Editorial
“The nation … is extravagant, as no people ever were from the beginning hitherto.… In the old world, and in ancient times, a few nobles and merchants were princes, and the masses were humble and frugal perforce; but here is a whole people struggling to be not only political sovereigns, but to live in luxury like the peerage of England.
“The increase of lunacy in this country is another frightful indication of the mad extravagance of the people. No wonder indeed that in a single new State they have built three lunatic asylums. The whole land will be a lunatic asylum if from some quarter … we cannot learn some degree of moderation.
“Posterity, we may be assured, will look with amazement at these times. The velocity of a railway train may be fearful, and yet by custom we forget the immense speed.
“The effervescence of ‘Young America’ manifests itself, as we all know, in its views of our ‘manifest destiny,’ to take possession of this Western Continent, and the melancholy Cuba expedition is but one of its outbursts.
“One asks in terror, whether this is the infancy of a country, and if it is, what kind of a nation will tumultuate over this land, when two hundred millions of people shall be flying to and fro, from the Atlantic to the Pacific?” (editorial, the Presbyterian Quarterly Review, June, 1853).
Well, sir, we have a new frontier now, and things are still tumultuating. We’re still flying to and fro at immense speeds, still extravagant and neurotic, and we still have a Cuba problem. Our businessmen still fit your description: “The merchant comes home too much worn out at night to converse with his family, and lays himself on a sofa, until he is roused to go into a deeper sleep in his chamber.…” Only television has been added.
You are quite right—“Will not our readers agree with us that something should be done?”
Further, we approve your suggestion that “our aim is wrong. We are too ambitious. We are not quiet enough.… One invariable characteristic of greatness is ‘capability of repose.’ ” I’m afraid that wisdom has still to be heeded.
Your closing words are the most timely—and timeless: “Deep is our benediction upon our native land, and fervent the prayer we utter, night and morning, that God, even our own God may bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, and give us peace.”
Rome And The Protestants
I have found the edition (Oct. 12 issue) so fruitful for my own understanding of the Roman-Protestant tension that I felt it would be ungracious of me not to acknowledge my debt to you.
I am the organizing pastor … in a suburban area in which the new population is approximately 60 per cent Roman Catholic. I have discovered that there is a concerted effort on the part of the Roman church, which is also fairly new to the community, to present itself as part of one big happy family of Christians. But in discussion with the priests I have found a cordiality toward me personally which does not extend to my labors in the area. So far as the priests are concerned, there is only one Church of Jesus Christ; that church is Roman; I am a friendly but benighted heretic.
On the other hand, most of the Roman Catholic parishioners in the area are extremely puzzled by denominationalism and are not at all clear as to how evangelical Protestantism differs from the Roman view.
Church of the Redeemer
Roselle, Ill.
Although the … articles on Rome in the … issue were interesting reading, should the activities of Rome be listed under “Christianity Today”?…
Tucson, Ariz.
Your edition may be epoch-making, in that [it is among] the first guns opening in defense of Protestantism at this time.…
Townville, Pa.
Is it really necessary to weary your readers with the kind of pre-theological rubbish as is contained in the article “Should We Return to Rome?” by a Mr. Don Francisco Lacueva? Such vignettes … cannot but counteract evangelicalism’s recent bid for intellectual respectability.
Princeton, N. J.
I am writing just to say that I wish you would put in small pamphlet form the article … by Don Francisco Lacueva. I am sure that many pastors would welcome [such].…
First Baptist Church
Toledo, Ohio
The Spanish ambassador, addressing the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, claimed that 98 per cent of the Spanish people are Roman Catholics. Somewhere I read that 95 per cent of the Italian people are also members of that church.… It is only fair to ask, is the total population of these countries the right basis for judging the membership of the church?
It would be well if some dependable person or group … made a study of the annual reports of additions and of total memberships and of the methods used in arriving at the figures given to the public by the various churches.…
Mill Valley, Calif.
