The older we grow, the more likely we are to realize that few things are as simple as they might seem at first glance. A crucial issue that continues to provoke hot tempers and bad manners and bitter litigation is the relation of church and state. Bishop Nolan B. Harmon of the United Methodist Church in his essay “Church and State—A Relation in Equity” offers some practical suggestions for working our way through this thicket.
Our fellow journalist Sherwood Wirt, editor of Decision, sets forth some lively opinions on what he sees as “a new note” in Christian journalism—a note of bitterness, of rancorous rumor-mongering, of negativism. “I am for truth in journalism even when it hurts,” he says. But does that mean that the public is entitled to know all the facts? Deciding how much to reveal is often a vexing problem.
John Mackay, former president of Princeton Seminary, has a word for our readers on the subject of an evangelical renaissance. At a time when there is a deepening movement of the Holy Spirit, we note that many theological seminaries have not yet been caught up in this growing evangelistic thrust. It may well be that people who look toward the ministry will be turned off by what they see in the seminaries unless those institutions too experience renewal.
