
lege football  rallies;  efforts  to  recruit  for  the  army; 
drives  for  money,  such  as  Liberty  Loan  and  Red  Cross 
drives,  and  money-raising  at  church  dedications ;  and  in 
evangelistic  methods. 

But  if  such  devices  cannot  be  sweepingly  condemned 
because  they  lift  the  individual  temporarily  out  of  his 
individual  self,  neither  can  they  be  indiscriminately  ap- 
proved because  they  relate  him  to  a  larger  social  group. 
They  can  be  justified  only  if  they  do  not  break  down  or 
demoralize  the  individual's  power  to  choose  his  group 
for  the  highest  ends;  and  if  they  do  not  misrepresent 
The  spirit  and  tendency  of  the  grotip ;  and  if  they  do  not 


PMe  116 THE  SCROLL 

ultimately  weaken  the  group  itself  by  lowering  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  value  of  its  members.  Political  and 
religious  groups  often  fail  here.  A  patriotic  impulse  is 
stirred  and  turned  to  the  account  of  purely  partisan 
loyalty;  or  advantage  is  taken  of  the  unifying  influence 
of  rollicking  rli^'thm,  the  physical  propinc[uity  of  large 
numbers,  and  bad  ventilation,  to  produce  a  group-emo- 
tion which  is  misnamed  religion. 

But  abuses  do  not  alter  the  fact,  that  there  are  legiti- 
mate and  helpful  forms  of  group-activity  and  group- 
consciousness  in  religion.  These  should  be  carefully  and 
patiently  sought.  This  is  what  the  church  is  for.  It 
is  the  reason  for  public  worship.  This  and  other  re- 
ligious activities  in  groups  are  valuable  only  if  they 
enlarge,  enrich,  and  energize  the  individual;  not  if  they 
adm.inister  to  him  an  anaesthetic  or  an  intoxicating,  and 
therefore  debilitating  stimulant. 


RUBBING  OFF  THE  CORNERS 

At  a  recent  congress  of  engineers  and  teachers  of  en- 
gineering, we  are  told,  it  was  emphasized  that  success 
in  the  engineering  profession  depends  only  one-quar- 
ter upon  those  traits  M'hich  are  capable  of  being  edu- 
cated in  the  class-room,  and  three-quarters  upon  those 
qualities  whose  development  is  more  a  matter  of  home 
'training  and  of  discipline  received  by  social  friction,-^ 
a  process  more  commonly  designated  as  "getting  the 
corners  rubbed  off." 

If  this  is  true  of  engineering,  how  mncli  more  is  it 
true  of  i)reaching.  Xo  engineer  could  be  imbecile 
enough  to  suppose  that  this  means  that  professional 
training   should   be   abandoned   and   all    enerev   devoted 


THE  SCROLL Page  llf 

to  rubbing  off  the  corners.  Unless  the  man  has  had 
sound  training,  when  the  corners  are  gone  there  is 
nothing  left.  And  the  preacher  needs  his  definite  pro- 
fessional training.  We  all  know  that.  But,  he  also 
needs  above  all  other  men  to  get  the  corners  rubbed 
off  by  a  variety  of  social  contacts  and  experiences. 
There  are  worse  crimes  than  being  provincial,  of  course, 
but  a  provincial  ministry  would  have  a  hard  time  lead- 
ing the  way  to  the  salvation  of  an  urban  civilization. 
It  would  be  harder  still,  but  for  the  fact  that  throngs 
of  the  urban  population  are  also  provincial. 


WHERE  IS  GOD? 


■'Oh,  where  is  the  sea?"  the  fishes  cried, 

As  they  swam  die  crystal  clearness  through ; 

"We've  heard  from  old  of  the  ocean's  tide 
And  we  long  to  look  on  the  waters  blue. 

The  wise  ones  speak  of  an  infinite  sea. 

Oh,  who  can  tell  us  if  such  there  be?" 


The  lark  flew  up  in  the  morning  bright, 
And  sang  and  balanced  on  sunny  wings; 

And  this  was  its  song:  "I  see  the  light, 
I  look  on  a  world  of  beautiful  things, 

But  flying  and  singing  everywhere. 

In  vain  have  I  searched  to  find  the  air." 


Page  118  THE  SCROLL 

THE  CONGRESS  AT  COLUMBUS 

The  Congress  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  April  17-20, 
brought  together  about  one  hundred  men.  Doubtless 
a  much  larger  attendance  could^  have  been  secured  if 
some  benevolent  person  had  volunteered  to  pay  travel- 
ing expenses.  .  But  this  inducement  is  more  likely  to  be 
used  to  promote  a  gathering  in  the  interest  of  definitely 
pre-determined  policies  and  conclusions,  than  one  which 
is  an  open  forum  for  men  of  open  mind. 
c  The  program  of  the  Congress  was  printed  in  a  re- 
cent issue  of  The  Scroll.  Certainly  no  one  could 
assert  that  this  program  had  been  prepared  in  the  in- 
terest of  any  particular  group  or  point  of  view.  There 
were  five  topics  which  could  be  depended  upon  to  de- 
velop radical  dift'erences  of  opinion,  and  on  each  of 
these  there  were  two  speakers  who  were  chosen  to  rep- 
resent the  two  sides.  The,  Congress  was,  in  fact,  a 
series  of  debates  on  the  following  topics :  the  emphasis 
to  be  given  to  our  distinctive  teachings  on  the  mission 
field ;  evolution ;  open  membership ;  the  abandonment  of 
the  International  Convention ;  and  whether  the  Sweeney 
Resolution  and  the  doctrinal  statements  which  certain 
schools  require  their  instructors  to  sign  are  incipient 
creeds.  The  conservative  champions  in  these  debates — ■ 
and  they  were  also  almost  the  only  spokesmen  for  that 
point  of  view  in  the  general  discussions — were  Cal- 
houn, W.  N.  Briney,  Lutz,  Lappin,  and  Welsheimer. 
No  one  could  claim  that  these  men  are  not  typical  and 
able  representatives  of  that  side  of  the  questions.  Their 
opponents  were  Archer,  Maclachlan,  Ewers,  Pritchard, 
and  Lhamon.    (Pritchard  took  the  place  of  Milo  Smith.) 

It  is  widi  reluctance  that  we  speak  of  two  "sides"  or 
"parties,"  or  of  "progressives"  and  "conservatives,"  for 


THE  SCROLL Page  119 

the  use  of  such  terms  seems  to  promote  division.  But 
after  all,  these  terms  do  represent  a  perfectly  definite 
state  of  facts,  and  a  fact  cannot  be  annihilated  by  re- 
fusing to  give  it  a  name.  There  are  among  the  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  a  large  number  of  persons  who  not 
only  conceive  of  the  Bible  as  a  perfectly  adequate  reve- 
lation of  the  v/ill  of  God  and  the  means  of  salvation, 
but  as  an  inerrant  book  of  information  upon  a  great 
many  other  topics  besides ;  who  think  of  it  as  a  ve- 
hicle by  which  there  are  conveyed  to  us  certain  divine 
commands  which  it  is  impious  to  either  criticize  or  in- 
terpret because  "revelation  does  not  need  to  be  inter- 
preted"; and  who  consider  that  the  aocceptance  of  this 
authoritarian  vievv'  of  the  Bible  and  of  a  certain  set  of 
doctrines  as  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  is  an 
essential  and  indispensable  part  of  Christian  faith,  so 
that  they  will  not,  if  they  can  help  it,  countenance  or 
fellowship  an3-one  who  does  not  agree  with  them  upon 
these  matters.  And  there  are  a  large  number  who  be- 
lieve that  essential  Christian  faith  consists  in  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  program  of  Jesus,  an  enthusiasm  for 
his  ideals,  and  a  loyal  purpose  to  walk  in  his  way, — 
all  of  which  is  consistent  with  any  view  whatever  about 
the  Bible  and  in  general  makes  very  little  use  of  the 
concepts  of  authority,  inerrancy  and  finality. 

These  are  deep  differences.  Conservatives  and  pro- 
gressives are  perliaps  as  good  names  as  any  for  the  two 
types  of  mind.  The  Middle-of-the-Road  group  seems 
to  be  composed  of  those  who  either  have  not  thought 
about  the  matter,  or  think  that  luiity  can  best  be  pre- 
served by  avoiding  all  reference  to  differences  of  opin- 
ion and  by  using  ambiguous  words  which  will  mean  one 
thing  to  one  group  and  another  thing  to  the  other  and 
so  will  satisfy  both. 


Page  120 THE  SCROLL 

The  executive  committee  of  the  Congress  did  its  duty 
in  making  it  an  open  forum  and  providing  for  repre- 
sentation of  both  sides  of  disputed  questions.  But  now 
that  that  is  over,  there  is  need  of  a  gathering  in  which 
certain  vital  topics  can  be  discussed  without  the  neces- 
sity of  going  back  to  debate  the  multiphcation  table, 
the  law  of  gravitation,  and  other  principles  which  seem 
to  be  equally  well  established.  An  astronomical  con- 
gress would  not  get  on  very  far  if  it  had  always  to 
spend  its  time  in  hearing  and  answering  the  defenders 
of  the  Ptolemaic  system. 

The  summer  meeting  of  the  Campbell  Institute  in 
Chicago  affords  an  opportunity  for  just  such  a  meeting. 
Why  not  construct  a  live  program  and  announce  it  as 
an  open  meeting  of  the  open-minded? 

Recognition  should  be  made  of  the  excellent  addresses 
at  the  Congress  by  Jensen,  Ames,  Hieronymous,  Tay- 
lor, Wilfley,  and  Atkins.  These  were  outside  of  the 
fields  of  the  debates  mentioned  above,  and  proved  that 
a  discussion  can  be  interesting  without  a  clash  of  oppo- 
site opinions. 


The  dinner  of  the  Chicago  group  held  April  7  at  the 
Mandarin  Inn  was  a  successful  event.  Those  present 
ViCre  Fellows  Ames,  Bean,  Borders,  Flickinger.  Gar- 
rison, Hirschler,  Jordan,  W.  B.  Matthews,  Morgan, 
Nichols,  Parr,  Rice,  B.  H.  Smith,  T.  A'.  Smith,  Trimble, 
Willett,  and  Wise.  Everybody  made  a  brief  speech,  so 
everyone  had  a  good  time.  Willett  (by  request)  made 
a  longer  talk  on  his  recent  experiences  on  his  Avestem 
trip,  so  everyone  really  learned  something.  A\'ise  sang, 
— which  guarantees  that  the  music  was  right. 


i 


THE  SCROLL Page  121 

RECENT  BOOKS  ON  THE  SOCIAL  GOSPEL 

Alva  W.  Taylor 

The  social  note  has  become  quite  characteristic  of 
rehgious  Hterature  since  the  epoch-making  work  of 
Rauschenbusch  on  "Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis." 
There  is  therefore  less  need  for  specific  works.  The 
greatest  need  just  now  is  a  new  treatise  on  the  social 
teachings  of  Jesus.  The  older  work  of  such  men  as 
Peabody  and  Mathews  pioneered  the  field  and  are  still 
valuable  but  there  is  a  clearness  of  vision  regarding  the 
social  principles  taught  in  the  Gospel  that  has  come  w^ith 
the  enlarging  social  consciousness  and  it  needs  reinter- 
preting. There  has  also  come  a  knowledge  regarding 
the  social  nature  of  man  that  needs  articulating  into  the 
sayings  of  the  Master. 

Our  later  literature  on  the  social  Gospel  is  acquiring 
a  constructive  note  that  is  a  sign  of  a  turn  in  the  road 
toward  confidence.  What  we  next  want  is  a  clear  put- 
ting down  in  good,  concrete  manner  of  certain  out- 
standing social  shortcomings.  There  are  simple  fun- 
damental facts  regarding  the  wages  of  the  lower  two- 
thirds  of  the  wage  earners  and  the  wealth  of  the  upper- 
two  or  tvrenty  per  cent,  the  ominous  prevalence  of  pov- 
erty in  this  rich  land,  together  with  the  great  masses 
that  live  on  the  edge  of  want,  and  regarding  commer- 
cial ethics  that  need  to  be  thrummed  and  drummed  un- 
til the  last  child  in  the  nation  can  repeat  them.  Hitherto 
we  have  confined  our  interpretations  of  the  social  Gos- 
pel to  the  academic  preachment  of  its  Scriptural  princi- 
ples and  a  general  application.  All  men  may  say  "good" 
until  someone  says  "thou  art  the  man."  There  is  much 
literature  on  the  facts  of  social  pathology  but  it  is  usu- 
allv  written  wdthout   direct   reference   to   the   Christian 


Page  122 THE  SCROLL 

teaching.  This  gulf  needs  bridging  with  more  dian  the 
footpaths  of  a  few  pioneers. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  books  of  recent  issue  r;n 
the  side  of  interpretative  material  are  Bishop  William's 
"Prophetic  Ministry  for  Today,"  Dean  Brown's  "Social 
Rebuilders"  and  Dr.  Tittle's  "What  Llust  the  Ch.urch 
Do  to  Be  Saved?" 

Bishop  Williams,  like  Bishop  McConnel],  is  a  bishop 
who  is  also  a  prophet.  In  diat  he  is  a  striking  contrast 
to  the  genus.  His  book  is  a  printing  of  a  series  of  lec- 
tures recently  given  at  Harvard.  The  first  pages  may 
be  found  a  little  dry  and  seem  to  the  readier  to  plow 
well  turned  ground,  but  in  the  heart  and  close  of  the 
volume  the  prophetic  fire  strikes.  There  are  many  bril- 
liant passages  and  flashes  of  insight  that  stir  the  reader 
like  adventure.  Bishop  Williams  is  rhetoricall)'  bril- 
liant, incisive  in  insight  and  unafraid, — and  the  greatest 
even  of  these  is  the  last. 

Dean  Brown  made  one  of  the  most  unique  contribu- 
tions to  expository  preaching  a  number  of  years  ago  in 
his  original  and  daring  exposition  of  the  exodus  as  a 
labor  movement.  His  chapters  have  been  preached 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  and  drew 
an  unerasable  line  for  the  feet  of  expository  preachers. 
Now  he  comes  with  a  series  of  preachments  on  the  Old 
Testament  characters  in  the  same  vein  of  social  appre- 
ciation. They  furnish  the  best  of  homiletic  material  and 
this  little  volume  should  grace  the  shelves  of  every 
preacher  in  the  land. 

Dr.  Ernest  F.  Tittle  is  one  of  the  newer  lights  a5ove 
the  horizon.  He  is  an  active  pastor  who  dips  his  Book 
in  social  events  and  endues  his  message  with  an  aware- 
ness of  human  relationships.     He  is  not  an  alarmist  as 


THE  SCROLL Page  123 

the  title  might  imply.  He  does  not  think  the  church  is 
lost  or  in  any  grave  danger  of  being  lost  so  far  as 
numbers  and  power  is  concerned,  but  he  knows  that 
there  are  great  and  powerful  ecclesiastical  organizations 
that  are  as  hopeless  as  Pharisees.  So  he  seeks  to  save 
the  soul  of  the  ever  more  powerful  church.  His  treat- 
ment is  such  as  would  be  expected  by  one  who  faces  an 
audience  of  church  folk  every  Sunday  morning  and 
seeks  skillfully  to  pilot  them  out  into  the  open  sea  of 
larger  idealism  and  social  vision. 

The  last  of  these  four  books  is  more  purely  sociolog- 
ical. .It  comes  more  under  the  classification,  noted 
above,  of  gearing  the  social  principles  of  the  Gospel  into 
the  concrete  social  facts  of  maladjustment.  Such  top- 
ics as  poverty,  prohibition,  divorce,  criminology  and  in- 
dustrial relations  are  treated  in  the  light  of  the  teachings 
of  Christ.  The  applications  made  are  not  so  strikingly 
new  but  the  facts  are  brought  up  to  date  and  the  treat- 
ment is  fresh  and  readable.  It  is  a  good  book  for  the 
preacher  who  is  asking  "What  shall  I  say?" 


FELLOW-TRAVELLERS 

At  a  railway  station  recently  I  saw  a  group  of  eiglit 
persons,  apparently  a  family,  weeping  and  making  their 
mutual  good-byes  with  tears  and  much  lamentation.  Three 
were  going  and  five  were  staying.  It  occurred  to  me 
that  such  scenes  are  less  frequent  than  they  used  to  be. 
Travel  has  become  more  of  a  common-place.  There  is 
seldom  any  sense  of  finality  in  parting.  Those  who  go 
expect  to  come  back  some  time.  Those  who  stay  be- 
hind expect  to  come  on  later.  They  will  visit  back  and 
forth  again,  though  a  continent  or  an  ocean  inter- 
venes. .  How  is  it  with  the  partings   caused  by  death  ? 


le  124  THE  SCROLL 

e  we  not  learning  to  view  them,  too,  with  less  of  the 
ise  of  finality?  Thinking  men  are  but  little  inclined 
dogmatize  about  the  great  Beyond;  and  most  of  us 
1  that  we  should  derive  but  little  consolation  from  the 
leeky  ministries  of  spiritism  even  if  we  could  be  con- 
ced  that  they  are  genuine;  but  the  assurance  of  the 
manence  of  the  highest  values,  including  the  supreme 
ue,  personality,  grows  stronger.  The  things  that  are 
:  seen  are  the  eternal  things.  Partings  at  the  death- 
l  and  the  grave  will  grow  less  bitter  in  their  sadness, 
we  grow  more  confident  that  the  things  which  are 
st  wMDrthy  to  endure  will  endure. 

rhere  sat  opposite  me  in  the  waiting-room  of  the  sta-- 
n  tliat  morning  a  young  fellow  in  the  early  twenties, 
1-eyed,  low-browed,  sullen,  "hard-boiled."  His  ideas 
re  evidently  few,  vague,  and  crude ;  intelligence, 
;ht ;  appetites,  strong ;  inhibitions,  weak ;  little  capac- 
for  thinking  in  abstract  or  general  terms.  He  would 
/e  little  or  no  vocabulary  for  what  we  call  spiritual 
ngs  and  little  need  for  one.  And  by  him  was  a 
nk- faced  youngish  woman,  nursing  her  baby  with  an 
ire  absence  of  those  modest  concealments  for  which 
thing  is  at  least  party  designed. 

rhey  were  not  our  "best  people."  But  they  were  peo- 
.  JDo  they  need  religion?  What  kind?  And  how 
:  they  going  to  get  it?  A  religion  for  them  must  evi- 
itly  be  very  simple.  Must  it  also  be  crudely  material- 
c  and  legalistic?  The  Catholic  church  has  known 
V  to  reach  such  people  on  the  lowest  cultural  levels, 
1  leave  them  there.  But  what  is  the  way  to  reach 
m  and  not  leave  them  there? 

Due  Protestant  method  has  been  to  put  religion  in 
ms  of  emotional  excitement.  Another  has  been  to 
ke  it  a  new  legalism,  with  a  simple  formula  for  sal- 


THE  SCROLL Page  125 

vation,  a  materialistic  and  entirely  selfish  Heaven  for  a 
reward  of  obedience,  and  a  very  hot  Hell  as  the  punish- 
ment for  disobedience.  Another  has  been  to  set  religion 
to  jazz  music,  whoop  it  up,  make  it  snappy,  catch  the 
attention  of  the  crowd  by  appealing  to  the  love  of  nov- 
elty, action,  speed. 

These  have  all  been  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  men. 
generally  very  earnest  and  sincere  men,  to  find  a  method 
of  approach  to  such  people  as  have  been  described.  And 
sometimes  the  criticisms  of  them  have  been  made  by 
those  who  were  indifferent  to  tlie  whole  question  of 
•reaching  these  people.  Those  who  try  to  do  it  in  stupid 
and  unfruitful  ways  have  a  better  defense  than  those 
who  do  not  try  to  do  it  at  all. 

Jesus  would  have  found  a  way.  Of  that  we  may  be 
sure.  And  it  would  not  have  been  by  appeals  to  passion 
or  prejudice;  nor  by  a  cramping  legalism;  nor  by  the 
fictitious  simplicity  of  a  formula;  nor  by  slang  and  jazz. 
Whatever  he  did,  he  would  have  done  with  reverence 
and  dignity.  Yet  he  vcould  have  found  a  way  to  those 
people.     And  so  must  v,e. 


EVANGELISM  IN  CHICAGO 

The  evangelical  churches  of  Chicago  and  its  suburbs, 
including  980  congregations  with  about  300,000  members, 
set  for  their  goal  30,000  new  members  for  the  period 
from  October  to  Easter.  Reports  were  given  at  the 
union  ministers'  meeting  April  24.  If  all  reports  had 
been  in,  probably  the  figures  would  have  been  up  to  the 
mark  set.  But  the  Disciples  are  not  the  only  people  who 
■have   trouble   in   collecting   statistics.    The   Baptists    got 


Pag»  126 THE  SCROLL 

replies  from  only  half  of  their  churches  witliin  the  area; 
the  Methodists,  for  all  their  effective  machinery,  from 
less  than  half,  and  these  only  for  the  period  immediately 
])receding  Easter;  the  Congregationalists  about  half;  the 
Lutherans  less  than  a  fourth ;  and  so  on.  The  Disciples, 
Mith  24  churches  and  a  report  75  per  cent  complete, 
showed  781  additions.  The  Baptists,  53  churches  report- 
ing out  of  108,  had  1,996;  55  of  the  107  Congregational 
churches  showed  1,905  additions.  The  Methodists,  with 
definite  figures  from  only  92  of  their  231  churches,  re- 
jvorted  2,745  and  "estimated"  that  the  true  number  would 
be  about  three  times  that.  The  Episcopalians  gained 
1.615,  and  the  Lutherans  (30  churches  out  of  175),  mi. 
The  I'resbyterians,  whose  report  was  quite  complete, 
with  III  churches  and  40,000  members,  had  5,990  addi- 
tions, or  about  fifteen  per  cent. 

Five  hundred  iifty-five  churches  reported  19,774  addi- 
tions. These  figures  do  not  represent  net  gain,  but  total 
additions.  No  effort  was  made  to  count  the  subtractions. 
Neither  do  they  take  account  of  the  fact  that  some  of  the 
additions  \vere  by  transfer  from  one  church  to  another 
within  the  area,  and  so  represent  no  increase  for  tlie 
i;Toup  as  a  whole.  But  with  all  these  deductions,  it  is  a 
good  showing.  "The  vitality  of  Protestant  Christianity" 
is  a  phrase  which  still  has  real  meaning. 

Useful  as  these  statistics  are,  they  leave  a  great  part  of 
the  story  untold.  Naturally.  The  statistics  of  marriage 
and  divorce  leave  untold  (though  the  new^spapers  some- 
times do  not)  the  story  of  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  these 
human  experiences.  But  even  if  the  papers  do  give  too 
vnuch  space  to  the  Stillman  case  and  others  of  like  un- 
sa\ory  odor,  doubtless  we  know  our  world  better  for  hav- 
ing these  stories  than  if  we  depended  wholly  upon  blood- 
I-ess  statistics. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  12? 

It  would  be  a  noble  piece  of  research  if  some  pastor 
V'/ould  write  the  spiritual  biography,  the  religious  life- 
story,  of  every  person  who  unites  with  his  church  within 
a  year, — or  so  much  of  the  story  as  pertains  to  each  indi- 
Ciiivual's  relation  to  this  congregation.  Then  one  could 
estimate  the  real  evangelistic  work  of  this  church,  and  its 
C'untribution  to  the  solution  of  people's  problems.  Per- 
haps it  would  appear  that  during  this  year  the  normal 
age  at  which  the  Sunday  school  children  were  urged  to 
join  the  church  has  been  depressed  from  twelve  to  nine, 
v;ith  a  consequent  great  in-gathering.  Perhaps  it  would 
be  disclosed  that  certain  business  men  have  found  in  the 
C;Ospel  a  higher  ideal  of  commercial  ethics.  Perhaps  some 
r.:i\e  joined  the  church  to  stand  in  with  customers  or 
c'ients.  Perhaps  some  sophisticated  person  who  thought 
he  was  all  through  v.'ith  religion  has  discovered  that  there 
i?  really  something  in  it  after  all  for  a  modern  man. 

The  social  survey  and  the  educational  survey  have  be- 
come standard  and  indispensable  methods  of  getting  a 
basis  of  fact  as  a  prerecjuisite  to  the  improvement  of  pol- 
icies. Perhaps  we  shall  learn  how  to  make  a  spiritual  sur- 
vey which  will  be  more  informing  than  the  usual  bare 
siatistics  of  additions. 


Fellow  Karl  Borders,  ^\'ho  has  been  in  charge  of  the 
Russian  settlement  house  in  Chicago,  is  leaxing  on  April 
2Q  to  s;pend  a  year  in  Russia,  assisting  in  the  relief  work 
vvhich  is  being  carried  on  in  the  Volga  valley  by  the 
Friends. 


Page  128  THE  SCROLL 

THE   ALLRIGHTNICH 

In  his  interesting  volume  entitled  "Old- World  Traits 
Transplanted,"  recently  published  by  Harpers,  our  Fel- 
low, Robert  E.  Park,  describes  a  type  of  immigrant  of 
the  second  generation  to  which  is  applied  the  picturesque 
designation  "Allrightnich."  This  term  is  used  among  the 
immigrant  Jews  on  the  East  Side  in  New  York  to  de- 
scribe those  of  their  co-religionists  vvho  have  adopted 
American  ways,  have  gained  a  considerable  measure  of 
prosperity,  and  have  abandoned  their  ideals  and  their  al- 
truistic interests  in  favor  of  a  life  of  pleasure  and  amuse- 
ment. The  Allrightnich  do  not  care  for  the  old  standards. 
the  old  simplicity  of  life,  the  old  neighborliness  and 
friendliness.  They  are  not  interested  in  the  problems  of 
their  suffering  brethren.  They  do  not  want  to  think  about 
any  problem  outside  of  their  own  personal  interests.  They 
are  all  for  the  movies,  the  roof -garden,  the  cabaret.  If  the 
older  generation  protests,-^" Aw,  this  isn't  Russia.  In  this 
country  everybody  does  what  he  pleases." 

There  is  good  sermon-stufi'  here,  if  it  is  not  spoiled  by 
crude  handling  and  by  the  over-elaboration  of  the  obvi- 
ous. Better  fiction-stuff  perhaps.  (Respectfully  referred 
to  Jenkins.)  At  any  rate,  even  if  Esau  was  the  original 
Allrightnich,  the  Gentile  world  has  contributed  its  full 
quota  to  the  ignominious  army  of  those  who  would 
rather  be  comfortable  than  courageous,  who  put  pleas- 
ure above  principle,  who  will  neither  stand  by  the  old 
standards  nor  de\'elop  higb'?.r  ones. 


Fellow  H.  B.  Bruner  is  co-author  (with  W.  G.  Jol-.::- 
ston.)  of  a  recently  published  book  entitled  "The  Eva:i- 
gelistic  Message." 


THE    SCROLL 


VOLUME  XVIII  MAY.  1922  NUMBER.  IX 

WALT  WHITMAN 
Far  from  the  dry  and  dusty  way, 

The  beaten  track,  the  noisy  street. 
The  towering  walls,  I  stroll  today 

To  where  life's  ocean  currents  sweep 
And  ebb  and  flow  in  tireless  play. 

I  gaze  as  far  as  eye  can  see, 

I  hail  the  freedom,  greet  the  wild. 

Impassioned  voices  borne  to  me ; 
I  find  that  I  am  nature's  child 

And  have  her  spirit,  wild  and  free. 
1        _  j 

Forgotten  is  the  narrow  street, 
The  beaten  path,  the  dusty  way, 

Tired  faces  I  was  wont  to  meet;  •, 

Behold  !    It  is  life's  holiday,  i 

Great  v/aves  are  dashing  at  my  feet.  '   i 

I 
.    -  ) 

Forgotten?     Nay,  beheld  more  true  i 

By  means  of  each  perspective  vast,  i 

The  lens  my  vision  peereth  through. 
New  light  upon  life's  ways  hath  cast 

Revealing  glories  fresh  and  new. 

Gone  are  the  cares  which  fret  the  mind, 
The  griefs  which  prey  upon  the  heart, 

Life's  burdens,  lo !  today  I  find 
The  joys  which  freely  life  imparts 

To  those  vv^ith  simple  faith  resigned. 


Page  130 THE  SCROLL 

Back  move  I  to  the  world  of  men 
With  braver  step  and  firmer  tread; 

The  soul  hath  found  its  own  again, 

The  sordid,  selfish  life  is  dead.  I 

A  breeze  seems  wafting  from  God's  glen. 
C.  R.  Wakeley. 


THE  PROPAGATION  OF  THE  FAITH 

The  world  has  urgent  need  for  two  different  kinds  of 
people.  More  than  that,  of  course,  but  I  am  thinking 
of  two  contrasted  types,  one  of  which  is  much  in  evidence 
while  the  other  is  equally  needed. 

What  an  amazing  number  of  people  there  are  who  are 
devoted  to  the  promotion  of  highly  specialized  "causes," 
—societies,  associations,  commissions,  and  committees, 
not  to  mention  boards,  foundations,  corporations  not  for 
pecuniary  profit,  and  other  altruistic  organizations  of  a 
civic,  educational,  religious,  or  eleemosynary  nature.  The 
range  of  interests  represented  by  these  admirable  enter- 
prises is  vast — from  disarmament  to  birth-control,  and 
from  the  advocacy  of  uncooked  food  to  the  adoption  of 
the  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures. 

Every  person,  I  suppose,  in  running  over  a  list  of 
these  corporate  enthusiasms,  would  find  that  some  of 
their  objectives  left  him  wholly  unmoved,  that  others  ap- 
pealed to  him  as  being  of  some  or  much  or  vast  impor- 
tance, and  that  still  others  seemed  unworthy  or  objec- 
tionable. But  all  of  these  causes — I  am  thinking  of  the 
unselfish  enterprises — evoke  from  their  advocates  and 
promoters  a  fine  glow  of  enthusiasm,  an  emotional  thrill, 
an  evangelistic  fervor. 

It  is  well  that  it  is  so ;  for  in  a  world  where  our  private 
problems  are  so  insistent — the  rent,  the  note  due  at  bank 


THE  SCROLL  Page  131 

tomorrow,  the  puzzles  presented  by  the  educational  and 
social  life  of  our  children,  tlie  wretched  habit  of  slicing 
our  drive,  the  whole  range  and  infinite  variety  of  per- 
sonal, domestic  and  economic  problems — life  needs  the 
illumination  and  the  ennoblement  that  come  only  with 
the  pursuit  of  ideal  interests.  That  some  of  these  enter- 
prises do  not  commend  themselves  to  most  intelligent 
people  as  having  the  world-saving  power  that  their  ar- 
dent advocates  ascribe  to  them,  is  only  a  partly  pertinent 
criticism.  The  cause  may  save  the  advocate,  even  if 
the  advocate  does  not  through  the  cause  save  the  world. 
And  the  world  needs  ardent  advocates  of  great  causes. 

And  yet  one  could  wish  that  the  devotee  of  a  cause 
might  combine  sanity  with  his  earnestness ;  that  with  his 
high  enthusiasm  he  might  unite  sobriety  of  judgment, 
breadth  of  sympathy  with  the  advocates  of  other  causes 
and  of  no  cause,  and  that  quietness  of  spirit  v.'hich  is  es- 
sential to  the  reception  of  more  truth.  But  usually  he 
does  not. 

We  are  more  interested  in  the  advocacy  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus  than  any  other  cause  in  the  world.  It  seems 
to  us  to  have  genuine  saving  power  for  disordered  lives 
and  for  a  troubled  world.  But  we  are  wondering  wheth- 
er, in  this  generation  at  least,  any  adequate  test  has  been 
made  of  the  convincing  and  converting  power  of  quiet, 
gentle,  friendly  lives,  of  modest  and  unassuming  words 
which  go  no  farther  than  the  known  truth  and  do  not 
claim  the  authority  of  the  Almighty  for  the  utterances 
of  blatant  ignorance.  That  sort  of  propaganda  of  the 
faith  does  not  organize  itself  very  readily  into  "cam- 
paigns." It  has  little  in  common  with  a  "drive."  But 
if  given  a  fair  trial  through  a  period  long  enough  for  the 
church  to  live  down  the  reputation  which  has  been  given 


Ih^e  132 THESCB.OLL 

to  it  by  much  raucous  and  arrogant  advocacy,  it  might 
be  reasonably  effective. 

In  that  calm  and  classic  book,  Religio  Medici,  Sir 
Thomas  Browne  says:  "I  have  no  genius  for  disputes  in 
religion,  and  have  often  thought  it  wisdom  to  decline 
them,  especially  upon  a  disadvantage,  or  when  the  cause 
of  Truth  might  suffer  in  the  weakness  of  my  patronage." 

The  cause  of  Truth  often  suffers  from  the  inadequacy 
of  its  advocates;  still  more  often  from  their  arrogance, 
their  flappancy,  their  egotism,  their  bad  manners.  But 
the  cause  of  Truth  never  suffered  from  the  advocacy  of 
a  man  who,  like  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  was  gentle,  earnest, 
courteous,  unselfish,  modest,  and  sweetly  and  sanely  hu- 
man. 

Be  noble !    And  the  nobleness  that  lies 
^       In  other  men,  sleeping,  but  never  dead. 
Will  rise  in  majesty  to  meet  thine  own. 


EVOLUTION  IN  KENTUCKY 

The  Journal  of  Religion  for  May  contains  an  inform- 
ing article  by  Dr.  Alonzo  W.  Fortune,  on  the  Kentucky 
Campaign  against  Teaching  Evolution.  The  article  is 
historically  important  as  summarizing  the  facts  of  this 
amazing  episode.  It  concludes  with  the  following  esti- 
mate of  the  results: 

In  the  first  place,  the  controversy  greatly  stimulated 
investigation,  thought,  and  discussion  of  all  subjects 
which  have  any  bearing  on  evolution.  There  has  been 
so  much  demand  for  the  works  of  Darwin,  works  on 
biology,  and  on  geology,  that  it  has  been  almost  impos- 
sible to  secure  any  of  these  in  the  public  libraries.  In 
the  second  place,  the  term  evolution  has  lost  much  of  its 
objectionable  connotation  as  the  public  has  become  bet- 
ter informed.      It     is    not  os    much     of  a  scare-  term 


THE  SCROLL Page  133 

as  it  was  a  few  months  ago. 

In  the  third  place,  the  evohitionists  and  the  anti-evolu- 
tionists are  much  closer  together  than  they  were  three 
months  ago.  Many  who  were  opposed  to  all  evolution 
at  the  beginning  of  the  controversy  now  grant  it  for  all- 
forms  of  life  except  man.  Others  who  at  first  opposed 
any  theory  of  evolution  as  it  applies  to  the  origin  of  man 
are  now  careful  to  state  that  they  are  only  opposed  to 
Darwinian  evolution.  On  the  other  hand,  the  evolution- 
ists have  been  careful  to  state  that  they  do  not  hold  or 
teach  the  Darwinian  theory,  that  is,  the  theory  of  natural 
selection. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  teaching  of  evolution  is  quite 
probably  removed  from  the  realm  of  civil  legislation.  It 
does  not  seem  probable  that  the  question  will  ever  come 
before  the  General  Assembly  again. 

In  the  fifth  place,  this  controversy  has  helped  to  remove 
the  teaching  of  evolution  from  the  realm  of  ecclesiatical 
legislation.  It  will  not  be  as  difficult  for  a  preacher  or  a 
teacher  in  a  theological  seminary  to  express  himself 
sympathetically  on  the  subject  of  evolution  as  it  was  be- 
fore. The  controversy  has  helped  to  turn  on  the  light 
and  good  has  come  out  of  it. 


PEACE  FROM  THE  STARS 

A  pamphlet  just  received  gives  in  full  the  proceedings 
at  the  dedication  of  the  Drake  University  Municipal  Ob- 
servatory, November  5,  1921.  They  were  good  speeches, 
and  showed  a  fine  spirit  of  co-operation  between  the 
university  and  the  city.  The  principal  address  was  by 
Prof.  Forest  Ray  Moulton,  of  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, who  was  introduced  as  "the  author  of  the  modern 
theory  of  e\olution"  and  "the  greatest  living  theoretical 


Page  184 THE  SCROLL 

astronomer  in  the  world."  There  is  no  evidence  that  any- 
one took  alarm  at  the  numerous  references  to  evolution 
as  a  fundamental  concept  of  modern  thought.  Another 
speaker  quoted  the  poem  by  Bert  Leston  Taylor  on  4:he 
great  star  Canopus.  Perhaps  it  suggests  a  way  to  find 
peace  in  our  troubled  Israel.  Let  us  insist  on  having 
a  good  observatory  at  each  of  our  colleges,  and  at  least 
a  four-inch  telescope  in  the  editorial  window  of  each  of 
our  journals.    These  are  the  words  of  B.  L.  T. : 

When  quacks  with  pills  political  would  dope  us  » 

And  politics  absorbs  the  livelong  day, 

I  like  to  think  about  the  star  Canopus, 
So  far,  so  far  away. 

Greatest  of  visioned  suns,  say  those  who  list  'em; 

To  weigh  it  science  always  must  despair; 
Its  shell  would  hold  our  whole  dinged  Solar  System, 

Nor  know  'twas  there. 

When  temporary  chairmen  utter  speeches 

And  frenzied  henchmen  howl  their  battle  hymns. 

My  thoughts  reach  out  across  the  cosmic  reaches 
To  where  Canopus  swims. 

When  men  are  calling  names  and  making  faces 
And  all  the  world's  a-j  angle  and  a-jar, 

I  meditate  on  interstellar  spaces — 
And  smoke  a  mild  seegar. 

For  after  one  has  had  about  a  week  of 

The  arguments  of  friends  as  well  as  foes, 
A  star  that  has  no  parallax  to  speak  of 
;  Conduces  to  repose. 


THE  SCROLL Page  135 

A  LITTLE  ASSISTANCE,  PLEASE 

The  Editor  of  The  Scroll  acknowledges  with  deep 
contrition  his  faikire  to  get  the  magazine  to  its  readers, 
with  the  promptness  which  is  ahvays  desirable  if  a  pub- 
lication is  to  be  called  a  periodical.  The  periodicity  of 
The  Scroll  has  fluctuated  considerably  this  year,  it  must 
be  admitted,  but  the  interval  between  issues  has  averaged 
about  a  month.  This  is  the  ninth  number,  beginning  with 
September.  It  was  hoped  that  the  May  issue  would  be 
mailed  in  May,  but  that  now  seems  scarcely  probable. 

This  confession  and  apology  having  been  duly  spread 
upon  the  record,  the  Editor  would  hke  again  to  say  that 
it  is  his  desire  only  to  edit  The  Scroll  and  not  to  write, 
it.  The  Scroll  is  intended  to  be  a  medium  of  intercom- 
munication for  the  members  of  the  Institute.  If  they  wilt_ 
make  it  that,  and  will  freely  communicate  to  their  fel- 
lows their  thoughts,  experiences,  emotions  and  discover- - 
ies  in  effort  to  understand,  practice  and  propagate  re- 
ligion, they  can  make  The  Scroll  the  most  interesting 
little  religious  magazine  in  the  country. 

On  March  29,  the  Editor  wrote  to  ten  highly  compe- 
tent members  asking  from  each  a  brief  and  specific  con- 
tribution wathin  the  field  of  his  own  specialty.  All  the- 
returns  that  have  been  received  up  to  this  date  (May- 
21)  in  response  to  this  request  are  printed  in  full  orii  tjhe; 
remainder  of  this  page.    To-wit: 


I 


Page  136 THE  SCROLL 

A  DANGEROUS  DOCTRINE 

A  brother  who  is  widely  known  for  his  soundness  in 
the  faith  and  for  his  unswerving  allegiance  to  "our  plea," 
recently  made  a  statement  substantially  as  follows  in  a 
public  assembly,  referring  to  certain  among  the  Disciples 
who  do  not  in  all  respects  walk  in  the  ways  of  the 
fathers:  "There  are  plenty  of  churches.  If  a  man  is 
not  in  harmony  with  tlie  views  of  his  brethren,  common 
honesty  requires  that  he  should  leave  them  and  join  a 
group  with  whose  views  he  is  in  harmony." 

There  we  have  it,  clearly  stated.  The  basis  of  unity  is 
to  be  the  identity  of  our  "views" ;  not  loyalty  to  Christ, 
but  harmony  with  the  views  of  the  brethren.  This  is 
most  dangerous  and  insidious  heresy.  Since  when  have 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  undertaken  to  make  their  views 
the  foundation  either  of  their  own  unity  or  of  the  unity 
of  all  Christendom?  It  seems  that  this  agreement  upon 
views  is  not  expected  to  be  a  basis  for  Christian  union — ■ 
since  those  who  disagree  are  invited  to  step  outside — ■ 
but  only  a  bond  between  members  of  a  particular  group. 
And  does  this  not  come  dangerously  near  to  "recogniz- 
ing the  denominations."  Time  was  when  those  who  prid- 
ed themselves  upon  their  soundness  were  very  careful  ~ 
not  to  "recognize  the  denominations."  But  now, — "There 
are  plenty  of  churches." 

This  is  very  dangerous  and  destructive.  It  is  equiva- 
lent to  an  acquiescence  in  the  divided  state  of  Christen- .. 
dom.  It  makes  human  opinions  the  test  of  fellowship. 
It  robs  Christ  of  his  Lordship,  removes  him  from  his  cen- 
tral position,  and  makes  loyalty  to  him  less  important 
than  the  "views  of  the  brethren."  Men  who  believe  in 
the  plea  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  for  loyalty  and  lib- 
erty, for  union  in  Christ  rather  than  the  opinions  of  men,  - 


THE  SCROLL Page  137 

ought  to  protest  against  such  a  position  with  no  weak 
and  timid  voice.  Let  them  cry  out  against  it  with  the 
fervor  and  indignation  of  truly  loyal  spirits. 


BAPTISM 


The  editor  was  told,  not  long  ago,  by  an  intelligent  and 
well  informed  minister,  that  in  his  judgment  the  general 
public  looks  upon  the  Campbell  Institute  as  an  organ- 
ization devoted  to  the  promotion  of  open  membership. 
If  he  is  correct,  it  is  a  sad  commentary  on  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  general  public.  The  Campbell  Institute 
stands  not  for  open  membership  but  for  the  open  mind. 
The  Institute  has  about  250  members.  A  majority  of 
them  are  pastors  of  churches.  Only  about  ten  of  these 
are  open-membership  churches. 

The  Campbell  Institute  does  not  stand  sponsor  for  any 
propaganda  for  open  membership  or  for  any  other  spe- 
cific doctrine,  method  or  device.  It  does  encourage  an 
attitude  of  open-minded  inquiry  into  the  facts  of  the 
Christian  religion  and  of  modern  society.  The  men  who, 
in  the  pursuance  of  such  inquiry,  have  reached  the  con- 
clusion that  a  church  may  best  serve  its  Master  and  its 
constituency  by  leaving  the  question  of  baptism  to  the 
judgment  of  the  individual,  naturally  feel  at  home  in  the 
free  and  truth-seeking  atmosphere  of  the  Institute ;  and 
those  who,  in  the  same  spirit,  believe  that  the  will  of 
God,  the  prosperity  of  the  church  and  the  welfare  of  men 
are  best  served  by  continuing  to  make  immersion  a  con- 
dition of  membership,  are  equally  at  home  in  this  asso- 
ciation. Is  not  such  a  fellowship  conducive  to  the  culti- 
vation of  the  Christian  spirit  and  to  a  growing  knowledge 
of  the  truth  ? 

While  we  are  speaking  of  baptism,  let  this  be  borne  in 
mind:    The  advocates  of  open  membership  are  not  op- 


:e  138  THE  SCROLL 

;ed  to  immersion.  Tiiey  are  only  opposed  to  making 
istence  upon  it  an  obstacle  to  the  union  of  Christians 
a.  local  congregation.  Must  a  symbol  be  used  by  every- 
iy  in  a  church — they  ask — if  it  is  to  be  used  by  any- 
ly?  And  is  a  good  symbol  in  danger  of  being  lost  if 
use  is  notrnade  compulsory?  Does  not  the  value  of 
;ood  symbol  lie  in  the  very  fact  that  it  appeals  to  peo- 
and  carries  its  message  to  them  better  than  v/ords 
1?  If  that  is  the  case,  the  danger  that  any  of  the 
nbols  of  the  great  facts  of  religion  will  be  abandoned 
ile  they  are  still  serviceable  is  less  than  the  danger 
t  their  significance  will  be  obscured  and  their  spirit 
t  and  perhaps  the  whole  meaning  of  religion  confused 
considering  them  as  arbitrary  and  mechanical  means 
salvation. 


WRIGHT'S  PHILOSOPHY  OF  RELIGION 

4  Student's  Philosophy  of  Religion,  recently  published 
Macmillans'  was  written  by  Professor  W.  K.  Wright,. 
)fessor  of  philosophy  in  Dartmouth  College.  Profes- 
■  Wright  is  not  a  theologian.  He  has  come  to  his 
)ject  through  philosophy  and  psychology  and  through 
experience  in  teaching  undergraduate  college  men. 
e  book  is  substantially  the  reproduction  of  his  class 
)m  lectures.  It  has  the  quality  of  answers  to  real  ques- 
ns  of  live,  energetic  youth  who  want  clear,  straight- 
"ward  discussions.  Such  youth  will  not  listen  long  to 
rely  piOus  talk  nor  to  over-elaborate  speculations.  But 
:y  will  attend  with  genuine  interest  when  given  vital 
ormation  in  a  presentation  alive  with  facts,  which 
ives  freely  and  without  prejudice  in  a  wealth  of  ma- 
ial  and  which  seeks  some  articulate,  if  tentative,  con- 
sions.  One  can  imagine  Professor  Wright's  classes 
the  Philosophy  of  Religion  possessing  a  reputation  for 


THBSCROU  ]>^el39 

A— ^— i^— — — — — — — 

their  candor,  their  sweep  of  interesting  human  experi- 
ence, and  their  method  of  reaching  at  least  a  working 
system  of  thought  about  matters  of  rehgion. 

Extensive  notes  and  bibHographical  references  accom- 
pany the  text  and  deepen  the  impression  that  the  book, 
although  presenting  views  and  interpretations  which  de- 
part far  from  traditional  doctrines,  is  fortified  by  an 
abundant  literature  and  a  rather  surprising  array  of 
scholarship.  The  reader  is  not  likely  to  escape  the  im- 
pression that  the  author  feels  the  strength  of  many  sup- 
porting minds  and  of  a  rapidly  developing  consensus  of 
very  respectable  opinion. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  catch  the  attention  is  the 
definition  of  religion  and  another  thing  is  the  agreement 
among  modern  students  in  the  acceptance  of  this  defini- 
tion. It  is  this:  "Religion  is  the  endeavor  to  secure  the 
conservation  of  socially  recognized  values  through  spe- 
cific actions  that  are  believed  to  evoke  some  agency  differ- 
ent from  the  ordinary  ego  of  the  individual,  or  from  other 
merely  human  beings,  and  that  imply  a  feeling  of  depend- 
ence upon  this  agency."  The  agreement  is  particularly 
with  reference  to  the  idea  of  religion  as  the  endeavor  to 
secure  the  conservation  of  socially  recognized  values. 
This  emphasis  upon  endeavor,  upon  active  effort,  makes 
religion  primarily  a  matter  of  the  will  rather  than  of  the 
intellect  or  of  emotion.  Correct  doctrine  and  emotional 
excitement  are  subordinated  to  the  active  practical  effort 
to  support  and  realize  the  social  ideals  and  moral  values 
of  society.  It  is  recognized,  of  course,  that  these  ideals 
and  values  develop  and  appear  in  different  form  in  differ- 
ent societies  and  in  successive  historical  periods,  but  tlie 
interest  of  religion  in  its  most  vital  expression  is  in  the 
v'disGoyery,  clarification,  and  promotion  of  just  these  su- 
preme social  values  in  any  age  or  land. 