The preview of the Second Vatican Council (News, Sept. 28 issue) is interesting and informative. But will this really be “the first council with non-Roman representatives”? According to The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, the Holy Roman Emperor intended the Council of Trent “to be a strictly general or truly ecumenical council, at which the Protestants should have a fair hearing. He secured, during the council’s second period, 1551–52, an invitation, twice given, to the Protestants to be present, and the council issued a letter of safe-conduct (thirteenth session) and offered them the right of discussion, but denied them a vote” (Vol. XII, p. 2a). German Lutheran theologians drew up a statement of Protestant principles, the Confessio Wirtembergica, for submission to the council (Vol. II, p. 76a). Melanchthon started out for Trent but changed his mind about attending and got no further than Nuremberg (Vol. XII, p. 2a). In November, 1551, the German Lutheran theologian, Jakob Beurlin, “in company with Luther’s former steward, Jodocus Neuheller, pastor at Entringen, … was sent as theological advisor of the Würtemberg delegates to Trent, where they took notes of the disputations. On January 13, 1552, both returned home, but on March 7, Beurlin, Brenz, Heerbrand, and Vannius again started for Trent to oppose the erroneous decisions of the council, and to defend the Confessio Wirtembergica before it; but the council would not hear them in public session, and they returned home” (Vol. II, p. 76a).
Asst. Prof. of Philosophy and Religion
Little Rock University
Little Rock, Ark.
Bolt From The Blue
Re “A Protestant Prayer for the Vatican Council” (Editorials, Oct. 12 issue): … Some of the faithful in the Roman Catholic Church have great sympathy for the Ecumenical Movement; possibly because they are also sympathetic toward the liberal tendencies of Protestantism. Your suggested prayer will delight both groups of thinkers.
The Blue Church
Springfield, Pa.
Costs Of The Corps
I read with interest your [editorial] (Sept. 14 issue) citing the Peace Corps as an example of “inefficiency and waste in government bureaucracy” and comparing the annual cost of $2,000 for a missionary to the annual cost of $9,000 for a Peace Corps Volunteer.
The $9,000 figure is accurate and includes all training costs, medical examinations and care, transportation, termination payment reserved during service at the rate of $75 for 24 months, living allowances (food, clothing, housing, etc.), project equipment and materials, and all administrative costs.
Back in June a still-undetermined source began to compare this figure with a reported $2,000 cost for missionaries. When many churches reproduced this information in their weekly bulletins and one national columnist wrote an article based on them, I checked personally to see what the actual comparison might be.
The Reverend Theodore Braun of the National Council of Churches in New York City supplied me with information that Presbyterian missionaries cost about $6,000 annually, Methodists about $7,500, and United Church of Christ missionaries about $8,000. None of these figures, Reverend Braun told me, includes administration.
I also checked with my own denomination—the Southern Baptist Convention—and was told that the foreign mission budget for 1962 is $12,492,472 for 1,480 missionaries—about $8,711 per missionary. Furthermore, the information upon which you based your article quoted an unidentified mission budget of $12,500,000 for 1,350 missionaries—about $9,000 per missionary.
I realize that some mission boards can send people out for a relatively low cost. Nonetheless, other facts show the cost of many missionaries is not very much more or less than the cost of a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Frankly, comparisons are basically irrelevant. Our cooperation with missionaries has been inspiring. We respect the work they are doing and those with whom we have talked have a keen appreciation of what we are doing. That mutual good will, I believe, will continue.
Associate Director
Peace Corps
Washington, D. C.
Wrong Ring
Eston W. Hunter assigns his quotation (Eutychus, Sept. 14 issue) to Dr. Dale Oldham. Where Dr. Oldham found his quotation we are not told. Nor is the identity of its author divulged.
To me the alleged statement lacks the true Spurgeonic ring.… I question whether the gist of that statement can be found in one authentic Spurgeon biography. The three reputable Spurgeon biographies I own give the statement no recognition.
The writer of the present missive is neither a Baptist nor a smoker, but he dislikes seeing the figure of a great historic character distorted in the interests of anyone’s prejudice.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon has been resting from his labors for seventy years. It is a wicked thing at this late hour to wrest from him his principal terrestrial comfort.