E.   S.  A. 


Page  140  THE  SCROLL 

THE  FIRST  ANNUAL  MEETING 
Twenty-five  years  ago  the  Institute  held  its  first  annual 
meeting,  July  22-24,  1897.  The  program  was  as  follows: 
The  New  Testament  Idea  of  Prophecy,  by  Clinton 
Lockhart.  Discussion,  led  by  Errett  Gates.  A  Liturgy 
for  our  Churches,  by  Burris  A.  Jenkins.  Discussion  led 
by  Levi  Marshall.  President's  Address,  A  New  Epoch 
in  the  History  of  the  Disciples,  by  Edward  S.  Ames.  A 
Consideration  of  Alexander  Campbell's  Position  on  Bap- 
tism, by  Hiram  Van  Kirk.  Discussion  led  by  C.  A. 
Young.  Banquet  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel.  The  Old 
Testament  Idea  of  God,  by  Oscar  T.  Morgan.  Discus- 
sion led  by  Frank  L.  Moffett.  Present  Aspect  of  the 
Disciples'  Plea  for  Union,  by  Herbert  L.  Willett. 

The  Institute  had  at  that  time  a  total  membership  of 
twenty.  The  printed  program  bears  the  bold  heading, 
"First  Annual  Meeting." 


'HOW  IT  STRIKES  A  CONTEMPORARY" 

The  following  extract  from  a  personal  letter  was  w^rit- 
ten  to  an  intim.ate  friend  by  an  instructor  in  English  in 
a  university  who  had  taken  a  class  in  journalism  to  visit 
an  evangelistic  meeting.  The  members  of  the  class  w^ere 
to  cover  the  meeting  as  a  news  assignment.  The  reason 
for  printing  this  extract  from  a  letter  which  was  not 
written  for  publication  is  not  to  make  fun  of  evangelism 
— far  from  it.  It  is  rather  to  suggest  a  very  earnest  in- 
quiry as  to  the  effect  of  certain  procedures,  buffooneries 
and  crudities  in  the  name  of  evangelism.  Has  not  the 
time  come  to  speak  out  very  clearly  and  earnestly  with 
reference  to  the  abuses  of  evangelistic  method,  and  to 
study  anew  the  problem  of  making  the  gospel  attractive 
to  the  masses  v/ithout  making  it  a  laughing-stock  to  the 
thousrhtf  ul  ? 


THE  SCROLL Page  141 

P     The  letter  follows : 

"I  sent  the  little  cuties  to  the  Christian  church  last 
night  to  cover  a  revivalist's  sermon,  and  the  results  were 
indeed  revelatory.  There  was  an  unbelievable  number 
who  had  never  been  in  an  evangelical  church  before  and 
many  who  had  never  been  in  a  Christian  church.  Among 
them  was  Esther  Levi,  whose  eyes  danced  when  I  ex- 
plained to  her  that  there  would  be  baptism — immersion. 
'Oh,  she  said,  her  voice  trembling,  'do  they  put  them  in 
the  water  with  their  clothes  on?' 

"The  sermon  was  even  wilder  than  usual.  The  rever- 
end gentleman  cracked  funny  jokes  with  his  choir  leader 
just  as  if  they  were  in  a  vaudeville  show,  and  the  choir, 
made  up  of  funny  old  ladies  and  curiously  shabby  retired 
farmers,  shrieked  forth  the  indignant  query,  'Why  not 
now,  why  not  now?    Just  give  your  heart  to  Jesus,'  etc. 

"I  sat  between  Mr.  Jimmie  Olds  of  Hastonville,  and 
Mr.  Aaron  Lavitzky,  late  of  Warsaw  and  now  of  Jersey 
City.  Aaron  had  never  before  contemplated  the  Chris- 
tians at  their  play.  I  gave  him  a  hymn  book  and  ex- 
plained to  him  how  certain  kinds  of  Christians  believed  in 
the  instantaneous  communication  of  the  still,  small  voice. 
He  looked  sceptical.  Then  the  Reverend  Mr.  Blank  be- 
gan to  entreat  the  backsliders  to  quit  skidding  and  the 
totally  unregenerate  to  snatch  a  few  brands  from  the 
burning.  Aaron  was  lifting  his  eyes  heavenward  and 
singing  'Come  to  Jesus'  with  a  will,  while  Jimmie  Young 
entertained  me  v%'ith  grisly  stories  of  baptizings  he  had 
attended  in  which  the  minister  had  been  totally  unable  to 
sink  the  convert,  thereby  invalidating  the  immersion. 
Here  is  one  of  the  stories  that  a  depraved  child  handed 
in.  I  had  to  give  it  an  E,  but  I  wanted  to  make  it  an  A. 
I  think  I  shall  change  the  mark  in  the  grade-book : 


Page  142 THE  SCROLL 

"  'After  a  two-hour  search  for  Jesus  at  the  Christian 
church,  twelve  people  found  him  with  the  aid  of  the  Rev. 
John  J.  Blank.'  " 


WORDS  OF  THE  WISE 


Hope  and  Happiness 

If  thy  morals  make  thee  dreary,  depend  upon  it  they 
are  wrong.  I  do  not  say,  give  them  up,  for  they  may  be 
all  thou  hast ;  but  conceal  them  like  a  vice,  lest  they  should 
spoil  the  lives  of  better  and  simpler  people. — R.  L.  Ste- 
venson. 

Power  dwells  with  cheerfulness ;  hope  puts  us  in  a 
working  mood,  whilst  despair  is  no  muse,  and  untunes 
the  active  powers. — Emerson. 

Enthusiasm  springs  from  hope,  and  for  hope  there 
must  be  a  manly  heart,  there  must  be  courage. — Guyau. 

Discouragement  is  but  disenchanted  egotism. — Mazzini. 

Let  us  hope,  till  Hope  creates  from  its  own  wreck  the 
thing  it  contemplates. — Shelley. 

The  world  would  be  better  and  brighter  if  our  teach- 
ers would  dwell  on  the  duty  of  happiness  as  well  as  on 
the  happiness  of  duty. — Lubbock. 

Truth 

Truth  is  compared  in  Scripture  to  a  streaming  foun- 
tain; if  her  waters  flow  not  in  a  perpetual  progression, 
they  sicken  into  a  muddy  pool  of  conformity  and  tradi- 
tion.— Milton. 

Religious  thought,  taken  as  the  varying  expression  of 
the  human  soul  attempting  to  consecrate  life  with  diviner 
meanings,  is  everywhere  full  of  pathetic  interest.  As- 
sumed as  the  invariable  oracle  of  supreme  truth,  it  can 
never  cease  to  harass  the  pure  with  doubt.  A  religion 
forbidden  to  improve,  instead  of  growing  upwards  into 


THE  SCROLL  Page  143 

statelier  proportions,  breaks  into  lateral  deformities  as 
the  only  vent  for  its  vitality. — Martineau. 

We  judge  of  truth  in  practical  matters  from  facts  and 
from  life,  for  on  them  the  decisive  point  turns;  and  we 
ought  to  try  all  that  has  been  said  by  applying  it  to  facts 
and  to  life;  and  if  our  arguments  agree  with  facts  w^ 
may  receive  them,  but  if  they  are  at  variance  we  must 
reconsider  them  as  mere  words. — Aristotle. 

The  greatest  intellectual  revolution  man  has  yet  seen  is 
now  slowly  taking  place  by  the  agency  of  science.  She  is 
teaching  the  world  that  the  ultimate  court  of  appeal  is 
observation  and  experiment,  and  not  authority;  she  is 
teaching  it  to  estimate  the  value  of  evidence. — Huxley. 

There  is  no  communion  possible  among  men  who  be- 
lieve only  in  hearsay.  Only  in  a  world  of  sincere  merv 
is  unity  possible,  and  there,  in  the  long  run,  it  is  as  good 
as  certain. — Carlyle. 

Every  time  we  let  ourselves  believe  for  unworthy  rea- 
sons, we  weaken  our  powers  of  weighing  evidence.  It 
is  wrong,  always,  everywhere,  and  for  anyone,  to  believe 
anything  upon  insufficient  evidence. — Clifford. 

No  simplicity  of  mind,  no  obscurity  of  station,  can 
escape  the  universal  duty  of  questioning  all  that  v/e  be- 
lieve. Truths,  of  all  others  the  most  awful  and  interest- 
ing, are  too  often  considered  as  so  true  that  they  lose  all 
the  power  of  truth  and  lie  bed-ridden  in  the  dormitory  of 
the  soul,  side  by  side  with  the  most  despised  and  ex- 
ploded errors. — Coleridge. 

Prove  all  things ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good. — Paul. 


NOTES 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Institute  will  be  held  in 
Chicago,  July  26-28.  The  following  topics  are  to  be  dis- 
cussed : 


Page  144 THE  SCBOIL     4 

1.  What  are  the  essentials  of  Christianity?  How  is 
this  question  answered  by  Alexander  Campbell?  by  the 
New  Testament  according  to  modern  scholarship  ?  by  the 
history  of  Christianity?  by  the  psychology  of  religion? 

2.  What  are  the  results  of  the  practice  of  "open-mem- 
bership" in  the  local  church? 

3.  A  biography  of  Alexander  Proctor. 

4.  A  study  of  our  church  colleges. 

5.  What  should  be  the  content  of  a  seminary  course? 

6.  Autobiographies  by  four  members. 

7.  How  can  the  Disciples  improve  their  co-operative 
organizations  ? 

8.  President's  address. 

9.  Business  and  good  of  the  Order. 

10.  Social  functions,  dinner,  recreation,  fellowship. 
Finis  Idleman  will  give  an  address  each  afternoon. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  many  members  who  take 

their  vacation  in  August  might  take  the  last  week  in  July 
to  come  to  the  Institute  and  after  their  vacation  go  to 
Winona  Lake  the  last  of  August.  We  are  hoping  that 
several  men  in  the  east  will  be  able  to  arrange  for  this 
combination. 

C.  J.  Armstrong,  of  Hannibal,  Mo.,  reports  that  he  is 
now  a  Grandfather.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how 
many  grandfathers  there  are  in  the  Institute.  The  pub- 
lication of  the  list  might  do  a  good  deal  to  put  the  organ- 
ization right  with  those  who  do  not  understand  that  it  is 
made  up  of  old,  grey-haired  conservatives,  mostly. 

The  Institute  is  getting  so  large  that  it  is  doubtful 
v/hether  any  one  member  knows  personally  all  the  other 
members.  In  order  to  keep  the  personal  touch  it  has 
been  thought  we  might  gather  the  photographs  of  all  the 
men  and  have  them  available  at  the  annual  meeting  to 
extend  acquaintance  with  the  faces  of  our  friends  and 
to  quicken  precious  memories. 


THE    SCROLL 


VOLUME  XVin  JUNE.  1922  NUMBER  X 

The  program  for  the  annual  meeting  in  Chicago,  July 
26-28,  is  not  in  final  form  as  The  Scroll  is  sent  to  the 
printer  but  the  following  features  are  definitely  arranged : 
Wednesday,  July  26,  10  a.m. — ■ 

The  Essentials  of  Christianity  according  to  the  New 
Testament,   by    Professor    Rodney    L.    McOuary, 
Lexington,  Kentucky. 
Discussion  of  Croly's   Behaviorism  in  Religion,  by 
Herbert  L.  Willett,  Chicago. 
2  :oo  p.m. — 

Open  Membership  in  Practice,  by  J.  R.  Ev/ers,  Pitts- 
burg. 
4:30  p.m.— 

Lecture  under  the  auspices  of  the  Disciples  Divinity 
House,  by  Finis  Idleman  of  New  York  City. 
8  :oo  p.m. — 

Alexander  Proctor — a  Biographical  Sketch,  by  Bur- 
ris  Jenkins  of  Kansas  City. 
Thursday,  July  2^,  10  a.m. — 

The  Colleges  of  the  Disciples.    Professor  R.  E.  Hier- 

onymus,  University  of  Illinois. 
The  Content  of  the  Seminary  Curriculum.    Dean  W. 
E.  Garrison,  Chicago. 
2  :oo  p.m. — 

Progress  through  Missionary  Cooperation.     Roy  E. 

Deadman,  Lebanon,  Indiana. 
Observations  on  the  Need  of  Supervision  of  Rural 
Churches,  by  John  G.  Hirschler,  Chicago. 
4:30  p..m.— 

Lecture  by  Finis  Idleman. 
8  :oo  p.m. —  .    : 


iii^i46 Tmaoon 

The   President's   Address.      Henry    Pearce   Atkins, 
Cincinnati. 
Friday,  July  28,  10  a.m. — 

The  Prophet  in  Modern  Society.     Professor  M.  R. 

Gabbert,  University  of  Pittsburgh. 
Ethical  Values  in  Industry.    Professor  Alva  Taylor. 
The  Standard  of  Living  as  a  Basis  for  the  Determin- 
ation of  Wages,  by  Howard  Jensen,  Indianapolis. 
2  :oo  p.m. — 

Humore  in  the  Ancient  Classicists,  by  Dean   Roy 

Flickinger,  of  Northwestern  University. 
Studies  of  Personality  through  Biographical  Materi- 
als.    Professors   Robert  E.    Park   and   Elsworth 
Paris. 
4 :30  p.m.— 

Lecture  by  Finis  Idleman. 
Others  who  may  be  counted  on  to  be  present  and  to 
participate  in  the  program  are  Willett,  Jordan,  Morrison, 
Rice,  Thomas  Curtis  Clark,  Trusty,  Kincheloe,  Longman, 
Nelson,  Parr,  Nichols,  Castleberry,  Winders,  George  A. 
Campbell,  Jensen,  Flickinger. 

Provision  will  be  made  in  the  final  form  of  the  pro- 
gram for  informal  discussion  and  for  the  consideration  of 
business  matters.  It  would  greatly  aid  the  officers  in 
making  an  effective  program  if  the  members  would  indi- 
cate their  intention  to  be  present  and  their  willingness  to 
present  a  paper  or  comments  on  practical  experiences  of 
the  year. 

There  will  be  more  C.  I.  men  in  the  University  this 
summer  than  usual  and  they  will  contribute  much  to  the 
program.  The  date  has  been  set  so  that  students  from 
the  first  term  can  stay  over  and  those  for  the  second  term 
can  come  a  day  early. 

We  hope  to  have  some  real  Chicago  weather  for  these 


THE  SCROLL Page  147 

three  days.  That  means  a  temperature  around  seventy 
with  pleasant  lake  breezes  and  bright  sunshine. 

Professor  Gabbert,  of  the  University  of  Pittsburgh, 
will  teach  in  Tulane  University  this  summer,  arriving 
in  Chicago  just  in  time  for  the  Institute  meeting. 

The  following  is  the  kind  of  letter  which  cheers  the 
Secretary  and  booms  the  stock  of  the  company:  "My 
plans  seem  to  be  shaping  around  so  that  I  can  get  up  for 
the  meeting.  I  feel  as  you  do  that  we  must  rally  the  clans 
this  year.  A  bit  of  money  or  inconvenience  should  not 
keep  the  faithful  away  this  summer.  Winona  will  doubt- 
less prove  the  crisis  this  year  and  we  ought  to  be  ready 
for  the  'Fundamentalists'." 

The  death  of  Irving  Chenoweth  of  Philadelphia  has 
taken  from  us  one  of  our  most  promising  men.  He  had 
built  a  new  church — building,  people,  ideas  and  all — in 
a  most  inviting  section  of  the  city.  He  appeared  to  have 
before  him  many  years  of  great  usefulness.  He  died  of 
pneumonia,  May  26.  The  deepest  sympathy  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute  goes  out  to  Mrs.  Chenoweth. 

Here  is  another  letter  which  indicates  that  new  im- 
pulses are  at  work.  "Will  you  kindly  send  me  the  names 
of  every  one  in  this  vicinity  who  either  are  members  of 
the  Campbell  Institute,  or  v/ho  receive  The  Scroll.  I 
would  like  to  see  what  we  could  do  about  having  Fellow- 
ship Meetings  in  this  part  of  the  country." 

Another  quotation :  "Dear  highly-favored  correspond- 
ent to  his  Satanic  Majesty,  the  Devil :  You  Jack-Demp- 
seyed  'Old  Nick'  for  a  ten-second  count  in  your  recent 
encounter  in  the  ring.  To  us  prosaic,  unreflecting,  hard- 
boiled  victims  of  his  wallops,  your  fetter-breaking  cham- 
pionship is  heralded  as  tlie  sun-rise  was  welcomed  by 
the  Incas." 

Professor  C.  B.  Coleman,  of  Allegheny  College,  Mead- 


Page  148 THE  SCROLL 

ville,  will  spend  his  vacation  in  northern  Vermont  and 
regrets  not  being  able  to  attend  the  annual  meeting. 

Cecil  Armstrong  writes :  "I  am  glad  you  are  willing 
to  take  off  your  hat  to  an  old  grandad.  By  all  means 
have  a  corner  for  us.  We  are  deserving  of  all  the  honors 
the  Campbell  Institute  can  bestow.  It  is  the  one  dignity 
that  makes  chestiness  justifiable." 


SECRETARY'S  NOTES 

The   following  new  members  have  been  added  since 
the  address  list  was  printed  in  the  September  Scroll: 
Armistead,  Joseph  D.,  Irvington,  Indianapolis. 
Bowman,  E.  M.,  i  West  Sixty-seventh  St.,  New  York. 
Boynton,  Edwin  C,  1418  Avenue  K,  Huntsville,  Texas. 
Brown,  David,  1080  West  Fourteenth  St.,  Chicago. 
Harms,  William  P.,  317  Association  Press,  Detroit,  Mich. 
Lhamon,  W.  J.,  Liscomb,  Iowa. 
Myers,  J.  P.,  2915  Capitol  Ave.,  Indianapolis. 
Lockhart,  W.  S.,  113  Market  St.,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 
McCreary,  Lewis  W.,  1531  Munsey  Bldg.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Shorter,  Fred  W.,  Lowry  Hall,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Smith,  J.  G.,  Connersville,  Indiana. 
Trimble,  Nelson,  64  East  Van  Buren  St.,  Chicago. 
Wise,  B.  Fred,  1323  East  Fifty-fourth  St.,  Chicago. 
Zerby,  Rayborn  L.,  211  Lee  Bldg.,  Gary,  Indiana. 

The  revised  address  list  will  be  published  in  the  Sep- 
tember Scroll.  Members  should  send  to  the  Secretary 
changes  of  address  or  corrections  in  printing  names  in 
order  to  make  the  records  as  perfect  as  possible. 

The  business  year  of  the  Institute  ends  June  30th. 
Both  dues  and  special  subscriptions  to  The  Scroll  run 
for  the  year  beginning  with  July  each  year.  This  makes 
it  possible  to  have  full  financial  reports  at  the  annual 
meeting  and  it  simplifies  book-keeping. 


THE  SCROLL Page  149 

Final  statements  of  dues  have  been  sent  to  all  mem- 
bers in  arrears.  If  these  will  pay  up  promptly  it  will  re- 
plenish the  exchequer  and  give  us  funds  to  buy  a  new 
rubber  elastic  and  a  postage  stamp. 

It  is  planned  to  have  "revival  meetings"  this  year  from 
ten  to  twelve  each  night  at  Winona  Lake  as  we  did  last 
year.  Many  said  they  "got  religion"  better  at  those  ses- 
sions than  at  the  regular  gatherings  of  the  day.  This  will 
be  a  good  time  to  introduce  prospective  members  and  to 
correct  erroneous  impressions  about  the  work  and  per- 
sonnel of  the  Institute. 


STATISTICS 

A  great  physicist  has  said  that  all  human  progress  is 
based  upon  the  work  of  the  m.en  who  have  made  it  their 
business  to  find  out  how  much  there  is  of  things.  An 
exaggeration,  I  should  say.  But  clear  thinking  in  most 
fields  depends  very  much  upon  accuracy  of  measure- 
ment. There  is  no  possibility  of  science  so  long  as 
weight  is  measured  by  what  a  man  can  lift,  temperature 
is  stated  in  terms  of  perspiration,  an  object  is  "about  so 
long  and  so  wide,"  an  event  happened  "many  moons  ago," 
a  certain  distance  is  "about  twice  as  far  as  from  here  to 
the  barn."  Experiment  is  instructive,  and  the  value  of 
experience  is  cumulative,  only  if  results  are  accurately 
measured  and  recorded  in  all  cases  where  measured  data 
are  possible. 

Agricultural  statistics,  for  example,  are  well  worth  the 
cost  of  collecting  them.  The  totals  of  bank  clearings, 
building  permits,  imports,  exports,  and  other  financial  and 
economic  statistics  are  indispensable  for  a  proper  under- 
standing of  what  is  going  on  in  the  world.  <**VV^ 

Besides,  there  is  a  certain, oral  value  in  squarely  facing 
the  exact  facts  of  a  situati.on  reduced,  so  far  as  possible, 


Page  150  THE  SCROLL 

to  tabular  or  graphic  form.  A  good  many  uncompli- 
mentary remarks  have  been  made  about  our  undue  "pas- 
sion for  figures."  Well,  if  you  are  a  business  man  and 
want  to  borrow  money  at  the  bank,  you  will  find  that  the 
banker  also  has  a  passion  for  figures.  He  will  want  a 
statement  of  your  assets  and  liabilities.  He  will  not  be 
satisfied  with  an  enthusiastic  declaration  that  business  is 
booming,  that  your  store  is  crowded  every  day,  and  that 
the  prospects  for  the  coming  season  are  excellent.  He 
Vvill  want  figures, — liabilities  as  well  as  assets.  And  you 
yourself,  if  you  are  in  business,  need  to  look  at  these 
figures.  A  business  man  who  does  not  know  his  own 
financial  condition  is  in  bad  shape.  A  business  expert 
has  said  that  more  than  half  of  the  failures  are  caused 
by  bad  book-keeping;  the  man  does  not  really  know 
whether  he  is  making  or  losing  money  until  it  is  too  late 
for  the  knowledge  to  do  him  any  good. 

We  need  to  knovv^  the  exact  facts  about  our  churches. 
Some  of  the  most  important  facts  cannot  be  stated  in 
figures ;  but  some  of  them  can  be  stated  in  figures  and 
in  no  other  way.  The  making  of  a  survey  of  an  indi- 
vidual church  as  to  determine  the  value  of  the  work  which 
it  is  doing  or  the  efficiency  of  its  administration,  would 
involve  many  elements  which  are  not  statistical.  Bare 
figiires  should  not  be  relied  upon  as  the  basis  for  such  an 
estimate.  The  fact  that  a  church  reports  a  hundred  more 
or  a  hundred  less  members  this  year  than  last,  proves 
nothing  in  itself.  It  may  be  a  very  good  or  a  very  poor 
church  in  either  case.  But  the  information  is  important, 
nevertheless  (if  true),  especially  in  connection  with  simi- 
lar statements  from  other  churches.  The  wider  the  field 
that  is  covered  by  a  given  set  of  statistics,  the  greater  is 
their  value.  For  example,  a  fifty  per  cent  gain  or  toss 
in  the  membership  of  a  single  congregation  might  be  due 


THE  SCROLL Page  151 

to  causes  which  would  explain  away  its  apparent  impor- 
tance ;  but  a  similar  gain  or  loss  for  a  whole  denomination 
would  have  immense  significance. 

No  man  can  keep  his  moral  integrity  who  jockeys  fig- 
ures to  "make  a  good  showing,"  by  concealing  other  fig- 
ures which  are  essential  to  a  true  estimate  of  the  situa- 
tion. To  count  the  additions  but  not  the  subtractions  is, 
I  should  say,  precisely  on  the  same  plane  with  cheating 
in  an  examination, — if  it  were  not  that  one  is  fairly  sure 
that  in  most  cases  the  reason  is  not  intentional  dishonesty 
but  only  carelessness  about  figures  and  a  habit  of  making 
reports  in  the  booster  spirit. 

The  compilation  of  our  Year-Book  costs  an  immense 
amount  of  work  and  a  good  deal  of  money.  The  per- 
centage of  error  on  the  part  of  the  compilers  seems  to  be 
very  small.  The  percentage  of  inaccuracy  in  the  data 
furnished  to  the  compilers  is  probably  very  large.  If 
we  are  going  to  collect  and  publish  statistics  at  all,  they 
ought  to  be  at  least  as  accurate  as  our  income-tax  returns, 
(Probably  that  is  not  an  excessively  high  standard.) 

The  reports  of  many  individual  churches  present 
strange  phenomena  when  followed  through  a  series  of 
years.  Here,  for  example,  is  a  church  which  a  few 
years  ago  reported  525  menibers.  The  following  year, 
after  a  change  of  pastors,  it  reported  150,  increasing  in 
successive  years  to  300,  and  490.  After  another  change 
of  pastors,  the  membership  dropped  in  the  next  year  to 
200.  The  strong  presun^ption  is  that  the  church  did  not 
have  525  members  or  490  members  in  the  years  for 
which  those  figures  are  given.  This  church  is  located  in 
a  place  where  population  is  unstable,  and  apparently  nei- 
ther pastor  took  account  of  losses  during  his  own  admin- 
istration. Each  new  minister,  it  would  seem,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  his  pastorate,  very  properly  reduced  the  list 


152 THE  SCEOLL 

to  conform  to  the  actual  condition  of  the  church ;  but 
each  allowed  the  names  of  those  who  had  ceased  to  be 
members  to  accumulate  during  his  pastorate  and  so  had 
presented  a  good  record  of  growth. 

For  several  years  the  Disciples  of  Christ  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  religious  bodies  of  the  United  States  in  per- 
centage of  increase.  Then  there  came  a  loss,  partly  be- 
cause the  non-cooperating  brethren  finally  succeeded  in 
getting  themselves  grouped  separately  in  the  official  sta- 
tistics, and  partly  because  we  were  developing  a  little 
more  conscience  in  regard  to  figures  and  many  churches 
had  the  grace  to  admit  that,  in  spite  of  good  current 
gains,  they  had  fewer  members  than  they  had  been  claim- 
ing for  many  years.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  have  been  making  creditable  gains  in 
membership  even  through  these  apparently  bad  years. 
But  there  are  no  data  to  support  the  statement  that  we 
have  been  growing  much  faster  than  the  total  population 
or  faster  than  other  religious  bodies.  Our  statistics  are 
far  too  inaccurate  to  justify  such  a  claim  by  anyone  who 
has  the  slightest  interest  in  making  his  statements  con- 
form to  the  facts. 

And  yet  a  good  brother,  without  the  slightest  intention 
to  deceive,  after  outlining  what  he  considers  the  essential 
plea  of  the  Disciples  for  the  restoration  of  the  faith  and 
ordinances  of  the  New  Testament  church,  swings  into 
this  peroration : 

"For  more  than  one  hundred  years,  men  tried  and  true 
have  been  preaching  this  marvelous  message.  No  one 
who  looks  with  seeing  eyes  can  fail  to  discern  the  im- 
pression this  plea  is  making  on  the  divided  church.  Men 
and  women  are  deserting  the  denominational  banners  and, 
with  a  mighty  zeal,  are  rallying  around  the  blood-stained 
banner  of  our  blessed  king.    We  are  standing  in  the  twi- 


THE  SCROLL P<^e  153 

light  of  the  denominational  day,  and  we  are  catching  the 
foregleams  of  the  united  church." 

This,  in  the  context  in  which  it  occurs,  says,  as 
clearly  as  language  can  convey  the  idea,  that  the 
Disciples  are  gaining  rapidly  upon  the  denomina- 
tions and  that  the  latter  are  losing  to  us  so  rapidly  as  to 
indicate  that  the  end  of  their  program  and  the  triumph 
of  ours  is  in  the  not  distant  future.  Such  a  statement  is 
utterly  false  to  the  facts.  And  the  willingness  of  people 
to  allow  themselves  to  be  stirred  by  such  loose  and  ob- 
viously erroneous  utterances  is  a  pathetic  token  of  weak- 
ness. 

Let  us  try  to  make  our  statistics  tell  the  truth,  and  then 
let  us  tell  the  truth  about  our  statistics. 


GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  YEAR-BOOK 

A  southern  church  reports  400  members,  quarter-time 
preaching,  twelve  cents  per  capita  for  all  missions. 

One  entire  county  in  Missouri  has  seven  churches  with 
membership  "estimated"  from  18  to  35 ;  not  a  minister 
in  the  county;  no  church  making  an  offering  to  U.  C. 
M.  S.  Offerings  for  other  causes  average  from  two  cents 
to  thirty-four  cents  per  capita. 

One  double  page  taken  at  random  contained  reports 
from  78  churches,  only  7  of  which  report  additions  for 
the  year.  Thirty-five  of  these  churches  make  some  re- 
port of  offerings  for  missions;  six  gave  over  $100  each, 
and  one  over  $300.  These  78  churches  have  7,449  mem- 
bers. 

Of  the  ten  largest  churches  (page  683),  four  have 
their  membership  numbered  by  even  thousands;  4,000, 
3,000,  2,000,  2,000.    A  strange  co-inciderice. 

The  Honor  Roll  of  churches  which  ^ave  more  to  mis- 
sions than  to  local  expenses — "more  for  others  than  for 


I  age  154  THE  SCROLL 

self" — lists  90  churches.  Only  five  of  these  paid  over 
$2,000  for  local  expenses — certainly  a  very  rnodest  figure 
for  the  financing  of  a  local  program.  Seventy-two  of 
them  raised  under  $500  for  local  expenses ;  38  raised 
less  than  $100.  One  church  on  this  honor  roll  carried  o  1 
the  Lord's  work  in  its  ovvm  community  at  a  total  outlay 
of  $10  (ten  dollars)  for  the  entire  year,  and  ga\'e  $23.06 
(or  55  cents  per  capita)  to  missions. 

The  number  of  very  small  churches  is  rather  surpris- 
ing. We  have  432  churches  with  20  members  or  less ; 
125  of  these  have  ten  members  or  less.  For  the  smaller 
churches,  a  tabular  statement  may  be  of  interest.  There 
are 

39  churches  with  10  members  each 

9  churches  vv^ith    9  members  each 

21  churches  with    8  members  each 

15  churches  with    7  members  each 

14  churches  with    6  members  each 

15  churches  with  5  members  each 
4  churches  with  4  members  each 
6  churches  with  3  members  each 
2  churches  with    2  members  each 

For  one  of  the  churches  with  a  membership  of  2,  it 
is  recorded  that  this  figure  is  "estimated."  The  records 
perhaps  are  not  perfectly  kept,  and  the  clerk  was  not  able 
to  count  the  other  member  with  absolute  accuracy.  But  I 
protest  that  this  church  is  not  fairly  treated  in  the  record. 
It  raised  nothing  for  local  expenses  and  twelve  dollars  for 
state  missions.    Why  is  it  not  on  the  Roll  of  Honor? 

There  might  be  a  good  deal  of  interest  and  some  profit 
'm  a  study  of  some  of  these  very  small  churches.  Some 
would  probably  be  found  to  be  vestigial ;  others,  antici- 
patory. Some  might  reveal  a  motive  of  personal  animos- 
ity or  contentiousness  or  petty  pride  in  office  or  sectarian 


THE  SCROLL Page  155 

zeal;  others  would  disclose  a  history  of  heroic  devotion 
and  persistent  endeavor  of  the  very  stuff  of  which  the 
lives  of  saints  and  martyrs  are  made. 

I  knew  a  woman  in  Arizona  who  drove  a  team  sixteen 
miles  from  her  ranch  home  to  a  tiny  center  of  popula- 
tion— consisting  of  three  shacks  and  a  post-office  and  a 
few  converging  trails  from  other  scattered  ranches — 
every  Sunday  for  twenty  years,  to  conduct  a  Sunday 
school  which  usually  numbered  from  a  dozen  to  a  score. 
It  might,  perhaps,  have  been  listed  as  a  church  of  four 
or  five  members,  though  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  not 
listed  at  all.  But  the  figures  would  not  have  told  the 
story,  unless  one  counted  mileage  as  well  as  members,  and 
prayers  and  hopes  and  yearnings  as  well  as  "money  raised 
for  local  expenses." 

The  names  of  some  of  our  churches  are  interesting. 
Usually  we  are  very  prosaic  about  this  matter,  designat- 
ing our  congregations  as  First,  or  Central,  or  by  the 
name  of  street  or  suburb.  Sometimes  the  accidental 
name  indicating  mere  location  chances  to  have  a  happy 
connotation,  as  in  "Union  Avenue"  and  "Independence 
Boulevard."  There  is  a  long  list  of  churches,  mostly  in 
the  country,  whose  names  taken  together  would  make  an 
almost  complete  map  of  the  Holy  Land.  There  are  Jeru- 
salem, Antioch,  Bethany,  Galilee,  Mt.  Olivet,  Eethpage, 
Sharon,  Bethel,  Enon,  Bethlehem,  Beulah,  Zion,  Canaan, 
Samaria,  Lebanon.  To  furnish  forth  a  map  of  Paul's 
journeys,  we  have  Damascus,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  Smyrna, 
Berea,  Macedonia,  Phillipi,  and  Mars  Hill.  Probably  it 
was  not  the  church  which  chose  the  name  for  the  town 
of  Venus ;  the  church  has  only  five  members.  Though  we 
have  been  rather  strong  on  naming  churches  after  sacred 
places,  we  have  been  hesitant  about  honoring  the  heroes 
of  the  faith  in  that  way.     We  do,  however,  have  a  "St. 


^ge  156 THE  SCROLL 

aul  Church"  and  a  "St.  Stephens,"  a  "St.  Peter"  and  a 
St.  James"  in  South  CaroHna.  Ohve  Branch  and  Afton 
Dth  carry  a  welcome  suggestion  of  Sabbath  peace  and 
dm.  Baptist  Valley  suggests  a  chapter  in  our  early  his- 
»ry.  Christ's  Chapel  sounds  charmingly  English.  Holy 
ock  carries  a  hint  of  permanence  and  stability.  Doubt- 
ss  the  sheep  and  lambs  are  as  well  fed  as  the  faithful 
eei  at  Horse  Pasture  Church.  Why  are  not  other 
lurches  besides  the  one  in  Tennessee  named  Stalling 
hapel?  The  name  would  fit  many  a  church  with  a 
mid  pulpit.  Best  of  all — leave  it  to  the  colored  brethren 
»  find  a  name  of  true  poetic  quality — is  the  church  of 
Beautiful  Gate"  at  Brunson,  S.  C. 


ZION 

I  recently  attended  a  great  meeting  held  by  the  "Chris- 
an  Catholic  Apostolic  Church  in  Zion"  on  a  Sunday 
Fternoon  in  the  Auditorium  in  Chicago.  The  4,000  seats 
ere  all  filled  with,  in  a  few  minutes  after  the  doors  were . 
pened.  There  were  uniformed  guards,  cap-an.-gowned 
shers,  a  band  of  fifty  pieces,  an  orchestra  of  equal  size, 
id  a  white-robed  choir  of  325  which  entered  with  a  pro- 
jssional  hymn.  There  was  every  efifort  to  use  high- 
lurch  trappings  to  give  an  air  of  dignity  and  prosperity, 
Lit  the  wearers  of  the  regalia  did  not  seem  quite  at  home 
I  it.  I  thought  of  the  senior  class  of  a  country  college 
rrayed  in  cap  and  gown,  and  trying  earnestly  to  impress 
le  yokels  that  Oxford  had  been  transplanted  to  Podunk. 

The  vocabulary  of  the  opening  prayers  and  announce- 
lents  was  that  of  conventional  and  familiar  evangelical 
'hristianity.  It  is  Zion's  method  to  find  a  point  of  sym- 
athetic  contact  with  Baptist,  Methodist  and  Disciple 
earers  by  an  unctious  use  of  the  phraseology  which  is 
earest  to  them. 


THE  SCROLL Page  157 

The  address  was  by  Voliva,  the  successor  of  John 
Alexander  Dowie.  He  said  many  interesting  things.  I 
had  not  expected  to  hear  his  whole  system  so  completely 
stated  in  one  speech,  even  a  very  long  one.  I  can  men- 
tion only  a  few  of  his  illuminating  statements : 

The  earth  is  flat.  The  Bible  says  so.  2  Pet.  3  -.4,  5. 
"Every  surveyor  starts  with  a  horizontal  base  line,  and 
every  surveyor  knows  that  when  he  points  his  instrument 
to  the  west  to  run  a  line,  he  has  to  jog  to  the  right  to 
keep  up  with  the  compass.  This  proves  that  the  earth  is 
a  stationary  plane  and  not  a  movable  sphere."  (The  ar- 
gument seemed  a  shade  inconclusive,  so  I  took  it  down 
word  for  word.)  Those  who  claim  that  the  world  is 
round  say  that  if  you  swing  a  bucket  of  water  around 
your  head  this  illustrates  the  principle  that  keeps  tlie  wa- 
ter from  running  off  of  the  globe.  "But  I  have  brains 
enough  to  see  that  what  keeps  the  v/ater  from  running 
out  of  the  bucket  is  the  bottom  of  the  bucket.  If  they 
want  to  make  their  bucket  like  a  spherical  earth  spinning 
around  with  water  on  it,  let  them  put  the  handle  on  the 
bottom  of  the  bucket."     (Great  applause.) 

There  was  a  good  funny  description  of  little  Willie  at 
school  telling  his  teacher  that  the  earth  is  "shaped  like 
an  awrnge,  flat  at  the  ends  and  bulgin'  in  the  middle." 
This  was  greatly  appreciated  by  the  audience.  (In  fact, 
it  was  rather  well  done.)  Much  fun  was  also  made  of 
the  absurd  idea  that  we  are  upside  down  half  of  the  time, 
(this  recalls  what  Columbus  had  to  meet  before  the  great 
voyage)  and  that  the  world  is  spinning  around  in  space. 
"Did  you  ever  see  it  move  ?  Listen  hard.  Can  you  hear 
it  squeak?  Thank  God,  I  am  right  side  up  and  I  am 
going  to  stay  that  way."     (Prolonged  applause.) 

From  this  it  was  an  easy  transition  to  the  subject  of 
evolution.    The  same  method  of  argument  is  equally  ap- 


Page  158  THE  SCROLL 

propriate.  As  to  the  idea  of  "man  being  descended  from, 
a  monkey,  get  that  rot  out  of  your  head,  you  fool." 
(Amen!)  "There's  no  room  in  your  head  for  that  bunk 
and  for  God."  "I'll  stick  to  the  Bible  and  not  to  old 
Darwin." 

He  quoted  with  pride  a  statement  which  he  had  once 
made  to  his  lawyer  when  some  were  "persecuting"  him: 
"Tell  them  to  go  to  Hell.  There's  no  harm  in  telling  a 
man  to  go  home,  is  there  ?" 

He  is  quite  proud  of  his  academic  degrees,  boasts  of 
his  college  and  seminary  studies,  and  says  that  he  "knew 
Hengstenberg  and  Pfleiderer  almost  by  heart"  ;  but  makes 
fun  of  education,  colleges  and  professors,  and  says  he 
learned  nothing  in  school  or  college  because  his  teachers 
knew  nothing. 

There  were  very  frequent  and  unctuous  references  to 
the  Bible.  "I  believe  this  whole  Bible  from  Genesis  to 
Revelation.  I  kept  my  faith  through  four  years  of  higher 
■criticism  in  college."  (Oh,  shame,  Hiram.)  "I  shall 
begin  v.ith  the  Bible,  I  shall  end  witli  the  Bible,  and  all 
through  the  address  I  sliall  keep  within  the  Bible."  There 
W'as  great  emphasis  upon  this  point.  The  absolute  author- 
ity and  inerrancy  of  the  Bible  is  essential  to  the  system. 
(I  wonder  whether  the  dangers  of  authoritarianism  ought 
not  to  be  made  the  subject  of  an  historical  study.  Cer- 
tainly rationalism  has  never  run  into  more  wuerd  heresies 
than  has  the  doctrine  of  Biblical  inerrancy.) 

The  thing  that  struck  me  most  forcibly  tliroughout  the 
entire  meeting  v  as  the  similarity  between  the  technique  of 
the  followers  of  Dowie  and  the  methods  of  a  certain  fa- 
miliar type  of  popular  evangelism.  The  following  points 
of  Mr.  Voliva's  methods  were  very  familiar  to  me  from 
observation  in  fields  closer  home : 

He  uses  every  effort  to  make  his  enterprise  look  big, 


THE  SCROLL Page  159 

prosperous,  and  successful,  and  talks  of  it  in  swelling 
terms. 

He  boasts  of  his  own  academic  record  and  degrees, 
and  at  the  same  time  appeals  to  ignorance  by  belittling 
education,  culture  and  scholarship. 

He  is  audaciously  dogmatic  and  assertive. 

He  uses  much  phraseology  which  is  endeared  to  his 
hearers  by  hallowed  associations. 

He  employs  the  appeal  for  the  old-fashioned  vs.  the 
new-fangled. 

He  uses  ridicule  very  freely, — for  evolution  and  for  the 
idea  of  a  spherical  earth. 

He  asserts  the  absolute  authority  of  the  Bible  v.-ith 
great  confidence,  and  makes  frequent  and  familiar  use  of 
a  term  which  sounds  like  "goddlemity". 

He  employs  the  epithets  of  liar,  fool,  and  skunk  for 
those  of  whom  he  disapproves. 

He  uses  the  policy  of  making  it  so  unpleasant  for  any- 
one v/ho  disagrees  with  him  that  thvAd  souls  will  yield 
die  point  rather  than  take  issue  with  him. 

He  gets  a  laugh  every  five  minutes  to  relieve  the  ten- 
sion and  rest  the  audience ;  a  laugh  at  somebody  if  pos- 
sible. 

He  tells  marvelous  stories  of  healing,  which  correspond 
to  the  familiar  stories  of  death-bed  repentances  and  of 
people  who  were  accidentally  killed  the  day  after  they  did 
(or  did  not)  make  the  confession. 

To  appeal  to  the  desire  of  simple  minds  for  absolute 
certainty  conceived  in  entirely  static  terms.— an  unmov- 
ing  earth,  an  undeveloping  human  race,  an  unchanging 
theology. 

During  the  applause  which  followed  the  argument  that 
the  earth  is  flat  and  stationary  and  that  the  :?un  is  2,700 
miles  distant,  a  large  colored  lady  who  very  completely 


Page  160  THE  SCROLL 

occupied  the  chair  next  to  mine  turned  to  her  companion 
and  said  with  enthusiasm:  "Dass  right,  Pearl.  Ah  nevah 
did  beheve  the  ea'th  wuz'  roun'." 


The  second  term  of  the  summer  quarter  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  will  begin  July  27.  For  information, 
write  to  Dean  W.  E.  Garrison,  Disciples  Divinity  House, 
Univ.  of  Chicago. 


Next  month  there  will  be  mailed  to  all  members  some 
articles  in  which  all  may  find  some  interest.  One  of 
these  is  from  the  last  number  of  the  Journal  of  Religion, 
on  the  question  of  the  liberty  of  teaching,  particularly 
the  teaching  of  evolution,  and  another  is  on  Behaviorism 
in  Religion  from  the  New  Republic. 


The  Executive  Committee  is  having  printed  a  little 
four-page  folder  to  be  distributed  among  the  members 
and  by  them  sent  to  persons  who  might  wish  to  jo-n  the 
Institute  if  they  fully  understood  its  spirit  and  purposes. 

Why  not  double  the  membership  of  the  Institute  in  the 
coming  year?  There  are  enough  men  who  have  gradu- 
ated from  the  colleges  and  seminaries  in  the  last  ten 
years  to  make  this  possible. 


The  first  of  the  Scroll  Tracts  is  a  reprint  of  the  Janu- 
ary Scroll  and  deals  with  th^  question,  Who  are  Chris- 
tians? It  is  now  available  in  quantities  and  would  do 
good  if  circulated  among  the  thoughtful  members  of  the 
churches.     It  is  not  controversial  but  historical. 


Xhe   Convention 


The  attendance  at  Winona  Lake  was  much  better 
than  might  have  been  expected.  In  spite  of  a  threat- 
ening raih^oad  situation  and  a  typhoid  scare,  the  en- 
rollment was  little  if  any  less  than  last  year. 
(Exact  figures  are  not  at  hand  at  this  writing.)  It  is 
probable  that  an  analysis  would  show  a  large  per 
cent  of  local  attendance.  Such  an  analysis  ought  to 
be  made  and  published.  If  we  are  going  to  settle 
our  most  important  affairs  at  a  mass  meeting,  it 
would  be  gratifying  to  know  how  it  is  constituted. 

The  convention  was  marked  by  its  liberal  speeches 
and  its  illiberal  actions.  There  were  some  great  and 
soul-stirring  utterances.  In  particular  the  Presi- 
dent's address  by  Stephen  Fisher  was  worthy  of 
every  good  adjective  that  can  be  applied  to  an  ad- 
dress for  such  an  occasion — constructive,  brave, 
broad-minded,  fraternal,  devout. 

It  seems  that  we  are  developing  some  new  illiberal 
leaders,  the  most  prominent  among  whom  seem  to 
be  R.  H.  Miller  and  C.  S.  Medbury.  It  was  the  latter 
who  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote  by  which  the  re- 
port of  the  Christian  Unity  Commission  had  been  re- 
ceived and  approved  by  the  Committee  on  Recom- 
mendations, and  persuaded  the  Committee  merely  to 
receive  the  report — without  approval. 

The  question  of  removing  the  College  of  Missions 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

was  postponed  for  another  year.  The  resolutioH 
adopted  last  year  "looked  with  favor"  on  the  pro- 
posal to  remove,  and  directed  that  definite  plans  be 
presented  for  action  this  year.  It  may  be  question- 
ed whether  any  plan  was  presented  to  this  conven- 
tion that  was  definite  enough  to  be  acted  upon  satis- 
factorily. 

The  discussion  of  the  Sweeney  Resolution  was 
conducted  with  gratifying  courtesy  and  absence  of 
personalities,  except  when  the  author  of  the  resolu- 
tion had  the  bad  judgment  to  declare  that  the  oppo- 
sition was  confined  to  a  "few  fellows  who  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it."  The  advocarcy  of  the  resolution 
before  the  convention  took  the  direction  of  present- 
ing it  as  an  open  membership  issue,  which  it  essen- 
tially was  not.  This  was  a  great  help  in  getting 
votes  in  a  convention  which  was,  of  course,  opposed 
to  open  membeship  by  a  large  majority.  But  it  was 
natural  that  a  decision  on  this  basis  should  be  re- 
ported in  the  press  in  quite  misleading  terms,  viz: 
that  after  a  three-hours  debate  the  convention  voted 
that  the  practice  of  immersion  should  be  compulsory 
upon  all  ministers  at  home  as  well  as  all  missionaries. 

The  opposition  to  the  resolution  was  weakened  by 
the  fact  that  some  who  disapproved  of  it  considered 
that  the  letter  to  E.  K.  Higdon  of  Manila  both  nulli- 
fied and  stultified  it  and  therefore  were  willing  to 
vote  for  it.  But,  however,  clear  that  correspondence 
may  make  it  that  there  is  to  be  no  inquisition  into 
the  private  opinions  of  the  missionaries,  it  does  not 
alter  the  fact  that  the  resolution,  now  approved  by 
the  convention,  gives  us  for  the  first  time  in  our 
history  a  declaration  of  policy  which  is  officiallv  de- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

dared  to  be  our  interpretation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. True,  the  missionaries  do  not  have  to  believe 
it ;  they  only  have  to  follow  it.  But  it  does  not  come 
to  them  "purely  as  an  administrative  policy."  It 
comes  as  an  administrative  policy  officially  certified 
to  as  "the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  as  under- 
stood by  the  Board  of  Managers"  and  now  also  as 
understood  by  the  International  Convention  of  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ. 

The  fact  is  that  the  large  vote  for  the  approval  of 
the  Sweeney  Resolution  represented  the  mental  at- 
titude of  the  following  groups,  which  of  course  over- 
lap greatly: 

1.  Those  who  simply  wanted  to  support  the  Unit- 
ed Society  and  felt  that  a  vote  against  the  resolution 
would  be  a  vote  of  censure.  Never  mind  about  the 
subtleties ;  back  up  the  Society.  We  are  glad  to  be- 
lieve that  a  large  part  of  the  vote  was  cast  with  this 
worthy  motive. 

2.  Those  who  were  glad  of  a  chance  to  testify 
against  open  membership  and  thought  they  had 
found  such  a  chance  here. 

3.  Those  (especially  certain  leaders)  who  simply 
stood  pat  against  making  any  change  whatever — • 
such  as  declaring  the  administative  policy  without 
the  assertion  that  it  is  our  official  interpretation  of 
the  New  Testament — because  they  felt  that  any 
change  would  be  a  victory  for  the  "other  side."  One 
of  the  men  most  strongly  in  favor  of  the  resolution 
admitted  to  the  writer  that  he  supposed  half  of  the 
insistance  upon  having  it  approved  without  modifi- 
cation was  "pure  stubborness." 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

4.  Those  who  did  not  know  what  it  was  all  about 
and  naturally  joined  the  majority.  There  is  always 
a  certain  amount  of  muddle-headedness  in  any  large 
assembly.  After  the  vote,  one  good  sister  joyfully 
exclaimed:  "Well,  I'm  glad  that  Standard  crowd  got 
voted  down." 

The  approval  of  the  new  constitution  of  the  Board 
of  Education  marks  the  end  of  a  very  earnest  effort 
of  the  college  presidents  to  formulate  a  plan  which 
will  give  unity  to  our  educational  program  without 
encroaching  upon  the  necessary  authority  of  the  col- 
leges; and  it  ought  to  mark  the  beginning  of  more 
effective  promotional  activity  for  all  of  our  educa- 
tional interests.  Secretaries  Pritchard  and  Hoover 
are  doing  a  good  work. 

One  of  the  joys  of  a  convention  is  meeting  and 
hearing  the  veteran  missionaries.  They  come  back 
enriched  by  what  they  have  given,  strengthened  by 
what  they  have  done,  enlarged  by  what  they  have 
seen.  It  will  not  be  invidious  toward  others  to  men- 
tion W.  R.  Hunt  as  conspicious  in  this  class. 

There  are  some  men  in  this  brotherhood,  as  may 
presently  be  discovered,  who  will  never  consider 
anything  settled  until  it  is  settled  right.  And  those 
who  think  that  ruthless  actions  by  a  temporary  ma- 
jority of  a  mass  meeting  gets  anywhere,  are  greatly 
mistaken.  But  meanwhile,  we  are  doing  a  great 
work  and  we  cannot  come  down  to  any  plain  lower 
than  that  of  earnest  and  intelligent  service. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

FAITH  AND  OPINION 

The  Disciples  have  kept  their  souls  alive  for  a 
long  while  by  their  Prestoric  destinction  between 
faith  and  opinion.  Campbell  voiced  it.  Errett  pro- 
claimed it.  Pendleton,  Moore  and  Lamar  reiterated 
it.  The  following  statement,  published  in  the  In- 
tioduction  to  the  Program  of  the  Centennial  Con- 
vention at  Pittsburgh  in  1909,  has  never  been  chal- 
lenged : 

"The  distinction  between  faith,  which  has  Christ 
for  its  object  and  opinions,  which  are  deductions  of 
human  reason,  and  which,  though  true,  are  not  to  be 
made  tests  of  fellowship,  has  enabled  the  advocates 
of  this  Reformation  to  harmonize  two  important 
principles  which  have  often  been  regarded  as  incom- 
patible; namely,  union  and  liberty.  For  the  first 
time,  therefore,  in  history,  has  it  been  possible  to 
give  practical  effect  to  the  saying  of  Rupertus  Mel- 
denius :  "In  things  essential,  unity ;  in  things  not  es- 
sential, liberty ;  in  all  things,  charity.'  The  faithful 
adherence  to  this  vital  distinction  makes  possible  al- 
so the  realization  of  Christ's  prayer  that  his  disciples 
may  be  one  in  him,  that  the  world  may  believe.  This 
unity  allows  liberty  for  the  acceptance  of  all  the 
truth  which  may  break  forth  from  God's  word  in 
the  coming  times."  J.  H.  Garrison. 

An  editorial  in  the  Christian  Evangelist  imme- 
diately after  the  Congress  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in 
April,  1922,  asserted  that  the  questions  there  dis- 
cussed were  matters  of  opinion  and  that  the  speak- 
ers on  both  sides  were  therefore  within  their  rights 
and  were  differing  within  the  bounds  of  Christian 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

liberty.      The  questions  referred  to  included  evolu- 
tion and  open  membership. 

Now  comes  the  Sweeney  Resolution,  which  de- 
clares that  the  New  Testament  as  understood  by  the 
Board  of  Managers  forbids  open  membership.  The 
Convention  endorses  the  Resolution;  so  we  now 
have  an  official  declaration  that  the  New  Testament 
as  understood  by  the  International  Convention  for- 
bids open  membership.  It  appears  from  the  Higdon 
correspondence  that  the  New  Testament  does  not 
forbid  belief  in  open  membership.  A  missionary, 
it  seems,  is  within  his  Christian  rights  if  he  con- 
cludes from  his  study  of  the  New  Testament  that  it 
is  not  the  will  of  Chirst  that  his  unimmersed  fol- 
lowers be  excluded  from  membership  in  his  church. 
That  is  a  matter  of  opinion.  But  if  he  acts  accord- 
ing to  that  opinion,  he  falls  under  the  ban. 

Are  the  questions  relating  to  baptism — its  form, 
subject,  and  relation  to  church  membership — ques- 
tions of  faith  or  of  opinion?  The  Editor  of  the 
Chirstian  Evangelist  says  that  they  are  a  matter  of 
opinion.  The  Editor  Emeritus  says  that  faith  "has 
Chirst  for  its  object,"  and  that  puts  all  the  varying 
interpretations  of  his  will  about  baptism  in  the 
realm  of  opinion.  These  agree  both  with  each  other 
and  with  the  historic  position  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ.  The  Sweeney  Resolution  does  one  of  two 
things :  It  either  reverses  this  position  and  declares 
that  faith  has  some  other  object  than  Christ;  or  it 
makes  a  formal  pronunciamento  for  the  brotherhood 
opon  a  matter  which  is  admittedly  in  the  field  of 


THE  SCROLL  Page  7 

opinion  where  each  has  a  right  to  exercise  his  lib- 
erty. Either  way,  it  is  bad  business.  We  are  not 
through  with  it  yet. 


The  Editor  of  the  Scroll  has  been  en  route  from 
Chicago  to  Los  Angeles,  during  the  first  two  weeks 
in  September,  via  the  Canadian  Pacific  with  stops 
in  the  Canadian  Rockies  and  the  Selkirks.  He  has 
climbed  two  mountains,  scrambled  over  three 
glaciers,  and  begs  to  report  that,  for  calming  the 
mind  and  cooling  the  heated  spirit  after  mid-night 
meetings  for  conference  and  sessions  of  boards,  com- 
mittees and  conventions,  this  form  of  activity  com- 
pares favorably  with  the  contemplation  of  interstel- 
lar spaces  and  the  great  star  canopus. 


BIEMBERS  OF  THE  CAMPBELL  INSTITUTE 


Abram,  Robert  C,  N.  Eighth  St.,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Agee,  Carl,  Lawrenceburg,  Ky. 
Alcorn,  W.  Garrett,  Fulton,  Mo. 
Alexander,  John  M.,  Marshall,  Mo. 
Ames,  Edward  S.,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 
Archer,  J.  Clark,  82  Linden  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Armstrong,  C.  J.,  1101  Broadway,  Hannibal,  Mo. 
Armstrong,  H.  C,  504  N.  Fulton  Ave.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

Armistead,  Joseph  D.,  Irvington,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Atkins,  Henry,  516  Union  Central  Bldg.,  Cincinnati. 

Baillie,  Alexander  S.,  Casa  Grande,  Ariz. 

Baker,  C.  G.,  202  N.  Holmes  Ave.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Barr,  W..  F.,  Drake  University,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Batman,  Levi  G.,  1516  Florencedale  Ave.,  Youngs- 
town,  0. 

Beil,  Urban  Rodcliff,  810  Norwood  Ave.,  Toledo,  O. 

Blair,  Verle  W.,  Plainfield,  Ind. 

Bodenhafer,  Walter  B.,  Washington  Univ.,  St.  Louis. 

Borders,  Karl,  1080  W.  14th  St.,  Chicago. 

Bowen,  Kenneth  Blount,  Morgan  Hall,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Boyton,  Edwin  C,  1418  Ave.  K.,  Huntsville,  Texas. 

Brelos,  C.  G.,  736  Litchfield  St.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Brogden,  John,  719  Campbell  Ave.,  Hamilton,  Ohio. 

Brown,  David,  1080  W.  14th  St.,  Chicago. 

Bruner,  B.  H.,  Lexington,  Mo. 

Buckner,  C.  C,  Ionia,  Mich. 

Buckner,  S.  G.,  Pomona,  Calif. 

Burkhardt,  Carl  A.,  Plattsburg,  Mo. 

Burner,  W.  J.,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Burns,  H.  F.,  1  W.  Hamilton  PL,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Callaway,  Ralph  V.,  1112  2nd  Ave.,  Sterling,  111. 

Campbell,  George  A.,  Union  &  Enright  Aves.,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

Cannon,  Lee  E.,  Hiram,  O. 

Carr,  W.  L.,  73  S.  Cedar  St.,  Oberlin,  0. 

Cassoboom,  Chas.  Orville,  Mt.  Healthy,  Cincinnati,  0. 

Castleberry,  J.  J.,  1116  Cypress  St.,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Chapman,  A.  L.,  Bozem.an,  Mont. 

Clark,  O.  B.,  Drake  University,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Clark,  Thomas  Curtis,  508  S.  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago. 

Cloyd,  Roy  Nelson,  Box  16,  Princeton,  Ind, 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

Cole,  A.  L.,  Macomb,  III. 

Coleman,  C.  B.,  Allegheny  Coll.,  Meadville,  Pa. 

Cook,  Gaines  Monroe,  Tallula,  111. 

Cooke,  A.  Harry,  1002  Pleasant  View  Drive,  Des 
Moines,  la. 

Cope,  Otis  M.,  1327  Wilmot  St.,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Cordell,  H.  W.,  Washington  State  Coll.,  Pullman, 
Wash. 

Crowley,  W.  A.,  University  of  Cincinnati,  Cincinnati. 

Dabney,  Vaughn,  6  Melville  Ave.,  Boston  24,  Mass. 

Dailey,  B.  F.,  279  Ritter  Ave.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Daniels,  Elvin,  106  N.  Bluff  St.,  Monticello,  iHd. 

Davidson,  Hugh  R.,  1112  N.  Eautaw  St.,  Baltimore, 

Davison,  Frank  E.,  314  Tocoma  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Deadman,  Roy  Emmett,  Irving  Park,  Chicago,  111. 

Dean,  Tom,  Jacksonville,  Tex. 

Deming,  Fred  K.,  1026  Eschalberger  St.,  St.  Louis. 

Deming,  J.  L.,  Findlay,  Ohio. 

Deskins,  Rush  M.,  Bellflower,  111. 

Edwards,  G.  D.,  Bible  College,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Endres,  W.  D.,  3623  Park  Ave.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Eskridge,  J.  B.,  Weatherford,  Okla. 

Evans,  Clarence  F.,  161  Brook  St.,  Dumore,  Pa. 

Ewers,  J.  R.,  S.  Highland  and  Alder  Sts.,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

Faris,  Ellsworth,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  III. 

Fortune,  A.  W.,  Lexington,  Ky. 

Funk,  Chas.  Hume,  1642  Fairview  Ave.,  Wichita, 
Kan. 

Flickinger,  R.  C,  Northwestern  Univ.,  Evanston,  111. 

Gabbert,  M.  R.,  University  of  Pittsburg,  Pittsburg, 

Garn,  Herbert  M.,  Canton,  Mo. 

Garrison,  W.  E.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

Garvin,  J.  L.,  1446  Northland  Ave.,  Lakewood,  0. 

Gentry,  R.  W.,  Covina,  California. 

Gibbs,  Walter  C,  515  S.  Fifth  St.,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Given,  John  P.,  Hoopeston,  111. 

Goodale,  Ralph  R.,  Hiram,  O. 

Goulter,  Oswald  J.,  5363  University  Ave.,  Indianop- 

olis. 
Gordon,  Wilfred  E.,  Christian  Mission,  Jhansi,  U.  P., 

India. 
Grainger,  0.  J.,  College  of  Missions,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Griggs,  Earl  N.,  334  W.  40th  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Guy,  H.  H.,  2515  Hillegass  Ave.,  Berkeley,  Calif. 
Hall,  Maxwell,  46  St.  Clair  Bldg.,  Marietta,  Ohio. 
Hamilton,  Clarence  H.,  Univ.,  of  Nankin,  Nankin, 

China. 
Handley,  Royal  L.,  1201  W.  Edwards  St.,  Springfield, 

111. 
Harms,  William  P.,  317  Ass'n  Bldg.,  Detroit,  Mich. 
Haushalter,  W.  M.,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Hawley,  Clarence  O.,  47  Norman  Ave.,  Dayton,  0. 
Henry,  Edward  A.,  Univ.,  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 
Hester,  Byron,  Electra,  Texas. 
Hieronymus,  R.  E.,  Urbana,  111. 
Higdon,  E.  E.,  Bloomington,  111. 
Higdon,  E.  K.,  450  Taft  Ave.,  Manila,  P.  I. 
Higham,  Elmo  B.,  521  Mulberry  St.,  Springfield,  O. 
Hill,  J.  Sherman,  Paola,  Kan. 
Hill,  Roscoe  R,,  Managua,  Nicaragua. 
Hirschler,  John  G.,  Hilo,  Hawaii. 
Hoffman,  R.  W.,  Sullivan,  Ind. 
Holmes,  Arthur,  Drake  Univ.,  Des  Moines,  la. 
Hopkins,  Louis  A.,  1517  S.    University    Ave.,    Ann 

Arbor,  Mich. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

Hotaling,  Lewis  R.,  State  Line,  Ind. 

Howe,  Thomas  C,  30  Audubon  Place,  Indianapolis. 

Hunt,  Ray  E.,  42  N.  16th  St.,  East  Orange,  N.  J. 

Idleman,  Finis,  107  W.  82  St.,  New  York. 

Iden,  Thomas  Medary,  1018  E.  University  Ave.,  Ann 
Arbor,  Mich. 

Jaynes,  Frank  E.,  Wabash,  Indiana. 

Jenkins,  Burris,  3210  Forest  Ave.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Jensen,  Howard  E.,  Butler  College,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

•Jewett,  Frank  .,  2007  University  Ave.,  Austin,  Tex. 

Jones,  Silas,  Eureka,  111. 

Jordan,  0.  F.,  Park  Ridge,  111. 

Kaufman,  Howard  Albert.,  Kentland,  Ind. 

Kilgour,  Hugh  B.,  35  F.  W.  B.  B.,  Winnepeg,  Can. 

Kincheloe,  S.  C,  1007  E.  60th  St.,  Chicago. 

Kirk,  Sherman,  1060  31st  St.,  Des  Moines,  la. 

Knight,  F.  H.,  Univ.  of  Iowa,  Iowa  City,  la. 

Larson,  August  F.,  Auxvasse,  Mo. 

Lee,  Charles  O.,  Flanner  House,  West  and  St.  Clair 
Sts.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Lemon,  Rboert  C,  Keota,  la. 

Lew,  Lawrence,  5659  Woodlawn  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Lineback,  Paul,  Emory  University,  Georgia. 

Linkletter,  C.  S.,  5819  W.  Ohio  St.,  Chicago. 

Livengood,  Fay  E.,  Damoh,  C.  P.,  India. 

Lhamon,  W.  J.,  Liscomb,  Iowa. 

Lobingier,  J.  Leslie,  Oberlin,  O. 

Lockhart,  Clinton,  T.  C.  U.,  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 

Lockhart,  W.  S.,  113  Market  St.,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

Loken,  H.  J.,  Atascadero,  Calif. 

Longman,  C.  W.,  138  S.  Sacramento  Blvd.,  Chicago. 

Lumley,  Fred  E.,  Page  Hall,  Ohio  State  Univ.,  Colum- 
bus, O. 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

Lytle,  W.  Vernon,  14  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
McCartney,  J.  H.,  Box  455,  Newark,  O. 
McCreary,  Lewis  W.,  1531  Munsey  Bldg.,  Baltimore. 
McDaniel,  Asa,  Hamilton,  Ohio. 
McQuary,  Rodney  L.,  College  of  the  Bible,  Lexington, 

Ky. 
McQueen,  A.  R.,  Somerset,  Pa. 
MacDougall,  W.  C,  Jubbulpore,  C.  P.,  India. 
Maclachlan,  H.  D.  C,  Seventh  St.  Christian  Church, 

Richmond,  Va. 
Marshall,  Levi,  Greencastle,  Ind. 
Martin,  Herbert,  Drake  Univ.,  Des  Moines,  la. 
Mathews,  William  B.,  Middle  D.,  Univ.,  of  Chicago, 

Chicago,  111. 
Matthews,  Emerson  W.,   1658    Irving    St.,    N.    W. 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Mitchell,  C.  R.,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Melvin,  Bruce  Lee,  Delaware,  0. 
Moffet,  Frank  L.,  Box  80,  Marionville,  Mo. 
Moffet,  George  L.,  Veedersburg,  Ind. 
Moore,  Richard,  Bureau  of  Mines,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Morehouse,  D.  W.,  Drake  Univ.,  Des  Moines,  la. 
Morgan,  Leslie  W.,  313  Upper  Richmond  Rd.,  Putney, 

London,  S.  W.  15,  England. 
Morrison,  C.  C,  706  E.  50th  Place,  Chicago. 
Myers,  J.  P.,  2915  Capitol  Ave.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Nelson,  R.  W.,  429  Harrison  St.,  Oak  Park,  111. 
Nichols,  Fred  S.,  302  Cory  Ave.,  Waukegan,  III. 
Norton,  F.  0.,  Crozier  Seminary,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Park,  Robert  E.,  Univ.,  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 
Parker,  W.  A.,  1  Madison  Ave.,  New  York  City. 
Parr,  Leland  W.,  5641  Drexel  Ave.,  Chicago. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

Parvin,  Ira  L.  W.,  Jefferson  St.,  Christian  Church, 

Ft.  Wayne,  Ind. 
Payne,  Wallace  C,  College  of  Missions,  Indianapolis. 
Pearce,  Chas.  A.,  Bellaire,  Ohio. 
Peckham,  George  A.,  Hiram,  0. 
Pike,  Grant  E.,  Lisbon,  0. 
Place,  Alfred  W.,  Bowling  Green,  O. 
Rainwater,  Clarence  E.,  Univ.  of  Calif.,  Los  Angeles. 
Reavis,  Tolbert  F.,    Calla    2654    Belgrano,    Buenos 

Aires,  Argentina. 
Reidenbach,  Clarence,  3700  Warwick  Blvd.,  Kansas 

City,  Mo. 
Rice,  Perry  J.,  19  S.  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago. 
Robertson,  C.  J.,  245  N.  Greenwood,  Kankakee,  111. 
Robertson,  Julius  Barbee,  Hotel  Muhlebach,  Kansas 

City,  Mo. 
Robison,  H.  B.,  Canton,  Mo. 
Rogers,  N.  O.,  Savannah,  Mo. 
Roosa,  W.  v.,  5815  Drexel  Ave.,  Chicago. 
Rothenberger,  W.  F.,  934  S.  Fourth  St.,  Springfield, 

111. 
Rowell,  Edward  Z.,  2831  Benvenue  Ave.,  Berkeley, 

California. 
Rowlison.  C.  C,  919  Main  St.,  LaCrosse,  Wis. 
Ryan,  William  D.,  4000  Main  St.,  Houston,  Texas. 
Sarvis,  Guy  W.,  Univ.  of  Nankin,  Nankin,  China. 
Schooling,  L.  P.,  Standard,  Alberta,  Can. 
Serena,  Joseph  A.,  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo. 
Seymour,  Arthur  H.,  Aberdeen,  S.  D. 
Sharpe,  Charles  M.,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Detroit,  Mich. 
Shorter,  Fred  W.,  Lowry  Hall,  Columbia,  Mo. 
Slaughter,  S.  W.,  Gurnee,  111. 
Smith,  B.  H.,  Carthage,  Mo. 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

Smith,  Raymond  A.,  T.  C.  U.,  Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

Smith,  T,  v..  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Smith,  J.  E.,  Hiram,  Ohio. 

Smith,  W.  H.,  Danville,  Ky. 

Smith,  J,  G.,  Connersville,  Ind. 

Stauffer,  C.  R.,  Norwood,  Ohio. 

Stevens,  Chas.  A.,  Box  64,  Olathe,  Kan. 

Stewart,  George  B.,  167  Salen  Ave.,  Dayton,  O. 

Stubbs,  John  F.,  3311  E.  60th  St.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Swanson,  Herbert,  Vigan,  Ilocos  Sur,  P.  L 

Swift,  Chas.  H.,  225  H.  H.  Bldg.,  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo. 

Taylor,  Alva  A.,  821  Occidntal  Bldg.,  Indianapolis. 

Todd,  E.  M.,  Harlingen,  Texas. 

Trainum,  W.  H.,  304  E.  Monroe  St.,  Valparaiso,  Ind. 

Trusty,  Clay,  2822  Annette  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Turner,  J.  J.,  5802  Maryland  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Vannoy,  Charles  A.,  Calla  2654  Belgrano,  Buenos 
Aires,  Argentina. 

Ward,  A.  L.,  250  N.  Home  Ave.,  Franklin,  Ind. 

Warren,  T.  Benjamin,  Nevada,  la. 

Watson,  Chas.  Morell,  1610  Colonial  Ave.,  Norfolk, 
Va. 

Wllhelm,  Carl  H.,  119  E.  North  St.,  Pontiac,  111. 

Willett,  Herbert  L.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Williams,  Mark  Wayne,  427  St.  John's  PL,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

Wills,  Alvin  L.,  1226  Ainslie  St.,  Chicago. 

Wilson,  Allen,  629  Green  St.,  Augusta,  Ga. 

Winders,  C.  H.,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Bldg.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Winn,  Walter  G.,  4035  Kedvale  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Winter,  Truman  E.,  846  Wynnewood  Road,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

Wise,  B.  Fred,  1323  E.  54th  St.,  Chicago. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

Wise,  E.  P.,  North  Canton,  Ohio. 

Wolfe,  J.  E.,  401  N.  Spring  St.,  Independence,  Mo. 

Wood,  Merritt  B.,  715  Wayne  St.,  Sandusky,  0. 

Young,  Peter,  Kipton,  Ohio. 

Zerby,  Rayborn  L.,  New  Carlisle,  Ind. 


CO-OPERATING  MEMBERS 

Bean,  Donald,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 

Blackman,  Earl  Austin,  Chanute,  Kansas. 

Bowman,  E.  M.,  1  West  67th  St.,  New  York. 

Carter,  S.  J.,  435  Kenwood  Blvd.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Collins,  Dr.  C.  U.,  427  Jefferson  Bldg.,  Peoria,  111. 

Cowherd,  Fletcher,  Ninth  and  Grand,  Kansas  City, 
Mo. 

Dickinson,  Richard  J.,  Eureka,  111. 

Duncan,  Dr.  W.  E.,  6058  Kimbark  Ave.,  Chicago. 

Freyburger  Walter  D.,  5140  Dorchester  Ave.,  Chi- 
cago. 

Haile,  E.  M.  1507  W.  T.  Waggoner  Bldg.,  Fort  Worth, 
Texas. 

Henry,  Frederick  A.,  914  Williamson  Bldg.,  Cleve- 
land, 0. 

Hill,  J.  C,  18  Calhoun  St.,  West  Point,  Miss. 

Hoover,  W.  H.,  North  Canton,  Ohio. 

Hutchinson,  Dr.  Edward  B.,  1351  E.  56th  St.,  Chi- 
cago. 

Jones,  E.  B.,  39  So.  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago. 

McBee,  A.  E.,  120  Broadway,  New  York. 

McCormack,  Harry,  5545  University  Ave.,  Chicago. 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

McEIroy,  Chas.  F.,  110  S.  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago. 
Minor,  Dr.  Wm.  E.,  926  McGee  St.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
Morgan,  F.  A.,  7216  Jeffrey  Ave.,  Chicago. 
Throckmorton,  C.  W.,  Traveller's  Bldg.,  Richmond, 

Va. 
Trimble,  Nelson,  5534  Ellis  Ave.,  Chicago. 
Van    Arsrall,    G.    B.,    1931    No.    New    Jersey    St., 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Wakeky,  Chas.  R.,  6029  Woodlawn  Ave.,  Chicago. 
Webb,  A.  G.  566  Kirby  Bldg.,  Clevland,  Ohio. 
Wise,  B.  Fred,  1323  E.  54th  St.,  Chicago. 


'^ 


HONORARY  MEMBERS 

Breeden,  H.  0.,  1038  O  St.,  Fresno,  Calif.  ' 

Garrison,  J.  H.,  163  N.  Alexandria  Ave.,  Los  Ange- 
les, Calif. 
Haley,  J.  J.,  Haines  City,  Florada. 
Lindsay,  Nicholas  Vachel,  3343  Bradford  Rd.,  Cleve- 
land, O. 
Lobingier,  Charles  S.,  State  Dept.,  Washington,  D.  C.    j 
MacCIintock,  W.  D.,  Univ.  of  Chicago,  Chicago. 
Powell,  E.  L.,  First  Christian  Church,  Louisville,  Ky. 


THE  SCROLL 


YOLUME  XIX        OCTOBER,  1922        NUMBER  2 


NIGHT  ON  THE  DESERT 

Bj   Gordon  Garrett. 

The  desert  sleeps.      Vast,  silent,  and  serene, 
She  puts  aside  the  ghttering  cloth-of-goid 
In  which  the  day  has  mantled  her,  and  cold 

And  somber  lies,  untroubled  and  unseen. 

She  sleeps, — but  dreams  again  of  those  old  days 
When  conquerors  came  to   plant  the    flag    ot" 

Spain. 
Noble  and  knight  rode  proudly  o'er  her  plain. 

Unmoved    she   bides,    while   they   have   gone   their 
ways. 

Changeless  beneath  the  stars  she  bares  her  breast 
And  mirrors  back  their  mystery  and  calm. 

Earth's  treasure-house  of  patience,  silence,  rest, 
Richer  than  all  the  lands  of  vine  and  palm. 

ISlo  turmoil  here.     Here  fevered  struggles  cease, 

And  in  her  dream  she  whispers,  Here  is  peace. 


MAGIC  OE  MORALS. 

Again  and  again,  through  the  long  history  of  re- 
ligion, has  it  been  necessary  for  reformers  to  try 
to  lift  religion  above  the  plane  of  ritualism,  cere- 
monialism and  magic.  During  all  the  centuries 
tfcat  have  intervened  between  the  building  of  the 
first  altar  and  the  present  moment,  most  of  the 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

professional  promoters  of  religion  have  busied 
themselves  in  perfecting  and  proclaiming  some  sys- 
tem by  which  a  bad  life  may  lead  to  a  good  result. 
The  desideratum  had  been  some  device  by  which 
fields  of  thorns  and  thistles  could  be  made  to  yield 
a  bountiful  harvest  of  grapes  and  figs.  The  gen- 
eral method,  of  course,  has  been  to  win  such  favor 
from  God,  or  from  the  gods,  by  sacrifice  or  cere- 
mony or  faith,  that  the  natural  moral  sequence  of 
cause  and  effort  might  be  interrupted  and  that  a 
base  life  might  be  crowned  with  a  glorious  and 
blessed  issue. 

Very  early  the  religious  leaders  of  Israel  began 
1)0  assert  to  their  astonished  hearers  that  .Jehovah 
was  deeply  interested  in  the  moral  conduct  of  men, 
but  probably  only  a  small  minority  ever  believed  it. 
The  generality  adhered  to  the  comfortable  notion 
that  Jehovah  would  take  care  of  his  own,  and  that 
they  were  his  own  if  they  gave  him  proper  honor 
and  praise.  The  prophets  grew  desperate  in  theif 
efforts  to  make  it  clear  that  the  only  basis  of  bless- 
edness is  right  living.  "Your  new  moons  and  your 
appointed  feasts  my  soul  hateth;  they  are  a  trouble 
unto  me;  I  am  weary  of  them.  When  ye  make 
many  prayers  I  will  not  hear;  your  hands  are  full  of 
blood.  Cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well."  But 
centuries  later'  John  the  Baptist  came  preaching  re- 
pentance to  a  generation  which  found  it  a  new  and 
strange  requirement;  and  the  synoptic  Gospels 
represent  Jesus  as  putting  the  whole  emphasis  of 
his  message  upon  the  idea  that  salvation  grows 
naturally  out  of  a  clean,  kind,  and  useful  life,  and 
is    not    to   be    had   by    winning   the    favor   of   God 


THE  SCROLL  Page 


through  doing  something  for  Him  or  through  cere- 
monial or  belief. 

The  Protestant  Reformation  had  to  protest  again 
against  the  same  old  pagan  heresy;  but  the  same 
old  pagan  heresy  still  persists  in  Protestantism  as 
in  Catholicism,  and  men  will  not  yet  believe  the 
clearest  testimony  of  their  own  moral  natures  and 
of  their  own  deepest  experience,  though  confirmed 
by  the  best  attested  words  of  Jesus,  that  the  people 
who  are  forgiving  are  the  ones  who  receive  for- 
giveness, that  the  humble  and  kindly  and  pure  are 
the  ones  who  enter  the  kingdom  of  grace,  and  that 
the  enduring  revi^ards  "prepared  for  you  from  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world"  are  for  those  who 
have  lived  lives  of  simple  human  helpfulness. 

But  the  old  paganism  keep  cropping  out, 
strangely  enough,  in  the  teachings  of  those  who 
claim  be  the  most  evangelical  interpreters  of  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus.  The  following  extract  illustrates, 
perhaps  in  an  unnecessarily  crude  form,  the  com- 
bination of  an  unctuous  exaltation  of  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  with  a  total  reversal  of  the  view  of  life  and 
religion  which  Jesus  taught: 

"When  the  day  of  judgment  dawns  and  Jesus 
Christ  will  say:  'Bill  Sunday,  from  Iowa,  and  the 
Lord  will  say:  'Bill,  your  record  doesn't  look  good, 
shows  you  are  a  bad  egg  (that  is  right.  Lord) 
shows  you  used  to  lie  (yes),  shows  you  used  to  do 
a  lot  of  things  (yes),  but  the  record  shows  that  one 
dark,  stormy  night  in  Chicago  you  came  forward, 
fell  on  your  knees,  accepted  of  the  salvation  which 
I  provided  by  the  death  of  my  only  begotten  Son, 
Jesus,  on  the    cross;    you    accepted    Him    as    your 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

Saviour,  whereas  you  were  doomed  to  Heli,  the 
verdict  was  reversed  to  go  to  Heaven!'  Hallelujah!" 
The  danger  to  religion  today  is  not  from  attacks 
from  the  outside.  It  is  from  misinterpretations 
and  abuses  from  within.  The  need  for  the  prophet 
is  perennial,  and  his  business,  now  as  in  the  dawr) 
of  civilization,  is  to  make  religion  &  matter  of  life 
rather  than  a  magic. 


A  PRAYER  FOR  A  GREAT  GIVER 

The  founding  of  a  university  is  one  of  the  sub- 
ijmest  acts  of  faith  that  can  be  conceived ;  faith  in 
God  and  in  man.  I  can  imagine  that  the  man  of 
great  wealth  who  proposes  to  establish  or  endow  a 
true  university  must  pour  out  his  soul  in  prayer 
somewhat  as  follows: 

0  God,  here  are  ten  million  dollars.  How  they 
&11  came  into  my  hands,  Thou  alone  knowest.  If 
any  of  them  ought  to  be  in  any  other  man's  hands, 
wilt  Thou  in  thy  mercy  forgive  me  and  may  he  for- 
give me. 

1  give  this  money  for  the  discovery  and  dis- 
semination of  Truth,  to  the  glory  of  Thy  name  and 
the  enrichment  of  the  lives  of  men.  I  am  putting 
this  money  into  the  hands  of  a  company  of  chosen 
men,  who  in  turn  will  commit  it  into  the  hands  ol 
others,  so  that  it  may  still  be  doing  its  work  a 
thousand  years  from  now.  But  I  do  not  know 
very  much  of  Thy  truth,  and  I  cannot  say  what 
shall  be  studied  and  what  shall  be  taught.  I  can- 
not know  what  needs  will    arise    a    hundred    vears 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

from  now,  five  hundred  years,  a  thousand  years 
from  now.  I  may  even  be  mistaken  in  some  of  my 
beliefs  as  to  what  is  truth.  But  I  believe  in  Truth, 
and  in  the  power  of  Truth  to  prevail  over  error  and 
to  bless  and  sweeten  and  enlarge  the  lives  of  men. 

And  so  I  commit  these  resources  into  the  handa 
of  these  faithful  men,  that,  as  others  have  shared 
with  me  in  the  labor  and  responsibility  of  accumu- 
lating them,  so  these  may  share  in  the  responsi- 
bility of  using  them. 

With  this  gift  do  I  seek  to  give  reality  to  my  oft- 
repeated  petition:      Thy  kingdom  come.        AMEN. 


BUILDING 
By  Mav  Griggs  Van  Voorhis 


On  the  steeds  of  their  thinking  they  leaped  away 
O'er  the  mighty  chasm  of  somber  hue, 
That  severs  the  ground  of  our  thought  today 
From  the  higher  ground  of  the  larger  view. 

"0  noble  thinkers!"  my  spirit  cried, 

■'Bid  me  to  mount  and  ride  with  you! 

The  hill  is  fair  on  the  other  side 

And  I  long  for  the  ground  of  the  larger  view!" 

But  all  about  me  are  souls  that  shrink! 
Some  are  too  feeble  to  mount  and  ride. 
And  some  are  tottering  on  the  brink 
Of  the  chasm  of  doubt  that  is  yawning  wide. 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

So,  bidding  my  restless  charger  stay, 
I  gather  the  drift-wood,  far  and  wide, 
That  lies  on  the  shore  of  our  thought  today, 
To  build  me  a  bridge  to  the  other  side. 

A  bridge  that  the  pattering  child  may  tread, 
That  youth  may  travel  with  fearless  feet, 
That  the  toilworn  man  with  the  drooping  head 
May  find  for  his  weary  footsteps  meet. 

Ah !  Slow  is  the  building  and  long  the  way ! 
But  at  last,  with  the  children  clustering  'round. 
With  the  humble  folk  of  the  every  day, 
My  feet  shall  stand  on  the  higher  ground. 


President  Aley  uttered  a  classic  sentiment  in  his 
address  at  Winona  when  he  said:  "Our  losses  from 
ignorance,  however  consecrated  it  may  be,  will 
always  be  greater  than  our  losses  from  intelli- 
gence." 


The  oft-quoted  saying,  attributed  to  a  Catholic- 
bishop,  "Give  me  the  child  for  his  first  seven  years, 
and  you  can  have  him  after  that,"  reveals  either  & 
false  psychology  or  a  mean  objective.  If  the  idea 
is  to  train  the  child  so  that  he  will  always  have  a 
certain  emotional  reaction  to  certain  si>ecific 
stimuli  of  a  quasi-religious  sort,  very  well.  If,  for 
example,  you  wish  to  associate  the  smell  of  the  in- 
cense with  a  certain  sense  of  awe  and  reverence, 
smd  if  you  wish  to  train  him  so  that  he  will  auto- 
matically   cross   himself   on    certain    occasions,    all 


I'HE  SCROLL  Page  7 

right.  But  if  you  want  to  train  him  for  Christian 
living,  it  can't  be  done  before  the  age  of  seven.  It 
cannot  be  done  merelj'^  by  the  inculcation  of  gen- 
eral principles  in  simplified  forms.  A  supposed 
expert  in  religious  education  recently  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement:  "The  purpose  of  Christian 
education  is  to  produce  Christian  character — 
kindness,  friendliness,  helpfulness.  If  they  learn  it 
as  children,  they  will  have  it  as  men  and  women  on 
a  world  scale."  Not  necessarily.  In  fact,  prob- 
ably not.  Certainly  not,  unless  they  have  gotten 
an  adequate  knowledge  of  their  world  and  acquired 
a  technique  of  Christian  living.  The  idea  that  one 
can  teach  generalities  with  the  hope  that  these  will 
automatically  translate  themselves  into  concrete 
activities  of  the  most  approved  type,  is  a  dangerous 
error,  and  much  of  our  religious  and  moral  instruc- 
tion is  doomed  to  failure  so  long  as  it  persists. 


Skepticism!  That  word  is  made  synonymous^ 
with  negation  and  impotence.  Yet  our  great  skep- 
tics were  sometimes  the  most  affirmative,  and 
often  the  most  courageous,  of  men.  They  denied 
only  negations.  They  attacked  everything  that 
fetters  the  mind  and  the  will.  They  struggled 
against  ignorance  that  stupefies,  against  error  that 
oppresses,  against  intolerance  that  tyranizes, 
against  cruelty  that  tortures,  and  against  hatred 
that  kills.  They  are  accused  of  having  been  un- 
believers. But  first  we  must  know  whether  belief 
is  a  virtue,  and  whether  genuine  strength  does  not 
lie  in  doubting  what  there  is  no  reason  to  believe. 
It  would  not  be  difficult  to  prove  that  these  French- 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

men  of  genius  who  are    called    skeptics    professed 
the  most  magnificent  creed. 

Rabelais,  a  buffoon  full  of  seriousness,  proclaims 
the  majesty  of  tolerance.  Like  him  the  Pyrrhonic 
Montaigne  prostrates  himself  devoutly  before  the 
wisdom  of  the  ancients.  Forgetting  the  oscilla- 
tions of  his  doubting  mind  he  invokes  pity  against 
the  forocity  of  religious  wars  and  the  barbarity  of 
judicial  torture.  Above  all,  he  pays  homage  to  the 
sanctity  of  friendship.  Moliere  inveighs  against 
the  passions  and  weaknesses  which  make  men  hate- 
ful, and  he  preaches  the  beautiful  gospel  of  socia- 
bility. In  his  wildest  capers  the  unbelieving  Vol- 
taire, never  loses  sight  of  his  ideal  of  reason, 
knowledge  and  kindness — yes,  kindness,  for  this 
great  satirist  was  unkind  only  to  the  wicked  and  the 
foolish.  Finally,  Renan  always  remained  a  priest; 
all  he  did  was  to  purify  religion.  He  believed  in 
the  divine,  in  learning;  he  believed  in  the  future  of 
mankind.  Thus  all  our  skeptics  were  full  of 
ardour,  all  strove  to  deliver  their  fellovv-men  from 
the  chains  that  drag  them  down.  In  their  own  way 
they  were  saints. 

Anatole  France. 


OVER  THE  SECRETARY'S  DESK 


'  Vachel  Lindsay:  "This  summer  I  am  a  totai 
abstainer  from  all  public  appearances,  living  in  or 
near  Hiram,  or  Cleveland,  with  my  sister,  and  fill- 
ing a  new  drawing  book  full  of  pictures,  includins 
Egyptian  Hieroglyphics.     If   ever   I   get    near   the 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

University  I  will  go  boring  into  your  Hieroglyphic 
department  as  hard  as  possible  and  you  will  be  sur- 
prised to  see  how  thoroughly  I  have  already 
Americanized  some  of  them." 

C.  C.  Rowlison:  "I  should  like  to  have  the  reac- 
tion of  the  Institute  men  to  the  possibilities  of 
church  union  at  the  present  time.  It  looks  to  me 
very  much  as  it  has  looked  for  years,  namely,  that 
modern  men  should  try  to  get  very  much  closer  to- 
gether than  they  now  are  and  make  denominational 
lines  for  less  separative.  I  see  no  present  practical 
way  to  do  away  with  denominational  machiner3-^, 
but  this  should  be  so  curbed  as  to  discountenance 
denominational  sectarianism.  Interestingly  we  are 
f^'ridiiig  that  denominaLionalism  is  no  t  a  circum- 
stance to  some  other  isms  in  creating  sectarian 
bigotry  and  bitterness." 

A.  W.  Fortune:  "I  have  had  my  doubts  in  recent 
years  whether  the  Campbell  Institute  could  accom- 
plish what  it  aimed  at  in  the  beginning.  I  am  not 
certain  about  it  now,  but  I  do  want  the  fellowship 
01  the  group.  Hence  I  want  to  renew  my  fellow- 
ship." 

G.  A.  Peckham:  "My  engagements  are  such  that 
I  cannot  be  present  at  the  July  meeting  of  the  C.  L 
this  year,  although  I  hope  to  see  the  boys  in  the 
summer  of  1923.  In  your  enrollment  of  the  Grand- 
father Class  do  not  overlook  me  who  have  been  able 
to  qualify  for  more  than  fourteen  years.  So  I  am 
old  enough  to  have  dropped  some  of  the  cruditief^ 
supposed  to  be  due  to  the  thinking  of  the  youthful- 
mind,  not  too  old  yet,  however,  to  enjoy  much  in 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

life,  and  nothing  more  than  an  occasional  glimpse 
of  some  new  phase  of  truth." 

Peter  Young:  "The  Campbell  Institute  came  tf> 
my  notice  first  at  the  last  Disciples  Convention 
(1922).  I  attended  a  couple  of  your  meetings  and 
was  impressed  with  the  aims  and  ideals  of  the  In- 
stitute. I  believe  this  letter  with  its  enclosures- 
carries  sufficient  credentiali  to  permit  you  to  add 
my  name  to  the  roll  of  the  membership." 

W.  Vernon  Lytle:  "While  I  have  never  had  the 
pleasure  of  attending  one  of  the  Institute  meetings, 
I  have  enjoyed  the  fellowship,  and  believe  that  the 
Institute  has  met  a  real  need.  I  am  planning  to  do 
some  work  in  the  Graduate  School  at  Yale  thi^ 
year." 


Corrections  to  the  address  list  printed  in  the 
September  Scroll  are  already  necessary.  Two  names 
were  inadvertently  omitted:  Mr.  George  W.  Rey- 
nolds, President  of  the  American  Colortype  Com- 
pany, New  York;  and  Mr.  Rupert  A.  Nourse,  Vice- 
President  and  General  Manager  of  The  Stowell 
Company,  Milwaukee. 

It  is  difficult  to  keep  the  addresses  of  our  mem- 
bers up  to  date.  It  will  help  if  members  will  send 
notices  of  any  changes  they  discover.  There  are 
now  just  two  hundred  and  fifty  members  of  the 
Institute.  Plans  are  under  consideration  to  double 
the  membership.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  can 
be  done  or  that  it  would  be  a  very  valuable  thin^r 
to  do. 

The  distribution  of  the  membership  of  the  Insti- 


f 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

tute  is  interesting  and  rather  surprising.  At  the 
last  count  it  was  as  follows:  Illinois  52,  Indiana  33, 
Missouri  32,  Ohio  29,  Iowa  11,  Texas  9,  California 
9,  Michigan  7,  Pennsylvania  7,  Kansas  4,  Maryland 
4,  Virginia  3,  Massachusetts  3,  Kentucky  4,  New 
York  3,  Georgia  2,  District  of  Columbia  2,  Wiscon- 
sin 2,  Oklahoma,  South  Dakota,  Mississippi,  Con- 
necticut, Montana,  Washington,  and  Arizona  one 
each.  Canada,  India,  China  and  South  America 
are  also  represented. 

The  annual  meeting  last  July  was  the  best  at- 
tended of  any  meeting  the  Institute  ever  held. 
There  were  sixty  members  present  besides  visitors. 
The  printed  program  was  followed  to  the  letter  and 
the  papers  were  live  and  to  the  point.  The  presence 
of  Dr.  Idleman  of  New  York  and  the  lectures  he 
gave  each  day  before  the  Disciples'  Divinity  House 
were  greatly  enjoyed. 

Through  the  aid  of  special  gifts  the  Institute  was 
able  to  come  to  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  with  a 
Jittle  money  in  the  treasury.  The  business  year 
ends  June  30.  Dues  are  payable  in  advance.  If 
you  have  any  bowels  of  mercy  j^ou  will  pay  your 
dues  now  in  advance  and  spare  the  scribe  the  task 
of  writing  letters  full  of  anguish  for  those  "three 
iron  men." 

If  any  members,  new  or  old,  did  not  receive  last 
years  Scroll,  the  Secretary  will  be  glad  to  send  the 
files  as  long  as  they  last.  E.  S.  A. 


The  annual  dinner  of  the  University  Church  of 
Disciples  of  Christ,  Chicago,  was  held  at  the  Cooper- 
Carlton   Hotel,  October  11.      Among  the  speakers 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

were  Fellows  Freyburger,  Ames  and  T.  C.  Clark, 
the  latter  being  the  principal  speaker  of  the  even- 
ing. W.  E.  Garrison  was  toast-master.  Ames  and 
the  entire  congregation  are  rejoicing  over  the 
actual  beginning  of  work  on  the  new  building. 


SPEAKING  OF  CATHEDRALS 

"Any  place  where  men  dwell,  village  or  city,  is  a 
reflection  of  the  consciousness  of  every  single  man.. 
In  my  consciousness  there  is  a  market,  a  garden,  a 
dwelling,  a  workshop,  a  lover's  walk — above  all,  a 
cathedral.  ^ 

"My  appeal  to  the  master-builder  is:  Mirror  this^ 
cathedral  for  me  in  enduring  stone ;  make  it  with 
hands ;  let  it  direct  its  sure  and  clear  appeal  to  m]^ 
senses,  so  that  when  my  spirit  is  vaguely  groping 
after  an  elusive  mood  my  eye  shall  be  caught  by  the 
skyward  tower,  showing  me  where,  within  the 
cathedra!,  I  may  find  the  cathedral  within  me.  Witli 
a  right  knowledge  of  this  great  function  of  the 
cathedral-builder,  and  craft  enough  to  set  an  arch  on 
a  couple  of  pillars,  make  doors  and  windows  in  &. 
good  wall  and  put  a  roof  over  them,  any  modern  man 
might,  it  seems  to  me,  build  churches  as  they  built 
them  in  the  middle  ages,  if  only  the  pious  founders 
and  the  parsons  would  let  him. 

"For  want  of  that  knowledge,  gentlemen  of  Mr. 
Pecksniff's  profession  make  fashionable  pencil  draw- 
ings, presenting  what  Mr.  Pecksniffs  creator  else- 
where calls  an  architectooralooral  appearance,  with 
which  having  delighted  the  darkened  eyes  of  the 
committee  and  the  clerics,  they  have  them  translated 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

into  bricks  and  masonry  and  take  a  shilling  in  the 
pound  on  the  bill,  with  the  result  that  the  bishop 
may  consecrate  the  finished  building  until  he  is  black 
in  the  face  without  making  a  real  church  of  it.  Can 
it  be  doubted  by  the  pious  that  babies  baptized  in 
such  places  go  to  limbo  if  they  die  before  qualifying 
themselves  for  other  regions ;  that  prayers  said  there 
do  not  count;  nay,  that  such  purposeless,  respectable- 
looking  interiors  are  irreconcilable  with  the  doctrine 
of  Omnipresence,  since  the  bishop's  blessing  is  no 
spell  of  black  magic  to  imprison  Omnipotence  in  a 
place  that  must  needs  be  intolerable  to  Om- 
niscience?" — Bernard  Shaw 


Fellow  John  C.  Hirschler,  who  has  been  in  the 
University  of  Chicago  during  the  past  two  years, 
has  recently  sailed  for  the  Hawaiian  Islands  where 
he  will  do  Americanization  work  under  the  Hawaiian 
Board  of  Missions.  His  address  will  be  Waiakea 
Settlement,  Hilo,  T.H. 