Mariners’ House
Boston, Mass.
Beloved brethren: beloved, yet divided against one another; tending more to the doctrines of men than to the commandments of God, competitive, contentious fellow-pilgrims. William C. Fruehan has set forth one side of one of our commonest variances.… Indeed, he has made one statement which no layman-evangelist can allow to go unchallenged. “… I learned the hard way that you can’t witness for Christ with a cigarette or a glass of beer in your hand if you want to be effective.”
Negativists have only broadened the abyss between church-goers and the unenlightened by seeking to separate themselves from humanity rather than unto God.…
This writer has sounded more welcome notes of God’s gracious gift of salvation “with a cigarette or a glass of beer in hand” than at any other time.…
May God bless us with the will to practice unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials, and give us the wisdom to know the difference.
Vancouver, B.C.
Wynt Spigot?
After puzzling over your last sentence “less spigot” (Eutychus, Sept. 14 issue), I have come up with what I believe is the answer.…
Is it “As long as English is our language let’s speak it”?
It’s a joy to read your column biweekly, and I trust you will have many more years to enrich our days, our language, and our laughter with your writings.
Director of Missions
Toronto Bible College
Toronto, Ont.
• Mr. Percy has the right answer and the right emphasis. Webster’s New Unabridged to the contrary, any inflated minting of new words will return us to the poverty of Babel.—ED.
Christian Love Isn’T Pink
Thank you for the perceptive and appreciative report of the two important Mennonite conferences (News, Aug. 31 issue). For an example of the Mennonite witness at its best, however, perhaps the most significant moment of either gathering was overlooked by your reporter. I refer to the adoption at Bethlehem of a statement on Christianity, Communism, and anti-Communism.
Delegates were aware that their convictions might be labeled “pink” by militant Americans who want to equate Christianity with anti-Communism. The statement declares: “While rejecting any ideology which opposes the Gospel or seeks to destroy the Christian faith, we cannot take any attitude or commit any act contrary to Christian love against those who hold or promote such views, but must seek to overcome their evil and win them through the Gospel.… We recognize the incompatibility of Christianity and atheistic Communism and the challenge to the cause of Christ which the latter represents.… Although we teach and warn against atheistic Communism, we cannot be involved in any anti-Communist crusade which takes the form of a ‘holy war’ and employs distortion of facts, unfounded charges against persons and organizations, particularly against fellow Christians, promotes blind fear, and creates an atmosphere which can lead to a very dangerous type of totalitarian philosophy.”
The statement also says that “our love, encouragement, and help, and our prayers must go out to Christians in all lands, especially to those who suffer for Christ behind the Iron Curtain.”
This affirmation of love and concern which transcends political boundaries has special force when it is recognized as the testimony of Christians who have suffered under Russian totalitarianism. The General Conference Mennonite Church counts thousands of members who fled the Bolsheviks; they bear heavy burdens of personal loss and anxiety for the fate of relatives who did not escape. Upon adoption of the statement, an elder minister, himself a refugee, led the assembly in a deeply-moving prayer, invoking God’s help in fulfilling these commitments to a ministry of reconciliation.
In terms of personal experience, there is probably no other church body in North America which would have a justifiable right to launch an anti-Communist crusade. But instead of crying out for hate and revenge, Mennonite Christians have issued a call for compassion, for understanding, for self-giving love, and for the readiness to suffer rather than to inflict evil.
Newton, Mass.
India: Key To The East
A recent reference to your magazine in Time seems to have created a little interest out here.
In our work of reaching the masses with Christian motion pictures, through Christian Film Festivals, we are in contact with many Christian leaders who so much need the challenge and the inspiration of a magazine such as yours.
Do you think any of your readers would be interested in posting out to us in India their used copies of CHRISTIANITY TODAY (Box 505, Bombay)?
To your readers it would mean a few cents postage. To Christian leadership in India, it would mean thousands of words of inspiration and challenge and encouragement.
Bombay, India