CONSTITUTION 

ARTICLE  I 
Name 
The   name   of   this   organization    shall    be    THE 
CAMPBELL  INSTITUTE. 

ARTICLE  II 
Object 
The  purpose  of  this  organization  shall  be:  (1)  To 
«]Qcourage  and  keep  alive  a  scholarly  spirit  and  to  en- 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

able  its  members  to  help  each  other  to  riper  scholar- 
ship by  the  free  discussion  of  vital  problems.  (2)  To 
promote  quiet  self-culture  and  the  development  of  a 
higher  spirituality  among  the  members  and  among 
the  churches  with  which  they  shall  come  in  contact. 
(3)  To  encourage  positive  productive  work  with  a 
view  to  making  contributions  of  permanent  value  to 
the  literature  and  thought  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ, 

ARTICLE  III 
Membership 

Section  1.  Regular  Members.  Those  shall  be  invited 
to  regular  membership  who  have  completed  a  course 
for  a  bachelor's  degree  in  some  standard  institution. 
Others  may  be  elected  to  regular  membership  by  a 
majority  vote  of  those  present  at  any  annual  meet- 
ing. 

Sec.  2.  Co-operating  Members.  Those  business 
and  professional  men,  other  than  preachers  and 
teachers,  who  are  intelligently  sympathetic  with  the 
Institute  and  disposed  to  aid  in  the  diffusion  of  its 
spirit  and  work,  shall  be  eligible  to  co-operative 
membership. 

Sec.  3.  Honorary  Membership.  Those  shall  be 
eligible  to  honorary  membership  who  have  attained 
notable  distinction  in  scholarship  and  in  the  prac- 
tical activities  of  the  church  and  who  are  known  to 
be  in  sympathy  with  the  Institute. 

ARTICLE  IV 
Officers 
The  officers  of  this  organization  shall  be  a  Presi- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

dent,  a  Vice-President,  and  a  Secretary-Treasurer, 
who  shall  perform  the  duties  usually  pertaining  to 
their  respective  offices,  and  who  shall  be  elected  at 
the  regular  annual  meeting. 

ARTICLE  V 

Amendments 
The  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  members  present  at  any  regular  meeting,. 


BY-LAWS 

ARTICLE  I 
Annual  Meeting 
There  shall  be  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Institute 
at  such  time  and  place  as  shall  be  designated  by  the 
Executive  Committee,  at  which  members  shall  pre- 
sent the  results  of  their  studies. 

ARTICLE  II 
Committees 

There  shall  be  the  following  standing  committees, 
appointed  (except  the  Executive  Committee)  by  the 
President  : 

Section  1.  Executive  Committee,  consisting  of 
the  President,  Vice-President,  and  Secretary,  for  the 
transaction  of  all  business  of  the  society  which  de- 
mands attention  when  the  Institute  is  not  in  session. 

Sec.  2.  Editing  Committee,  which  shall  have 
charge  of  the  studies  of  individual  members  and  the 
publication  of  all  literature  put  forth  by  the  Insti- 
tute except  when  otherwise  arranged. 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

Sec.  3.  Program  Committee,  which  shall  have 
charge  of  all  regular  meetings  of  the  Institute. 

ARTICLE  III 
Fees  and  Privileges 

Section  1.  The  annual  fee  of  regular  and  co-ope- 
rating members  shall  be  three  dollars. 

Sec.  2.  Any  member  who  ceases  to  participate  in 
the  active  work  of  the  Institute  is  expected  to  re- 
sign. 

Sec.  3.  Not  more  than  twenty-five  new  co-operat- 
ing members,  nor  more  than  one  honorary  member, 
shall  be  elected  in  any  one  year. 

Sec.  4.  The  business  of  the  Institute  shall  be  con- 
ducted by  the  regular  members. 

Sec.  5.  All  classes  of  members  shall  receive  the 
serial  publications  of  the  Institute. 

Sec.  6.  The  Executive  Committee  is  authorized 
to  place  upon  the  membership  roll  the  names  of 
all  applicants  for  regular  membership  who  satisfy 
the  requirements  of  the  constitution  for  member- 
ship. 

ARTICLE  IV 
Chambers 

The  Institute  shall  be  divided  into  five  Chambers 
devoted  respectively  to  the  following  departments  of 
study:  (1)  Old  Testament  and  the  corresponding 
Biblical  Theology.  (2)  New  Testament  and  the  cor- 
responding Biblical  Theology.  (3)  Church  History, 
Missions,  and  Comparative  Religion.  (4)  Philosophy, 
Theology,  and  Education.  (5)  Christian  Work  and 
Sociology.  The  heads  of  these  Chambers  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  President  and  shall  constitute  the 
Editing  Committee. 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME   XIX.   NOVEMBER,   1922.   NUMBER   3 

THE  MISSION    COLLEGE    AND    VOCATIONAL 
TRAINING  IN  CHINA 

Guy  W.  Sarvis 

Tendencies  in  missionary  work  in  recent  years 
have  changed  so  radically  as  to  make  the  whole 
missionary  enterprise  practically  a  new  one.  A 
few  years  ago  a  missionary  was  an  individual  who 
went  everywhere  preaching  the  gospel.  The  main 
items  of  expense  were  for  shoe-leather  and  tracts. 
Now  it  is  relatively  difficult  to  get  educated  per- 
sons to  undertake  that  kind  of  work.  The  cry  is 
for  equipment,  equipment, — and    more    equipment! 

Schools  and  hospitals  are  the  two  forms  of  in- 
stitutions which  call  for  most  of  this  equipment, 
although  institutional  churches  are  coming  along 
with  vigorous  demands.  The  demands  of  educa- 
tional institutions,  and  particularly  of  colleges  and 
universities,  are  increasing  so  rapidly  that  it  be- 
comes more  and  more  difficult  to  supply  them.  In 
China,  in  Japan,  in  the  Near  East,  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, in  South  America,  and  in  other  mission  fields, 
"universities"  calling  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars  in  each  case  are  springing  up.  The  Univer- 
sity of  Nanking  has  multiplied  its  budget  by  ten  in 
ten  years.  It  therefore  happens  that  in  mission- 
ary work  institutions  are    absorbing  an    ever  in- 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

creasing  proportion  of  the  total  budget. 

This  is  as  it  should  be,  but  it  involves  a  funda- 
mental change  in  missionary  policy  and  ideals.  The 
Education  Commission  that  came  out  last  year 
gave  very  careful  study  to  the  problems  involved. 
They  made  recommendations  as  to  combination 
and  development  which  ought  to  be  of  great  value 
in  guiding  and  limiting  the  development  of  the 
educational  work  in  China.  One  point  upon  which 
they  laid  great  stress  was  the  development  of  vo- 
cational work  in  the  prim.ary  grades  and  in  high 
schools.  I  suppose  it  would  have  been  impos- 
sible to  secure  a  better,  fairer,  more  competent 
commission  than  this  one,  but  they  failed  at  a 
point  where  in  my  opinion  many  missionaries  fail. 
They  failed  to  see  things  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  Chinese.  They  said  China  lacks  industry, 
China  lacks  transportation — therefore  let  us  have 
vocational  education  and  produce  all  these  things, 
let  us  train  the  people  to  work. 

Now  the  interesting  fact  is  that  you  cannot 
use  the  schools  in  China  to  train  workmen.  Peo- 
ple do  not  send  their  children  to  school  in  order 
to  make  them  workmen,  but  in  order  that  they  may 
escape  being  workmen.  Another  fact  is  that  in 
the  factory  industries  and  the  domestic  industries 
the  shop  is  a  better  place  in  which  to  learn  to  be 
a  workman  than  is  the  school.  Another  fact  is 
that  probably  China's  deficiencies  are  not  due  pri- 
marily to  lack  of  skilled  workmen,  but  to  lack  of 
skilled  managers,  capital,  and  political  stability, 
and  there  is  no  great  demand  for  skilled  crafts- 
men. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

The  schools  can  teach  certain  general  facts  of 
"practical"  value,  and  the  colleges  and  universities 
and  technical  schools  can  prepare  men  for  profes- 
sions and  for  positions  at  the  top,  but  the  great 
function  of  schools  seems  to  be  to  prepare  men  for 
living  rather  than  for  making  a  living.  The  whole 
educational  tradition  in  China  is  against  vocational 
training  except  as  it  is  preparation  for  some  of  the 
"higher"  walks  of  life.  This  may  be  wrong,  but  it 
is  the  fact  that  we  who  are  running  schools  and 
have  to  make  them  partly  self-supporting  have  to 
recognize.  Laboratory  work  and  "manual  train- 
ing" as  an  educational  discipline  are  accepted  unwill- 
ingly by  the  students.  Shorthand  and  typewriting 
are  accepted  gladly  because  they  lead  to  larger 
wages.  Normal  training  is  accepted  grudgingly  be- 
cause it  leads  to  some  advancement  but  offers  no 
great  future.  Industrial  education,  except  for  the 
very  lowest  classes,  seems  to  be  out  of  the  question. 
Nanking,  China. 


LEADERSHIP 

It  is  a  statement  of  common  acceptance  that  at 
the  present  time  The  Disciples  of  Christ  are  in 
need  of  leadership.  This  is  probably  no  more  true 
now  than  any  other  period,  and  no  more  true  of 
them  than  of  any  other  people.  It  is  a  general  and 
perennial  need.  Those  who  assume  leadership  are 
often  least  qualified  to  exercise  it  and  those  who 
most  need  it  do  not  want  to  follow. 

Perhaps  the  most  disheartening  feature 
of  much  of  the  so-called  leadership  throughout  the 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

world  is  that  it  does  not  lead;  it  only  shrewdly  an- 
ticipates the  movement  of  the  many  and  by  quick 
action  gets  at  the  head  of  the  procession.  Senator 
Simon  Cameron,  the  first  political  boss  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, confidentially  explaining  his  success  as  a 
political  leader,  said:  "I  watched  for  the  biggest 
crowd  and  then  walked  in  front  of  it — but  never 
too  far  in  front."  Such  a  leader  may  indeed  be- 
come the  symbol  for  a  certain  attitude  or  move- 
ment and  so  many  consolidate  the  group  and  direct 
it  into  specific  policies.  But  from  one  who  could 
so  truly  and  so  cynically  describe  his  own  leadership 
it  was  no  surprise  to  hear  the  still  more  cynical  ut- 
terance: "To  sum  up  fifty  years.  Be  honest  when 
it  is  the  best  policy." 

The  caution  to  "avoid  getting  too  far  ahead  of 
the  people,"  is  usually  one  part  statemanship  and 
two  parts  moral  cowardice.  The  first  and  indis- 
pensable qualification  for  a  leader,  we  should  say, 
is  perfect  sincerity  and  transparent  frankness.  It 
it  true  that  Jesus  said,  "I  have  many  things  to  say 
unto  you  but  ye  are  not  able  to  bear  them."  But  do 
those  who  make  that  statement  their  justification 
for  a  policy  of  mental  reservation  or  for  timid 
action  make  an  equally  frank  declaration  to  their 
followers?  Or  do  they  not  conceal  not  only  part  of 
their  thought  but  also  the  very  fact  that  they  have 
anything  to  conceal?  Let  us  "speak  what  we 
think  in  words  as  hard  as  cannon-balls." 

The  former  Crown  Prince  of  Germany  said 
that  at  a  critical  period  in  the  war  the  German  high 
command  found  it  expedient  to  "ration  the  truth." 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

Such  a  policy  can  be  a  success,  even  temporarily, 
only  when  the  policy  itself  as  well  as  the  truth  is 
concealed.  And  that  means  an  attitude  of  evasion 
and  disingenuousness  which — whatever  may  be  its 
■justification  as  part  of  a  war  policy — is  fatal  to  any 
high  spiritual  enterprise. 


"BACK  TO  PAUL' 


At  the  recent  celebration  of  the  Centennial  of  the 
Yale  Divinity  School,  which  was  itself  a  notable 
event  and  worthy  of  more  than  passing  comment, 
Prof.  Benjamin  W.  Bacon  made  an  address  in  which 
he  touched  upon  the  phenomenon  of  "Fundamen- 
talism," which  he  declared,  "is  the  Protestant  bull 
against  modernism.  For  papal  authority  it  sub- 
stitutes bibiolatry,  championing  against  the  teach- 
ing of  evolution  in  our  schools  and  colleges  and  the 
methods  of  historical  criticism  and  interpretation 
applied  to  the  Bible  in  our  divinity  schools  a  doc- 
trine of  Scripture  which  its  supporters  believe  to 
be  Christian,  but  which  in  reality  is  merely  pre- 
Christian,  pagan  and  Jewish."  But  Prof.  Bacon 
is,  he  says,  sympathetic  with  Fundamentalism  in 
so  far  as  it  is  a  protest  against  "that  conception  of 
Christianity  which  repudiates  the  'word  of  the 
cross'  as  emboding  the  central  message  of  the 
Father : 

"I  confess  that  my  sympathies  are  with  the  Fundamentalist 
in  his  insistence  on  the  efficacy  of  the  blood-atonement.  My 
own  interpretation  of  the  Cross  and  its  meaning  would  prob- 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

ably  be  very  unsatisfactory  to  the  Fundamentalist.  But  in 
so  far  as  his  indictment  holds  against  any  theological  semi- 
nary that  it  teaches  this  modern  form  of  the  Judaizing  heresy 
miscalled  liberalism  instead  of  Paul's  conception  of  his  min- 
istry as  a  'ministry  of  the  atonement,  how  that  God  through 
the  agency  of  Christ  was  restoring  the  world  to  his  favor,' 
I  deplore  it  as  taking  the  heart  out  of  the  gospel,  depriving 
Christianity  of  the  right  to  be  called  a  religion.  In  theology 
we  need  to  raise  the  war-cry :  'Back  to  Paul.' " 

It  occurs  to  us  that  the  cry  "Back  to  Paul"  is 
slightly  belated.  Perhaps  it  is  an  appropriate 
utterance  for  a  Centennial  Anniversary  for  it  is 
more  in  keping  with  the  theology  of  a  century  ago. 
The  religious  life  of  our  days  is  not  going  to  be  re- 
vitalized and  the  church  of  our  time  is  not  going  to 
be  re-united  on  the  basis  of  re-emphasis  upon  the 
Pauline  theology  as  either  the  basis  or  the  consum- 
mation of  Christian  thought. 


ONE  SWEAT  PER  DAY 


A  circular  calling  attention  to  the  advantages 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  gymnasium  in  a  certain  town 
bears  the  heading  in  large  capitals,  "ONE  SWEAT 
PER  DAY." 

It  is  a  good  motto.  It  is  good  for  any  man's 
muscles  and  digestion  and  liver  and  skin  to  get  up 
one  good  sweat  every  day.  It  is  good  to  stir  one- 
self with  sufficient  vigor  once  in  twenty-four  hours 
to  raise  a  perspiration. 

The  same  motto  might  properly  be  extended 


THE  SCROLL  Page  7 

into  other  than  the  muscular  department  of  man's 
life.  One  ought  to  give  his  brain  one  good  sweat 
per  day — sit  down  with  patience  and  determination 
and  work  hard  at  some  topic  which  requires  concen- 
trated and  consecutive  brain  work. 

It  will  be  remembered  also  that  William  James 
in  a  famous  passage  recommends  that  one  should 
keep  his  will  in  good  condition  by  every  day  doing 
something  that  he  does  not  want  to  do  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  he  does  not  want  to  do  it;  that  is, 
to  put  oneself  up  against  some  hard  situation,  some 
unpleasant  task,  and  demonstrate  one's  mastery 
over  himself.  It  is  not  perhaps  necessary  to  wear 
a  hair-cloth  shirt  or  to  waste  much  time  or  energy 
in  these  gratuitous  hardships,  but  many  a  flabby 
and  self-indulgent  spirit  might  be  saved  from  that 
consuming  softness  by  some  simple  setting-up  ex- 
ercises of  the  soul. 

This  reminds  us  that  we  saw  not  long  ago  the 
topics  for  a  series  of  sermons  under  the  general 
heading,  "How  We  Live:  Respiration,  Perspiration, 
Recreation,  Cooperation,  Consecration."  This  is 
not  far  from  Dr.  Cabot's  four-fold  analysis  of 
What  Men  Live  By :  Work,  Play,  Love  and  Worship. 


A  LETTER 


The  Campbell  Institute, 
Gentlemen : 
The   pamplet    you    published    entitled    "Who    Are    Christ- 
ians?" fell  into  my  hands  and  having  read  same  I   wish  to 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

call  your  attention  to  one  thing  that  I  regard  as  a  serious 
mistake  in  your  reasoning.  You  quote  quite  extensively  from 
Alexander  Campbell,  Isaac  Errett,  etc.  Why  not  quote  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  apostles?  Tliey  are  authority  upon  this  ques- 
tion. These  other  men,  however  good  and  wise  they  may 
be,  are  not. 

The  New  Testament  tells  us  that  if  we  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus,  repent  of  all  sin,  confess  Christ,  and  obey  him  in 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  (which  is  immersion),  we  are  saved, 
our  sins  blotted  out,  and  therefore  we  are  Christians.  We 
are  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  gives  us  a  right  to  the  name 
"Christian." 

A  man  must  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Uncle  Sam 
before  he  can  claim  a  right  to  the  name  American.  Just  so 
a  man  must  be  baptized  Into  the  name  before  he  can  claim 
a  right  to  the  name  Christian,  as  baptism  is  what  we  might 
call  the  "oath  of  allegiance"  to  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Hence 
Jesus  says :  "Except  a  man  is  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit 
(or  takes  the  oath  of  allegiance),  he  cannot  enter  the  King- 
d?im  of  God."  All  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  have  what  is 
called  an  "oath  of  allegiance"  that  a  man  must  take  before 
he  can  become  a  citizen  of  that  kingdom.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Christian  baptism  is  that  oath  of 
allegiance. 

Now  here  is  the  crux  of  the  matter:  1.  The  King  has 
prescribed  the  oath  and  how  it  is  to  be  done,  which  he  has  a 
right  to  do.  2.  And  for  a  person  to  perform  a  different  act 
is  disobeudience.  However  sincere  the  party  might  be  will 
make  no  difference,  as  ignoi'ance  is  no  excuse.  With  an 
open  Bible,  it  is  our  business  to  know  what  the  King  requires. 
The  trouble  with  these   people   who  have  been   sprinkled   in- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

stead  of  being  baptized  is  they  do  not  seem  to  know  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  has  a  prescribed  "oath  of  allegiance"  that 
must  be  taken  before  one  can  rightfully  claim  citizenship  in 
the  kingdom.     .     . 

G.  M.  Walker. 
Worthington,  Minn. 

Brother  Walker  is  one  of  our  older  ministers 
who  has  given  long  years  of  faithful  service.  He 
gives  a  clear-cut  statement  of  a  position  held  by 
many  who  would  not  state  it  so  logically  or  bravely. 
We  merely  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  pam- 
phlet in  question  contains  no  statement  of  opinion 
by  its  editor  but  merely  gives  quotations  from  the 
writings  of  certain  men  whose  opinions  are  not  at 
all  binding  upon  us  but  are  certainly  interesting. 
And  we  add  three  suggestions: 

1.  A  God  before  whom  "ignorance  is  no  ex- 
cuse," and  who  is  more  interested  in  the  form  of  an 
"oath  of  allegiance"  than  in  character,  life,  and 
service,  does  not  seem  to  us  to  be  the  God  whom 
Jesus  revealed. 

2.  That  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  resembles 
the  kingdoms  of  earth  in  requiring  a  specific  form 
of  an  oath  of  allegiance,  seems  to  be  not  only  a 
"human  opinion"  but  a  very  doubtful  one.  Jesus 
rather  emphasized  the  difference  between  the 
earthly  and  the  heavenly  kingdoms.  This  whole 
idea  of  baptism  as  the  oath  of  allegiance  is  a  human 
invention.     Let  us  stick  to  Scripture. 

3.  Our  correspondent  fails  to  incorporate  into 
his  system  some  of  the  most  positive  and  unmis- 
takable teachings  of  Jesus.      Who  are    the    people 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

whose  sins  are  forgiven?  See  Matt.  6:14.  Whose 
is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven?  See  Matt.  5:3.  Who 
shall  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  them  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world?     See  Matt  25:34-40. 

When  we  get  through  discussing  whether  one 
who  errs  about  forms  may  still  be  a  Christian,  per- 
haps some  harsh  person  will  raise  the  question 
whether  one  can  be  a  Christian  who  excludes  from 
the  fellowship  those  whom  Jesus  explicitly- 
admitted.  Yes,  we  think  he  can,  for  we  believe 
that  ignorance  is  an  excuse. 


FALSE  DOCTRINE 


We  have  received  from  the  Rev.  Charles  Hill- 
man  Fountain,  of  Plainfield,  New  Jersey,  a  pamp- 
hlet in  which  "Charges  of  teaching  false  doctrine" 
are  brought  against  President  W.  H.  P.  Faunce, 
and  Prof.  Gerald  Birney  Smith.  The  charges  are 
supported  by  considerable  extracts  from  the 
books  of  these  two  writers. 

We  would  recommend  the  circulation  of  this 
pamphlet  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the 
extracts  are  well  worth  the  price,  which  is  only  five 
cents.  They  contain  some  splendid  and  luminous 
statements  of  Christian  truth  which  it  is  good  for 
any  man's  soul  to  read.  For  example,  this  defini- 
tion of  Christianity:  "The  religion  of  Jesus  is  noth- 
ing more  and  nothing  less  than  the  revealing  of  the 
purpose  which  is  eternally  in  the  life  of  God,  and 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

the  implanting  of  that  purpose  in  the  minds  and 
life  and  laws  and  institutions  of  men." 

And  in  the  second  place,  it  seems  to  us  entirely 
right  and  wholesome  that  one  who  believes  that 
certain  teachers  are  destroying  the  faith  which 
the  ought  to  defend  should  say  so,  clearly  and  ex- 
plicitly. 

The  author  of  this  pamphlet  encloses  with  it  a 
creed  which  he  has  composed  with  some  assistance 
from  others  and  which  he  suggests  that  churches 
should  adopt  as  a  text  of  ortnoaoxy.  From  the 
point  of  view  which  he  occupies,  these  men  whom  he 
criticizes  are  evidently  very  dangerous  teachers.  If 
we  occupied  his  viewpoint  we  should  certainly  go 
after  them  with  all  vigor.  As  it  is,  we  think  that 
the  position  occupied  by  Mr.  Fountain  is  itself  a 
very  dangerous  one  and  that  his  creed  contains 
items  which  are  untrue  in  fact  and  irrelevent  to  the 
purposes  of  religion.  We  think  he  is  a  teacher  of 
false  doctrine. 


COLLEGES  OF  THE  DISCIPLES 

The  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of 
Education  of  The  Disciples  of  Christ  has  been  is- 
sued. It  gives  the  best  statement  that  has  been 
made  up  to  date  of  our  total  educational  situation 
and  should  be  studied  and  preserved.  The  report 
includes  a  part  of  the  very  elaborate  survey  of  our 
colleges  which  was  made  under  the  direction  and  at 
the  expense  of  the  Council  of  Church  Boards  of 
Education.      The  findings  of  this   survey  are,  on 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

the  whole,  favorable  to  the  colleges:  "They  are 
dominated  by  the  religious  motive" ;  "they  are 
among  the  great  moving  forces  of  Disciple  contin- 
uance;" 'They  have  a  real  jewel  in  their  conception 
of  religious  education;"  "they  are  unique  in  the 
large  place  which  is  given  in  their  curricula  to  the 
Bible  and  allied  subjects."  But  they  are  "on  a  fi- 
nancial basis  which  has  definitely  insured  their 
pauperization ;"  and  their  "chief  fault  is  their  local 
independence  and  lack  of  money." 

The  survey  apparently  did  not  discover  the 
fact  that  the  unique  emphasis  given  to  Bible  study 
in  Disciples'  colleges  is  largely  because  our  minis- 
terial training  is  chiefly  conducted  as  under-gradu- 
ate  work  in  these  colleges,  and  their  curricula  there 
fore  include  much  professional  work.  To  com- 
pare them  in  this  respect  with  colleges  of  denom- 
inations which  train  their  ministers  in  graduate 
schools  is  obviously  meaningless.  We  suspect  that 
the  average  non-ministerial  student  in  a  Disciple 
college  does  get  more  Bible  study  than  the  average 
student  in  other  colleges;  at  lease  we  hope  so,  but 
the  survey  does  not  prove  it. 


ANOTHER  LETTER  TO  THE  DEVIL 

(The  following  was  written  after  Dr.  Ames  lias  announced  his 
forthcoming  Letter  to  the  Devil,  but  before  it  has  been  made 
public.     Ed. ) 

Sir: 

I  hope  that  it  is  not  out  of  any  maudlin  senti- 


i 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

merit  that  I  address  this  letter  to  you.  The  view  I 
hold  ol  your  character  obliges  me  to  such  a  feeling 
of  respect  as  rises  above  any  mere  seniinientality. 
It  is  true  that  as  a  child  I  did  mix  into  the  mosaic 
of  your  character  a  certain  sentiment,  born,  I  think, 
of  hearing  the  expression  "give  the  devil  his  dues." 
This  popular  saying  seemed  to  my  childish  mind 
to  im.ply  that  you  did  not  always  receive  from  men 
what  exact  justice  required.  And  then  too  so 
many  courses  upon  which  my  heart  was  set  were 
attributed  to  you  that  I  formed  a  certain  colorful 
estimate  of  what  you  liked  as  well  as  of  what  men 
denied  you.  But  if  earlier  I  might  have  inclined 
to  become  your  advocate  and  to  speak  only  of  your 
merits,  the  years  have  brought  to  me,  I  hope,  a 
nicer  discrimination  of  what  you  yourself  would  ap- 
prove as  well  as  of  what  is  permitted  me. 

On  earth,  as  you  perhaps  know,  this  is  a  season 
when  Goodfellows  wait  upon  our  unfortunates, 
when  men  turn  to  friends  with  gifts  or  remem- 
brances, and  when  many  of  the  thoughtful  of  us, 
reflecting  upon  the  past,  face  the  future  with  reso- 
lutions of  change  in  our  deeds,  or  words,  or 
thoughts.  If  this  letter  is  born  of  the  spirit  of  this 
Yuletide,  it  is  only  in  the  most  general  and  indirect 
way.  True  it  is  that  during  these  days  I  have 
thought  of  you  again  and  again,  Sir.  This  not  in- 
frequent memory  of  you  first  took  form,  however, 
as  a  desire  to  address  you  directly  when  I  saw  yes- 
terday a  letter  that  a  friend  had  addressed  to  God. 

I  hope.  Sir,  that  you  will  pardon  this  reference 
to  him  who  men  do  name  your  dearest  foe.  But  you 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

must  know  that,  whatever  the  exact  historical  re- 
lation between  you  two  gentlemen — I  try  in  my  hu- 
man way  to  be  impartial — your  name  is  often  link- 
ed with  his  by  way  of  a  not  always  uninvidious 
contast.  But  if  my  maturer  appraisal  of  you  be 
just,  you  are  not  one  to  blink  any  fact,  though  its 
unpleasantness  might  make  a  man  feel  justified  in 
overlooking  it.  I  doubt  if  you  are  sensitive  to 
many  things  that  touch  men  to  the  quick;  for  as 
notions  of  God  change,  even  so  I  note  here  and 
there,  Sir,  a  growing  reappraisal  of  your  character. 
But  if  you  were  every  whit  the  aspiring  but  defeat- 
ed rebel  that  pious  legend  has  painted,  I  doubt  that 
you  would  have  just  cause  to  feel  ashamed  of  that 
titanic  struggle  with  deity,  a  struggle  forever  lost 
but  forever  renewed  with  courage  unspeakable. 
Even  men  know  that  there  are  circumstances  in 
which  to  lose  a  battle  is  to  win  the  victory. 

I  do  not  say,  if  I  may  be  pardoned  the  boldness. 
Sir,  that  your  life  shall  succeed  in  that  it  seems  to 
fail.  Frankness  compels  me  to  say  that  I  think 
you  shall  fail  ultimately  as  you  have  failed  success- 
ively. I  believe  that  the  inexorable  Fates  are 
eternally  set  against  you.  But  allow  me  to  say  how 
profoundly  your  more  than  divine  valor  moves  me, 
Sir.  From  your  unrelenting  struggle  against  what 
seemed  tyranny  to  you,  men  have  caught  an  irre- 
pressible enthusiasm  for  freedom.  A  torch  has 
been  lighted  from  the  fire  of  your  heroic  example 
that  shall  never  be  put  out  until  the  darkness  of 
tyranny  shall  be  dispellled  by  the  gracious  light  of 
human  liberty.  It  is  due  in  no  small  way  to  your 
inspiriting  rebellion  that  men  have  steadfastly  re- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

fused  to  counsel  with  despair,  even  in  hopeless  cir- 
cumstances; that  men  have  steadfastly  refused  to 
take  No  as  an  answer  from  oppressors ;  that  the  un- 
controllable contagion  has  spread  from  earth  to 
heaven,  and  men  now  refuse  to  call  heavenly  free- 
dom what  would  be  earthly  tyranny.  It  is  this 
unequivocal  Yea  that  men  have  learned  from  you 
to  give  to  the  surge  of  life  and  aspiration  that  has 
enabled  Ireland  for  seven  hundred  years  to  see  as 
real  what  was  utterly  unreal,  but  by  the  false  see- 
ing to  make  it  true.  And  if  from  the  inspiration 
you  long  ago  gave  unyielding  Prometheus,  we  have 
so  profited  as  to  dethrone  not  only  earthly  tyrants 
one  by  one,  but  to  substitute  for  the  divine  sov- 
ereignty of  God  the  more  amiable  attributes  of 
equality  and  companionship,  we  shall  not  give  in 
even  to  you  who  have  forged  for  us  the  instrument 
of  our  achievement.  Even  if  you  should  finally 
win  a  decision  over  deity,  you,  thanks  to  an  in- 
fluence larger  than  you  knew,  must  still  reckon 
with  man.  I  pray  pardon  for  these  bold  words; 
but,  as  man  has  caught  your  spirit,  they  are  true. 
This  is  defiance  that  praises  more  than  it  rebukes. 
Sir,  if  you  will  but  see  it  this  once  from  our  human 
point  of  view. 

But  it  is  not  this  that  I  most  wanted  to  say  to 
you  in  this  letter.  "  I  should  not  greatly  wonder,  in- 
deed, if  all  this  story  of  your  splendid  rebellion  is 
but  a  way  man  has  found,  through  telling  myth, 
to  project  on  cosmic  scale  traits  inherently  human. 
It  adds  to  man's  respect  for  man  to  see  that  human 
impulses  and  powers  catch  grandeur  by  being  ob- 
jectified in  highest  heaven  or  in  lowest  hell. 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

The  way  in  which  I  most  like  to  think  of  you 
is  far  removed  from  such  legends  as  go  up  and 
down  the  earth  about  you.  These  legends  put  you 
too  far  away.  You  are  not  far  away,  bue  ever 
near — almost  as  near  as  God.  You  are  a  very  part 
of  me — the  part  which  forges  not  forever  on. 
When,  great  issues  inpending,  the  human  heart  is 
torn  between  divergent  paths,  and  shadowy  shapes 
stand  in  each  path  as  smiling  tokens  of  future  joys, 
the  troubled  soul  must  choose  at  last.  From  many 
inviting  ways  it  can  take  but  one.  The  ways  that 
man  might  go,  but  does  not — you  are  the  rejected 
ways.     You  are  the  stifled  part  of  man. 

Or,  in  more  picturesque  mood,  I  sometimes 
think  of  you  as  the  embodiment  of  the  many  selves 
I  have  passed  on  the  way  to  becoming  the  self  I  am. 
The  infant  starts  in  quest  of  selfhood  with  rich  pos- 
sibilities. 

"A  wedding  or  a  festival, 
A  mouning  or  a  funeral ; 

And  this  hath  now  his  heart. 
And  unto  this  he  frames  his  song: 
Then  will  he  fit  his  tongue 
To  dialogues  of  business,  love,  or  strife." 

How  many  different  persons  he  might  become! 
But  every  act  of  his  early  years,  every  choice  of 
his  later  ones,  at  the  same  time  commits  him  to 
the  ever  narrowing  road  ahead  and  closes  irrevoc- 
ably the  open  doors  to  many  other  inviting  land- 
scapes of  personality. 


THE  SCROLL Page  17 

The  tragedy  of  life  is  that  man  who  would  be 
so  many  personalities  can  adequately  become  but 
one.  Fully  to  exploit  one  desire,  he  must  forswear 
how  many,  many  others!  At  the  price  of  what 
smallness  must  be  purchase  his  meagre  greatness! 
You  are  the  heart  of  this  tragedy  of  man.  The 
selves  that  might  have  been  but  are  not,  marshal 
themselves  as  invisible  legions  to  form  the  spiritual 
background  of  every  self  that  is.  The  self  of  the 
first  choice  moves  perpetually  on  to  realization. 
You  are  the  self  of  the  second  choice.  You  are  the 
ever  living  God  of  the  Other  Alternative — the  one 
man  did  not  choose.  For  the  growing  bud  to  them- 
selves men  ever  reserve  the  name  of  good;  but  for 
the  ungrowing  stalk  that  supports  the  bud,  they 
save  the  name  of  evil.  Men  rise  on  stepping  stones 
of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things.  You  are 
these  dead  selves;  you  are  the  stepping  stones 
which  man  has  made  for  himself. 

You  are  the  clay  which  the  human  potter  re- 
serves for  dishonor.  Can  the  clay  choose  what  it 
shall  become?  We  have  made  your  name  mean 
that  which  is  less  than  the  best,  and,  because  you 
are  limited,  yea  constituted,  by  our  definition,  I 
can  find  no  blame  for  you.  I  can  deeply  respect 
you,  since  in  distributing  roles  for  the  unfolding 
drama  of  my  life,  I  make  you  play  the  invariable 
part  of  villian.  My  respect  even  leans  toward  af- 
fection when  I  remember  how  long  I  have  paused 
over  each  rejected  self,  how  reluctantly  I  have  paid 
the  price  of  choice,  the  tragedy  of  giving  up  many 
ta  realize  only  one.  It  is  not  that  man  loved  you 
less  but  that  he  loved  the  ongoing  impetus  more, 


Page  18  THE  SCROLL 

that  he  has  grimly  defined  you  into  irremediable 
mediocrity.  I  must  forever  link  you  with  God ;  you 
are  coeval  with  him,  you  are  his  great  concomitant. 
But  you  are  but  a  by-product  of  the  human  process, 
the  process  that  is  Man.  Of  the  process,  then,  let 
me  sing — that  I  may  glorify  God  and  vindicate  you, 
his  devil  and  ours. 

Darkly  within  the  slimy  mire  the  crayfish 
works  his  spell, 

To  weave  around  him  silently  an  ever  harden- 
ing shell; 

Such  as  bequeaths  his  softness  to  the  mud 
where  it  belongs. 

And  fits  himself  to  take  his  place  with  toilers 
brown  and  strong. 

But  once  his  growth  is  fully  won,  his  early  end 
attained, 

He  finds  all  further  growth  denied  by  that  al- 
ready gained. 

Then  face  he  must  anew  the  travail  of  rebirth, 

Or  find  his  goal  become  his  doom  through  the 
encrusting  girth. 

In  mystic  darksome  ways  this  cycle  is  for  men : 

All  growth  must  end  in  growth,  or  harden  into 
sin. 

All  system  and  all  thoughts  involve  a  larger 
whole ; 

Man  too  must  grow  for  gowth,  or  lose  his  liv- 
ing soul. 
Chicago.  T.  V.  Smith. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  19 

THE  DEVIL  AND  MR.  CLARK 

Dr.  Ames'  "Letter  to  the  Devil,"  which  was 
printed  in  The  Christian  Century,  of  June  1,  ap- 
pears in  full  in  The  Torrington  (Wyoming)  Tele- 
gram, of  June  29,  with  the  statement  that  it  "was 
written  by  Dr.  H.  T.  Clark,  of  the  local  Baptist 
Church  and  has  been  sold  to  an  eastern  magazine  of 
national  circulation.  In  order  that  all  home  folks 
may  have  an  opportunity  to  read  it  first,  he  is  hav- 
ing it  published  in  the  Telegram." 

Here  is  interesting  material  for  a  study  in  ab- 
normal psychology.  Either  the  party  to  whom  the 
letter  was  addressed  was  so  stimulated  by  it,  per- 
haps so  enraged  and  alarmed,  that  he  has  invaded 
the  ranks  of  the  ministry  and  put  it  into  the  mind 
of  a  worthy  pastor  in  Wyoming  to  claim  as  his  own 
what  had  already  been  printed  in  Chicago;  or  else, 
the  gentleman  in  Wyoming  has  been  over-persuad- 
ed by  the  arguments  of  some  of  these  dealers  in 
ready-made  sermons  who  proclaim  in  their  adver- 
tisments  that  "originality  is  nothing,  —  Neither 
Jesus  nor  Paul  ever  claimed  to  be  original." 

There  are  so  many  kinds  of  liars  in  the  world 
whose  lies  injure  others  than  themselves  that  per- 
haps one  ought  to  be  grateful  when  a  man  without 
talent  for  adhering  to  truth  turns  his  prevaricating 
energies  into  so  harmless  a  channel. 

We  are  going  to  subscribe  for  The  Torrington 
Telegram,  for  some  good  things  may  be  in  store. 
We  may  find  a  chapter  from  Pilgrim's  Progress  or 
Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Address,  given  to  us  in  ad- 
vance of  their  publication  in  an  eastern  magazine  to 


Page  20  THE  SCROLL 

which  the  local  minister  has  sold  them.  Wouldn't 
it  be  fine  if  Rev.  Mr.  Clark  would  write  a  "Letter 
to  God" !  We  believe  he  could  do  it.  He  probably 
would  not  care  to  write  one  to  Alexander  Campbell. 


THE  COMMUNITY  CHURCHMAN,  which  as 
a  quarterly  publication  has  been  a  useful  advocate 
of  the  community  church  movement,  has  become  a 
monthly  with  a  subscription  price  of  two  dollars. 
It  is  still  being  edited  at  La  Grange,  Mo.,  by  D.  R. 
Piper,  but  our  trusty  Fellow,  Clay  Trusty,  of  Indi- 
anapolis, is  now  business  manager  and  publisher. 


The  Scroll  aims  to  be  the  medium  of  communi- 
cation among  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  members 
of  the  Campbell  Institute.  Send  news  items.  Send 
brief  articles.  Send  suggestions  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Scroll,  or  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
usefulness  of  the  Institute.  Send  your  member- 
ship dues  (to  the  Secretary-Treasurer)  if  you  have 
not  already  done  so. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  of  the 
University  Church  of  Disciples  of  Christ,  Chicago, 
was  laid  Nov.  5,  and  the  walls  are  rising  rapidly. 
The  fund  of  $232,000,  now  fully  subscribed  and 
about  half  paid  in,  is  expected  to  cover  the  entire 
cost  of  the  plant  except  perhaps  the  furnishing  of 
the  educational  and  social  building.  The  next  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  Institute  can  be  held  in  the 
new  building. 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME  XIX      DECEMBER,  1922,      NUMBER 


TWO  TYPES  OF  RELIGION 

W.  D.  MacClintock 

(The  following  address  was  delivered  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  the  new  building  of  the  University  Church 
of  Disciples  of  Christ,  Chicago,  Nov.  5.  Professor  MacClin- 
tock interprets  the  significance  of  the  location,  which  is  on 
a  very  prominent  corner,  opposite  the  principal  entrance  to 
the  campus  of  the  University  of  Chicago.  The  other  three 
corners  at  this  street  intersection  are  occupied  by  the  Tower 
Group  including  Mandel  Hall,  the  Bartlett  Gymnasium,  and 
the  new  building  of  the  Quardrangle  Club.  Competent  critics 
have  said  that  the  completion  of  the  church  will  make  this 
the  most  beautiful  corner  in  Chicago. — Ed.) 

This  happy  occasion  and  especially  this  notice- 
able place  in  the  city  where  we  stand  have  suggest- 
ed to  me  the  contrast  between  the  two  comple- 
mentary aspects  of  our  religion:  First,  the  religion 
of  the  market-place  and  public  square;  and  second, 
that  of  the  school,  the  monastery  and  the  private 
retreat.  On  one  side  those  ideals  and  feelings 
adapted  to  the  open,  popular,  moving,  practical 
plaza  and  public  corner;  and  on  the  other,  those  of 
shy,  mystical,  meditative,  worshiping  places.  Jesus 
taught  often  in  the  open  city  squares,  and  often 
went  apart  with  few  or  no  disciples  to  pray. 

And  these  two  aspects  of  religious  culture  are 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

deeply  persistent  in  the  whole  history  of  our  Christ- 
ian faith.  Jesus'  early  disciples  grouped  them- 
selves in  such  natural,  instinctive  parties —  some 
emphasizing  the  morality  and  open  goodness  of 
Christ,  and  some  his  mystery  and  grace;  some 
workers  and  preachers,  some  poets  and  mystics. 

And  down  through  the  centuries  we  have  two 
corresponding  prominent  types  of  churches  and 
disciples:  First,  there  was  the  great  continental, 
popular  church  built  on  the  public  squares  of  the 
cities,  with  great,  wide-open,  western  door,  calling 
all  to  worship ;  it  was  built  by  the  subscriptions 
and  personal  labor  of  large  companies  of  the  com- 
munity, built  for  the  whole  people,  open  always  for 
the  admiration  and  respect  and  the  worship  of  the 
passer-by. 

Second,  There  was  the  church  of  the  monas- 
tery, and  of  the  school,  and  of  the  private  chapel. 
These  were  built  in  the  woods  and  on  the  high 
places,  and  in  the  bye-streets  of  the  cities,  built  by 
single,  devoted  believers,  built  for  study  and  con- 
templation, with  their  choir  and  altar  spaces  larger 
than  their  public  auditoriums,  served  and  enjoyed 
by  silent  monks. 

And  there  they  are  today — St.  Paul's  Cathed- 
ral on  the  roaring  city  square  and  Westminister 
Abbey  with  its  at  least  originally  remote  seclusions. 

Like  the  birds  of  the  poet, 

"He  sings  to  the  wide  world, 
She  sings  to  her  nest; 
In  the  nice  ear  of  nature 
Which  song  is  the  best?" 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

To  which  the  only  answer  is  that  each  is  per- 
fect, having  its  own  divine  work  to  do. 

With  such  instinctive  placing  of  houses  of 
teaching  and  worship,  went  and  still  go  inevitable 
types  of  religious  philosophy,  of  ritual  and  worship, 
of  moral  teaching.  The  plaza  church  emphasizes  a 
quickly  apprehended  catholic  faith,  and  a  simple, 
unspeculative  morality.  It  must  speak  of  what 
can  clearly  and  simply  be  got  over  to  a  careless, 
hurrying  company  of  people.  It  must  know  the 
world  as  it  realistically  is,  what  will  work  well  in 
actual,  varying  human  behavior.  We  should  ex- 
pect it  to  be  concerned  especially  with  mortality,  and 
that  not  too  much  "touched  with  emotion."  Such 
a  teaching  center  will  speak  more  of  public  service 
than  af  personal  salvation,  and  will  find  the  latter 
in  the  former.  It  is  sure  to  be  filled  with  the  spirit 
of  science,  of  expert  knowledge  as  to  human  nature 
and  society.  Its  doctrines  of  God,  of  experience, 
of  immortality  will  be  colored  by  its  needs  of  being 
close  to  moving  worshippers — simple,  rational,  full 
of  common  sense  and  of  widely  accepted  ideas.  It 
will  not  fear  to  be  very  practical,  proclaiming  al- 
ways that  "godliness  is  profitable  for  the  world 
that  now  is."  Its  struggle  is  with  open,  careless 
sin  and  worldly  indifference  roaring  by  on  costly 
wheels.  Its  is  the  special  mission  of  drawing  up 
and  announcing  the  traffic  regulations  of  the  City 
of  God,  and  ceaselessly  policing  its  streets.  The 
science,  sport,  business  and  pleasure  all  about  it 
must  be  saved  from  materialism,  excess  and  perver- 
sion. 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

With  a  kind  of  divine,  romantic  assurance  and 
bravado,  we  are  placing  our  church  on  this  most 
public,  most  exciting  corner  of  our  entire  commun- 
ity. We  are  surrounded  by  the  palaces  of  sport, 
of  social  pleasure  and  of  practical  studies.  Here 
endless  streams  of  hurried,  uncaring  young  people 
pass  by.  The  very  bells  above  us  call  us  to  hurry, 
to  group  ourselves  in  social  classes,  they  proclaim 
competitive  victories  and  defeats,  they  loudly  pro- 
claim even  our  hours  of  sleep.  It  is  a  spot  which 
will  never  decay;  for  decades  and  for  centuries  its 
towers,  and  battlements,  and  gables  will  look  down 
on  a  pulsating  stream  of  eager,  hurried,  changing 
humanity.  What  possible  gospel,  one  must  ask,  can 
be  adapted  to  this  tumultuous  place? 

But  let  it  be  so.  As  Kipling's  old,  rude  cattle- 
boat  boss  said,  "I  preach  His  Gospel  here."  It  may 
be  more  an  ethical  than  a  mystical  message;  but  it 
will  be  a  flexible,  contemporary,  critical  attempt  to 
present  and  interpret  Christ  here  and  now,  with 
modern  language,  modem  symbols,  and  with  mod- 
ern applications.  Other  people  for  other  places, 
audiences,  moods.  Here  is  no  shy  retreat  for  clois- 
tered quiet,  for  ruminating  creatures  to  wander  in. 
Our  very  architecture  proclaims  our  work,  beautiful 
in  modern  stone  and  concrete,  with  large  open  doors 
and  windows — light  everywhere.  We  are  subject 
to  the  inquiry  and  approval  of  the  passer-by,  like 
the  great  statuary  of  the  Italian  renaissance.  It 
means  a  human  expert  center  for  teaching  right- 
eousness— a  church  of  the  Living  God. 

And  I  judge  that  this  aspect  of  religious  teach- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

ing  and  activity  and  this  particular  location  are 
very  characteristic  of  our  brotherhood  of  Disciples, 
true  to  their  history,  philosophy,  taste,  and  type  of 
piety.  We  have  been  always  essentially  a  market- 
place people — not  students,  writers,  mystics,  but 
preachers,  contenders,  evangelists.  Even  though 
our  prosperity  in  our  early  days  was  so  largely  in 
the  country  and  smaller  mid-west  towns,  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  seeing  our  instinct  for  the  best  places 
on  the  best  streets,  handsome  buildings  on  hand- 
som.e  corners,  well-to-do,  middle-of-the-road  normal 
equipment  for  our  work. 

We  have  not  done  well  in  building  schools, 
training-centers  for  our  ministers  or  sacrificial 
churches  for  the  unprovided  places  of  the  earth. 
Things  are  now  improving  rapidly  in  these  matters 
and  none  may  say  that  we  are  now  indifferent  to 
our  missionary,  educational  and  philanthropic  work, 
though  we  all  confess  we  are  far  behind  both  our 
duty  and  ability.  What  we  have  done  well  is  to 
build  handsome,  classical,  renaissance,  modern 
buildings  on  the  best  corners  of  the  Main  Streets  of 
our  big  prospering  western  towns,  on  corners  like 
this,  with  the  natural  services  to  the  communities 
which  such  can  serve. 

This  must  be  so,  I  think,  for  a  people  who 
claim  to  grasp  and  teach  the  very  central  core  of  a 
religious  system,  who  claim  therefore  to  have  a 
formula  upon  which  all  types  of  Christian  persons 
can  unite.  It  is  possible  that  we  are  mistaken 
about  our  formula,  that  we  have  no  more  than 
others    grasped    the    very    heart    of    our    Master's 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

teaching.  But  so  long  as  we  feel  and  claim  that  we 
have,  there  is  no  place  so  becoming  for  us  as  these 
very  centers  of  population,  these  gathering  and 
broadcasting  places  of  the  earth. 

Christian  history  shows  the  starting  up,  flow- 
ering, fixing  of  groups  of  disciples  around  some  one 
or  more  special  doctrines  or  practices  of  the  relig- 
ious life.  Some  were  and  are  "of  Paul,''  some  "of 
Apoilos,"  som^e  "of  Cephas."  And  it  is  known  that 
some  made  a  party  even  of  Christ.  And  in  the  past 
many  have  boasted  that  this  was  distinctly  Chris- 
tian— to  provide  for  the  many  and  varied  sides  of 
the  religious  mind,  "lest  one  good  custom  should 
corrupt  the  world." 

But  this  resulted  along  the  centuries  in  eccen- 
tric, over-individualistic,  perverse  groups  and 
churches.  These  hardened  into  intellectual,  limit- 
ing creeds  and  rituals,  dividing  sharply  "the  body 
of  Christ."  Paul  and  John  fought  earnestly  at  the 
beginning  against  this  divisive  instinct,  pleading 
for  unity.  And  all  down  the  years,  now  this  and 
now  that  body  has  risen  in  the  church  working  for 
such  unity  by  a  "return"  to  the  primitive,  essential 
units  of  Christ's  teaching  and  method.  We  are  one 
— perhaps  the  latest  with  much  success — to  make 
this  plea,  and  to  develop  a  church  group  to  teach 
and  practice  it. 

And  in  our  early  day  we  had  distinct  formulas. 
We  would  have  no  man-made  creeds ;  we  would  de- 
rive all  from  the  very  words  of  the  New  Testament 
alone;  v/here  the  Bible  speaks  we    speak   and    are 


THE  SCROLL  Page  7 

silent  when  it  is.  We  pleaded  against  a  divided 
church,  preached  the  beauty,  the  usefulness,  and 
the  practicability  of  Christian  Union.  Here  evi- 
dently is  no  modest,  shy,  personal,  individual  doc- 
trine, no  hole-in-a-corner  philosophy.  It  truly  is 
for  the  maket-places,  the  public  corner,  the  center 
of  discussion,  of  logic  and  science — a  rationalistic, 
v/orkable  theology  and  practice.  And  one  who 
claims  such  a  treasure,  even  though  he  carry  it  in 
en  earthen  vessel  of  personal  modesty,  must  put  it 
like  a  light  in  the  center  of  the  room. 

And  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  an  en- 
thusiasm for  unity  and  the  practices  that  flow  from 
it  are  an  essential  part  of  the  Christian  principle.  It 
emphasizes  the  common  element  in  a  distributed 
culture,  it  enforces  simplicity  of  belief  and  uniform- 
ity of  conduct,  elements  most  essential  in  the  wide 
propaganda  of  truth.  It  has  not  all  the  truth,  but 
does  have  those  features  m.ost  serviceable  in  a  high- 
ly difficult,  contentious,  hurried  world.  To  keep  us 
from  destroying  one  another,  theologically  as  well 
as  politically,  we  must  have  a  few  golden  rules  both 
of  thinking  and  practice.  The  streets  of  our  actual 
hum.an  City  of  God  must  be  increasingly  straight, 
clean,  smooth  and  well  policed.  And  some  group 
must  have  the  genius,  the  taste,  and  the  privilege 
of  making  them  so.  That  done  and  kept  up,  there 
is  then  room  on  such  golden  streets  for  beauty,  ro- 
mance, mystery  and  even  shy  retreats  for  medita- 
tive souls  to  wander  in.  But  som.ebody  must  for- 
ever keep  our  physical  and  our  mental  streets  clear 
and  clean. 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

These  then  are  some  of  the  things  which  we, 
or  any  other  people  or  culture  claiming  a  formula  or 
even  a  spirit  for  union  of  all  Christians,  must  have 
and  teach:  simplicity  of  doctrine,  an  easily  ob- 
served ritual  of  worship,  an  unfailing  social  ser- 
vices. They  m.ust  have  also  a  passion  for  preach- 
ing, for  converting  and  absorbing  others  and  for  de- 
fending the  Constitution  of  the  Faith. 

Such  ideas  led  our  fathers  to  a  sound,  though 
a  violent  and  finally  temporary,  emphasis  on  the 
mere  text  of  the  New  Testament  as  a  sufficient 
guide  in  all  matters  of  faith  and  practice  in  religion. 
This  was  most  timely  and  useful  as  a  protest 
against  the  older  systems  of  doctrines  built  up  and 
phrased  by  theologians  and  church  councils,  but 
which  had  hardened  and  perverted  Christ's  teach- 
ing and  so  become  a  burden  and  encagement  to 
many  souls.  To  call  men  out  of  these  cages,  to  put 
them  in  fresh  contact  with  the  mind  of  Jesus  and 
his  first  interpreters  was  well.  We  co-operated 
with  all  the  freeing,  non-credal  movements  of  the 
modern  world  in  opening  the  fresh  treasures  of  the 
New  Testament  to  all  the  people.  And  in  our  simple, 
popular,  often  uneducated  western  way  we  did  it 
well. 

But  we  have  had  to  learn  in  the  recent  years 
that  our  form.ula  here  is  confusing,  cramping,  and 
finally  in  the  way.  We  had  to  learn  that  the 
Bible,  even  the  New  Testament,  is  no  simple 
book,  easily  read  and  interpreted  without  scholar- 
ship and  study,  one  that  yields  to  him  who  runs  a 
clear  and  adequate  guide  to  belief  and  practice.    On 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

the  contrary  we  had  to  come  to  see  that  our  scrip- 
tures are  terribly  complex,  not  self-explanatory, 
that  the  teaching  of  the  Master  has  been  conveyed 
to  us  through  the  varying  personalities,  philoso- 
phies and  expriences  of  his  early  disciples. 

Then  we  with  most  modern  Christians  have 
come  to  see  that  the  only  unifying  principle  in  all 
our  varied  teachings  is  the  beauty,  consistency, 
social  soundness,  spiritual  imagination,  human 
helpfulness  of  the  Personality  of  the  Son  of  God, 
our  Master.  Here  is  the  one  ever-living,  enlight- 
ening spiritual  force,  that  functions  wherever  man 
goes,  grows  with  his  growth,  which  age  cannot 
wither  nor  custom  stale. 

And  it  is  this  doctrine  of  the  saving  power  of 
the  personality  and  way  of  life  of  Jesus  the  Christ 
which  is  exactly  adapted  to  this  public  corner.  Fol- 
lowing persons  not  formulas,  is  the  way  of  the 
average  man,  of  all  of  us  in  times  of  solicitude  as 
to  life  and  death,  that  unites  when  even  principles 
divide. 

So  be  it.  We  will  preach  here  the  personal 
character,  the  faith,  the  experience,  the  reasonable- 
ness and  gentleness,  the  way  of  living  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  We  will  speak  endlessly  of  "the  glory  of 
God  as  seen  in  the  face  of  Christ."  The  hurried, 
critical,  even  indifferent  student  will  hear  it,  the 
unifying,  time-serving  bells  of  the  University  will 
help  us  speak  it.  The  church  in  Mandel  Hall  will 
soon  move  away,  but  the  years  are  witiiout  number 
which  will  see  this    building    we    make    preaching 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

Christ's  good  news  here.  We  shall  pipe  songs  of 
joy  to  the  children  of  this  market  place  and  they 
will  dance — the  bright  cherry  aspects  of  Christ's 
way  of  life.  We  shall  speak  tenderly  too  of  the 
iiard  experiences  of  man  on  the  earth,  and  they  will 
weep,  to  know  the  tender  mercies  of  our  God. 


"WHO  ARE  CAMPBELLITES?" 

Dear  Papyrus: 

Received  "Scroll  Tract  Number  1,"  "Who  are 
Christians  ?" 

Don't  want  to  be  dictatorial,  but  would  not  the 
title  "Who  are  Campbellites  ?"  be  more  suggestive 
and  descriptive  of  the  contents? 

J.  H.  0.  SmTH. 
Pittsburg,  Kansas. 

The  suggestion  is  interesting  and  welcome,  as 
sny  suggestion  from  Brother  Smith  is  always  sure 
to  be.  But  on  the  whole,  no,  we  do  not  think  that 
the  proposed  change  of  title  would  be  an  improve- 
ment. The  tract  in  question  quoted  extensively 
from  the  arguments  of  Alexander  Campbell,  W.  K. 
Pendleton,  and  Isaac  Errett  touching  the  question 
as  to  who  are  Christians.  We  are  of  the  opinion 
that  having  an  open  mind  to  hear  and  weigh  what 
these  men  have  said  on  the  subject  does  not  consti- 
tute one  a  Campbellite.      It  is  certainly  no  sign  of 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

spiritual  freedom  for  one  to  be  willfully  ignorant  of 
the  thought  of  great  men  of  the  past.  The  tract 
narrates  the  fact  that  Mr.  Campbell  was  promptly 
and  vigorously  criticized  for  saying  that  there  were 
Christians  in  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches. 
There  are  always  people  like  that.  These  critics 
felt  under  no  obligation  to  agree  with  Mr.  Campbell, 
although  they  were  members  of  "our  churches." 
And  the  men  of  today  certainly  have  equal  liberty 
to  dissent  from  his  opinion.  But  it  does  not  seem 
to  us  absolutely  essential  that  one  must  differ  with 
him  on  this  point,  or  even  that  one  must  be  unin- 
terested in  his  opinion,  in  order  to  escape  the  charge 
of  being  a  Campbellite. 

And  did  you  ever  notice  how  zealous  some  of 
the  brethren  are  to  maintain  the  "historic  position 
of  our  people"  when  that  seems  to  support  their 
own  views,  and  how  quick  they  are  to  cry  "Camp- 
bellite, Campbellite!"  when  the  fathers  are  quoted 
in  defense  of  some  other  view? 

We  repeat  what  was  stated  in  the  introduction 
to  the  tract:  The  material  was  published  for  his- 
torical information  and  for  individual  study.  Every 
free  man  is  entitled  to  give  it  as  much  or  as  little 
weight  as  he  pleases,  and  to  draw  from  it  any  con- 
clusion which  the  logic  of  the  facts  seems  to 
justify.  And  as  Mr.  Campbell,  Mr.  Pendleton,  and 
Mr.  Errett  were  not  considering  the  question  of  the 
conditions  of  admission  to  one  of  "our  churches," 
we  are,  after  mature  consideration,  unanimously  of 
the  opinion  that  the  title  suggested  by  Bro.  Smith 
would  be  less  appropriate  than  the  one  which  was 
used. 


Page  12  THE  SCPwOLL 

A  PERSONAL  CREED 

•       John  Ray  Ewers. 

(The  following  was  broadcasted,  Nov.  5,  by  the 
minister  of  the  East  End  Christian  Church,  Pitts- 
burgh, with  the  explanation  that  it  v/as  ?i  statement 
of  personal  faith  and  not  one  adopted  by  the  church 
or  to  be  imposed  upon  anyone  else. — Ed.) 

I  BELIEVE  IN  GOD. 

I  believe  God  is  a  personal  Spirit,  best  inter- 
preted as  "Our  Father."  Since  He  is  Eternal  Love  I 
live  in  a  friendly  universe.  I  think  of  my  Father- 
God  as  possessing  immeasurable  intelligence,  will, 
love  and  power  by  which  He  fills  and  operates  the 
universe.  Yet  with  all  His  vastness  and  holiness 
He  loves  me.  Just  as  the  rays  of  the  sun  reach 
every  stock  of  wheat  upon  the  planet  so  His  love 
reaches  me,  individually.  This  conviction  gives  me 
strength,  dignity  and  eternal  hope. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  JESUS,  GOD'S  SON. 

I  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  unique  Son  of  God 
and  that  he  is  my  Saviour.  I  conceive  of  him  not  in 
minimum  but  in  maxim.um  terms.  He  is  one  with 
God  in  spirit  and  purpose.  As  I  study  and  ex- 
perience Him,  he  rises  above  the  human  category, 
he  is  divine  as  men  are  not.  The  mystery  of  His 
nature  I  cannot  solve,  but  I  believe  that  "God  was  in 
Him  reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself."  He  was 
an  object  lesson,  in  human  form^,  of  God.  No  mere 
man  can  save  me,  but  Jesus  can.  I  understand  God 
only  as  I  understand  Jesus,  for  He  reveals  God. 
His  divinity  is  proven  to  me  by  His  sinless,  full- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

orbed  character.  I  believe  that  it  is  right  to  live 
as  He  lived.  I  love  Him  with  all  my  heart,  pray 
to  God  thru  Him,  and  dedicate  my  life  to  His  ser- 
vice. Without  reservation  and  without  compro- 
mise I  accept  His  divinity.  I  believe  that  He  has 
risen  from  the  dead  and  lives  eternally. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

I  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  active  em- 
anation of  Deity.  I  hold  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
God  at  work  in  His  world,  guiding,  comforting, 
molding,  and  in  all  noble  ways  influencing  the 
hearts  of  men.  I  think  of  inspiration  and  illumina- 
tion as  the  province  of  God's  Holy  Spirit.  I  believe 
that  it  is  right  for  me  to  yield  myself  to  His  guid- 
ance. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  PRAYER. 

I  believe  that  I  can  talk  to  God  and  that  He 
delights  to  hear  His  child's  voice,  nor  do  I  believe 
that  that  voice  is  without  influence  and  effect  up- 
on the  heart  of  God.  I  believe  that  prayer  is  the 
highest  spiritual  function  of  which  a  man  is 
capable.  I  believe  in  praying  not  only  when  I  am 
in  extreme  need,  but  also  when  I  am  happy  and 
prosperous.  I  would  be  ashamed  to  come  to  God  in 
adversity,  if  I  avoided  or  neglected  Him  in  pros- 
perity. Prayer,  to  me,  is  the  vital  breath  of  the 
soul;  it  changes  me  and  it  influences  God.  I  be- 
lieve in  asking  God  for  whatever  I  want  and  that 
He,  in  His  love  and  wisdom,  will  either  answer  me 
''Yes"  or  "No".     I  do  not  wish  to  dictate  to  God. 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  BIBLE. 

I  believe  that  the  Bible  is  inspired,  not  me- 
chanically but  vitally.  I  regard  the  Bible  as  a 
text-book  on  Religion  and  Ethics,  and  I  believe  that 
it  was  written  by  inspired  men.  I  believe  with 
Coleridge,  "The  Bible  is  inspired  because  it  inspires 
me."  I  believe  that  the  Bible  contains  the  progres- 
sive revelation  of  God,  culminating  in  the  person  of 
Jesus.  Jesus  is  the  clear  window  thru  which  we  see 
God.  I  believe  that  the  Bible  is  for  daily  reading 
and  meditation  and  that  it  reproves,  instructs  and 
illumines  my  mind  and  soul.  I  do  not  believe  that 
all  of  the  Bible  is  equally  valuable,  but  that  the 
words  of  Jesus  are  supreme  and  that  its  chief  con- 
tribution is  the  introduction  it  gives  me  to  the  spirit 
of  my  Master. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  HEAVEN. 

I  beieve  that  the  pictures  given  of  heaven  in 
the  Bible  are  symbolical  but  that  they  are  essen- 
tially true.  Heaven,  I  think,  is  the  home  of  the  soul, 
the  spiritual  home  of  all  the  noble  of  all  the  ages. 
To  enter  such  a  company  will  be  the  reward  of  con- 
trol, suffering,  and  Christ-like  living  in  this  world, 
thru  the  grace  of  Jesus  and  the  favor  of  God.  I  be- 
lieve that  virtue  has  its  reward  and  that  the  ac- 
ceptance of  Jesus  in  truth,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
eternal  companionship  of  God,  Jesus  and  the  saints 
of  all  times. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  HELL. 

I  believe  that  the  pictures  given  of  Hell  in  the 
Bible  are  symbolical  but  are  essentially  true,  stand- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

ing  for  the  punishment  of  wickedness  and  the  denial 
of  Jesus.  I  believe  that  all  sin  carries  punishment 
in  its  train.  I  believe  that  part  of  that  punishment 
will  consist  in  remorse  over  wasted  opportunities 
and  selfish  use  of  them.  I  believe  that  part  of  that 
punishment,  the  major  part,  will  consist  in  separa- 
tion from  the  companionship  of  God,  Jesus  and  the 
good  and  great  of  all  ages.  I  frankly  confess  that 
in  my  inmost  soul  I  fear  the  lashings  of  outraged 
conscience  and  the  banishment  from  the  society  of 
the  good,  which  sin  would  bring  about. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

Because  I  believe  in  organization  and  coopera- 
tion I  believe  in  the  church  as  the  social  group 
whose  duty  it  is  to  bring  the  Kingdom  of  God  into 
this  whole  world.  I  believe  that  the  church  was 
divinely  founded  and  that  it  holds  a  divine  task.  I 
regret  the  many  weaknesses,  divisions,  and  mis- 
takes that  the  historical  church  has  shown  to  a 
doubting  world.  I  believe  that  strength,  unity  and 
success  can  only  come  by  a  return,  not  formally  but 
spiritually,  to  our  Divine  Master.  The  church,  to 
me,  is  broader  than  any  one  denomination,  it  in- 
cludes all  those  who  accept  and  who  seek  to  follow 
Jesus  as  Lord.  I  regard  all  such  disciples  as  my 
brothers  in  the  common  faith.  I  believe  that  the 
church  of  today  has  drifted  far  from  the  simple 
spirituality  of  its  founder  and  needs  to  return  to  the 
pure  life,  the  love  of  humanity  and  the  beautiful 
spirit  that  dominated  Jesus. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION. 

I  believe  that  our  religion  appeals  to  the  best 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

intellects  and  therefore  that  emphasis  should  be 
placed  upon  the  cultural  side  of  our  faith.  Chil- 
dren should  be  given  correct  ideas  of  God,  Jesus, 
and  all  the  items  mentioned  above.  The  end  of  such 
education  in  religion  would  be  the  love  of  God  and 
of  Jesus,  and  the  joyful  and  whole-hearted  accept- 
ance of  their  way  of  life. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  EVANGELISM. 

My  Christian  experience  being  so  rich  and 
happy  leads  me  to  desire  to  share  it  with  as  many 
others  as  possible.  Therefore  a  holy  zeal  burns  in 
my  heart  to  tell  the  story  of  Jesus  and  His  love  to 
everyone  possible.  I  believe  that  this  can  be  done 
by  personal  interviews,  by  public  testimony  and  by 
the  quiet  influence  of  a  true  life.  I  believe  that  I 
cannot  remain  a  Christian  unless  I  try  to  build  up 
the  Kingdom  of  my  Master. 

I  BELIEVE  IN  SOCIAL  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

I  believe  that  the  final  test  of  the  value  of  my 
religious  faith  is  demonstrated  to  an  unconvinced 
world  by  the  genuineness  of  my  social  service.  I 
believe  that  society  has  a  right  to  expect  from  me, 
as  a  man  who  wears  the  name  of  Christ,  expressions 
of  love  in  the  form  of  social  justice,  mercy  and 
righteousness.  I  believe  that  this  service  cannot  be 
given  without  sacrifice  and  suffering  upon  my  part, 
and,  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  I  am  glad  to  give  these 
proofs  to  the  world,  to  the  limit  of  my  ability.  I 
am  convinced  that  this  spiritual  attitude  and  ser- 
vice is  the  key  that  will  unlock  all  the  conflicting 
social  problems  of  today  and  of  all  days. 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME  XIX       JANUARY,  1923,       NUMBER  5 

ON   HEARING   THREE   CHRISTMAS   SERMONS 
BY  RADIO 

By  T.  V.  Smith. 

Over  the  cosmic  nerves  which  make  sensitive 
the  ethereous  encasement  of  our  world  there  came 
to-day  three  pious  heralds  clad  in  Yuletide  trap- 
pings. Strange  ancients  two  of  them  were,  taken 
bodily  out  of  their  simple  setting  in  bygone  ages 
and  sent  breathless  over  the  unwired  ways  of  this 
new  age.  The  same  strange  impartiality  that  sends 
rain  alike  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust  rules,  be- 
yond a  doubt,  the  sensitivity  of  these  invisible 
lines  of  communication  that  have  brightened  this 
Christmas  Eve.  The  perplexing  indifferentism 
toward  the  messages  which  they  bear  can  mean 
only  that  the  wireless  waves  have  no  speech  of  their 
own  wherewith  to  protest  what  they  transmit. 


But  the  Prince  of  the  Power  of  the  Air,  the 
spirit  that  now  worketh  for  the  children  of  obed- 
ience, would  have  censored  these  aerial  offerings, 
had  he  not  been  taking  his  moral  holiday.  To  the 
first  aspirant  he  should  have  said :  Should  the  oxen 
ride  in  airships  or  trudge  still  upon  the  ground? 
You  are  a  child  of  the  slow-moving  past,  early-born 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

and  earth-bound.  You  served  man  when  he 
journeyed  no  faster  than  his  own  two  feet  could  go ; 
you  survived  man's  first  faster  advance  and  at- 
tended him  still  when  the  strong  ox  and  the  fleet 
mustang  came  under  his  dominion;  but  ecns  have 
passed,  and  man  has  changed.  If  I  shouiu  give  you 
a  ticket  through  the  quick  wildness  of  my  domain 
and  you  survived  the  ordeal  and  came  to  the  palace 
of  man,  he  would  not  recognize  you  as  his  great 
love  of  nursery  days,  nor  would  you  feel  at  home  in 
the  company  of  his  new  familiars.  Your  clothes 
would  scratch  his  furniture,  and  your  speech  would 
be  but  half  remembered  syllables  of  a  childhood 
which  man  is  content  no  longer  to  recall.  If  love  of 
him  whom  once  you  served  deter  you  not,  consider 
then  at  least  your  own  safety  and  seek  no  passage 
here. 

"0  thou,  who  plumed  with  strong  desire 

Wouldst  float  above  the  earth,  beware! 
A  shadow  tracks  thy  flight  of  fire — 
Night  is  coming! 
Bright  are  the  regions  of  the  air, 
And  among  the  winds  and  beams 

It  were  delight  to  wander  there — 
Night  is  coming!" 

II. 

And  to  the  second  devout  aspirant  the  Prince 
of  the  Air  should  have  said:  Why  Come  you  here 
to-day?  Your  dress  is  of  the  modern  age,  but  your 
speech  betrayeth  you.  It  was  yesteryear  you 
spoke  to  man,  and  he  obeyed  your  voice.     But  while 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

you  slept  or  idled,  a  change  came  over  him.  You 
noted  not  how  quietly  his  adolescence  slipped  from 
him,  and  the  mantle  of  manhood  fell  upon  him.  The 
awkward  youth  you  knew  so  well  has  grown  to  self- 
reliant  man.  If  you  perchance  bought  passage  on 
some  slower  moving  line  and  then  came  carefully 
upon  man  while  he  was  at  play,  he  might  recognize 
you  and  take  you  to  his  heart  for  a  reminiscent 
hour  or  two.  But  if  you  came  in  unheralded  over 
this  adventurous  route,  he  would  blush  at  your 
voice  as  he  turns  abashed  from  other  memories  of 
those  awkward  transition  years.  Take  to  heart  the 
lesson  of  that  holy  one  in  whose  name  you  speak, 
and  do  not  try  to  pour  the  wine  of  your  ancient  sal- 
vation into  the  new  bottles  that  humanity  has 
dressed.  If  you  really  seek  to  serve  man,  let  these 
words  dissuade  you  from  asking  transit  over  my 
perilous  airy  waste.  But  if  this  motive  move  you 
not,  bethink  you  of  yourself.  The  high  air  offers 
safety  to  none  but  those  who  live  to  learn  and  love. 

"If  the  whirlwinds  of  darkness  waken 

Hail,  and  lighting,  and  stormy  rain; 
See,  the  bounds  of  the  air  are  shaken — 
Night  is  coming! 
The  red  swift  clouds  of  the  hurricane 
Yon  declining  sun  have  overtaken. 

The   clash   of   the   hail    sweeps   over   the 
plain — 
Night  is  coming!" 

III. 
Just  at  the  close  of  day  there  came  a  third  mes- 
senger who  craved  an  hour's  audience  with  man — 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

with  man  in  the  name  of  God.  The  noble  know  the 
noble:  clear  and  strong  rang  out  his  voice  over  the 
illimitable  space.  Had  the  Prince  of  the  Air  been 
present,  like  this  his  words  would  have  gone:  You 
know  the  race  of  men.  You  speak  no  cant,  you 
know  no  platitudes.  Your  words  sound  not  out  for 
the  living  what  once  was  living  but  now  is  dead. 
When  you  speak  of  the  old  and  dead,  it  lives  again ; 
and  no  fire  burns  so  low  as  not  to  be  fanned  to 
flame  again  by  your  breath.  A  living  man,  you 
speak  to  living  men.  Your  presence  makes  my  un- 
seen but  far-reaching  nerves  vibrant;  my  ether 
tingles  to  pass  forward  with  speed  of  light  what 
man  is  touched  to  hear.  Speak  on,  speak  on!  Tis 
joy  to  serve  who  serves  all  living  men.  No  track- 
less waste,  no  naked  space  can  daunt  your  flaming 
soul! 

"The  deathless  stars  are  bright  above; 

If  thou  wouldst  cross  the  shade  of  night, 
Within  thy  heart  is  the  lamp  of  love, 
And  that  is  day ! 
And  the  moon  will  smile  with  gentle  light 
On  thy  golden  plumes  where'er  they  move; 
The  meteors  will  linger  round  thy  flight, 
And  make  night  day.' ' 

The  University  of  Chicago. 


The  Congress  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  will  be 
held  at  Indianapolis  beginning  with  an  evening  ses- 
sion on  Monday,  April  2,  and  extending  through 
April  5.     H.  H.  Peters  is  the  president. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

COMMUNITY  CHURCHES  AND  DENOMINA- 
TIONAL COMPETITION 

By  Orvis  F.  Jordan 

War  is  a  curse,  but  in  its  wake  are  sometimes 
changes  that  are  the  beginnings  of  progress.  War 
breaks  up  the  crust  of  things.  During  the  days  of 
the  recent  unpleasantness  with  Germany  the  short- 
age of  coal  drove  many  churches  together  in  order 
to  save  fuel.  The  contacts  begotten  in  this  period 
have  in  hundreds  of  cases  resulted  in  the  formation 
of  community  churches.  Of  course  there  are  com- 
munity churches  older  than  the  war,  but  it  was  the 
war  which  gave  the  movement  popularity,  so  that 
today  over  eight  hundred  of  such  organizations  are 
reported. 

A  community  church  is  not  a  standardized 
thing  and  can  never  be;  hence  there  will  always 
be  dispute  as  to  what  organizations  should  be  called 
community  churches.  A  denominational  church  re- 
ceiving by  letter  freely  all  people  coming  to  the 
community  and  developing  a  program  of  activity 
for  the  whole  community  has  been  rightly  listed  as 
a  community  church.  Federations  of  two  or  three 
denominations  with  a  single  pastor,  holding  wor- 
ship in  a  single  building,  are  included  in  the  move- 
ment. Union  churches  of  the  older  type  are  com- 
munity churches  only  if  their  chief  interest  is  ser- 
vice rather  than  dogma.  Independent  community 
churches  differ  from  the  federated  type  in  that 
they  usually  bring  together  large  numbers  of  de- 
nominational varieties.      The   Community   Church 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

of  Park  Ridge,  111.,  includes  17  different  denomina- 
tions in  its  membership. 

If  there  are  any  unifying  concepts  among  these 
various  organizations,  they  are  tolerance  and  fel- 
lowship. To  deny  fellowship  is  regarded  as  a  ma- 
jor sin,  whether  this  denial  is  made  in  the  name  of 
a  theory  of  baptism  or  the  Lord's  Supper  or  a  form 
of  church  organization.  The  community  churches 
are  nearly  all  shepherded  by  men  trained  in  the 
evangelical  fold  and  using  evangelical  methods,  but 
the  big  common  and  undisputed  things  of  the 
Christian  faith  are  set  forth  in  the  pulpit,  while 
doubtful  matters  of  private  interpretation  are  lett 
to  the  individual  conscience. 

Community  churches  fall  easily  into  two  lead- 
ing types,  rural  and  suburban.  The  county-seat 
town  still  prefers  its  numerous  varieties  of  com- 
petitive organization.  In  the  suburbs  of  large  cities 
economic  pressure  makes  consolidation  imperative. 
The  larger  number  of  community  churches  are  rural. 
Probably  most  experts  on  the  rural  church  favor 
the  community  church  as  the  only  solution  of  the 
problem  of  this  church.  Either  denominational 
leaders  must  make  trades,  withdrawing  churches 
here  and  acquiring  exclusive  rights  elsewhere,  or 
the  people  themselves  will  withdraw  from  all 
bishops  and  secretaries  and  take  the  reins  of  eccles- 
iastical power  into  their  own  hands. 

In  practical  adminstration,  the  most  vexed 
problem  is  that  of  the  missionary  work  of  the 
church.      The  text-books  for  mission  study  are  in- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  7 

terdenominational,  but  the  magazines,  the  cam- 
paigns, and  the  objectives  are  largely  denomina- 
tional. The  denominational  community  church  has 
less  of  a  problem  here,  but  the  independent  church 
must  yet  find  a  solution.  Recently  the  cause  of  the 
union  women's  colleges  of  the  orient  gave  com- 
munity churches  a  fine  opportunity  for  a  big  ap- 
peal. As  the  community  church  movement  grows, 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  great  missionary  officials 
will  set  apart  a  number  of  things  that  can  be  done 
better  on  a  union  basis,  and  that  they  will  call  upon 
the  independent  churches  to  accomplish  these  ends. 

Naturally  the  strict  denominationalist  fights 
the  community  church  movement  tooth  and  nail. 
Numerous  editorials  have  appeared  in  the  Metho- 
dist press  of  the  middle  west  scoring  the  movement. 
A  Disciples  writer  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Christ- 
ian-Evangelist notes  with  glee  the  separation  of  the 
Disciples  from  a  community  church  in  Wisconsin, 
and  the  state  paper  in  Michigan  makes  cooperation 
with  the  community  church  movement  a  kind  of  be- 
trayal of  the  faith.  But  then,  as  Disciples  know 
all  too  well  from  recent  history,  all  new  movements 
must  first  be  misunderstood  and  maligned. 


Thomas  V.  Smith,  the  writer  of  the  first  article 
in  this  issue  of  the  Scroll,  is  now  an  instructor  in 
philosophy  in  the  University  of  Chicago,  where  he 
received  his  Ph.  D.  last  June.  He  was  formerly  at 
Texas  Christian  University  and  the  University  of 
Texas. 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

W.  C.  PEARCE  VISITS  THE  PHILIPPINES 

By  E.  K.  Higdon 

Many  eminent  men  visit  Manila  in  the  course 
of  a  year.  Residents  of  this  city  have  been  very 
fortunate  in  the  type  of  visitors  who  have  called 
within  the  last  twelve  months.  Missionaries  are  al- 
ways on  the  alert  for  men  and  women  who  can 
bring  them  word  of  the  thought  and  action  in  other 
parts  of  the  world.  The  morning  paper  announces 
that  Graham  Taylor  arrived  last  evening  and  a 
committee  searches  him  out  at  the  Manila  Hotel 
and  invites  him  to  attend  a  luncheon  of  the  Faculty, 
Graduates  and  the  Alumni  of  the  Union  Schools. 
He  comes  and  in  an  informal  after-dinner  address 
moves  us  first  to  laughter  and  then  to  tears  and 
stirs  and  inspires  us  mightly.  Professor  K.  L. 
Latourette  of  Yale  comes  from  the  World's  Chris- 
tian Student  Conference  at  Peking  and  is  in  port 
two  or  three  days.  We  have  just  returned  from 
vacation  but  we  hear  of  his  arrival  and  arrange  to 
have  him  out  for  breakfast  (all  his  other  meals 
were  dated).  We  have  a  delightful  talk  with  him 
and  Mary  Eleanor  joins  him  in  singing  "Bull  Dog, 
Bull  Dog,  Bow,  Wow,  Wow!"  Secretary  Denby 
spends  a  week  or  more  in  the  Islands  and  in  an  ad- 
dress at  the  Rotary  Club  goes  out  of  his  way  to  put 
in  some  good  licks  for  prohibition.  Many  of  us  are 
elated  to  hear  a  man  in  his  position  speak  so  highly 
of  the  18th  Amendment,  especially  in  a  country 
where  the  Wet  Season  lasts  all  the  year  'round. 
These  men  and  others  keep  us  in  touch  with  the 
rest  of  the  world  and  give  us  courage  to  work  ahead 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

at  our  jobs.  In  my  opinion  none  of  our  visitors 
has  helped  us  more  individually  nor  has  given  a 
greater  impetus  to  the  cause  we  represent  than  W. 
C.  Pearce,  Disciple  of  Christ,  Associate  Secretary 
of  the  World's  Sunday  School  Association. 

He  came  early  in  August.  Four  or  five  of  us 
went  out  into  the  bay  in  a  launch  to  greet  him 
aboard  the  vessel  which  had  brought  him  from 
Australia.  After  we  had  shaken  hands  all  around, 
we  took  turns  in  telling  when  and  where  we  had 
last  seen  and  heard  him.  Is  there  anybody  in  the 
United  States  with  even  a  little  interest  in  the  Sun- 
day School  work  who  has  not  heard  Pearce!  It 
seemed  that  nearly  all  the  Sunday  School  people  in 
Manila  had  enjoyed  that  privilege  at  one  time  or 
another.  Those  who  had  not  were  given  the  oppor- 
tunity several  times  before  he  left. 

He  spoke  first  to  a  group  of  young  people  at  the 
Taft  Avenue  Church  and  showed  that  he  was  able 
to  sense  the  need  of  our  situation  here  by  making  & 
strong  appeal  for  the  proper  foundation  on  which  to 
build  a  nation.  He  was  addressing  students  who  are 
aflame  with  national  aspirations.  Two  or  three 
days  later  he  spoke  to  five  or  six  hundred  young 
men  in  the  College  of  Agriculture  of  the  University 
of  the  Philippines.  It  is  a  question  whether  or  not 
the  more  profound  impression  was  made  upon  the 
audience  or  the  speaker.  The  young  men  respond- 
ed with  enthusiasm  to  his  straight  from  the  shoul- 
der blow  in  the  name  of  national  and  personal  right- 
eousness and  Mr.  Pearce  declared  that  he  had  sel- 
dom, if  ever,  spoken  to  a  more  eager,  more  respon- 
sive, more  intelligent  appearing  group. 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

The  Evangelical  Churches  of  the  city  were  just 
completing  an  evangelistic  campaign  and  had  work- 
ed up  a  large  mass  meeting  with  which  to  close 
their  series  of  services.  Mr,  Pearce  was  scheduled 
to  speak.  Five  thousand  young  people  crowded  in- 
to the  largest  public  building  in  Manila  and  1400 
others  who  could  not  understand  English  went  to  a 
nearby  church  to  listen  to  Mr.  Pearce  speak  through 
an  interpreter. 

At  an  informal  reception  given  by  Mr.  A.  L. 
Ryan,  Secretary  of  the  Philippine  Islands  Sunday 
School  Union  Mr.  Pearce  brought  us  a  message  of 
hope  and  optimism  based  upon  his  travels  thruout 
Europe,  Asia,  and  Australia.  Then  on  the  Sunday 
before  he  departed  he  preached  at  the  Union  Church 
a  masterful  sermon  on  the  subject  of  Religious  Edu- 
cation. He  aroused  interest  in  and  stimulated  in- 
quiries about  the  organization  which  is  doing  the 
major  part  of  the  religious  education  in  the  Philip- 
pines. 

Mrs.  Higdon  and  I  had  a  very  pleasant  evening 
with  Mr.  Pearce  in  our  home.  We  have  a  number 
of  mutual  friends  and  acquaintances  and  it  was 
very  good  to  have  word  about  them  from  a  man  who 
had  seen  them  more  recently  than  we. 

Mr.  Pearce  had  several  meetings  with  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  Sunday  School  Union  of 
the  Philippine  Islands.  He  helped  us  formulate 
plans  and  programs  which  had  been  in  very  nebu- 
lous condition  before  he  came.  As  all  of  the  mis- 
sions  and  their   churches   are   represented   in   this 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

Executive  Committee  by  both  Filipinos  and  Ameri- 
cans, the  actions  taken  are  official.  That  is  to  say 
that  the  Disciples  Mission,  for  example,  supports 
the  plans  agreed  upon  by  their  representatives 
meeting  with  the  other  men  and  women  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee.  We  took  action  on  some  ques- 
tions, such  as  week-day  religious  education  and  va- 
cation religious  education,  which  calls  for  more 
money  than  the  Sunday  School  Union  can  raise  on 
the  field.  Speaking  for  the  W.  S.  S.  A.,  Mr.  Pearce 
assured  us  that  he  would  do  all  within  his  power  to 
secure  an  appropriation  for  the  Philippines.  The 
representatives  of  the  Disciples  Mission  were  not 
only  pleased  to  have  a  part  in  these  conferences 
with  Mr.  Pearce  but  are  also  anxious  to  have  it 
known  that  they  are  in  hearty  sympathy  with  his 
campaign  for  funds  in  the  homeland. 


V/.  J.  Lhamon  has  issued  in  pamphlet  form  his 
address  delivered  before  the  Congress  of  Disciples 
of  Christ,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  April,  1922,  under 
the  title,  "The  New  Creed  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ."  It  is  a  plea  for  liberty,  a  criticism  of  the 
Sweeney  resolution,  and  an  argument  for  open 
membership.  We  rather  regret  to  see  the  latter 
two  linked  together,  for  the  resolution  in  question 
does  not  seem  to  us  to  stand  or  fall  with  the  de- 
cision of  the  open  membership  question.  Copies  of 
Mr.  Lhamon's  address  may  be  secured  by  address- 
ing him  at  Liscomb,  Iowa. 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

AMERICANISM 

The  writer  recently  bought  on  the  street  a 
copy  of  The  Fiery  Cross,  which  apears  to  be  the 
official  organ  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan.  Just  by  way 
of  indicating  how  wide  a  diversity  of  opinion  there 
seems  to  be  as  to  what  constitutes  Americanism,  we 
quote  three  items  from  this  single  issue  of  the 
paper : 

"The  Fiery  Cross  will  maintain  a  policy  of  staunch  one 
hundred  per  cent  Americanism  without  fear  of  favor.  It  will 
strive  to  give  the  American  viewpoint." 

"It  presents  a  most  anamolous  situation  to  have  the  black 
man  of  Africa,  incapable  of  development  either  mentally  or 
morally  that  would  qualify  him  for  citizenship  in  the  great 
white  man's  Republic,  clothed  and  vested  with  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  that  the  white  man  can  claim  and  are  solely 
the  white  man's  heritage." 

"Colonel  Willi:!m  Joseph  Simons,  formerly  Imperial 
Wizard  of  the  Knights  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  was  elected  Em- 
peror for  life,  a  new  position  in  the  order,  at  the  Tuesday 
session  of  the  Imperial  Klanvocation." 


A  revised  edition  of  Roy  C.  Flickinger's  impor- 
tant book,  The  Greek  Theater  and  its  Drama,  has 
been  published  by  the  University  of  Chicago  Press. 
It  has  won  a  permanent  place  as  a  standard  work 
on  the  subject.  The  author  is  Dean  of  the  College 
of  Liberal  Arts  of  Northwestern  University.  He 
was  President  of  the  Campbell  Institute  two  years 
ago. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

"A  GLORIOUS  BAPTIST  CROWN." 

The  following  resolution  was  adopted  by  the 
Texas  Baptist  Convention  held  at  Waco,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1922: 

■'Resolved  .  .  Third,  that  we  record  our  profound 
gratitude  to  God  for  his  signal  and  manifest  blessings  on  our 
labors  in  the  campaign  tlius  far,  and  tliat  witli  singing  hearts 
we  go  on  winning  tlie  lost,  building  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
'teaching  the  ignorant,  and  healing  the  sick,  until  we  put 
a  glorious  Baptist  crown  on  the  head  of  Our  Lord  and  Sav- 
ior, Jesus  Christ." 

We  had  intended  to  make  some  comment  upon 
this  resolution,  but  the  subject  is  beyond  our  pow- 
ers.    Nothing  seems  adequate. 

And  yet  any  resolution  deliberately  written  out 
by  good  men  and  passed  by  a  convention  must  have 
some  idea  behind  it  that  is  not  wholly  absurd  and 
blasphemous.  We  think  that  what  the  resolution 
meant  to  express  probably  was  the  thought  that 
the  Baptists  of  Texas  should  bring  to  their  Lord  the 
tribute  of  their  love  and  service.  We  do  not  think 
it  possible  that  they  meant  to  imply  that  they 
would  pin  their  denominational  insigna  upon  the 
Savior  and  make  Christ  the  exclusive  possession  of 
their  particular  household.  A  few  years  ago  we 
frequently  heard  quoted  a  statement  of  a  gentleman 
then  prominent  in  governmental  circles  east  of  the 
Rhine,  about  "our  German  God." 

We  cannot  believe    that    this    resolution    was 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

meant  to  sectarianize  Jesus  as  that  phrase  meant  to 
nationalize  the  Almighty. 

But  it  sounds  bad.  There  are  many  excellent 
Christians  for  whom  devotion  to  a  Christ  with  a 
Baptist  crown  would  be  difficult  and  embarrassing. 
Let  us  lay  our  denominational  insignia  at  his  feet  in 
hum^ble  surrender,  rather  than  place  them  upon  his 
brow  in  sectarian  pride.  And  this  exhortation  is  not 
directed  wholly  or  chiefly  at  Baptists. 


Our  honored  fellow,  Judge  Charles  S.  Lobengier, 
of  the  United  States  Court  for  China,  resident  for 
many  years  at  Shanghai,  was  the  guest  at  a  compli- 
mentary banquet  tendered  to  him_  on  October  23  by 
the  Far  Eastern  American  Bar  Association,  the 
American  Cham^ber  of  Commerce,  the  American  As- 
sociation, and  the  University  Club.  It  was  the 
twentieth  aniversary  of  his  accession  to  the  bench. 
Congratulatory  messages  were  received  from  Presi- 
dent Harding,  Secretary  Hughes,  the  President  and 
Premier  of  China,  and  many  others.  The  President 
of  China  conferred  upon  Judge  Lobengier  the  deco- 
ration of  the  Chiao  Ho,  and  Soochow  University 
conferred  upon  him  the  Honorary  Degree  of  Doctor 
of  Jurisprudence.  These  are  very  notable  honors, 
and  they  have  been  earned  by  long  years  of  very 
distinguished  service  in  the  complicated  and  diffi- 
cult field  of  extraterritorial  jurisprudence. 


The  Board  of  Education  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  held  its  mid-winter  session  at  the  Edgewater 
Beach  Hotel,  Chicago,  Jan.  10  and  11. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

ROOM  FOR  THINKERS 

In  spite  of  all  the  ecclesiastical,  political,  social, 
and  academic  restraints  which  check  and  hamper 
the  free  spirit  of  man  in  its  desire  for  self-expres- 
sion, there  is  still  more  room  for  creative  thinkers 
in  the  world  today  than  there  are  creative  thinkers 
to  occupy  it.  So,  in  substance,  says  Albion  W. 
Small.  It  is  the  truth.  There  are,  to  be  sure, 
certain  annoying  (and  sometimes  saving)  hinder- 
ances  which  retard  the  progress  of  pioneers  in 
every  field  and  smoetimes  threaten  to  wreck  their 
careers.  There  are  restraints  of  conventionality 
and  tradition,  of  prejudice  and  entrenched  self-in- 
terest, of  stupid  and  lethargic  indifference,  and  of 
frantic  and  fanatical  obscurantism,  as  well  as  those 
of  sane  conservatism.  But  within  the  area  in  which 
these  do  not  operate  as  serious  limitations,  there  is 
still  "more  room  for  creative  thinkers  than  creative 
thinkers  to  occupy  it."  It  is  perfectly  possible  for 
one  to  spend  so  much  energy  issuing  declarations  of 
independence  that  he  has  none  to  spare  for  creative 
thinking  and  constructive  work.  Liberty  is  valu- 
able only  as  it  provides  the  conditions  in  which  one 
may  do  something  that  is  worth  doing.  The  most 
serious  limitations  to  our  liberty  are  internal.  Men 
are  estopped  from  thinking  freely  and  acting  con- 
structively, not  so  much  by  opposition  from  with- 
out as  by  defects  within, — by  lack  of  courage,  or 
knowledge,  or  training,  or  motive. 


Dean  G.  D.  Edwards,  of  Missouri  Bible  College, 
is  spending  the  year  abroad.    At  present  he  is  in 

Egypt. 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

"FROM  COVER  TO  COVER" 

I  was  preaching  recently  in  a  small  town 
located  somewhere  between  the  Alleghany  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  At  the  morning  service  the 
resident  minister  had  declared,  with  much  slapping 
of  the  pulpit  Bible,  that  he  believed  the  Old  Book 
from  cover  to  cover,  and  quoted  Rev.  22:18,  19,  as 
validating  the  contents  of  the  entire  volume.  In 
the  evening  as  I  turned  the  pages  looking  for  my 
text,  I  found  that  that  same  pulpit  Bible  contained 
Bel  and  the  Dragon,  First  and  Second  Tobit,  Susan- 
nah and  the  Elders,  and  the  rest  of  the  Apocrypha. 
And  it  occurred  to  me  that  one  who  champions  the 
cover-to-cover  theory  ought  at  least  to  be  sure  that 
he  knows  what  documents  are  included  between  the 
covers  at  least  of  the  particular  volume  to  which 
he  appeals. 


The  College  of  the  Bible  Quarterly  (Lexington) 
for  November  is  devoted  to  the  work  and  writings 
of  Barton  W.  Stone.  The  articles  are  by  A.  W.  For- 
tune and  R.  L.  McQuary.  It  is  worthy  of  circula- 
tion and  preservation. 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME  XIX      FEBRUARY,  1923,      NUMBER  6 


WHAT'S  WRONG  WITH  THE  MINISTRY? 

Bishop  Lawrence,  in  the  New  Republic  for 
January  31,  asks  "What's  Wrong  with  the  Min- 
istry?" and  gives  a  number  of  answers  which  have 
been  frankly  given  to  that  searching  question  by 
persons  occupying  various  points  of  view.  Here  are 
a  few  of  them: 

"Ministers  are  clever  at  sliding  through.  They 
don't  believe  what  they  say." 

'Ministers  are  n't  interesting.  Everything  they 
tell  me  I  know  already." 

"Ninety-nine  percent  of  the  ministers  are  wishy- 
washy.     They  are  preaching  for  money." 

A  foreigner  says:  "Ministers  are  fakirs.  They 
look  after  Americans  and  think  the  rest  of  us  are 
duds." 

"Ministers  are  n't  modern.  They  lack  moral 
courage  to  speak  the  truth." 

"They  fall  back  on  stock  phrases.  They  don't 
define  terms  but  just  keep  on  talking." 

We  do  not  quote  these  criticisms  because  we 
think  that  they  are  true,  for  some  of  them  we  do 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

not  believe  to  be  true  of  any  considerable  percent- 
age of  the  ministery.  But  it  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  these  are  the  opinions  of  a  great  many  people 
whose  judgment  is  by  no  means  negligible.  If  it 
is  incumbent  upon  us  to  have  "a  decent  respect  for 
the  opinions  of  mankind,"  we  must  consider  why 
such  opinions  are  held.  A  certain  percent  of  the 
unfavorable  judgm.ents  of  the  ministry  may  be  set 
down  to  hostility  toward  those  moral  and  spiritual 
objectives  for  which  ministers  are  working.  It  is  an 
old  saying  that  no  thief  ever  had  a  good  opinion  of 
the  law.  The  destructive  forces  of  society  are  nat- 
urally arrayed  against  the  constructive  forces.  We 
are  often  justified  in  loving  people  for  the  enemies 
that  they  make.  Prohibition  enforcement  officers 
are  extremely  unpopular  among  bootleggers  and 
their  patrons ;  and  the  better  they  are,  the  more  un- 
popular. The  man  whose  whole  program  of  life  is 
hostile  to  the  moral  code  which  every  faithful  min- 
ister proclaims,  is  not  likely  to  think  well  of  the 
ministry,  though  he  may  have  a  genuine  respect 
for  some  particular  minister  whose  fighting  qual- 
ities he  is  forced  to  admire.  There  is  a  sporting 
quality  in  the  make-up  of  many  a  bad  man  which 
compels  him  to  admire  a  good  antagonist.  But  in 
general,  a  minister  cannot  expect  popularity  among 
the  crooked,  the  dishonest,  the  sensual.  For  all 
such,  the  first  line  of  defense  is  to  assert  that  the 
professional  advocate  of  righteousness  is  at  heart 
just  as  bad  as  everybody  else,  and  that  he  adds  the 
vice  of  hypocricy  to  those  faults  which  are  common 
to  all  the  rest  of  humanity. 

Moreover,  those  who  are  habitually  indifferent 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

to  the  idealistic  aspects  of  life  and  to  those  things 
v/hich — rather  tritely,  perhaps,  but  with  some  genu- 
ine meaning — we  call  spiritual,  do  not  find  it  easy 
to  discover  any  sincerity  in  a  message  which  pri- 
marily concerns  the  spiritual  life.  The  vocabulary 
of  religion  is  foreign  and  meaningless  to  such  per- 
sons. Their  natural  reaction  is  that  all  their  talk 
about  religion  is  a  tissue  of  unrealities,  and  that 
those  who  are  so  urgent  about  it  are  merely  trying 
to  hold  their  jobs  and  draw  their  salaries.  So  much 
ought  to  be  said  for  the  comfort  and  defense  of  the 
ministry.  As  there  were  of  old  those  to  whom  the 
cross  of  Christ  was  foolishness,  so  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  today  there  are  many  who  characterize 
any  presentation  of  religion  as  dull,  wishy-washy, 
insincere. 

But  that  is  not  all  that  needs  to  be  said.  There 
is  a  factor  of  truth  in  even  the  harshest  of  the  crit- 
icisms quoted  above. 

"Ministers  are  clever  at  sliding  through."  Well, 
are  n't  they?  Many  of  them,  at  least.  Is  there 
not  a  very  decided  tendency  to  seek  out  forms  of 
statement  which  will  mean  one  thing  to  one  group 
and  another  thing  to  another,  so  as  to  please  every- 
body? Liberals  do  it  at  avoid  arousing  opposition 
from  conservative  parishioners.  Conservatives  do 
it  to  give  themselves  a  fictitious  appearance  of 
modern-ness.  More  issues  are  avoided  than  are 
ever  faced  and  met.  This  may  be  euphoniously 
described  as  tact.  Tact  is  a  valuable  quality.  We 
hear  dire  reports  of  men  who  have  "wrecked  their 
ministry"  through  lack  of  tact.     It  sounds  less  ad- 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

mirable  v/hen  it  is  called  "sliding  through."  But 
whatever  you  call  it,  and  whether  you  think  it  is 
praise-worthy  wisdom  or  reprehensible  cowardice, 
who  can  deny  that  the  thing  is  done,  anti  that  it  is 
often  so  unskillfully  done  (or  attempted)  as  to  give 
rise  to  a  reasonable  suspicion  that  some  ministers 
"do  not  believe  what  they  say?" 

"Ministers  are  n't  interesting."  Must  we  not 
plead  guilty  to  much  dull  and  platitudinous  repeti- 
tion of  phrases  which  cannot  reasonably  be  expect- 
ed to  touch  the  interests  of  any  except  those  who 
are  already  interested?  And  when  the  effort 
to  avoid  dullness  leads  a  man  to  sensationalism,  ec- 
centricities, pulpit  tricks  and  platform  antics,  one 
could  wish  that  the  poor  striver  after  brilliance  had 
been  content  to  be  honestly  dull. 

"They  are  preaching  for  money."  In  its  ex- 
tremest  form,  this  is  not  true  of  many,  we  think. 
Only  the  very  weak  or  the  very  foolish  enter  the 
ministry  for  gain.  But  once  in,  it  is  hard  not  to  be 
influenced  to  rather  a  considerable  extent  by  con- 
siderations of  one's  own  personal  success,  meausred 
in  every-day  commercial  terms.  There  is  urgent 
need  of  a  ministry  as  devoted  and  disinterested  as 
those  were  supposed  to  be  who  once  took  the  vows 
of  "poverty,  celibacy,  and  obedience."  Those  vows 
never  produced  the  desired  result,  except  in  isolated 
instances,  but  the  ideal  was  a  noble  one, — to  pro- 
duce a  company  of  men  so  utterly  devoted  to  doing 
the  will  of  God  and  serving  the  needs  of  men  that 
consideration  for  their  personal  advantage  would 
simply  vanish  from  their  minds.      It  would  be  a 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

bold  man  who  would  claim  that  such  a  degree  of 
disinterestedness  characterizes  the  Protestant  min- 
istry as  a  whole ;  and  so  long  as  it  does  not,  we  need 
not  be  surprised  if  unfriendly  outsiders  describe 
the  situation  crudely  and  undiscriminatingly  by 
saying  that  the  ministers  are  preaching  for  money. 

"They  fall  back  on  stock  phrases."  Indeed 
they  do.  There  are  some  glorious  old  phrases 
which,  through  long  centuries  of  use,  have  come  to 
possess  a  rich  connotation  of  religious  associations. 
The  thought-content  of  these  phrases  is  likely  to  be 
rather  vague.  Their  emotional  aura  is  comforting 
and  satisfying  to  those  who  have  lived  long  in  their 
company.  They  are  like  old  songs, — "Home, 
sweet  home,"  or  "Dixie."  Those  who  have  through 
their  whole  lives  made  these  phrases  or  songs  the 
symbols  of  certain  cherished  emotions,  find  comfort 
or  stimulus  in  them.  But  others  can  not  reason- 
ably be  expected  to  enter  into  the  experience.  And 
even  those  to  whom  these  phrases  have  become 
dear  need  to  scrutinize  their  meaning  from  time  to 
time  and  see  whether  they  are  really  expressions  of 
thought  or  merely  the  symbols  of  an  emotion.  The 
emotion  of  which  they  are  the  symbol  may  be  indis- 
pensable. We  are  not  for  a  moment  suggesting 
that  a  coldly  intellectual  statement  is  all  that  is 
needed.  But  religion  can  not  live  if  its  spokesmen 
and  advocates  simply  settle  back  into  a  comfortable 
and  unconsidering  reiteration  of  these  pious 
phrases.  A  great  deal  of  evangelistic  preaching  is 
simply  this.  It  does  not  need  to  be  this.  And  it 
is  quite  possible  also  for  men  who  think  that  they 
are  very  modern  to  use  in  an  equally  conventional 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

way  certain  phrases  which,  though  of  more  recent 
origin,  are  in  danger  of  becoming  equally  stereo- 
typed. And  the  outsider  will  complain,  with  some 
color  of  justification,  that  we  "fall  back  on  stock 
phrases  and  just  keep  on  talking." 

These  are  not  wholly  captious  criticisms.  What 
the  minister  needs  is:  First,  a  clear,  definite,  well 
thought-out  conception  of  what  it  is  trying  to  say 
and  do,  conceived  in  specific  and  concrete  terms ; 
Second,  a  complete  and  utter  devotion  to  the  pro- 
motion of  these  interests  and  ideals,  a  devotion  so 
absolute  that  considerations  of  personal  safety  and 
advantage  will  vanish  as  completely  as  they  are  ex- 
pected to  from  the  mind  of  a  soldier  in  battle;  and 
Third,  (and  this  will  follow  from  the  others)  the 
habit  of  perfect  sincerity  and  fearlessness  in 
thought  and  speech. 


WANTED— A  SYMBOL  OF  SERVICE 

Christian  symbolism  has  overlooked  one  im- 
portant resource.  We  use  the  cross  as  the  symbol 
of  sacrifice,  the  crown  for  victory,  the  anchor  for 
hope,  but  we  need  a  symbol  for  service.  On  the 
night  of  the  Last  Supper,  Jesus  girded  himself 
with  a  towel  and  washed  the  disciples'  feet.  Per- 
haps the  towel  could  be  made  the  symbol  for  ser- 
vice. To  be  sure  there  are  practical  difficulties. 
A  towel  is  not  easy  to  co^iventionalize.  It  is  harder 
to  draw  or  carve  a  recognizable  towel  than  a  cross 
or  an  anchor,  a  crown  or  a  dove.  Perhaps  the 
pitcher  or  the  basin  would  be  better  than  the  towel 
as  a  reminder  of  the  same  incident. 


THE  SCROLL Page  7 

REPRESENTATIVE  DEMOCRACY 

The  events  of  the  past  two  years  have  made  it 
increasingly  evident  that  we  will  never  have  a 
General  Convention  which  will  either  receive  or 
deserve  very  much  respect  until  we  have  one  which 
is  representative  of  the  churches.  The  question  is 
not  a  new  one,  even  in  our  generation.  Our  first 
Convention,  in  1849,  was  called  as  a  delegate  con- 
vention. It  was  promptly  turned  into  a  mass-meet- 
ing. A  few  years  later,  when  there  had  come  into 
existence  an  American  Christian  Publication  So- 
ciety, rather  a  self-constituted  organization  which 
was  claiming  support  on  the  ground  that  it  was  of- 
ficially "ours,"  Alexander  Campbell  expressed  him- 
self as  follows  in  the  Millenial  Harbinger: 

"I  cannot  countenance  any  longer  any  as- 
sociation, or  public  institution,  called  Christian 
that  is  not  originated,  sustained,  managed,  and 
controlled  by  messengers,  specially  selected 
and  directed  by  the  churches,  as  its  officers, 
directors  or  managers.  I  am  prepared  to  dis- 
cuss this  matter  in  the  fullness  of  the  blessing 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  without  any  passion, 
feeling,  or  interest,  other  than  the  honor  and 
the  dignity  of  the  King  of  Zion,  the  union,  har- 
mony, peace  and  prosperity  of  his  kingdom, 
and  the  salvation  of  the  world.  It  must  be 
done  before  our  brethren  in  these  United 
States  either  can  or  will  co-operate  as  becomes 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  Alas  for  any  cause,  when 
every  man  gets  up  his  own  institution,  and 
seeks  to  control  its  movements,  and  calls  it  a 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

Christian  College,  a  Christian  University,  a 
Christian  Publication  Society,  a  Christian 
Bible  Society,  a  Christian  Asylum.  It  is  no  , 
better  when  one  or  two  or  three  churches, 
containing  as  many  hundred  members,  call  a 
convention  of  all  the  United  States,  and  make 
every  one  that  comes  an  actor  in  the  drama, 
without  a  letter  accrediting  him  as  the  respre- 
sentative  of  anyone  but  himself." 

We  are  going  to  have  a  General  Convention  not 
many  months  hence  at  Colorado  Springs.  It  will 
have  important  business  to  transact.  The  question 
that  is  in  every  mind  is,  Will  it  be  a  representative 
convention?  Will  the  two  or  three  thousand  who 
happen  to  have  time  and  money  to  make  the  long 
trip  happen  to  be  representative  of  the  million  and 
more  who  cannot  go.  It  will  be  recalled  that  there 
was  a  time  in  the  development  of  the  Roman  Re- 
public when  the  nominal  rights  of  citizenship  had 
been  very  widely  extended  but  when  onlj'^  those  cit- 
izens who  lived  at  Rome,  or  could  get  there  at  elec- 
tion time,  could  exercise  the  rights  of  citizenship.  It 
did  not  work  well.  Such  a  plan  may  be  well  enough 
until  the  interests  involved  become  important,  and 
then  it  breaks  down  just  at  the  moment  when  it  is 
most  necessary  that  it  should  not  break  down.  We 
need  a  delegate  convention. 


Remember  the  Congress  of  the  Disciples,  Indi- 
anapolis, April  2-5.  W.  E.  M.  Hackleman  is  Secre- 
tary. Ministers  will  do  well  to  attend  it  as  a  breath- 
ing-spell between  their  pre-Easter  campaigns  and 
their  post-Easter  activities. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

THE  NEED  OF  A  FREE  FORUM 

The  historian  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  should 
consider  the  Missouri  Christian  Lecturship,  which 
flourished  in  the  eighties  and  nineties  of  the  last 
century.  We  had  not  a  great  many  university 
trained  men  at  that  time,  but  we  had  a  group  of 
men  who  were  at  once  firm  in  their  faith  and  clear 
in  their  thinking,  who  knew  their  rights  as  free 
men  in  Christ  and  knowing  dared  maintain.  In  the 
preface  to  a  pamphlet  containing  an  address  entit- 
led "The  Grounds  of  our  Hope,"  delivered  at  the 
Lectureship  by  G.  W.  Longan  and  published  in 
1890,  the  author  says: 

"The  platform  of  our  Lectureship  was  estab- 
lished in  the  beginning  on  a  basis  of  freedom.  No 
one,  it  was  supposed,  would  care  for  a  lectureship 
which  should  limit  its  investigations  and  discus- 
sions to  such  platitudes  and  commonplaces  as  would 
be  sure  beforehand  to  meet  the  approval  of  every 
arbitrary  dogmatist  who  might  chance  to  become 
a  listener.  The  custom  of  the  lectureship  through- 
out has  accorded  with  this  conception  of  its  char- 
acter and  purpose.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  some 
who  have  attended  all  its  sessions  and  have  con- 
tributed, according  to  their  ability,  to  make  prof- 
itable its  proceedings,  would  long  since  have  ceased 
to  feel  any  interest  in  it.  In  such  an  institution,  it 
has  been  naturally  supposed  that  one  might  utter 
his  deepest  thought,  and  that  his  utterance  might 
be  criticised  in  perfect  freedom  within  the  limits  of 
fraternal  respect  and  fellowship. 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

"It  happened  at  the  late  lectureship  to  be  in 
the  line  of  my  argument,  though  not  essential  to 
it,  to  say  that  I  regard  the  account  of  Eden,  in  the 
second  and  third  chapters  of  Genesis,  as  in  the  na- 
ture of  an  allegory.  I  said  so  without  hesitation. 
Such  has  been  my  opinion  for  a  long  time,  and  is 
my  opinion  still.  I  also  ventured  to  say  that  Paul 
did  not  reason  altogether  soundly  from  the  singu- 
lar form  of  the  collective  noun  Seed  in  the  promise  to 
Abraham:  'He  saith  not  unto  seeds,  as  of  many, 
but  as  of  one,  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ.*  This  was 
suposed  by  some  to  be  very  heretical,  and  though 
the  men  who  were  most  scandalized  by  these  opin- 
ions did  not  say  much  when  discussion  was  in  order, 
they  have  said  a  great  deal  since.  Besides,  many 
who  were  not  present  have  heard  of  what  was  said, 
and  have  been  mightily  exercised  over  the  matter. 

"I  have  not  the  least  fear  as  to  what  the  men, 
the  real  men,  who  are  coming  after  us  by  and  by 
will  think  and  say  concerning  these  matters.  I 
have  heard  the  coyote-howl  of  the  heresy-hunter 
before,  and  have  never  been  frightened.  I  am  not 
frightened  now." 

We  place  these  words  on  record,  partly  as  a  mat- 
ter of  history  that  we  may  be  mindful  of  some  of 
the  great  spirits  of  our  past  generations  who  have 
dared  to  think  and  speak  and  who  insisted  upon 
their  right  to  be  both  thoughtful  and  religious ;  and 
partly  as  a  suggestion  of  the  spirit  which  should  be 
exhibited  in  our  Congress.  It  should  be  a  perfectly 
free  forum.  It  is  not  necessary  that  every  topic 
which  is  presented  should  be  treated  from  what  we 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

are  getting  accustomed  to  call  "both  sides,"  and  so 
should  take  on  the  character  of  a  debate.  In  fact, 
the  more  we  keep  out  of  the  attitude  of  debate,  the 
more  likely  we  will  be  to  learn  something  and  make 
some  progress.  But  the  Congress  ought  to  have 
a  large  attendance  of  the  men  who  are  interested  in 
hearing  perfectly  free  and  frank  discussions  of 
topics  which  are  important  in  the  understanding 
and  practice  of  religion. 


THE  SIMPLE  GOSPEL 


One  of  our  good  brethem  in  a  recently  publish- 
ed article  says:  "We  cannot  compete  with  the  sec- 
tarian ministers  in  delivering  essays  on  ethics  and 
sociology ;  they  have  us  beat  before  we  start.  They 
are  gifted  in  this,  but  we  can  beat  them  preaching 
the  plain  simple  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  latter  part  of  that  statement  ought  to  be 
true,  though  we  would  hate  to  make  a  general  asser- 
tion that  it  always  is  true.  But  we  do  not  think 
the  first  part  of  the  statement  is  true  at  all.  If  it 
were  it  would  not  be  a  thing  to  boast  about, 
but  something  to  be  ashamed  of.  It  might  surprise 
the  writer  of  that  paragraph  to  know  that  even  the 
small  and  numerically  inconsiderable  group  known 
as  The  Campbell  Institute  contains  a  good  many 
men  whose  contributions  in  the  fields  of  ethics  and 
sociology  have  won  quite  general  recognition.  It 
is  true  that  their  major  interest  has  not  been  in 
competing  with  sectarian  ministers,  but  it  will 
scarcely  be  held  that  this  lack  of  a  competitive 
motive  invalidates  their  work. 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

Of  course  such  a  statement  may  be  nothing 
more  than  a  verbal  flourish,  but  it  seems  much  more 
like  a  return  to  that  pride  of  ignorance  of  which  we 
have  had  too  much.  It  is  bad  enough  when  men 
are  unduly  proud  of  their  knowledge  but  worse 
when  they  boast  of  their  lack  of  it.  The  chief  qual- 
ification for  writing  good  "essays  on  ethics  and 
sociology,"  we  suppose,  is  a  sound  understanding  of 
the  principles  of  morality  and  of  human  society. 
These  topics  are  surely  not  rem.ote  from  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  If  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  conceived 
as  so  "plain  and  simple"  that  it  has  nothing  to 
do  with  morals  or  society,  we  are  not  much  inter- 
ested in  it.  But  those  are  precisely  the  fields  in 
which  Jesus  was  most  interested. 


STATISTICS. 

The  latest  edition  of  the  Year-Book  of  the  Dis- 
ciples of  Christ  gives  the  following  statistics.  In 
the  United  States  and  Canada  we  have  8,714 
churches,  with  1,243,358  members,  and  a  Bible 
School  enrollment  of  1,024,773.  Including  foreign 
countries,  there  are  9,397  churches,  with  1,310,296 
members.  This  is  a  gain  of  33,066  in  membership 
since  last  year.  Slightly  more  than  fifty  percent 
of  the  membership  in  the  United  States  and  Cana- 
da is  in  five  states:  Missouri,  Indiana,  Kentucky, 
Illinois,  and  Ohio,  and  thirty  percent  more  in  Kan- 
sas, Texas,  Oklahoma,  California,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Virginia  (in  the  order  mentioned).  We  have 
310  missionaries  in  foreign  fields,  and  1724  native 
workers.  During  the  past  fiscal  year  (ending  June 
30,  1922)   the  churches  in  the  United  States  and 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

Canada  raised  and  expended  $10,808,629  for  local 
expenses,  and  $3,261,718  for  missions  and  benevo- 
lences. Adding  the  amounts  raised  in  other  coun- 
tries, the  total  amount  for  missions  and  benev- 
olences is  raised  to  $3,874,159.  There  are  20  col- 
leges (three  of  which  are  junior  colleges  for 
women)  co-operating  with  the  Board  of  Education, 
besides  five  institutions  which  are  in  connection 
with  state  or  other  universities.  These  institutions 
(not  including  the  College  of  Missions)  have  532 
faculty-members,  and  8,832  students,  of  whom  928 
are  reported  as  in  preparation  for  the  ministry  or 
the  mission  field.  The  total  assets  of  the  colleges 
are  $15,421,109. 

The  largest  church  is  still  reported  as  having 
5000  members,  as  last  year.  The  smallest  has  two 
members.  We  regret  to  report  that  the  one 
which  was  last  year  recorded  as  having  a  member- 
ship of  "two,  estimated"  has  apparently  ceased  to 
exist.  The  church  which  this  year  has  two,  last  year 
had  none.  The  average  number  of  members  is  143, 
the  average  expenditure  for  local  maintenance  is 
$1240,  and  the  average  offering  for  missions  and 
benevolences  $374. 

The  honor-roll  of  churches  which  give  "more 
for  others  than  for  self"  includes  65  churches,  only 
10  of  which  raised  more  than  $1000  for  local  ex- 
penses; 26  of  them  raised  less  than  $100  for  local 
work,  and  5  less  than  $10.  The  most  economical 
church,  in  this  list  at  least,  carried  on  the  Lord's 
work  in  its  own  community  at  a  total  outlay  of  four 
dollars  for  the  year. 

The  total  number  of  preachers  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  is  5926. 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

AT  CHICAGO 

The  ministers  of  the  Chicago  area  held  an  all- 
day  retreat  and  conference  on  Monday,  Feb.  19.  All 
of  the  pastors  of  our  churches  in  the  city  were  pres- 
ent (except  four  or  five  of  our  non-cooperating 
brethren),  and  in  addition  E.  Vv".  Cole  from  South 
Bend,  Long  from  La  Porte,  Callaway  from  Sterling, 
Tomes  from  Gary,  Robertson  from  Kankakee. 
Ames  and  D.  A.  Wickizer  read  papers  on  "The  Mes- 
sage for  Today."  Jordan  reviewed  some  books  use- 
ful to  preachers.  A.  H.  Gage  (Baptist)  spoke  on 
"The  Evangelism  of  Youth."  Jesse  Bader  led  a 
conference  on  Evangelism  and  the  use  of  the  pre- 
Easter  period.  It  was  a  profitable  session.  In  the 
evening  the  Disciples  Social  Union  of  Chicago  had 
a  dinner,  at  which  260  persons  sat  down  in  the  Red 
Room  of  the  La  Salle  Hotel.  Baird  of  China  was 
present,  and  ten  missionaries  on  furlough  or  under 
appointment  who  are  now  in  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago. There  were  brief  talks  by  several,  including 
Jesse  Bader,  and  Emory  Ross  who  leaves  February 
27  to  return  to  the  Congo,  and  the  address  of  the 
evening  was  given  by  Edgar  De  Witt  Jones  of  De- 
troit. It  was  a  real  day.  It  might  surprise  the 
brethren  in  some  sections  of  the  country,  who  de- 
rive their  information  about  this  metropolis 
through  somewhat  indirect  channels,  to  know  how 
small  a  part  of  their  time  the  Disciples  of  Chicago 
spend  in  trying  to  "destroy  the  Bible"  and  how 
much  of  their  energy  they  give  to  trying  to  advance 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  It  might  also  sur- 
prise them  to  learn  what  a  degree  of  unity  there  is 
among  them  in  the  pursuit  of  this  high  enterprise. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

C.  J.  Robertson  has  accepted  a  call  to  the  Me- 
morial Church,  Chicago.  We  welcome  our  Fellow 
to  this  vicinity.  It  is  our  next-to-nearest  church 
to  the  University. 

The  walls  of  the  new  University  Church  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ  are  rising  very  impressively.  As 
their  majestic  masonry  begins  to  overshadow  the 
old  building,  the  members  begin  to  realize  how 
much  they  love  the  little  old  cheese-box.  It  is  a 
strange  mingling  of  melancholy  and  gladness  when 
you  prepare  to  move  out  of  the  old  house  where  you 
have  raised  your  children  into  the  new  and  finer 
one  which  shall  better  meet  the  needs  of  new  times. 
The  building  will  probably  be  completed  in  the  early 
summer  and  will  be  dedicated  the  first  week  in 
October. 

Let  us  say  a  good  word  for  H.  H.  Halley.  He 
probably  knows  more  of  the  Bible  by  heart  than 
any  other  man  in  America.  He  has  prepared  and 
memorized  a  condensation  of  each  book.  To  hear 
him  recite,  in  perfectly  simple,  clear,  eye-to-eye 
fashion,  the  substance  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
or  Isaiah,  or  one  of  the  Gospels,  in  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes,  is  to  gain  a  new  sense  of  the  appealing 
interest  of  these  books.  He  is  in  great  demand 
among  all  the  churches.  His  entire  repertoire 
makes  about  sixteen  hours  of  continuous  recitation. 


The  time  and  place  of  the  next  Convention 
have  been  definitely  fixed.  Colorado  Springs,  Sep- 
tember 4-9. 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

THE  SCROLL 

The  Scroll  seems  a  very  small  magazine  in  an 
age  when  one  can  buy  a  200-page  Post  for  a  nickle. 
Only  sixteen  small  pages.  But  the  Christian  Bap- 
tist was  a  magazine  of  only  24  pages  but  little  larg- 
er than  those  of  the  Scroll,  and  B.  W.  Stone's  Chris- 
tian Messenger  consisted  of  24  pages  even  smaller 
than  those  of  the  Christian  Baptist.  (Let  the  kind- 
ly critic  refrain  from  the  obvious  witty  reply.  We 
know  it.)  A  more  substantial  criticism  of  the 
Scroll  is  that  too  much  of  it  is  written  by  the  editor., 
All  of  it  this  time.  Moses  E.  Lard  said  that  his 
ideal  of  a  quarterly  was  a  magazine  of  150  pages, 
100  o£  them  written  by  himself.  The  Editor  of  the 
Scroll  is  less  ambitious.  He  realizes  that  the  rea- 
son the  Fellows  of  the  Institute  so  infrequently 
send  contributions  is  that  they  do  not  often  have 
ideas  small  enough  to  be  compressed  within  the 
narrow  limits  of  the  Scroll.  But  it  is  surprising 
what  a  large  idea  can  be  put  in  a  short  article  if 
the  writer  is  willing  to  leave  something  to  the  in- 
telligence and  imagination  of  the  reader.  And  that 
is  just  what  you  can  do  in  writing  for  the  Scroll 
audience.  An  average  sermon  contains  about  5000 
words,  almost  equivalent  to  a  whole  issue  of  the 
Scroll.  But  the  story  of  creation  was  told  in  seven 
hundred  words.  With  the  Institute  back  of  it, 
every  number  of  the  Scroll  might  contain  ideas 
enough  to  be  diluted  into  a  five-foot  shelf  of  books. 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME  XIX  MARCH,  1923  NUMBER  7 


A  LETTER  TO  A  FRIENDLY  OUTSIDER 

(Extracts  from  the  first  of  a  series  of  letters  read 
at  the  University  Church  of  Disciples  of  Christ, 
Chicago,  on  Wednesday  evenings  during  Lent.) 

Dear  Friend: 

You  will  understand  why  I  have  chosen  you  out 
of  all  my  friends  as  the  one  to  whom  these  letters 
are  addressed.  It  is  because  I  am  eager  to  tell  some 
one  about  these  matters  of  religion  and  because  I 
also  want  sympathetic  criticism  and  as  much  ap- 
proval as  can  honestly  be  given.  I  realize  that 
some  of  my  friends  would  not  be  interested  in 
receiving  letters  of  this  kind.  They  think  they 
had  too  much  when  they  were  children,  or  they 
have  been  reading  Anatole  France  or  Schopenhauer 
or  Nietzsche,  or  they  have  become  scientific  and 
very  sophisticated.  Others  just  do  not  trouble 
about  it,  not  because  they  have  come  to  any  specific 
conclusions  but  because  they  do  not  think  about  it. 
Under  slightly  different  circumstances  they  might 
have  been  keenly  interested,  that  is,  if  the  person 
they  married  had  cared  abowt  it,  or  if  the  set  they 
go  with  did  not  jest  over  it  so  much. 

I  am  writing  to  you  because  I  know  from  our 
conversations  in  other  days  that  you  are  not  cynical 
or  flippant     or    indifferent.      Your    interests     are 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

in  other  lines  but  you  have  a  wholesome  curiosity 
concerning  religion.  You  have  an  open  mind  and 
respect  for  the  convictions  and  idealisms  of  other 
people.  And  you  will  not  give  assent  to  what  I 
write  unless  you  are  really  moved  to  do  so.  You 
will  have  your  own  independent  opinion  whether  it 
accords  with  mine  or  not. 

Perhaps  an  experiment  we  are  m.aking  in  the 
church  now  will  interest  you  and  illustrate  our  de- 
sire to  make  religion  vital  and  appealing.  We  are 
undertaking  what  must  seem  to  our  more  ecclesias- 
tical friends  a  very  audacious,  if  not  rather  sacre- 
ligious,  experiment.  We  began  with  the  first  Sun- 
day of  this  year  the  development  of  a  new  calendar 
for  the  church  year.  Instead  of  taking  subjects 
for  sermons  from  the  latest  newspaper  sensation  as 
many  Protestant  ministers  do,  or  exclusively  from 
Biblical  sources  as  others  do,  or  from  the  theme  of 
the  service  as  laid  down  in  the  Prayer  Book,  as  ail 
good  churchmen  do,  we  are  seeking  to  organize 
services  in  reference  to  the  dominant  human  in- 
terests as  they  are  registered  in  the  procession  of 
the  seasons  and  in  the  festivals  and  the  great 
natural  celebrations  of  the  year.  Following  Christ- 
mas, which  has  united  with  pre-christian  and  per- 
fectly human  motives  centering  in  the  mysteries  of 
birth  a  kind  of  messianic  hope  hovering  over  the 
cradle  of  every  child,  we  have  utilized  the  epochs 
of  human  life,  childhood,  youth,  manhood  and  old 
age.  Each  of  these  has  been  made  the  theme  of 
a  service.  This  is  more  than  to  make  it  the  sub- 
ject of  a  sermon.  It  determines  the  readings  and 
the  hymns  and  the  prayers    and   it   furnishes   the 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

atmosphere  for  all  participants. 

The  historic  forms  of  Christianity  have  devot- 
ed this  season  of  Lent  to  searchings  of  heart,  to 
meditation  and  to  penance.  We  shall  try  other 
means  of  grace.  It  may  be  that  modern  psychology 
suggests  more  effective  means  of  awakening  our 
hearts  to  fonder  dreams  and  greater  hopes.  Cer- 
tainly this  plan  promises  to  identify  religion  with 
reality,  to  relate  it  to  contemporary  life,  and  to 
m.ake  it  a  matter  of  vital  concern. 

Religion  in  our  distracted  and  confused  time 
keeps  its  hold  for  all  classes  of  people  upon  the  two 
events  when  life  is  most  sensitive  and  tender  and 
susceptible — the  events  of  marriage  and  death. 
Every  minister  is  conscious  of  the  almost  pathetic 
eagerness  with  which  people  who  scarcely  think  of 
religion  at  other  times  turn  to  the  priest  or  the 
clergyman  when  love  or  death  has  encompassed  the 
home.  Some  critics  of  religion  think  this  fact  is 
the  lingering  remnant  of  old  superstition  and  be- 
lieve the  time  will  come  when  men  will  no  more 
turn  to  the  church  for  its  sanctions  in  marriage  and 
funeral  rites  than  they  do  in  building  houses  or 
starting  on  journeys.  They  contend  that  we  have 
secularized  many  interests  which  were  formerly 
within  the  province  of  religion  and  will  finally  dis- 
possess the  priests  entirely.  It  may  be  so.  But 
there  are  evidences  that  the  opposite  tendency  may 
prevail. 

(Here  the  letter  suggests  how  religious  cere- 
monials might  be  developed  which  will  synchronize 
with  the  natural  events  of  greatest  significance  in 
the  life  of  the  individual  and  the  community,  the 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

observance  of  great  national  holidays,  the  birth- 
days of  our  great  statesmen,  our  heroes  and 
leaders,  the  natural  epochs  of  nature,  seed  time  and 
harvest  time,  summer  vacations  and  spring  flowers 
and  sunshine.) 

I  can  imagine  you  saying,  Yes,  all  this  is  in- 
teresting enough  but  what  has  it  to  do  with 
religion?  Doesn't  religion  have  to  do  with  God  and 
the  Bible  as  the  revelation  of  God's  will  and  the 
plan  of  salvation? 

At  first  thought  such  a  question  seems  to 
present  a  very  sharp  contrast  to  the  things  I  have 
been  saying,  but  is  there  such  a  difference  after  all  ? 
The  Bible  is  perhaps  best  understood  when  it  is 
vievv^ed  as  a  record  of  the  history  of  a  wonderful 
people  throughout  their  struggle  toward  national 
unity  and  spiritual  insight.  It  contains  the  vivid 
account  of  their  leaders,  of  the  reverses  and  dis- 
asters but  also  of  the  marvelous  courage  and  in- 
domitable will  of  the  race  to  maintain  itself  and  to 
realize  the  fulfillment  of  the  dreams  of  its  prophets 
and  seers.  Their  God  was  the  embodiment  of 
their  ideas  of  power  and  wisdom  and  mercy.  It  is 
impossible  to  make  any  appraisal  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  Jehovah  aside  from  the  life  of  the  people. 
He  is  the  soul  and  symbol  of  their  corporate  life. 
His  reality  is  the  spirit  and  strength  of  the  heart 
of  Israel.  As  their  experience  broadens  into  as- 
sociation with  other  people,  Jehovah  takes  on  new 
proportions  and  becomes  identified  in  the  minds 
of  the  greatest  prophets  with  a  kingdom  whose 
bounds  are  not  limited  by  race,  language  or  tradi- 
tion. The  religion  of  the  Hebrew  people  was  their 
idealization    and    ceremonialization    of    the    great 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

events  in  their  past  and  of  their  hopes  for  the  fu- 
ture. And  their  God  was  the  heroic,  gigantic  per- 
sonahty  in  whom  they  saw  the  power  and  the  char- 
acter which  determined  those  events  and  guaran- 
teed those  hopes. 

(Christianity  in  our  own  time  is  being  trans- 
formed by  efforts  to  relate  it  to  the  living  interests 
of  the  present,  in  spite  of  attempts  to  crystallize 
and  formalize  it.) 

One  way  I  think  of  this  relation  between  relig- 
ion and  life  is  that  life  is  primary  and  that  religion 
is  its  symbolic  interpretation  and  enrichment.  Re- 
ligion is  therefore  never  something  for  itself.  It  is 
a  servant,  a  helper.  It  approves  the  good  and  en- 
courages the  repetition  of  the  satisfying  and  beau- 
tiful activities  and  achievements.  For  the  disas- 
trous and  the  defeating  experiences  it  displays 
warnings  and  rational  objections.  On  behalf  of  the 
joyous  and  the  saving  ways  of  life,  it  smgs  appeal- 
ing songs  and  pleads  with  the  infinite  tenderness  of 
unconquerable  love.  Against  the  mistakes  and  the 
follies  of  thoughtlessness,  it  paints  pictures  of  far 
consequences  and  immeasurable  loss.  Over  the 
whole  of  life  religion  inscribes  parables  of  hope  and 
great  words  of  comfort.  By  it  the  individual  is 
made  to  feel  at  home  in  the  universe,  a  child  of 
compassionate  affection  and  the  subject  of  provi- 
dential care.  If  modern  theories  of  the  world  have 
destroyed  for  us  some  forms  of  faith  in  God,  the 
hum.an  soul  will  not  be  slow  to  develop  higher  con- 
ceptions of  God  which  are  more  intelligible,  more  in- 
timate, more  human  and  nobler  than  the  old. 

Sincerely  yours, 
Edward  Scribner  Ames. 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

STUDENTS'  INTERESTS 
By  W.  J.  Burner 

Professor  Gibbs  and  I  have  been  making  an  ex- 
periment of  late  which  might  interest  some  of  the 
brethren.  There  are  more  than  800  students  in  the 
university  who  are  of  Disciple  antecedents.  A  part 
of  them,  and  a  rather  small  part,  is  segregated  in  a 
Sunday  School,  which  meets  at  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  as 
the  church  has  no  room  for  them.  Perhaps  the 
Disciples  in  Missouri  will  sometime  provide  a  place 
of  meeting,  but  they  have  not  yet  taken  the  matter 
in  hand.  It  seemed  to  us  to  be  the  proper  thing  to 
teach  these  young  people  something  about  the 
history,  teaching,  organization  and  work  of  the 
Disciples.  Of  these  subjects  their  knowledge  was 
small. 

We  have  not  developed  any  great  enthusiasm 
for  Disciple  history  and  Disciple  doctrine,  but  there 
is  some  interest,  and  the  interest  increases  as  we 
approach  the  practical  question  of  making  the 
church  a  success.  I  found  that  in  the  discussion  of 
Thomas  Campbell  I  had  to  do  all  the  talking,  but  in 
the  discussion  of  church  finances  or  the  kind  of 
preacher  a  church  should  have  they  have  ideas 
which  they  sometimes  express  with  startling  frank- 
ness. Their  real  problems  are  not  theoretical. 
They  seldom  bring  up  a  question  concerning  the 
reconciliation  of  faith  and  science.  But  they  are 
much  concerned  about  the  conservatism  in  the  pul- 
pit and  in  official  positions  which  stands  in  the  way 
of  making  the  church  a  power  for  good  in  the  com- 
munity. 

Students  in  a  state  university  are  not  likely  to 


THE  SCROLL  Page  7 

be  agitated  about  the  reception  of  a  few  unimmersed 
Christians  in  China  or  elsewhere,  but  they  can 
be  interested  in  the  subject  of  missions  as  easily 
as  students  in  those  institutions  which  are  engaged 
in  what  they  call  "Christian  education." 
University  of  Missouri. 


Program  of  the  Congress  of  the  Disciples 
Central  Christian   Church,   Indianapolis,  April  2-5. 
Monday  Afternoon,  April  2 
Christian  Unity,  An  Adventure  in  Good  Will — 
Homer  W.  Carpenter. 

Address — C.  C.  Morrison. 

Monday   Evening 
President's  Address,  The  Ministry  of  Work — 
H.  H.  Peters. 

Tuesday  Morning 

The  Pastor  His   Own   Evangelist — Stephen   E. 
Fisher. 

Evangelism  of  Youth — A.  H.  Gage    (Religious 
Ed.  Director,  Baptists). 

The  Spirit  of  the  New  Evangelism — Jesse  R. 
Kellems. 

The     Dynamic     of     Evangelism — George     W. 
Knepper. 

The  Gospel  for  Today — Joseph  Fort  Newton. 
Tuesday  Afternoon 

The  Literature  of  the  Disciples — W.   E.   Gar- 
rison. 

Discussion  led  by  Silas  S.  Jones. 

The  Literature  the  Disciples  Should  Produce — 
F.  D.  Kershner,  and  Rodney  McQuary. 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

Discussion  led  by  J.  D.  Armistead. 

Tuesday  Evening 

Science  and  Religion — Dr.  Jonathan  Rigdon. 
Science  and  Salvation — Joseph  Fort  Newton. 

Wednesday  Morning 

Social  Christianity — A.  W.  Taylor. 
Discussion, 

Christ  in  Modern  Literature — Joseph  Fort 
Newton. 

Wednesday  Afternoon 

The  Place  and  Value  of  Forms  in  the  Christian 
Religion— W.  C.  Morro. 

The  Use  and  Abuse  of  the  Ceremonial  Element 
in  Religion — O.  F.  Jordan. 

Wednesday  Evening 

Christ  in  the  Life  of  Today — Joseph  Fort 
Newton. 

Thursday  Morning 

Philanthropy  of  the  Disciples  as  Exhibited  in 
Gifts  to  Our  Colleges — R.  H.  Crossfield. 

The  Contribution  of  the  Disciples  to  Higher 
Education — G.  L  Hoover. 

Religious  Instruction  in  Tax-supported  Insti- 
tutions— Herbert  L.  Willett. 

Thursday  Afternoon 

The  Crisis  Confronting  the  Church  Today — H. 
O.  Pritchard. 

America's  Duty  in  the  World  Crisis — E.  L. 
Powell. 

Thursday  Evening 

Address — Herbert  L.  Willett. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

LETTERS  FROM  FELLOWS 

E.  K.  Higdon  writes  from  Manila:  "We  are 
seeing  some  very  hopeful  signs  of  future  Church 
union  in  the  Philippines  in  the  large  number  of 
cooperative  enterprises  undertaken  by  the  churches 
here.  V/e  sail  for  home  early  in  March."  He  and 
his  brother,  E.  E.  Higdon  of  BloomJngton,  111.,  ex- 
pect to  spend  the  summer  quarter  at  the  University 
of  Chicago. 

Joseph  L.  Garvin:  "I  propose  that  there  be  ap- 
pointed a  promotional  committee  for  the  Campbell 
Institute;  that  one  representative  in  each  state  act 
as  chairman  of  a  commxittee  for  that  state,  and  act 
as  agent  of  the  Scroll  and  in  all  matters  which 
might  aid  cooperation." 

Chas.  A.  Stevens:  "I  wish  I  were  where  I  could 
occasionally  meet  with  some  of  the  fellows,  or  at 
least  meet  with  them,  at  their  annual  love-feast.  In 
this  town,  it  seems  that  the  preachers  are  all  living 
about  twenty  to  fifty  years  behind  the  times.  Think 
of  listening  to  a  sermon  on,  'Which  church  would 
Paul  or  Peter  join  if  he  were  here  today?'  The 
regular  visits  of  tiie  Century  and  the  Scroll  help 
to  keep  one  from  spiritual  starvation  or  becoming 
fossilized.  May  the  larger  interests  of  Christ's 
great  work  increase  and  abound  is  my  prayer.  Sep- 
tember 25  I  reached  my  seventy-second  milestone." 

Clarence  H,  Hamilton:  "My  life  as  a  teacher 
of  philosophy  in  the  University  of  Nanking  still 
abounds  with  satisfactions.  The  renaissance-like 
enthusiasm  of  the  students  for  the  wisdom  of  this 
great,  new,  modern  world  that  is  opening  up  before 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

them  is  most  refreshing.  The  latest  philosophical 
novelty  is  now  the  vitalism  of  Dr.  Hans  Driesch 
from  the  University  of  Leipzig.  Dr.  Driesch  has 
come  to  China  at  the  invitation  of  the  China  Lec- 
ture Assocation  in  v^^hich  the  renowned  scholar 
Liang  Ch'i-chao  is  interested.  During  this  autumm 
sem.ester  he  has  been  lecturing  at  the  government 
Southeastern  University.  I  understand  that  the 
Lecture  Association  has  tried  to  get  Henri  Bergson 
for  this  year,  but  failing  in  this,  turned  to  the  next 
most  noted  vitalist.  We  had  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Driesch 
in  our  home  one  evening  and  found  them  to  be  most 
delightful  people,  interested  and  eager  about  many 
things.  During  the  spring  semester  they  will  be 
in  Peking  and  Dr.  Dreisch's  influence  will  radiate 
out  from  the  National  University  there.  I  say 
radiate  out,  because  all  such  lectures  by  foreign 
scholars  are  forthwith  translated  into  good  Chinese 
and  broadcasted  through  the  newspapers  and  mag- 
azines. There  is  no  nation  in  the  world  that  is 
m.ore  ready  to  make  smooth  the  way  of  influence 
before  the  scholar  in  their  midst." 

Guy  "W.  Sarvis:  "We  are  faced  with  a  double 
dilemma  in  the  University  of  Nankin.  There  is  a  very 
great  demand  for  admission.  The  past  year  has  been 
the  largest  in  our  history.  We  now  have  over  400 
college  students,  who  tax  all  our  class  rooms  to  the 
limit  and  the  strength  of  the  faculty  past  the  limit. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  have  already  developed  an 
institution  with  a  budget  a  good  way  beyond  our 
receipts,  and  we  have  nowhere  here  in  China  where 
we  feel  that  we  can  get  the  necessary  funds.  The 
missions  a  few  years  ago  told  us  to  make  a  univer- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

sity,  but  they  did  not  think  their  command  in  terms 
of  m.oney.  The  result  is  that,  having  obeyed  their 
mandate  up  to  the  danger  point,  we  must  now  come 
back  to  them  for  added  support  or  else  stop  and 
even  curtail  at  once.  We  have  the  beginning  of  a 
plant  that  should  take  care  of  800  college  students 
altogether,  but  in  order  to  do  it,  we  miust  have  m^ore 
dormitories,  a  new  library  building,  and  a  new 
science  building.  Of  course  all  the  boards  are  hard 
pressed  at  home,  and  our  demand  for  funds  is  only 
one  of  a  multitude.  The  fact  is  that  the  demands 
of  mission  educational  institutions  through  the 
world  have  increased  so  rapidly  in  the  last  decade 
that  one  wonders  what  the  end  will  be.  However, 
these  embarrassments  of  prosperity  are  not  un- 
known to  you.  The  more  interesting  human  side 
of  our  work  is  more  difficult  to  record  on  paper,  but 
it  is  the  part  that  keeps  us  at  it  and  m.akes  us  be- 
lieve that  we  are  spending  our  lives  in  a  worthwhile 
fashion. 

A.  J.  Saimders:  "We  are  back  again  in  full 
work  in  the  American  College  (Madura,  India).  I 
am  lecturing  on  British  History  and  Economics 
daily,  writing  articles  for  the  press,  and  trying  to 
get  out  a  couple  of  books.  I  am  still  working  on 
my  thesis,  Nationalism  in  India,  with  Professor 
Park,  but  it  is  slow  work  from  such  a  distance.  It 
is  now  finished  and  I  sent  it  off  to  him  the  other 
day.  Politically  things  are  much  quieter  since 
Gandhi's  arrest,  and  there  now  seems  to  be  a  dis- 
position even  on  the  part  of  the  extremists  them- 
selves to  settle  down  and  allow  the  Reform  Scheme 
to  work  out  the  political  salvation  of  the  country. 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

It  has  been  a  wonderful  opportunity  to  study  the 
progress  of  a  social  movement,  and  I  have  tried  to 
use  the  chance  in  my  thesis,  which  is  really  a  study 
of  social  psychology  in  a  nationalist  movement." 

W.  C.  Macdoiigall:  "We  never  were  happier 
about  being  in  India  than  we  are  today.  Every- 
thing is  in  flux.  New  currents  are  setting  and  one 
has  more  opportunities  than  one  can  use  to  give  di- 
rection to  these  movements.  Gandhi  is  impossible 
as  a  political  leader  and  as  a  forward-looking  polit- 
ical statesman.  He  is  already  discredited  as  such. 
But  as  a  great  unselfish  soul,  who  is  primarily  a 
religious  man,  he  has  stirred  the  heart  of  India,  es- 
pecially young  India,  and  has  given  to  thousands 
such  a  vision  of  service  for  their  country  as  has 
taken  on  the  aspect  and  power  of  a  religious  quick- 
ening. This  has  happened  to  many  whom  I  know 
here.  They  are  finding  it  a  thorny  path  in  which  to 
tread  and  they  are  feeling  even  more  keenly  the 
need  of  inner  resources  of  the  spirit  to  keep  them  at 
their  task.  This  is  bringing  a  tragic  awakening  to 
many.  It  is  developing  a  new  feeling  after  Jesus 
that  simply  thrills  me  as  I  think  of  its  possibilities. 
I  wish  I  had  twenty  lives  to  live  today  in  India." 

Harry  Foster  Burns:  "About  the  Unitarian 
position.  It  is  true  the  theological  doctrine  is  a 
thing  outgrown.  The  philosophical  background  of 
both  Unitarianism  and  Trinitarianism  is  past.  But 
actually  Unitarianism,  as  I  find  It,  is  simply 
religion  theologically  free  and  avowedly  so.  My 
ideal  would  be  a  "United  Free  Church."  But  such  is 
not  yet. 

David  Rioch,  Mungeli,  India:    "We  are  hoping 


THE  SCROLL Page  13 

that  it  will  not  be  long  until  we  can  get  to  see  you 
again  as  we  are  expecting  to  sail  for  America  about 
the  first  of  April.  Mrs.  Rioch  and  I  are  as  well  as 
possible  just  now  but  the  past  year  has  told  consid- 
erably on  our  strength,  as  we  have  had  a  lot  of 
fever.  But  you  see  it  is  just  twenty-five  years 
since  we  came  out  and  I  suppose  that  is  time  enough 
to  get  the  stamp  of  India's  climate  on  us." 

Carl  Burkhardt,  who  is  in  the  sixth  year  of  his 
pastorate  with  the  strong  church  at  Plattsburg, 
Mo.,  writes  that  he  has  recently  had  President 
Crossfield  with  him  for  a  series  of  four  lectures  on 
the  history  of  the  Disciples. 


THE  SECRETARY'S  NOTES 

Our  reserves  are  used  up.  The  "iron  men" 
have  been  taken  by  the  enemy.  Disaster,  defeat 
and  oblivion  await  our  cause  unless  we  get  recruits 
quickly. 

We  started  this  year,  which  began  July  1,  with 
a  clean  slate.  The  slate  was  cleaned  by  wiping  off 
all  old  scores.  Therefore  if  there  is  a  mark  on  this 
page  in  pencil,  you  should  remit  three  dollars  at 
once.  "  U  0"  will  be  the  sign  that  you  owe  money 
for  this  current  year  which  ends  June  30. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  on  the  bulle- 
tin board  of  a  Club  the  other  day  and  copied  it  for 
use  in  connection  with  this  subject  of  unpaid  dues: 

"What  happened  to  some  delinquent  members: 

One  of  them  said.  See  you  tomorrow.  He's 
blind. 

Another  said,  Will  pay  you  tomorrow  or  go  to 
h — .  He's  gone. 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

Still  another  said,  Will  pay  you  tomorrow  if  1 
live.     He's  dead. 

Man  is  made  of  dust.  Dust  settles.  Be  a  man." 

The  prospect  is  that  the  annual  meeting 
toward  the  end  of  next  July  will  be  held  in  the  new 
Church  House  of  the  University  Church.  Those 
who  have  looked  for  a  new  building  each  year  for  a 
decade  or  so  may  have  their  eyes  satisfied  if  they 
will  come  this  year. 

Have  you  some  topic  to  suggest  for  the  pro- 
gram of  the  annual  meeting?  The  following  have 
been  mentioned:  What  is  the  minister's  message 
for  these  days?  Are  the  Disciples  a  liberal  move- 
ment compared  with  other  denominations?  Should 
religion  be  presented  as  poetry  or  prose,  as  fiction 
or  fact,  as  history  or  art,  as  moral  reformation  or 
as  artistic  reconstruction?  Have  the  Disciples 
drifted  from  their  original  intention?  Are  the 
Disciples  a  stronger  or  a  weaker  force  in  the  relig- 
ious culture  of  this  country  now  as  compared  with 
1900? 


GOD'S  WAY 

It  is  easy  to  use  in  glib  and  confident  fashion 
such  expressions  as  "God's  word,"  "God's  way," 
God's  will,"  to  indicate  some  program  or  policy  in 
which  one  is  deeply  interested.  There  is  often  an 
intolerable  presumption  in  this  usage.  Just  now 
it  is  the  fashion  in  certain  quarters  to  refer  to 
tithing — which  is  a  very  excellent  and  commend- 
able plan — as  "God's  way."  "Let  us  do  God's  work 
in  God's  way." 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

The  appendix  to  the  Declaration  and  Address 
quotes  these  words  from  Deut.  18 :20 :  "The  prophet 
that  shall  presume  to  speak  a  word  in  My  name 
which  I  have  not  commanded  him  to  speak,  even 
that  prophet  shall  die." 

Such  a  prophet  might  mean  well,  might  be 
sure  that  his  ideas  were  right  and  his  plans  effi- 
cient, but  he  is  warned  against  identifying  his  own 
scheme  with  the  counsels  of  the  Almighty.  It  is  no 
light  matter  for  any  man  or  group  of  men  to  repre- 
sent their  own  ideas  as  being  the  very  command  of 
God.  In  regard  to  this  particular  matter  of  tithing 
— which  has  many  arguments  to  recommend  it,  and 
no  very  good  arguments  against  it,  so  far  as  we 
know — it  is  as  demonstrably  certain  as  anything  in 
history  can  be,  that  the  plan  urged  at  the  present 
time  under  that  name  was  never  taught  or  prac- 
ticed in  either  Old  or  New  Testament  times.  And 
yet  we  have  heard  men  excuse  the  Biblical  argu- 
ments for  it  on  the  ground,  not  that  they  are  true, 
but  that  people  won't  practice  tithing  unless  they 
believe  it  is  a  divine  command.  This  is  a  piece  of 
ecclesiastical  malpractice  which  it  is  difficult  to 
characterize  in  restrained  terms,  but  it  comes 
squarely  under  the  head  of  the  practice  referred  to 
in  the  above  quotation  from  Deuteronomy. 


THE   CONSERVATIVE    REACTION 

The  Disciples,  in  common  with  others,  have 
felt  the  full  force  of  the  conservative  reaction  since 
the  war.  These  are  turbulent  days  and  in  a  time 
of  stress  and  change  the  tired  and  timid  mind  asks 
first  of  ail  for  safety.      Pickpockets    are    abroad; 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

let  us  keep  our  diamonds  in  the  safety  deposit 
vault.  Bolshevists  are  about;  put  none  but  tried 
conservatives  on  guard.  Bold  and  reckless  think- 
ers have  disturbed  our  dear  inherited  beliefs;  back 
to  the  old  landmarks.  Safety  First.  Back  to  nor- 
malcy. Any  port  in  a  storm,  so  it  be  a  haven  of 
quiet  waters.  Let  us  head  north  of  where  we  want 
to  go  for  fear  we  may  be  blown  south  of  it.  Let  us 
assert  what  we  really  do  not  believe,  lest  we  be 
driven  to  give  up  what  we  do  believe. 

This  is  not  a  mental  attitude  peculiar  to  any 
one  group.  It  is  simply  hum.an  nature  in  a  period 
of  uncertainty.  When  the  whole  world  seems  to  be 
in  a  state  of  flux,  there  is  a  yearning  for  fixed  and 
final  standards,  for  criteria  which  cannot  be  touch- 
ed by  criticism,  for  inerrancy  and  infallibility. 

But  this  is  the  very  tendency  which  increases 
the  tension  and  stimulates  revolt  to  the  point  of  ex- 
plosion. It  is  true  that  the  ocean  of  events  is  tur- 
bulent with  winds  and  v/aves.  But  however  fluctuat- 
ing its  individual  waves  may  be,  they  form  a  path- 
way over  which  boats  can  travel  with  reasonable 
security.  Fluidity  and  change,  and  sometimes 
even  turmoil  and  turbulency,  are  the  very  condi- 
tions of  progress.  Of  course  there  is  danger  on  a 
stormy  sea,  but  there  is  less  danger  in  striking  out 
boldly  across  it  than  there  is  in  hugging  a  lee  shore 
at  peril  of  being  pounded  on  the  rocks.  Life  is  a 
risky  business  at  best,  and  however  much  our  timid 
hearts  may  yearn  for  guarantees  of  certainty  and 
for  the  peace  of  finality,  the  only  choice  that  is 
open  to  us  is  the  choice  between  the  great  adventure 
of  life  with  all  its  perils  and  its  possibilities,  and 
the  peaceful  fixity  of  death. 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME  XIX  APRIL,  1923  NUMBER  8 

DEFINITIONS  OF  RELIGION 

By  Edward  Scribner  Ames 

Have  you  read  Carl  Sandburg's  definitions  of 
Poetry  in  the  March  Atlantic?  There  are  thirty- 
eight  of  them,  you  may  have  noticed,  and  none  of 
them  is  academic  or  such  as  you  get  in  the  diction- 
aries. Perhaps  the  purpose  of  this  whimsical  per- 
formance is  to  impress  the  fact  that  poetry  escapes 
the  bounds  of  logical  definition  and  overflows  all 
forms  of  words.  Because  of  that  it  requires  a  kind 
of  poetry  to  give  any  vital  idea  of  the  nature  of 
poetry.  He  says,  "Poetry  is  the  tracing  of  the 
trajectories  of  a  finite  sound  to  the  infinite  points 
of  its  echoes."  And  also,  "Poetry  is  a  sequence 
of  dots  and  dashes,  spelling  depths,  crypts,  cross- 
lights,  and  moon  wisps." 

Of  course  there  is  no  real  reason  why  he  should 
stop  with  thirty-eight  statements.  Mr.  Sandburg 
could  doubtless  go  on  endlessly,  spinning  expres- 
sions concerning  his  craft  which  would  be  as  inter- 
esting and  as  surprising  and  as  revealing  as  these. 
It  is  to  be  feared  that  some  literally  minded  people 
may  think  these  are  all  the  poet  could  muster,  or 
worse  yet,  should  conclude  that  there  is  something 
authentic  and  final  about  this  particular  list.  There 
would  be  no  great  surprise  in  finding  that  some 
prosy  student  of  poetry  had  set  to  work  to  memor- 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

ize  all  these  definitions  as  if  they  had  some  scienti- 
fic and  formal  value. 

Now  if  you  and  I  could  apply  this  case  of 
poetry  to  religion  it  might  help  to  understand  what 
kind  of  material  we  are  dealing  with.  Of  course 
there  is  no  one  definition  of  poetry.  Nor  is  there 
any  one  statement  of  the  nature  of  religion.  I 
know  a  book  which  contains  hundreds  of  definitions 
of  religion.  The  author  set  out  to  gather  from  all 
kinds  of  sources  whatever  assertions  he  could  find 
as  to  the  nature  of  religion.  I  think  it  was  a  dis- 
sertation for  a  doctor's  degree.  He  found  there 
was  no  end  to  his  task.  The  subject  is  so  many- 
sided  and  so  given  to  appearing  in  different  lights 
to  different  people  and  to  the  same  person  at  var- 
ious tim.es,  that  it  will  not  be  contained  in  any  set 
formula,  however  carefully  considered.  It  is  like 
life  itself,  rich,  iridescent,  flowing,  full  of  "depths, 
crypts,  cross-lights,  and  moon  wisps." 

Let  me  then  construct  a  few  definitions  of  re- 
ligion which,  like  the  definitions  of  poetry,  had  bet- 
ter be  used  as  suggestions  for  making  up  other 
definitions  endlessly,  rather  than  as  propositions  to 
be  committed  to  memory  and  adopted  once  for  all: 

Religion  is  living  the  best  kind  of  life  one  can 
conceive  with  enthusiasm  and  trust. 

Religion  is  the  turning  of  the  soul  to  God. 

Religion  is  loving  one's  neighbor  as  one's  self. 

Religion  is  taking  the  world  as  a  fairy  land  of 
beauty  and  love  within  sight  of  garbage  dumps  and 
fist  fights. 

Religion   is  the  endeavor  to  move  mountains 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

with  a  wish  of  the  heart  or  the  whispering  wings 
of  hope. 

Religion  is  a  battle  between  a  sword  and  a 
cross. 

Religion  is  a  quest  for  life  in  an  abyss  of  death. 

Religion  is  life  and  angels  and  demons  with 
wireless  signals  of  distress  and  comfort. 

Religion  is  the  loss  of  everything  but  courage. 

Religion  is  a  song  and  a  prayer  on  a  corner 
where  street  car  lines  intersect  and  the  cries  of 
the  newsboys  mingle  with  the  roar  of  the  elevated. 

Religion  is  marching  with  red  banners  and  the 
blare  of  trumpets  through  muddy  streets. 

Religion  is  faith  in  a  dead  man  nailed  to  a  tree. 

Religion  is  feasting  on  the  dead  man's  flesh  and 
drinking  his  blood. 

Religion  is  claiming  forgiveness  beyond  the 
stars  for  murder  done  here  on  the  earth. 

Religion  is  sitting  together  under  a  wind-blown 
roof  and  listening  to  the  crooning  hymns  and  the 
begging  prayers  of  wistful  souls. 

Religion  is  living  in  imagination  with  a  lot  of 
Jews  and  with  one  Jew  in  particular. 

Religion  is  a  breath  of  daring  silence  in  the 
din  of  angry  clatter  and  profanity. 

Religion  is  composure  of  soul  when  the  ocean 
liner  sinks. 

Religion  is  the  mirth  of  kindred  spirits  round 
a  glowing  fire  with  the  shadows  playing  over  a  va- 
cant chair. 

Religion  is  dumb  wonder  under  the  starry  sky 
and  over  the  cradle  of  a  babe. 

Religion  is  the  rapture  of  a  timid  heart  in  the 
light  of  the  sun,  or  in  the  fragrance  of  a  flower. 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

Religion  is  a  corporation,  not  for  profit,  pro- 
ducing wealth  and  offering  it  to  paupers  on  condi- 
tion of  a  bath. 

Religion  is  a  reform  movement  struggling 
against  many  obstacles  a  great  number  of  which 
are  imaginary. 

Religion  is  a  grand  opera  company  singing  the 
hallelujah  chorus. 

Religion  is  the  longing  of  a  mother  for  a  lost 
son  when  that  longing  turns  into  affection  for  other 
sons  who  have  lost  their  mothers. 

Religion  is  the  soft  warmth  of  a  bird's  wing 
and  the  cool  shade  of  a  tree. 

Religion  is  an  outlook  from  a  mountain  top, 
with  clouds  floating  below,  making  little  gray 
patches  on  the  wide-spreading  plain  in  the  distance. 

Religion  is  the  bond  between  the  spring  sowing 
and  the  autumn  harvest. 

Religion  is  the  fiery  furnace  from  which  comes 
forth  under  the  eye  of  grimy,  perspiring  men  molt- 
en iron  to  be  fashioned  into  steel  beams  and  gird- 
ers. 

Religion  is  a  view  of  a  sleeping  city  at  mid- 
night when  the  moon  is  full. 

Religion  is  a  journey  from  Chicago's  west  side 
to  the  lake  front,  or  from  New  York's  east  side  to 
Broadway,  and  back  again  without  loss  of  memory. 

Religion  is  joy  in  the  odor  of  ether  in  a  hospi- 
tal, or  of  new-mown  hay  in  harvest. 

Religion  is  an  adventure  in  the  interior  of 
China  or  Tibet  without  guns  or  body-guards  in 
search  of  no  plunder  or  concessions. 

Religion  is  the  bleaching  of  black  souls  white 
on  the  shores  of  reflection  and  new  deeds. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

Religion  is  the  preservation  of  childhood  ten- 
derness and  trust  with  the  experience  and  sorrow 
of  old  age. 

Religion  is  the  bond  of  love  encircling  the 
earth  and  binding  the  world  to  the  heart  of  God. 

One  advantage  of  such  an  exercise  as  this  is 
that  it  serves  to  loosen  up  the  mind  and  adapt  it 
to  the  manifold  fullness  and  inexhaustible  magni- 
tudes of  the  divine.  Man's  thoughts  are  apt  to  be- 
come bound  and  cramped  in  their  habitual  modes 
of  regarding  the  world  and  all  the  objects  in  it. 
Here  on  my  desk  is  a  lamp,  a  little  bronze  imitation 
of  the  old  Roman  household  lamp.  I  bought  it  in 
Pompeii.  This  lamp  is  many  things  to  me.  It  is 
a  paper  weight.  It  is  an  ornament.  It  is  a 
treasure.  It  is  a  symbol.  It  is  a  reminder  here 
in  this  new  and  greater  city  of  that  far  away  sea- 
side resort  of  Roman  senators  and  emperors.  This 
lamp  is  also  a  tool,  a  weapon,  material  for  barter,  a 
space  marker,  a  substance,  an  object  of  perception, 
a  suggestion  for  endless  reverie.  It  is  no  more 
one  of  these  than  another  and  it  is  all  of  them  to- 
gether. When  I  tell  you  about  it,  I  select  some 
of  these  relations  or  uses  of  the  object  and  refer 
to  it  in  those  terms,  but  I  do  not  by  that  procedure 
exclude  the  other  ways  of  defining  it.  Such  com- 
plexity is  much  greater  in  the  case  of  religion  and 
therefore  the  number  of  possible  definitions  is  in- 
definitely increased. 

The  same  is  true  of  God.  There  is  no  state- 
ment or  formulation  of  his  nature  which  can  satisfy 
all  demands  of  the  intellect  and  of  the  heart.  A 
wealth  of  interests  appear  in  the  conceptions    of 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

God  which  are  found  in  the  most  devout  literature. 
In  the  Bible  itself  there  is  no  single,  logical  defini- 
tion. God  is  love,  God  is  light.  God  is  spirit. 
If  such  assertions  are  taken  freely,  with  the  rich 
suggestions  which  they  imply,  then  they  are  use- 
ful and  persuasive.  But  when  they  are  made  the 
basis  of  hard  and  fast  dogmas  they  defeat  the  very 
ends  of  religion  and  lead  to  atheism  and  doubt  as 
often  as  to  faith  and  assurance.  It  is  interesting 
in  this  connection  to  recall  the  positions  of  the 
mystics  who  are  often  set  up  as  the  highest  repre- 
sentatives of  Christianity.  The  key  to  the  mysti- 
cal view  of  religion  is  that  it  is  above  all  form.s  of 
thought  and  reason.  The  mystic  seeks  union  with 
the  divine,  not  through  knowledge  or  understanding 
but  through  feeling  and  ecstatic  emotion.  Trances 
and  visions  and  unanalyzed  feeling  are  more  to  him 
than  proofs  or  any  scientific  evidence. 

This  is  not  so  far  different  from  the  generally 
accepted  orthodox  position,  which  is  that  we  can 
know  nothing  of  God  by  ordinary  means,  but  must 
depend  upon  revelation.  Revelation  in  turn  is  to 
be  appropriated  through  faith  and  not  through 
demonstration.  All  orthodox  creeds  agree  that  the 
decrees  of  the  infinite  are  inscrutable  and  that  the 
believer  is  called  upon  to  believe  them  without  in- 
vestigation or  verification.  The  only  kind  of  test 
which  is  admitted  is  that  of  direct  experience  and 
the  effect  on  the  life  of  the  beliver. 

As  I  see  it,  faith  in  God  is  more  nearly  like 
the  choice  between  optimism  and  pessimism.  Prob- 
ably no  one  ever  decided  that  matter  on  a  purely 
rational  or  scientific  basis.       It  is  partly  an  affair 


THE  SCROLL  Page  7 

of  the  heart  and  partly  a  question  of  the  will.  Your 
experience  may  have  been  of  the  sunny  places  in 
the  world,  good  friends,  interesting  work,  fair  edu- 
cation and  equipment  for  life,  and  a  reasonable  de- 
gree of  health.  That  experience  should  prepare 
you  to  be  optimistic.  On  the  other  hand,  you  may 
have  been  disappointed  in  love,  or  in  business,  or  in 
am^bition;  you  may  have  undergone  a  crushing  ac- 
cident, in  mind  or  body,  and  received  scars  which 
will  go  with  you  to  the  grave.  Perhaps  you  were 
petted  and  spoiled  so  that  you  came  to  expect  more 
from  life  than  you  have  any  right  to  ask  and  there- 
fore you  carry  disappointment  and  suspicion  in  your 
soul.  Even  these  conditions  do  not  always  deter- 
mine the  matter.  Some  of  the  happiest  persons  I 
have  ever  known  seem  to  have  little  cause  for  joy 
or  hope,  yet  they  carry  smiles  and  cheer  to  many 
who  are  much  better  circumstanced.  Strangely 
enough,  there  are  some  grand  souls  who  never  feel 
defeated.  They  are  like  Job  in  their  endless  de- 
fense of  the  Almighty  in  spite  of  sufferings  and 
inability  to  explain  it  all. 

People  are  frequently  confused  between  the  be- 
lief in  God  and  the  theories  about  God.  The  main 
question  about  God  for  religion  as  an  active,  buoy- 
ant, outreaching  participation  in  life  is.  Do  you  be- 
lieve in  God?  meaning,  Do  you  trust  life?  Do  you 
think  there  are  some  things  better  than  others? 
Is  is  worth  while  to  work  for  ideal  causes,  to  sac- 
rifice something  of  your  comfort  and  peace  of 
mind  to  count  yourself  a  co-worker  with  God? 
When  you  ask  what  kind  of  a  being  God  is,  where 
he  is,  how  old  he  is,  how  powerful  he  is,  whether  he 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

created  the  world,  whether  he  has  made  man  im- 
mortal, whether  he  will  punish  the  wicked  in  a  fiery 
hell,  while  the  righteous  lie  in  celestial  hammocks 
under  shady  fruit  trees  by  cool  streams,  then  you 
are  asking  questions  which  may  call  for  speculative 
answers,  but  which  may  not  have  immediate  prac- 
tical religious  value.  It  is  not  essential  to  a  suc- 
cessful religion  to  have  a  consistent  or  even  an  in- 
tellectually satisfactory  doctrine  of  God,  as  the  his- 
tory of  religion  shows.  But  it  is  essential  to  be- 
lieve in  God  in  some  sense,  and  to  take  definite  at- 
titudes on  behalf  of  his  government  of  the  world. 
You  may  accept  my  faith  in  God,  without  accept- 
ing my  conception  of  his  nature  or  of  his  relation  to 
the  world.  I  do  not  say  that  the  faith  can  be  the 
same  in  every  respect  where  the  doctrines  differ, 
but  I  believe  it  can  be  for  practical  purposes. 

I  may  illustrate  my  point  by  reminding  you  of 
the  situation  we  are  in  with  reference  to  the  world 
of  material  objects.  Suppose  two  stone  masons 
are  building  houses.  One  knows  nothing  about 
the  modern  theory  of  electrons  and  radio-activity. 
The  other  has  studied  these  subjects.  Matter  is  in 
certain  respects  the  same  to  the  two  men,  although 
in  theory  it  looks  utterly  different  to  them.  Both 
may  keep  the  same  methods  of  measurements,  ap- 
ply the  same  kind  of  mortar,  make  the  same  provi- 
sion for  windows  and  doors  and  roof.  But  if  they 
tried  to  get  together  on  their  conceptions  of  the 
material  they  used,  they  would  be  far  apart. 
Neither  would  have  the  right  to  deny  that  the  other 
was  a  stone  mason  and  they  could  work  side  by 
side  on  the  same  wall  without  friction.      I  am  not 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

unaware  that  the  scientifically  informed  man  might 
have  a  decided  advantage  in  the  selection  of  his 
building  materials  and  in  the  way  he  used  them, 
but  there  is  a  wide  field  of  common  experience  in 
which  they  could  co-operate. 

In  religion  it  is  much  the  same.  There  are 
many  plain  and  obvious  duties  which  fall  upon  all 
men  alike,  whether  they  are  common-sense  persons 
or  persons  sophisticated  in  metaphysics.  In  a  great 
variety  of  ways  they  act  the  same  toward  God  in 
spite  of  their  differing  theories  about  him.  We 
all  talk  understandingly  of  the  weather  in  so  far 
at  least  as  the  rain  wets  our  skins  or  the  frost  kills 
our  fruit  crops  or  the  sun  tans  and  sweats  us.  The 
chemist  and  the  non-chemist  may  buy  their  pro- 
visions at  the  same  market  and  eat  them  in  the 
same  way  at  table,  although  an  examination  of  the 
ideas  in  the  minds  of  two  such  men  would  reveal 
marvelous  contrasts.  Religion  has  a  kind  of  com- 
mon level  on  which  all  men  stand  before  God  in 
reverence  and  devotion  to  the  claims  of  faith  and 
love.  In  their  ways  of  regarding  these  practical 
tasks  they  may  differ  profoundly.  It  is  not  only 
unnecessary  that  they  shall  see  alike  but  it  is  im- 
possible. That  they  shall  work  together  is  the 
big  thing,  for  religion  is  a  practical  affair  in  the 
first  instance  and  on  the  common  level.  Beyond 
that,  it  corruscates  with  all  kinds  of  colors  and 
variegated  pictures. 

In  certain  respects  the  religious  service  is  a  com- 
mon language  to  all,  but  in  other  respects  the  in- 
dividuals are  not  in  the  same  sphere  of  discourse. 
All  hear  the  Bible,  read,    pray  together,    sing    the 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

songs  and  sit  through  the  sermon.  They  face  God 
as  a  company  of  men  may  look  into  the  sky  at  the 
same  moment.  Some  may  see  more  stars  than 
others,  and  some  may  have  a  livelier  sense  of  God, 
but  they  may  all  get  nourishment  for  their  strange- 
ly different  souls.  The  main  thing  just  now  in 
religion  is  the  necessity  of  recognizing  the  right 
to  such  differences  along  with  a  kindly  and  gener- 
ous spirit  of  practical  co-operation  on  the  level  of 
human  needs.  The  common  substance  of  the 
Bible  is  its  disclosure  of  a  wonderful  life.  The 
church  should  invite  into  its  fellowship  all  who  find 
that  picture  appealing  and  inspiring  and  allow 
them  to  draw  their  sustenance  from  it  in  terms  of 
their  own  capacity  and  ability.  The  central  im- 
pulse of  religion  is  the  craving  for  a  larger  and 
a  fuller  life  for  one's  self  and  for  all  other  people 
of  one's  group.  If  one  has  in  imagination  and 
sympathy  identified  himself  with  the  whole  world 
then  he  seeks  the  welfare  of  a  world-wide  society. 
It  is  natural  and  helpful  for  us  to  represent  our  so- 
cial groups  in  personal  terms.  By  the  inherent 
poetry  of  our  souls,  we  represent  our  loyalty  to  our 
nation  in  terms  of  our  loyalty  to  George  Washing- 
ton or  Thomas  Jefferson  or  Abraham  Lincoln.  In 
a  similar  way  we  experience  our  most  vivid  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  religion  by  devotion  to  Christ  or  to 
God  who  are  the  great  ideal  figures  through  which 
we  picture  to  ourselves,  for  practical  purposes,  all 
the  ideals  and  all  the  perfections  which  we  can 
imagine  or  strive  to  make  real  in  the  world. 

If  I  had  the  power  to  do  what  I  would  like  to  do 
in  the  promotion  of  religion,  I  would  proceed  to  de- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

velop  more  expert  methods  for  presenting  religion 
in  four  ways:  First,  in  the  public  service  I  would 
develop  a  more  impressive  and  appealing  presenta- 
tion of  the  great  drama  of  the  individual  soul  and 
of  the  society  in  which  it  lives.  I  would  have  pag- 
eants, tableaux,  spoken  drama,  motion  pictures, 
with  music  and  poetry  and  song  wrought  into  a 
harmionious  expression  of  the  longings  and  labors 
and  perplexities  of  the  people  whom  we  know  in  our 
own  city,  in  the  past  of  our  race,  and  in  the  crea- 
tive imaginations  of  the  spiritual  artists  of  all  the 
world.  Second,  I  would  have  graduated  classes  of 
instruction  in  the  outlines  of  religious  history,  the 
movements  of  the  great  religious  cultures  in  rela- 
tion to  each  other  through  missionary  enterprise, 
and  in  the  study  of  religious  philosophies  of  life. 
Third,  I  would  have  a  more  adequate  and  a  better 
organized  social  life  for  all  classes  and  kinds  of  peo- 
ple. I  would  experiment  with  a  plan  for  letting 
people  of  congenial  social  and  cultural  interests  get 
together,  and  I  would  also  have  sometimes  the  most 
mixed  kinds  of  parties  where  social  extremes  could 
meet  and  find  out  how  much  alike  they  are.  Fourth, 
I  would  have  all  members  of  the  church  engaged  in 
some  aspect  of  the  practical  promotion  of  Christian 
principles  of  living  as  applied  to  the  relief  and  cure 
of  poverty,  crime,  disease,  and  ignorance;  as  ap- 
plied also  to  business  and  industry  and  politics  and 
domestic  life  and  education;  and  as  applied  to  the 
extension  of  church  enterprises  in  our  own  city 
and  everywhere  else  round  the  world. 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

A  MINISTERIAL  DIAGNOSTICIAN. 

By  W.  Garnet  Alcorn. 

What  is  the  matter  with  the  ministry?  Wher- 
ever one  finds  a  group  of  serious-minded  church- 
men, whether  assembled  in  conference  or  conven- 
tion or  congress,  this  question  intrudes  itself  and 
proves  itself  one  of  the  most  vexing  problems  of 
the  church.  And  it  will  always  be  a  serious  prob- 
lem because  the  ministry  remains  the  only  trained 
leadership  the  church  has.  The  larger,  therefore, 
her  programs  become,  whether  thought  of  in  terms 
of  world-wide  missions,  religious  educational  pro- 
grams or  real  community  leadership,  the  more  im- 
portant the  ministry  will  become.  With  the  now 
permanent  place  of  religion  in  the  development  of 
personality,  and  the  recognition  of  its  place  in  de- 
velopment of  the  kingdom  of  good  will  on  this 
earth,  the  ministerial  problem  might  well  engage 
the  thought  of  our  leaders  and  thinkers. 

The  ministry  is  restless.  It  always  has  been. 
The  restless  souls  in  its  ranks  have  been  many. 
Perhaps  the  majority.  The  long  ministries  have 
been  few,  especially  in  our  communion.  If  we 
look  back  over  our  little  more  than  a  hundred  years 
of  history  we  will  find  that  our  quarter-century 
ministries  have  not  been  numerous  and  the  life- 
long ones  fewer.  Indeed,  it  is  rare  that  we  have  a 
man  leave  college,  enter  a  pastorate  and  remain 
there  all  his  life.  It  would  very  likely  surprise  and 
shame  us  if  someone  who  knows  our  history  accu- 
rately would  make  a  list  of  our  life-long  ministries. 
We  know  the  ministry  is  restless.  But  how  much 
perhaps  we  do  not  know.      A  recent  study  of  the 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

year  book  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  for  the  years 
ending  in  1920,  1921,  and  1922,  reveals  the  fact 
that  in  the  last  three  years  in  the  state  of  Missouri 
there  v/ere  569  pastorates  held.  Of  this  number 
375  have  been  for  periods  of  less  than  three  years, 
while  only  194  have  been  held  for  three  years  or 
more.  With  this  record  in  Missouri,  one  almost 
fears  to  make  a  study  of  ten-year  ministries. 

We  have  done  little  more  during  the  last  twen- 
ty years,  than  to  note  the  fact  and  to  deplore  it. 
The  question  is  no  longer,  What  is  the  matter  with 
the  ministry?  but,  What  are  we  going  to  do  to 
remedy  it?  Can  we  do  anything?  Does  any- 
body want  us  to  do  anything?  It  is  very  certain 
that  many  of  our  men  who  are  compelled  to  change 
from  one  field  to  another  every  two  or  three  years 
do  not  relish  the  moving  idea,  and  it  is  likely  they 
would  welcome  a  remedy.  And  it  is  just  as  cer- 
tain that  many  of  our  best  churches  suffer  great 
loss  in  the  constant  change  of  pastor  to  which  they 
are  subjected.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  some- 
body does  want  help  in  this  matter. 

We  have  been  in  the  business  of  creating  new 
Oiiices  during  the  last  few  years  and  we  still  have 
suggestions  for  the  creation  of  other  secretarial 
offices.  Let  us  away  with  this  business  and  in- 
stead let  us  create  a  new  functionary  whose  duty  it 
will  be  to  make  a  scientific  study  of  the  ministry 
and  its  fields  of  activity.  Surely  the  ministry  will 
lend  itself  to  such  a  study  as  readily  as  any  other 
field  of  investigation.  The  suggestion  we  make 
here  is  a  Ministerial  Diagnostician.  This  would 
be  an  undoubted  boon  both  to  the  ministry  and  to 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

the  church.  Our  day  witnesses  the  scientific  study 
of  almost  everything  except  the  ministry.  The 
criminal  is  receiving  scientific  and  sympathetic 
study,  but  he  whose  task  it  is  to  make  the  criminal 
class  impossible  or  unlikely  receives  no  such  consid- 
eration. He  is  allowed  to  drift  and  shift  for  him- 
self without  regard  to  the  staggering  moral  loss 
involved.  This  new  functionary  would  need  to  be 
a  skilled  and  tactful  psychologist.  It  would  be  his 
duty  to  study  his  preacher-patient  just  as  thor- 
oughly as  the  physician  studies  his  patient.  He 
might  discover  some  incurables  and  it  is  likely  that 
he  would  find  some  curables.  It  may  be  asked, 
Would  the  ministry  consult  this  expert?  Many  of 
them  would  not  until  it  was  too  late,  just  as  many 
of  them  do  not  avail  themselves  of  the  physician's 
aid  when  sick.  However,  all  of  them  could  afford 
to  do  so.  If  men  who  are  compelled  to  move  fre- 
quently would  count  the  loss  involved,  both  finan- 
cial and  moral,  they  would  see  that  they  could  well 
afford  to  secure  the  help  of  this  expert,  and  espec- 
ially so  when  the  field  from  which  one  is  being 
forced  is  a  desirable  field.  Indeed,  when  the  man 
is  a  desirable  man, — and  many  of  those  who  are 
forming  the  short-ministry  habit  are  desirable 
men  from  the  stand-point  of  both  training  and  per- 
sonality,— the  church  could  even  afford  to  defray 
the  expense  that  would  be  entailed. 

The  change  of  field  is  often  sought  by  men  as 
a  necessity  growing  out  of  a  situation  in  which  they 
find  themselves  involved  and  the  reason  for  which 
they  often  cannot  fimd.  These  men  often  feel 
themselves  slipping.  The  interest  in  their  work 
is  lagging.       The  attendance  upon  the  services    is 


rHE  SCROLL  Page  15 

Iwindling.  Outstanding  members  are  showing 
ndifference  or  antagonism.  Why  is  the  preacher 
slipping?  This  is  the  thing  he  would  like  to  find 
)ut.  This  would  be  a  question  for  our  expert.  It 
nay  be  that  he  has  gotten  into  a  rut  and  does  not 
inow  it.  That  is  easy  to  do.  Maybe  he  is  thinking 
n  circles,  due  to  confining  his  reading  too  much 
;o  one  field  or  interest.  Perhaps  he  has  developed, 
ill  unconsciously,  a  distinguishing  vocabulary.  It 
nay  be  that  his  audience  is  able  to  bet  that  he  will 
ise  certain  words  whether  he  is  making  a  commu- 
lion  talk  or  preaching  a  funeral  sermon.  Per- 
laps  he  has  a  harmless  pulpit  mannerism  which 
incharitable  parishioners  will  smile  at  or  criticize 
according  to  their  mood.  Or  again  our  preacher 
nay  have  become  unsociable  and  unapproachable. 
He  may  be,  because  the  habits  of  the  recluse,  out 
Df  touch  with  humanity.  Or  again  his  troubles 
nay  be  imaginary,  but  they  hurt  just  the  same. 

The  ministry  needs  to  be  studied  scientifical- 
ly. It  needs  guidance.  And  this  is  no  reflection 
jn  the  ministry.  Big  business  today  employs  the 
eflficiency  expert,  with  compensating  returns. 
Surely  churchmen  cannot  afford  to  approach  this 
serious  problem  as  they  have  done  in  the  past. 
With  the  ranks  of  the  ministry  being  depleted 
svery  year  and  the  church  assuming  larger  and 
more  significant  programs,  the  time  has  come  to 
study  this  subject  in  a  heroic  way  and  save  for 
future  leadership  the  splendid  men  who  by  years 
of  training  for  the  ministry  have  ruined  them- 
selves for  other  professions,  but  who  are  doomed 
by  our  neglect  to  the  shame  of  mediocrity,  ineffi- 
ciency and  discontent. 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

NOTES 

A  number  of  members  paid  their  dues  after 
reading  the  March  Scroll.  If  your  three  "iron  men" 
have  not  been  received  when  this  number  is  mailed, 
you  will  find  "U  0"  marked  somewhere  on  this 
copy.  The  dues  are  three  dollars  a  year  and  this 
year  began  with  last  July. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Annual  Meet- 
ing be  held  this  year  after  the  last  Sunday  in  July, 
so  that  men  on  vacation  for  the  month  of  August 
could  attend.  How  would  Monday,  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday,  July  30  to  August  1,  suit  you?  Please 
write  the  Secretary  about  this. 

An  interesting  series  of  Round  Table  Discus- 
sions is  being  planned  for  this  year's  program. 
What  topics  would  you  like  to  discuss?  We  are 
going  to  have  the  best  Annual  Meeting  of  our  his- 
tory, more  men  present,  more  pep,  and  more  good 
things  done. 

R.  C.  Flickenger  has  resigned  as  Dean  of  the 
College  of  Liberal  Arts  of  Northwestern  University 
and  will  spend  a  year  in  research  work  in  Greese 
and  Italy,  after  which  he  will  resume  his  professor- 
ship at  Northwestern.  In  a  recent  note  enclosing 
a  check  payable  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Institute, 
he  says:  "My  dues  for  1922-23  are  paid,  but  here 
are  some  Iron  Men'  who  wish  to  enlist  as  auxil- 
iaries." If  there  be  methodism  in  this  madness, 
we  would  not  have  it  cured.  Other  members  who 
could  not  truly  write  the  first  clause  of  his  note, 
will  please  note.  The  "iron  men"  successfully 
passed  the  tests,  and,  after  a  very  brief  training, 
have  been  sent  to  the  front. 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME  XIX  MAY,  1923  NUMBER  9 

THE    CHURCH  AND  PROGRESS 
By  Bruce  L.  Melvin 

That  the  church  is  an  enemy  of  progress  is  a 
;ommon  conception  held  by  the  casual  observer,  as 
veil  as  the  enemy  of  religion.  The  church  is  an 
nstitution  on  a  par  with  others  in  human  society. 
3oes  the  church  oppose  progress  by  virtue  of  its 
)articular  nature,  or  only  as  any  other  institution? 
rhis  article  cares  neither  to  defend  not  to  accuse  the 
church  as  an  instrument  or  hindrance  to  progress, 
)ut  only  to  make  an  honest  examination  in  com- 
3arison  with  other  institutions. 

The  church  is  only  one  of  the  institutions  in 
)ur  social  organization.  The  state  and  economic 
system  constitute  two  others  that  play  a  great  part 
n  our  present  civilization.  The  church  does  not 
lecessarily  oppose  progress  any  more  than  other  in- 
stitutions. The  institution  that  opposes  is  the 
)ne  that  has  the  greatest  power.  Progress  in- 
volves change,  and  such  change  usually  means  the 
:aking  of  power  out  of  the  hands  of  the  strong. 
When  the  church  held  the  power  of  the  state,  in 
:he  Middle  Ages,  it  was  an  enemy  of  progress,  but 
in  assertion  today  that  it  is  a  greater  menace  than 
>ther  institutions  may  be  a  mark  of  thinking  in  a 
traditional  way  that  is  part  of  our  social  inherit- 
mce  from  the  mediaeval  period. 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

The  economic  system  opposes  and  has  opposed 
for  the  last  two  decades  every  effort  for  the  bet- 
terment of  human  welfare.  This  system  upholds 
freedom  of  contract,  individualism,  competition, — 
shibboleths  which  have  produced  and  upheld 
child  labor,  woman  labor,  twelve-hour  day,  and  con- 
centration of  capital  in  the  hands  of  a  few.  The 
efforts  of  the  laboring  men  have  been  thwarted  and 
often  broken  by  the  corporations.  These  attempts 
have  only  been  stimulated  by  need  and  by  the 
conditions  into  which  the  above  economic  principles 
have  placed  the  workers.  The  fighting  against 
the  workers  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  is  a 
good  example  which  was  one,  if  not  the  one,  big 
cause  for  the  strike  of  last  summer.  Men  in  man- 
ufacturing who  are  brave  enough  to  refuse  to  fol- 
low the  old  traditional  methods  of  competition  and 
struggle  for  gain  in  the  economic  field  are  not  con- 
sidered in  good  standing  by  manufacturing  asso- 
ciations. One  man  who  plays  a  prominent  part 
in  the  steel  industry  was  heard  to  say  not  long  ago : 
"Steel  always  has  been  a  killer  of  men  and  it  al- 
ways will  be."  Do  not  these  illustrations  show  that 
our  economic  system  is  an  enemy  of  progress? 

The  second  institution  that  comes  in  for  ex- 
amination is  the  state.  Again,  the  state,  like  the 
economic  institutions,  fears  change.  Note  the 
vacillating  policy  that  our  own  United  States  has 
followed  toward  both  Russia  and  Mexico.  Rus- 
sia is  trying  out  a  new  experiment,  a  new  kind  of 
state,  not  based  on  the  same  kind  of  representa- 
tion as  our  own.  Yet  we  refuse  to  recognize  it, 
refuse  to  have  any  more  to  do  with  it  than  is  pos- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  3 

sible  —  Awful!  —  Dangerous!  —  Bolsheviks!  — 
but  human  beings  like  all  the  rest  of  us,  going 
through  a  great  reconstruction  in  working  out  a 
new  kind  of  government,  and  our  state  fears  a 
change.  There  might  be  some  people  in  our 
country  that  would  wish  to  follow  Russia's  experi- 
ment, as  others  have  ours,  if  she  made  a  success. 

Witness  again  a  group  of  people  on  trial  in 
Michigan,  communists,  on  trial  for  what  they  be- 
lieve is  right — at  least  I  give  them  the  same  right 
of  honesty  as  I  always  like  for  the  other  person  to 
give  me — on  trial  by  a  state.  Conservatism!  Is 
this  an  enemy  of  progress?  The  one  big  hin- 
drance today  to  world  peace  is  political  institution- 
alism.  The  states  have  only  one  final  established 
method  of  settling  difficulties — Vv^ar.  Take  away 
from  a  state  its  war  and  it  immediately  loses  much 
of  its  power.  Of  course  it  opposes  progress  that 
means  bringing  about  world  peace,  because  its 
great  strength  is  gone.  The  state,  as  an  institu- 
tion, is  an  enemy  of  progress. 

The  church,  as  are  both  the  other  institutions 
mentioned,  is  made  up  of  ordinary  human  beings 
who  have  their  prejudices,  beliefs,  and  hatreds,  but 
leading  church  men  are  advocating  change  today 
in  a  way  that  the  representatives  of  neither  of  the 
other  two  are.  It  was  the  Inter-Church  Movement 
that  brought  about  the  investigation  of  the  steel 
strike  of  1919.  Men  are  preaching  a  new  gospel 
as  a  result  of  the  revelations  of  that  and  kindred 
investigations.  The  Federal  Council  of  Churches, 
which  is  an  institution  within  itself,  stands  bravely 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

on  social  principles  of  righteousness  that  are  ab- 
solutely opposed  to  the  oppressive  features  of  our 
existing  economic  and  political  systems.  It  is  the 
church  today  that  is  taking  the  lead  for  progress 
rather  than  hindering  it,  if  any  institution  at  all 
can  claim  the  honor. 

Since  I  began  this  article  there  has  come  to  my 
desk  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "The  Church's  Plea 
Against  War  and  the  War  System."  One  sent- 
ence from  it  shows  the  stand  of  the  church  lead- 
ers of  whom  there  are  one  hundred  fifty-five  signa- 
tures to  the  article.  "We  would  have  every  Chris- 
tian church  the  center  of  a  frank  and  courageous 
antagonism  to  war  and  everything  that  makes 
war  .  .  .  ."  Other  illustrations  that  show  the 
stand  of  the  church  on  economic  and  political  ques- 
tions could  be  multiplied  but  such  is  not  necessary. 
The  church  is  leading  the  way  to  progress  today 
in  distinct  contrast  to  our  economic  system  and 
the  state. 

Ohio  Wesleyan  University. 


"HIC  JACET" 

[Tlie  following  is  a   statement   of  personal   feeling  by   a 
member,  who,  for  this  purpose,  prefers  to  remain  anonymous  ] 

Our  entire  present  day  practice  in  regard  to 
funerals  appears  to  encourage  the  perpetuation  of 
primitive  and  pagan  ideas.  A  recently  observed 
advertisement  of  a  cemetery  asserts  that  "the  citi- 
zens of  yesteryear  sleep  here  in  solemn  dignity  and 
pomp."       One     of     our     perfectly     sound     church 


THE  SCROLL  Page  5 

papers,  in  describing  the  funeral  of  a  prominent 
man,  said  that  "he  slept  under  a  wilderness  of 
flowers."  Our  whole  terminology  and  practice 
with  reference  to  death  and  funerals  encourages  the 
idea  that  there  is  still  some  intim.ate  connection  be- 
tween the  personality  of  the  deceased  and  his  dead 
body,  and  that,  in  some  vague  way,  the  happiness 
and  honor  of  the  departed  are  affected  by  the 
funeral  and  cemetery  arrangements.  To  be  sure, 
we  do  not  carry  this  theory  out  as  consistently  as 
King  Tut,  who  had  embalmed  ducks  and  chickens 
placed  in  his  tomb  to  feed  his  body-spirit;  nor  do 
we  imagine  the  situation  quite  as  vividly  as  Brown- 
ing's Bishop  who  ordered  his  tomb  in  St.  Praxed's 
and  expected  to  spend  centuries  smelling  the  in- 
cense and  gloating  over  the  inferiority  of  his 
rival's  monument  across  the  aisle.  But  when  a 
good  Christian  elder  selects  a  cemetery  lot  because 
there  is  a  good  viev/  from  it;  or  when  family  and 
friends  are  comforted  by  having  the  grave  made 
beautiful  with  flowers  or  feel  an  added  pang  if  the 
weather  is  bad  because  they  seem  to  be  leaving  the 
loved  one  out  in  the  storm;  or  when  we  are  aware 
of  a  little  quickening  of  the  pulse  and  a  little  stir- 
ring at  the  roots  of  the  hair  when  we  chance  to 
pass  through  a  grave  yard  at  night; — it  is  because 
there  still  lingers  in  the  back  of  our  minds  a  belief 
in  the  body-spirit  which,  if  dispossessed  by  death 
from  its  mortal  habitation,  still  lingers  round  the 
place  where  that  body  was  deposited.  Of  course 
we  cannot  wholly  control  our  imaginations  or  break 
up  the  association  that  we  have  been  so  many  years 
forming  between  the  thought  of  the  body  and  the 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

thought  of  the  personality.  But  it  appears  that  in 
our  funeral  practices  we  have  deliberately  gone 
about  it  to  harrow  our  own  feelings,  to  perpetuate 
our  delusions,  and  to  intensify  the  least  satisfying 
associations  between  that  which  is  mortal  and  that 
which  is  immortal. 

For  Tfij  part,  I  want  no  funeral,  no  ceremon- 
ious burial,  no  stone  to  mark  my  grave.  The  dis- 
posal of  the  body  that  is  no  longer  needed  is  merely 
a  question  of  the  disposal  of  waste  products.  It 
should  be  done  with  decency,  dignity,  and  privacy, 
When  an  old  flag  has  served  its  day  and  the  winds 
have  whipped  it  into  tatters  and  sun  and  rain  have 
faded  its  stripes  and  dimmed  its  stars,  the  regula- 
tions prescribe  that  it  shall  be  handled  reverently 
and  put  to  no  degrading  use  and  that  it  shall  be  pri- 
vately burned.  It  simply  disappears  from  the 
view  of  men  and  is  remembered  not  by  a  place  in 
which  it  is  laid  to  molder  but  by  the  service  which 
it  rendered  in  the  bright  days  when  it  fluttered  from 
the  mast. 

So  let  it  be  with  man.  The  immortal  part  of 
him  cannot  be  kept  in  any  tomb,  and  nothing  is  so 
inappropriate  and  unhelpful  a  stimulus  to  those 
memories  which  are  richest  and  best  as  the  mere 
marking  of  the  place  where  his  body  was  last  seen. 
The  actuaries'  tables  give  me  an  expectancy  of 
twenty-two  years.  As  I  look  back  such  a  period 
does  not  seem  very  long,  and  the  next  twenty-two 
will  doubtless  seem  shorter.  So  being  in  health 
and  strength  and  middle  age,  and  finding  it  not 
difficult  to  visualize  the  end,  I  say  that  I  do  not 


THE  SCROLL  Page  7 

want  my  memory  to  be  associated  with  any  partic- 
ular plot  or  parcel  of  ground  unless  it  should  be 
with  some  spot  where  I  have  lived  and  loved  and 
worked.  If  I  could  breathe  my  soul  into  some 
sixteen  lines  of  verse,  that  friends  remembering 
might  say,  "He  was  like  that ;"  if  I  could  build  an  in- 
stitution, a  church,  school,  journal,  or  business, 
that  would  project  my  personality  and  ideals  into 
the  years  which  I  shall  not  see;  if  I  could  lay  good 
stones  in  honest  mortar  to  make  a  wall  that  would 
endure  for  a  while  and  serve  some  beautiful  and 
useful  purpose; — I  would  be  glad  to  be  remembered 
by  any  of  these  monuments.  But  to  think  that  I 
am  to  become  a  resident  of  som^e  City  of  the  Dead, 
that  friends  should  seek  me  under  some  stone  in 
the  place  of  my  bodily  dissolution,  as  though  the 
most  important  event  in  my  life  were  the  leaving 
of  it,  and  should  remember  me  in  connection  with 
the  spot  where,  above  all  other  places  I  am  not, 
— this  is  intolerable. 


CAN   THERE  BE  A   SPLIT   CHURCH  WITHOUT 
SPLIT  CHURCHES? 
By  George  B.  Stewart 

Can  there  by  a  split  church  without  spHt 
churches?  There  can  be  and  there  must  be. 
Why?  Because  the  reactionaries  demand  as 
much. 

On  May  17th  at  Indianapolis  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  will  meet.     At 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

this  time  the  moderator  of  the  Philadelphia  Pres- 
bytery is  to  present  the  case  of  the  Presbytery  of 
New  York  City,  sanctioning  the  modem  utterances 
of  the  Rev.  Harry  Emerson  Fosdick,  which  it  is 
claimed  violate  every  standard  of  the  Presbyterian 
demonination,  in  its  creedal  authority.  In  a  re- 
cent issue  of  the  Sunday  School  Times,  Rev.  Mr. 
MacCartney  outlines  the  issue  and  declares  that  in 
prayer  and  convictions  there  must  be  some  definite 
stand  taken.  What  does  all  this  and  other  things 
mean  to  the  church  of  the  present  minute.  It 
means  that  a  real  cleavage  in  imminent  and  logic- 
ally must  be. 

During  the  past  five  years  I  have  come  into 
personal  contact  with  no  less  than  ten  thousand 
ministers  of  all  the  churches.  To  a  greater  or 
lesser  degree  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  sensing 
the  attitudes  of  all  these  on  the  crisis  now  pending 
in  the  whole  household  of  the  Protestant  faith. 
What  is  the  verdict?  Something  is  about  to  hap- 
pen and  no  man  knows  just  what  it  is  to  be.  The 
leaders  are  vitally  divided  upon  the  absolute  es- 
sentials and  reconciliation  seems  wide  of  the  mark. 
Many  preachers  are  trying  to  tide  over  by  evading 
or  soft-pedalling ;  the  wiser  say  they  are  ready  to 
break  on  some  such  program  as  the  Christian  Cen- 
tury most  clearly  indicates.  And  these  serious 
souls  of  all  churches  are  really  reading  the  Chris- 
tian Century,  hoping  that  a  rational  something  may 
function  in  the  church's  behalf. 

Pastor  MacCartney  does  no  violence  to  the  con- 
dition in  his  church  and  the  growing  condition  in 


THE  SCROLL Page  9 

all  the  main  Protestant  churches  when  he  lays 
down  one  of  four  honest  procedures  for  action.  We 
should  honor  such  a  man  for  his  loyal  convictions. 
We  should  put  the  best  construction  on  all  he  says. 
We  should  seek  to  move  lovingly  but  fearlessly  to- 
wards the  sublime  end,  whatever  Life  demands. 
Both  evidently  have  God  on  their  sides.  To  my 
mind  we  speak  more  truly  when  we  think  of  Life 
as  functioning  to  a  creative  end.  The  crisis  calls 
for  the  holiest  of  thinking  and  holiest  of  acting  to 
save  the  church  from  a  needless  peril.  It  does 
seem  too  bad  that  our  brethren  of  the  conservative 
school  show  such  woeful  impatience  and  even  im- 
pugn the  motives  of  the  other  school.  Yet,  the 
law  of  progress  has  never  been  spelled  in  any  other 
terms.      The  weak  sister  ye  have  with  you  always! 

How  can  we  have  a  split  church  without  split 
churches?  To  a  great  extent  by  freely  admitting 
the  great  difference  and  proposing  to  use  two  great 
spiritual  magnets  until  the  separation  is  made.  In 
other  words,  counsel  everybody  to  rearrange  his 
membership  in  terms  of  modernist  or  fundamental- 
ist conception  of  Protestantism  and  let  it  go  on 
without  a  visible,  formal  break. 

Not  long  since,  I  was  in  the  study  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Stevens  of  the  Baptist  church  of  Lima,  Ohio,  and 
in  the  friendliest  of  terms  we  focused  opinions 
quickly.  Dr.  Stevens  supplied  for  Dr.  Halderman  in 
New  York  City  and  hence  surely  represents  the 
fatalist's  view  of  the  whole  Bibical  dogma.  He 
was  quite  ready  to  dismiss  in  love  and  good  stand- 
ing all  the  modernist  Baptist  preachers   of   his  de- 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

nomination  to  the  Unitarian  church.  Seemed  to 
think  that  was  wholly  the  proper  thing  to  do. 
Quickly  I  rejoined:  *'Sir,  it  would  be  the  direct 
privilege  of  the  men  of  the  other  school  to  dis- 
miss you,  fundamentalists,  bodily,  in  love  and  mem- 
bership of  good  standing,  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  where  you  all  belong."  Wherein  is  the 
injustice  either  way  of  such  an  attitude?  Simply 
that  church  life  is  not  summed  up  in  such  historical 
institutions  and  a  multitude  of  things  determine 
besides  actual  theology.  Any  honest  thinker 
knows  that  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  think  in  such 
wide-of-the-mark    categories.  But, — loyalty     to 

church  attendance,  loyalty  to  one's  conviction  of 
right,  loyalty  to  life,  then  the  great  demands  of  the 
age,  primarily  in  religious  education  for  the 
christianizing  of  the  youth  of  the  land,  the  respect 
of  the  communities  everywhere,  the  untrammeled 
privilege  to  explain  without  disrupting  state  legis- 
lature and  a  thousand  other  issues  demands  that 
we  soon  grow  a  split  church. 

I,  for  one,  have  been  wonderfully  won  over 
to  the  actual  philosophical  necessity  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church.  They  have  their  own  hierarchy 
to  fight  and  they  have  their  own  universe  to  make. 
Nevertheless  they  are  the  real  and  genuine  dogma- 
tists of  the  twentieth  century.  A  thousand  years 
from  now  they  will  be  moving  towards  the  same 
general  goal.  God  speed  them  and  help  the  whole 
priesthood  to  realize  more  truly  the  significance  of 
their  marvelous  institution.  But  why  not  grow  a 
Protestant  Catholic  church?  Then  let  all  modern- 
ists of  every    school    and    phase    grow    a    simple 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

Catholic  church.  There  we  have  it:  Roman  Cath- 
olic, Protestant  Catholic,  and  simply  Catholic 
church  of  Jesus  Christ.  As  long  as  we  use  the 
double  significant  term  of  Jesus  Christ,  just  that 
long  we  will  have  two  distinct  conceptions  of  the 
Catholic  faith.  The  evolutionary,  prophetic, 
creative  is  one,  the  conserving,  static,  priestly  is  the 
other.  Surely  a  variety  of  all  can  be  realized  in  a 
division  where  conscience  does  not  lead  to  such  dis- 
putes as  the  MacCartney-Fosdick  of  the  present 
day.  As  the  former  thoughtfully  says:  "Bap- 
tists, Congregationalists  and  Disciples  have  a  more 
flexible  form  than  Methodists,  Presbyterians  and 
Episcopalians."  Hence,  I  would  add:  Unions 
along  this  line  would  ultimately  divide  and  yet  rob 
no  one  of  any  glory.  Baptists,  Congregationalists, 
Disciples  of  the  Modern  School,  let  us  unite  to  the 
glory  of  God!  Fundamentalists — that  is, — real, 
conscientious  fundamentalists  among  us,  please 
grow  fellowship  in  the  other  folds. 
Dayton,  Ohio. 


JUDGE  LOBENGIER  HONORED 

(We  have  made  previous  reference  to  the  celebration  by 
the  Far  Eastern  Bar  Association  in  honor  of  onr  fellovs^. 
Judge  Charles  S.  Lobeugier  of  the  United  States  Court  for 
China,  of  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  his  accession  to  the 
bench.  The  following  letter  from  the  Premier  of  the  Re- 
publc  of  China  seems  to  express  much  more  than  diplomatic 
politeness.) 

It  is  with  deep  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  be 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

present  in  person  at  the  gathering  to  do  honor  to 
Judge  Lobengier,  but  it  is  with  infinite  pleasure 
that  I  am  able  to  be  there  in  spirit  and  to  convey 
the  lively  sense  of  appreciation  I  have  of  his  worth. 
For  twenty  years  Judge  Lobengier  has  held  the 
scales  of  justice  in  his  hands  in  diverse  countries; 
in  America,  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  among 
his  nationals  in  China.  That  is  an  experience  to 
be  envied;  but  what  is  more  to  be  envied  is  the 
splendid  reputation  which  he  has  built  up  for  him- 
self in  those  three  countries  as  a  judge,  a  citizen, 
and  a  man. 

As  a  jurist  Judge  Lobengier  established  him- 
self many  years  ago  as  a  man  of  keen  and  sober 
judgm.ent,  possessing  profound  knowledge  of  law 
and  the  fineness  of  character  necessary  to  interpret 
that  law  impartially  and  fearlessly.  His  m.aster- 
ly  judgments  and  his  learned  writings  have  been 
of  great  service  to  law  students,  and  while  they 
have  taught  considerable  that  has  been  immeasur- 
ably helpful  in  the  development  of  knowledge  of 
jurisprudence,  the  outstanding  lesson  they  have 
always  conveyed  has  been  the  great  and  lasting 
value  of  strict  integrity  in  interpreptation  and  the 
sterling  worth  of  courageous  administration  of  the 
law. 

It  is  men  of  the  type  of  Judge  Lobengier  who 
have  made  the  law  superior  to  States;  placed  it  be- 
yond the  corroding  influence  of  the  unscrupulous. 
For  this  he  is  admired ;  for  this  he  is  welcomed  by 
all  who  believe  in  the  impartial  administration  of 
justice,  and  who  are  able  to  have  their  difficulties 


THE  SCROLL  Page  13 

determined  by  him.  Example  is  far  better  than  pre- 
cept, when  example  can  be  had.  Judge  Lobengier 
happily  provides  constant  evidence  not  only  of  how 
the  law  should  be  weighed  and  how  it  should  be  ad- 
ministered, but  what  should  be  the  bearing  of  a 
judge. 

It  is  fortunate  for  us  to  see  him  celebrate  in 
China  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  his  judicial 
work,  and  his  presence  on  the  bench  at  Shanghai 
just  now  is  fitting  tribute  to  his  worth,  testimony 
to  his  high  standing,  and  manifestation  of  the 
great  confidence  reposed  in  him.  I  am  happy  that 
I  am  able  to  join  with  his  friends  in  congratulating 
him  upon  his  long  and  successful  career  in  law,  and 
in  wishing  him  many  years  of  health  and  strength 
to  carry  on  the  work  which  he  has  so  far  so  ably 
done. 

WANG  CHUNG-HUI, 

PREMIER. 
Republic  of  China, 

11th  year,  10th  moon,  23rd  day. 


"MADE  TO  HARMONIZE" 

One  of  our  prominent  brethren  in  an  article  in 
one  of  our  religious  papers  under  date  of  Feb.  10, 
1923,  makes  this  remarkable  statement:  "It  is  a 
safe  principle  of  interpretation  that  every  interpre- 
tation of  Scripture  must  be  made  to  harmonize 
with  every  other  statement  of  Scripture  upon  that 
subject." 

This  seems  to  us  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
and  destructive  utterances  that  we    have    seen    in 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

print  for  a  long  time.  It  cuts  at  the  very  root  of  a 
sane  and  reverent  use  of  the  Scriptures.  We  won- 
der that  it  has  not  been  instantly  challenged  by 
those  who  are  jealous  for  the  dignity  and  honor  of 
the  Scriptures.  "Must  be  made  to  harmonize!"  A 
scriptural  writer  is  not  to  be  allowed  to  say  just 
what  he  obviously  says.  He  must  be  "made  to  har- 
monize." We  cannot  then  approach  the  Bible  with 
open  and  honest  minds  to  find  what  its  writers  are 
trying  to  tell  us.  We  must  first  adopt  as  a  presup- 
position the  purely  human  opinion  that  the  writers 
must  all  say  the  same  thing  upon  the  same  subject. 
We  cannot  allow  the  Bible  to  tell  us  its  own  story 
and  speak  to  us  with  its  own  voice.  We  can  not 
allow  it  to  be  the  kind  of  book  that  we  find  it  to  be 
when  we  examine  it.  We  must  begin  by  saying 
that  it  is  the  kind  of  book  that  we  want  it  to  be. 
For  this  writer,  that  means  that  it  is  the  kind  of 
book  that  must  harmonize  in  all  its  statements. 
This  having  been  assumed,  it  must  then  be  "made 
to  harmonize." 

Is  this  a  reverent  treatment  of  Scripture?  We 
say  that  it  is  not.  This  is  Protestant  scholasti- 
cism. This  is  not  the  truth-seeking  attitude  which 
opens  the  book  to  find  what  it  teaches.  It  is  the  dog- 
matic attitude  which  approaches  it  with  a  theorj'- 
and  whose  purpose  is  not  to  learn  what  it  says  but 
to  make  it  say  what  one  has  determined  from  other 
sources  that  it  ought  to  say.  "Make  it  harmonize!" 
This  is  so  incredible  that  we  fear  that  the  accuracy 
of  the  quotation  will  be  questioned.  We  assure  the 
reader  that  the  quotation  is  exact.  We  can  give 
the  reference  if  it  is  called  for. 


THE  SCROLL  Page  15 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  SAVED 

The  last  verse  of  the  second  chapter  of  Acts 
has  scarcely  had  the  amount  of  attention  which  it 
deserves,  perhaps  because  it  has  been  overshadow- 
ed by  a  popular  and  important  verse  near  by.  We 
refer  to  the  statement  that  "the  Lord  added  to 
them  (a.  v.,  to  the  church)  daily  those  that  were 
being  saved."  This  seems  to  indicate  rather  clear- 
ly that  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  of  this  passage, 
the  test  of  fitness  for  church  membership  was  that 
one  should  be  in  the  process  of  being  saved.  It 
appears  that  all  such  were  added  to  the  church, 
so  far  as  they  cared  to  be  added,  and  that  there  was 
no  thought  of  excluding  any  person  upon  the  ground 
of  any  defect  or  delinquency  which  was  not  vital 
enough  to  exclude  him  from  salvation.  In  connec- 
tion with  this  verse,  due  weight  ought  to  be  given 
to  Acts  2:38,  in  which  certain  conditions  are  men- 
tioned upon  compliance  with  which  persons  would 
"receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  spirit."  But  with  due 
regard  to  that  passage,  it  still  appears  that  to  the 
writer  of  Acts  2:47,  all  people  who  were  being 
saved  had  a  right  to  a  place  in  the  church.  We 
should  consider  whether  or  not  this  harmonizes 
completely  with  the  practice  which  excludes  from 
the  church  some  who  are  admitted  to  be  in  a  fair 
way  toward  salvation.  Restoring  the  spirit  and 
the  form  of  primitive  Christianity  is  not  altogether 
a  simple  matter.  If  we  immerse  all  believers  and 
admit  to  church  m^embership  only  immersed  be- 
lievers, we  are  restoring  the  ordinance.  But  if  we 
exclude  some — in  fact,  a  large  majority, — of  those 
who  love  the  Lord  and  seek  to  serve  him  and  whom 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

we  ourselves  call  Christians  and  upon  whose  salva- 
tion we  dare  not  for  an  instant  cast  a  doubt,  if  we 
refuse  to  add  to  the  church  or  to  recognize  that  the 
Lord  is  adding  to  the  church  daily  those  who  are 
being  saved,  then  there  is  an  aspect  of  the  Aposto- 
lic church  which  we  are  not  restoring.  It  is  a 
real  question,  not  to  be  settled  either  way  by  a  wave 
of  the  hand.  The  more  we  have  reflected  on  Acts 
2:47,  the  more  it  has  seemed  to  have  a  bearing  on 
the  matter.  It  may  be  possible  for  some  "new 
light  to  break  from  God's  Word"  at  that  point. 

This  is  not  altogether  a  new  question.  In 
Lard's  Quarterly  for  1863  a  writer  had  asserted 
that  Luther,  though  not  properly  qualified  to  be 
called  a  Christian  (i.  e.,  had  not  been  immersed), 
was  doubtless  saved.  A  liberal  minded  correspondent 
— probably  L.  L.  Pinkerton,  if  we  should  risk  a 
guess — replied  as  follows:  "Should  we  now  affirm 
that  the  same  consideration  which  excused  Luther 
at  the  gate  of  Heaven  and  admitted  him  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  fixed  conditions,  may  also  have  excused 
him  at  the  door  of  the  church  and  may  have  ad- 
mitted him  in  the  absence  of  some  of  the  regular 
conditions  of  initiation  there,  who  could  invali- 
date the  reasoning?  Does  the  gate  of  heaven 
swing  open  more  carelessly  than  that  of  the  church  ? 
If  the  Holy  One  can  make  allowances  for  the  cir- 
cumstances of  men  so  far  as  to  admit  them  to  the 
honor  of  His  immediate  presence,  despite  their  ig- 
norance and  failures  of  duty,  why  may  He  not  man- 
age the  case  for  a  pious  and  prayerful  soul  seeking 
His  kingdom  here  below,  even  if  he  has  not  learned 
the  duty  of  immersion  ?" 


THE  SCROLL 


VOLUME  XIX  JUNE,  1923  NUMBER  10 

Vincat  Veritas,  vivat  caritas,  maneat  libertas, 
per  Jesum  Christum  qui  est  Veritas  ipsa,  caritas 
ipsa,  libertas  ipsa. 

GREGOR  FRANK,  1628. 


CAMPBELL    INSTITUTE,    ANNUAL    MEETING 
JULY  30— AUGUST  1 

Headquarters,  Gladstone  Hotel,  62nd  and  Kenwood,   Chicago. 


A  LARGER  AND  BETTER  SCROLL 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Campbell  In- 
stitute has  decided,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Institute  itself  as  represented  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing, to  enlarge  and  improve  the  Scroll.  The  plan 
includes : 

1.  Making  the  Scroll  a  thirty-two  page  mag- 
azine with  perhaps  a  slightly  larger  page  than  at 
present. 

2.  The  enlistment  of  a  group  of  men  to  serve 
as  an  Editorial  Council  and  Contributing  Staff. 

3.  The  extension  of  the  circulation  consider- 
ably beyond  the  membership  of  the  Institute. 


Page  2  THE  SCROLL 

The  subscription  price  for  non-members  will 
be  kept,  as  at  present,  at  One  Dollar.  A  good  be- 
ginning has  already  been  made  in  financing  the 
larger  magazine.  (See  the  Secretary's  Notes  in 
this  issue.)  There  is  good  assurance  that  the 
financial  side  of  the  matter  can  be  taken  care  of 
without  embarrassment  to  the  Institute. 

The  extension  of  the  circulation  must  rest 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  members.  It  ought  to 
be  worth  something  to  every  Fellow  to  have  a  few 
copies  of  the  Scroll  circulating  in  his  own  commu- 
nity and  among  his  own  associates.  It  certainly 
will  if  the  Scroll  becomes  as  interesting  a  publi- 
cation as  the  following  list  of  names  gives  us  a 
right  to  anticipate. 

The  following  members  of  the  Institute  have 
accepted  appointment  as  members  of  the  Editorial 
Council  and  Contributing  Staff: 

Lee  E.  Cannon,  Hiram  College,  Hiram,  0. 

Thomas  Curtis  Clark,  Office  Editor  of  The 
Christian  Century,  Chicago. 

John  Ray  Ewers,  East  End  Christian  Church, 
Pittsburgh. 

A.  W.  Fortune,  Central  Christian  Church, 
Lexington,  Ky. 

Judge  Frederick  A.  Henry,  Cleveland,  O. 

Finis  S.  Idleman,  Central  Church  of  Disciples 
of  Christ,  New  York. 

Burris  Jenkins,  Linwood  Blvd.  Christian 
Church,  Kansas  City. 

0.  F.  Jordan,  Community  Church,  Park  Ridge, 
III. 


:HE  scroll  Page  3 

J.  L.  Lobengier,  Educational  Pastor,  United 
Church,  Oberlin,  0. 

F.  E.  Lumley,  Ohio  State  Univ.,  Columbus,  O. 

Bruce  L.  Melvin,  Ohio  Wesleyan  Univ.,  Dela- 
vare,  0. 

E.  L.  Powell,  First  Christian  Church,  Louis- 
dlle,  Ky. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  impressive  list  of  names 
vill  not  discourage  others  from  making  contribu- 
;ions  to  the  Scroll.  The  Editor  confesses  to  some 
lisappointment  in  this  respect  during  the  past 
rear.  The  members  are  kind,  far  too  kind,  in 
;heir  expressions  in  regard  to  the  Scroll,  but 
nost  of  them  have  evidently  preferred  to  read  it 
•ather  than  write  for  it.  The  constant  insistence 
ipon  brevity  has  perhaps  acted  as  a  deterrent. 
Dne  does  not  like  to  be  warned  so  solemnly  against 
exceeding  the  thousand-word  limit.  That  re- 
striction doubtless  cramps  the  style  of  men  who 
ire  accustomed  to  preparing  thirty-five-minute 
sermons  and  fifty-minute  lectures.  With  the  in- 
crease in  the  size  of  the  magazine,  it  will  be  pos- 
sible to  use  somewhat  longer  articles.  But  we 
still  think  highly  of  the  thousand-word  article, 
rhis  will  still  be  a  small  magazine.  It  should  be 
I  magazine  of  condensed  rather  than  of  elaborated 
naterial.  Much  can  be  left  to  the  imagination  of 
5uch  a  group  of  readers  as  those  of  the  Scroll. 
^ew  ideas  are  too  large  to  be  stated  in  a  thousand 
^ords  if  the  writer  can  depend  upon  the  reader 
;o  meet  him  half  way  and  second  his  good  wit 
'with  the  forward  child,  understanding." 


Page  4  THE  SCROLL 

THE  DEMOCRACY  OF  THE  INSTITUTE 

One  of  our  members,  who  probably  knows  the 
brotherhood  as  well  as  any  man  in  it,  writes: 
"What  our  rank  and  file  are  opposed  to  is  anything 
that  looks  like  exclusiveness.  They  do  not  ob- 
ject to  heresy  so  much  as  they  do  to  secrecy  or 
aristocracy."  It  was  with  some  such  idea  in  mind 
that  the  Campbell  Institute  two  years  ago  opened 
its  m.embership  to  all  college  graduates.  There 
has  never  been  much  secrecy  about  it.  Certainly 
there  is  absolutely  none  now.  For  many  years 
its  membership  was  limited  to  men  who  had  done 
a  certain  amount  of  graduate  work,  and  persons 
could  become  miembers  only  by  election.  The  first 
purpose  of  the  Institute,  as  stated  in  its  Constitu- 
tion, was  "to  encourage  and  keep  alive  a  scholarly 
spirit  and  to  enable  its  members  to  help  each  other 
to  a  riper  scholarship."  It  seemed  not  inconsist- 
ent with  this  purpose  to  limit  the  membership  to 
those  who  could  present  some  evidence  of  having 
some  scholarly  spirit  and  at  least  a  little  scholar- 
ship even  though  it  might  still  be  a  trifle  under- 
ripe. Indeed,  so  far  from  being  a  boast  of  super- 
iority, this  very  statement  of  purpose  was  a  con- 
fession that  such  scholarly  spirit  and  scholarship 
as  we  had  needed  the  vitalizing  and  maturing  in- 
fluence that  might  come  from  mutual  aid  and  en- 
couragement. 

But  now  the  Institute  has  become  even  more 
democratic.  Any  college  graduate  may  become  a 
member.  Election  is  not  necessary.  It  is  as 
comprehensive   as   all   the  alumni   associations    of 


'HE  SCROLL  Page  5 

,11  the  colleges  put  together.  The  Institute  has 
10  machinery  of  exclusion.  Naturally,  like  any 
ther  association,  it  will  continue  to  consist  of 
hose  who  want  to  join,  to  the  exclusion  of  those 
irho  do  not  want  to  join.  We  believe  that  the 
tatement  quoted  above  in  regard  to  the  "rank 
,nd  file"  is  essentially  correct,  and  that  it  repre- 
ents  an  essentially  sensible  attitude  on  the  part 
if  the  majority.  Any  little  circle  of  intelligenzia 
rganized  into  a  close  corporation  is  an  annoyance 
o  the  hoi  polloi  and  may  become  a  nuisance.  But 
,n  association  which  opens  its  doors  to  all,  subject 
inly  to  a  minimum  educational  requirement  which 
s  possessed  by  something  like  a  million  people  in 
his  country,  which  opens  its  meetings  to  all  who 
are  to  come  and  announces  them  in  the  public 
iress,  and  which  is  willing  to  place  its  publications 
n  the  hands  of  anyone  who  can  read,  is  certainly 
lot  open  to  the  charge  of  exclusiveness  or  secrecy. 
?o  say  that  the  rank  and  file  can  not  understand 
his,  is  to  bring  against  the  popular  intelligence  an 
ndictment  with  which  we  have  no  sympathy. 


SYSTEM  FOR  THE  MINISTER 

No  one  needs  a  definite  systematization  and 
)lanning  of  his  work  more  than  the  minister. 
i*robably  no  one  can  do  it  for  him;  all  the  more  is 
t  necessary  that  he  should  do  it  for  himself.  Only 
L  few  hours  a  week  of  the  minister's  time  are 
iefinitely  scheduled  for  him.  For  the  rest,  he 
nust  make  his  own  schedule.  Of  course  unex- 
)ected  emergencies  will  disturb  it,  as  sudden  winds 


Page  6  THE  SCROLL 

may  blow  a  vessel  from  its  course;  but  the  vessel 
must  have  a  course  to  come  back  to. 

Consider  your  distribution  of  time  during  the 
past  week.  Did  it  correspond  with  fair  accuracy 
to  your  deliberate  estimate  of  the  relative  impor- 
tance of  the  various  things  which  were  done: — 
sermon  preparation,  conferences  with  assistants 
and  associates,  general  study  and  reading,  pastoral 
work,  civic  and  social  service,  general  social  con- 
tacts (including  some  time  with  the  family),  exer- 
cise and  recreation,  and  private  devotion? 

If  any  important  element  is  being  continu- 
ously slighted,  probably  the  need  is  either  for  a 
better  schedule  of  work  or  for  -a  more  rigid  ad- 
herence to  the  schedule  which  you  have.-  -  It  is 
not  absolutely  necessary  to-  let-  ohe's -ISme  be 
wasted  by  haphazard  interruptions.-  -^-'/  "  ''^•"'      •- 

. '^ ^     -^ Q    '..ii  :)  a 

\    ^  J  o;   \  jr. 

"PEOPLE  WHO  THINBt" 

The  daughter  of  a  good  church  member  went 
to  a  great  university  west  of  the  Mississippi  River 
and  on  her  return  was  asked,  "What  church  did 
you  go  to?"  She  replied,  "People  who  think  don't 
go  to  church  any  more."  Inquiry  followed.  It  was 
discovered  that  the  churches  in  that  university 
town  were  dominated  by  people  who  thought  each 
that  his  own  denomination  was  coextensive  with 
the  Kingdom  of  God ;  that  science  was  irreligious ; 
that  evolution  put  God  out  of  the  universe;  that 
trying  to  learn  the  truth  about  the  Bible  by  histori- 
cal and  critical  study  was  "trying  to  destroy  the 
Bible";  that  their  own  little  group  had  the  truth, 


PHE  SCROLL  Page  7 

;he  whole  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth ;  and  they 
leither  knew  nor  cared  about  the  social  meaning  of 
;he  gospel  nor  about  the  enrichment  of  the  whole 
ife  of  m.an. 

Of  course  the  people  who  think  do  not  go  to 
;hat  sort  of  church.  They  stay  away  in  order  to  keep 
;heir  religion.  Sometimes  they  do  not  keep  it  even 
;hen.  And  when  they  do  not,  the  fault  is  partly  their 
)wn,  and  partly  the  fault  of  those  who  have  defined 
'eligion  in  terms  of  unintelligence. 

People  who  think  do  not  always  think  quite 
iccurately  about  religion.  They  are  likely  to  ac- 
cept the  concept  of  religion  which  is  presented  to 
;hem  by  those  who  are  the  professional  advocates 
md  expounders  of  religion,  and  if  that  presentation 
)f  religion  appears  to  them  to  be  untenable  they 
nay  reject  religion  as  an  antiquated  superstition, 
rhe  trouble  with  such  thinking  people  is  that  they 
Ip  not  think  enough. 


A  LET'^ER  FROM  HAWAII 

:.Li:^  ■  .^  .^jQhij  .Gx/Hirschler 

"ijis.  is  a",  wonderful*"  jilace  with  wonderful  peo- 
)le". /,-1VI*y  CoTumittee  is  very  good  to  me  so  far, 
lavirig  already  asked  me  to  consider  another  year's 
vork.  I  can  hardly  stay  beyond  April  of  next 
^ear  so  my  contract  has  been  extended  to  that 
;ime. 

My  work  is  very  largely  a  program  of  teach- 
ng  Japanese  and  Hawaiian  boys  how  to  play. 
Dne  man's  work  is  a  hundred  boys'  play.  The 
contradictions  around  a  settlement  are  most  inter- 


Page  8  THE  SCROLL 

esting.  The  word  itself  suggests  a  settled  state  of 
things  but  the  very  opposite  is  true  as  we  have 
social  explosives  on  every  hand.  And  the  worst 
part  of  that  is  that  they  are  always  going  off.  The 
Japanese  are  a  race  of  incorrigibles.  Here  they 
seemingly  oppose  the  Americans  in  every  under- 
taking, but  when  one  knows  their  antecedents  they 
can  be  excused  for  their  attitudes.  They  were 
shipped  in  here  like  cattle  to  do  the  plantation 
work.  Some  say  they  have  seen  them  whipped. 
One  man,  formerly  a  luna,  told  me  in  all  good  faith, 
he  and  another  luna  threw  a  Japanese  over  an 
embankment  to  kill  him;  at  least  they  never  cared 
to  see  if  he  could  walk  back  and  he  expressed  the 
belief  that  they  killed  him.  If  current  rumors 
can  at  all  be  believed,  the  predatory  wealth  of  the 
plantations  on  these  Islands  went  about  as  low  in 
the  scale  of  capitalistic  corruption  as  can  possibly 
be  conceived.  The  Japanese  struck  a  few  years 
ago  and  since  then  a  ominous  tension  has  devel- 
oped that  will  never  bring  either  group  any  good 
till  it  is  broken  down.  This  will  take  some  time. 
The  Japanese  are  tenaciously  aggressive  and  in- 
telligent. They  will  not  forget  soon.  Conse- 
quently our  settlement  work  will  be  complicated 
by  some  of  these  over-aggravated  racial  animosi- 
ties. 

The  Hawaiians  are  very  submissive  and  there- 
fore true  to  their  tropical  environment  and  tradi- 
tions. In  the  schools  they  are  a  bit  slow  but  Mr. 
Clowes,  who  has  had  an  interesting  experience  in 
school  work,  says  they  are  not  sub-normal.  At 
any  rate  they  are  quite  willing  to  let  the  Japanese 
et  al  take  their  work  and  land.    Rather  than  strug- 


THE  SCROLL  Page  9 

gle  against  odds,  they  give  in,  though  the  Japanese 
is  always  by  far  the  best  workman.  For  that 
reason  in  fishing  and  other  lines  the  Hawaiian  can- 
not hold  his  own.  As  a  race  they  are  not  in  such 
bad  straits  as  the  American  Indian,  but  rehabilita- 
tion is  trying  to  do  for  them  now  what  they  cannot 
do  for  themselves. 

Among  all  the  races  here,  however,  the  Chin- 
ese represent  the  most  truly  American  type.  In 
business  and  industry  they  excell.  In  school  life 
they  are  very  much  in  earnest  and  as  they  speak 
of  China  one  observes  almost  a  missionary  passion 
among  them  to  return  to  China  and  help  recon- 
struct their  homeland  along  American  lines. 
Everyone  regrets  that  we  have  not  more  Chinese 
here. 

The  religious  condition  is  most  irritatingly 
complicated.  Protestants  and  Catholic  try  to 
represent  a  broken  Christianity  that  feels  its  way 
slowly.  Temples  to  Buddha  stand  in  every  Ja- 
panese settlement.  All  the  vices  of  American  life 
are  observed  by  these  races  and  of  course  our  vir- 
tues are  reduced  to  nil.  If  our  virtues  are  accept- 
ed they  are  often  given  or  received  in  some  corrupt 
form.  The  movies  are  taken  largely  as  an  accu- 
rate representation  of  American  life.  The  inher- 
ited belief  of  most  of  the  races  here  is  that  even 
walking  or  riding  with  a  girl  is  taboo,  so  they 
gather  from  our  movies  and  newspapers  that  we 
are  largely  a  race  of  libertines.  All  this,  coupled 
with  the  fact  that  it  seems  to  be  a  virtue  for 
Buddhists  to  lie  about  Christians,  gives  you  a  situa- 
tion full  of  fire.      There  is  practically  no  enforce- 


Page  10  THE  SCROLL 

ment  of  prohibition  and  morals  are  at  a  low  ebb, 
mainly  because  of  our  tropical  condition  but  aggre- 
vated  too  by  so  many  differences  of  race.  We 
have  all  classes  of  Europeans  and  Americans,  Jap- 
anese, Chinese,  Samoans,  Filipinos,  Portugese, 
Koreans  and  Hawaiians. 

All  this  gives  you  some  idea  of  our  problem. 
As  far  as  formal  religion  goes  we  say  scarcely  any- 
thing of  it.  A  boy  gets  no  more  religion  than  the 
Boy  Scouts  have,  and  tliat's  plenty  if  it  really 
goes  through.  Girls  get  most  of  their  impressions 
from  Sunday  School  as  but  few  boys  come.  Girl 
Scout  organizations  are  popular  and  the  Y,  W.  has 
organized  Girl  Reserves  in  our  settlement.  Girls 
are  quick  to  understand  the  advantage  given  by  the 
American  ideal  of  virtue  and  they  represent  a  very 
hopeful  element  in  this  phase  of  the  social  problem 
here. 

Waiakea  Social  Settlement 
Hilo,  Hawaii. 


In  Lexington,  Kentucky,  they  have  a  proper 
sense  of  the  relative  importance  of  things,  A  re- 
cent daily  paper  of  that  city  devoted  the  first  col- 
umm  of  its  first  page  to  a  sermon  by  A.  W.  Fortune 
and  gave  a  smaller  space  farther  over  to  Billy 
Sunday,  who  was  holding  forth  in  Lexington  at  the 
same  time. 


John  Ray  Ewers  recently  reported  "Another 
beautiful  baptismal  service  was  celebrated  last 
Wednesday  evening.  While  others  discuss  bap- 
tism, we  baptise  them,"  Closing  the  church  year, 
he  reports  that  "149  have  joined." 


THE  SCROLL  Page  11 

Researching  through  the  dusty  files  of  old 
papers,  we  found  a  copy  of  a  magazine  called  "The 
Disciple  of  Christ,"  edited  by  S.  M.  Jefferson  and 
published  by  the  Standard  Publishing  Company  in 
1884.  It  contained  a  sermon  by  Z.  T.  Sweeney 
with  a  brief  biographical  sketch  including  this 
characterization:  "Mr.  Sweeney's  mind  is  rhe- 
torical rather  than  logical."  Without  guarantee- 
ing the  accuracy  of  this  estimate,  we  submit  it  for 
consideration  in  connection  with  the  Sweeney  Reso- 
lution. 


W.  E.  M.  Hackelman,  the  energetic  secretary 
of  the  Congress,  proposes  to  keep  the  Congress  be- 
fore the  public  miind  all  the  year  round.  He  has 
issued  Volume  1,  No.  1,  of  a  four-page  quarterly 
called  "The  Congress  of  Disciples  of  Christ."  He 
is  suggesting  that  a  num.ber  of  the  faithful  become 
sustaining  members  of  the  Congress  at  $5.00.  It 
costs  some  money  to  promote  as  good  a  Congress  as 
the  recent  one  at  Indianapolis,  and  the  next  one 
which  will  be  held  at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  under 
the  presidency  of  H.  L.  Willett,  may  be  better.  We 
are  not  authorized  to  say  so,  but  we  think  the  sec- 
retary would  accept  a  personal  check  sent  to  him 
at  1201  North  Alabama  Street,  Indianapolis. 


SECRETARY'S  NOTES 

It  is  a  sign  of  encouragement  that  when 
notices  of  dues  to  the  Institute  are  accompanied 
by  a  reference  to  our  warfare  against  the  Devil  the 
recruiting  of  "iron  men"  increases  noticably.  How- 
ever, it  is  necessary  to  state  that  as  yet  there  are 


Page  12  THE  SCROLL 

too  many  troops    loafing  at    home    or    wandering 
around  on  relatively  unimportant  missions. 

John  Ray  Ewers,  of  Pittsburgh,  is  in  London  for 
the  month  of  July.  His  address  is  Toynbee  Hall. 
Dr.  Carl  Breios,  another  member  of  the  Institute 
who  lives  in  Pittsburgh,  preached  in  the  East  End 
Church,  June  24th.  Mr.  Ewers  has  just  finished 
his  fourteenth  year  with  this  Church  and  he  says 
each  year  is  easier  and  better  than  the  one  before. 
It  is  a  sign  of  several  good  things  that  city  pastor- 
ates among  the  Disciples  are  lengtnening. 

Professors  Frank  Porter  and  D.  C.  Macintosh 
of  the  Yale  Divinity  School  are  lecturing  in  the  Di- 
vinity School  of  the  University  of  Chicago  this 
summer.  Professor  Porter  is  the  only  man  on  the 
Yale  faculty  who  was  there  when  ye  scribe  studied 
there  in  the  nineties. 

Brogden  writes:  "Please  find  enclosed  check 
for  three  iron  men  to  ease  the  lashings  of  the 
devil's  tail."  He  (Brogden)  hopes  to  be  in  the  U. 
of  C.  the  second  term. 

Professor  Edward  Rowell,  who  teaches  in  the 
University  of  California,  says:  "Some  day  when 
California  succeeds  in  becoming  the  capitol  of  the 
world  the  Institute  will  meet  here.  Till  then  I 
must  attend  only  occasionally.  I  am  enclosing 
three  iron  men  to  keep  the  Devil's  tail  between  his 
legs.  .  .  .  The  other  day  I  told  her  (small  daugh- 
ter) a  simple  version  of  the  Jonah  story,  ending 
with  'and  Jonah  got  out  and  went  home.'  Anne 
said,  *And  what  did  his  mother  say?'  Did  any 
theologian  ever  think  of  that  side  of  the  matter? 

A.  H.  Seymour  is  Professor  of  History  and 
Social  Science  in  the  Northern  Normal   and  Indus- 


rHE  SCROLL  Page  13 

trial  School  of  Aberdeen,  South  Dakota.  He  also 
swells  the  army  of  the  faithful. 

Roscoe  R.  Hill  writes  from  the  National  Palace 
Df  Nicaragua  where  he  is  ''Comisionado:"  I  hand 
you  herewith  my  check  for  six  dollars.  This  will 
serve  to  pay  the  year  almost  gone  and  put  me  on 
the  roster  for  one  in  advance.  I  fear  I  did  not 
realize  that  time  had  so  slipped  by.  We  are  far 
from  the  center  of  things  here  and  as  a  result 
things  are  apt  to  get  neglected.  In  an  air  line  we 
are  not  so  far  but  mail  takes  from  two  to  four 
weeks  to  reach  us.  Then  tropical  heat  and  plenty 
of  trouble  thrown  in  keep  one's  mind  pretty  busy 
with  things  that  are  near  at  hand. 

The  new  University  Church,  Chicago,  will  be 
dedicated  the  first  Sunday  of  October,  which  will 
be  its  twenty-ninth  anniversary.  The  sermon 
will  be  preached  by  Dr.  Herbert  L.  Willett,  who  or- 
ganized it  and  was  the  minister  for  three  years. 
The  cost  of  the  property  is  $225,000  besides  the 
furnishings.  The  Institute  will  meet  this  year, 
July  30 — August  1,  in  the  old  building  for  the  last 
time. 

E.  P.  Wise.  My  "three  iron  men"  have 
been  slow  coming.  Here  they  are  strong  and  in 
good  form,  one  hundred  per  cent.  American.  Per- 
haps they  will  come  in  now  very  well  as  recruits 
when  some  of  the  others  have  retired  from  the 
front.  I  am  more  sorry  than  I  can  tell  that  I  can 
not  be  present  at  the  Institute.  I  need  the  fellow- 
ship of  such  men  as  will  be  there. 

Levi  Marshall:  Speaking  of  the  Devil's  tail 
reminds  me  of  the  pastor  who  was  away  on  an  ex- 


Page  14  THE  SCROLL 

tended  vacation.  He  returned  and  called  at  a 
home  in  which  the  lady  was  in  mourning.  Sup- 
posing it  was  her  husband  he  gently  approached 
the  subject  and  said,  "Did  he  die  easy?"  "Yes," 
she  said,  "he  just  wagged  his  tail  and  died."  It 
was  the  dog  that  had  died.  Best  wishes  for  the 
old  guard.      I  hope  to  be  at  the  meeting. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Robison  preached  the  baccalaureate 
sermon  at  Culver-Stockton  College  this  year  and 
Baxter  Waters  gave  the  address  for  the  sixty- 
seventh  commencement.  Mr.  Waters  was  also 
given  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  Are  we 
drifting  or  consciously  going  somewhere? 

J.  P.  Myers:  How  we  neglect  things  until 
you  twist  the  tail  of  your  old  friend,  the  Devil. 
Then  some  of  us  come  out  of  our  slowness.  Sorry 
I  cannot  be  with  the  Fellows  July  30  to  August  1. 

Jos.  A.  Serena,  President  of  the  Southeast 
Missouri  State  Teachers'  College,  at  Cape  Girar- 
deau :  Here's  my  U,  0.  for  last  year  and  next  and 
next.  Enjoy  the  Scroll  and  wish  I  might  be  at 
the  Annual  Meeting. 

Frank  E.  Jaynes:  Your  bogy  of  a  tail-lashing 
Devil  is  a  poor  stick  of  a  one.  My  acquaintance 
with  you  leads  me  to  know  that  you  don't  believe 
that  the  Devil  has  a  tail.  However,  I  am  plan- 
ning to  come  to  the  July  meeting,  and  as  a  bond  of 
good  faith,  I  herewith  forward  a  check. 

C.  0.  Cassaboom:  Circumstances  kept  me 
from  attending  the  Congress  at  Indianapolis  and 
am  not  now  planning  to  attend  the  Colorado  Con- 
vention so  will  not  see  much  of  the  group  who  make 
up  the  Institute  this  year,  but  want  to  keep  up  my 


rHE  SCROLL  Page  15 

membership  and  receive  the  Scroll.  Will  look  for- 
ward to  meeting  with  the  group  some  time  in  the 
near  future. 

Carlos  C.  Rowlison:  Once  more  I  find  my 
plans  do  not  take  in  the  Institute  meeting,  much  to 
my  regret.  I  have  a  chance  to  supply  a  pulpit  at 
Fairfield,  Conn.,  and  attend  the  summer  conference 
at  Union  Theological  July  9-20,  and  couldn't  turn 
it  down.  My  youngsters  are  through  college  now. 
(Isn't  this  a  sign  of  the  flight  of  time.) 

Professor  M.  R.  Gabbert,  of  the  University  of 
Pittsburgh,  had  the  grippe  about  the  middle  of 
April  and  was  in  bed  until  the  present.  He  hopes 
to  be  able  to  go  with  Mrs.  Gabbert  to  Philo,  111., 
early  in  July. 

Fred  S.  Nichols:  Have  known  for  a  long  time 
that  the  Devil  had  something  to  do  with  the  Or- 
der.     For   my   part,  I  am  going  to  let  him  have  a 

" of  a  time"  for  a  few  days  more    pending 

the  assembling  of  my  three  iron  men. 

Guy  W.  Sarvis:  I  enjoy  the  Scroll  and  get  one 
of  my  chief  excitements  in  life  from  promising  my- 
self that  I  will  write  something  for  it.  By  the 
way,  why  doesn't  some  one  write  an  interpretation 
of  human  life  in  terms  of  excitement  and  repose — 
different  words  for  stimulation  and  rest?  I  think 
that  is  where  the  Utilitarians  and  the  Hedonists 
and  all  the  rest  of  them  missed  it.  What  men 
crave  is  excitement.  That  is  why  men  love  adven- 
ture and  danger.  There  is  that  delightful  stretch- 
ing of  the  strings  of  the  human  instrument  and 
that  delightful  restoration  following  and  the  maxi- 
mum number  of  stretchings  compatible  with  the 


Page  16  THE  SCROLL 

capacity  of  the  strings  to  contract  might  be  de- 
scribed as  the  scheme  of  Hfe  of  the  human  organ- 
ism, or  any  other  organism.  Not  pain  cr  pleas- 
ure, but  pain  and  pleasure  is  what  we  have  to  have. 
And  so  we  go  enthusiastically  into  our  various 
formis  of  "Saturday  night"  and  come  down  stolidly 
to  our  various  forms  of  "Monday  morning."  On 
the  whole  the  more  vivid  these  experiences  can  be, 
the  more  life  seems  worth  living.  Perhaps  the 
art  of  life  consists  in  keeping  the  balance  between 
Saturday  and  Monday. 

Tentative  mention  to  a  few  Fellows  in  private 
correspondence  has  brought  a  number  of  enthusias- 
tic letters  in  favor  of  enlarging  the  Scroll  next 
year  and  keeping  the  subscription  price  at  one  dol- 
lar for  the  outside  subscribers.  Several  members 
have  agreed  to  pay  for  or  guarantee  several  sub- 
scriptions. One  man  says  he  will  be  good  for 
twenty-five  and  a  number  have  promised  ten. 
Why  not  get  a  thousand  subscribers  and  make 
the  little  old  Scroll  a  power  in  the  land.  It  would 
be  far  more  practicable  and  more  worth  while  than 
excavating  the  Hill  of  Samaria.  It  might  be  the 
means  of  excavating  a  numiber  of  things  in  the 
course  of  a  year. 

The  Secretary  has  twenty  other  letters  on  the 
desk  which  have  come  in  recent  mails  but  do  not 
contain  quotable  paragraphs.  They  are  sound, 
however,  and  improved  the  standing  of  our  army. 
Perhaps  the  Fellows  will  accept  their  own  endorsed 
checks  as  receipts.  This  will  save  the  energy  of 
both  the  Secretary  and  the  Treasurer  and  enable 
them  to  go  after  the  remaining  delinquents. 


vol  [9-i^    /^Z./-zni-/?^5 


AUTHOR 


TITLE