Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

seller"sex."anything."Glimpses of the Religious WorldFrank E. Allen, D. D.The December issue of the Christian Herald carries aleading article by the executive editor, Dr. Hall, supportedby the editor, Daniel Poling, entitled, "An open letter topublishers."offending bookDr. Hall names three prominentpublishing houses and three of their "best books, oneof which he affirms, "is without exception one of thedirtiest and dullest books to be printed in this or anyother year. There is not a redeeming character in the cast.Just a dreary procession of pimps, call girls, queers, lechers."To this publisher he says :"You were out to sellanother company and of another book, he asks: "Does itnot say to old-hand and novice alike: 'if you want to makemoney authoring, all that is needful is plenty of sex, plentyof profanity, plenty ofobscenity?' "We do not wish toname these books of the publishers, but if any one desiresto know these names and read a strong denunciation ofthem he can find it in the above named magazine.Warning to ReadersThe article just mentioned is a warning to readers tochoose their books with care. The fact that a book comesfrom an old established publishing house is not a guaranteethat a book put out and advertised by them is good. Oneman wrote to Dr. Hall: "I paid no heed to the publisher'sname before. But since a big book club foisted off on mea profane and dirty novel a couple of years ago, I now lookfirst to see who the publisher is. I'll never buy anotherbook with that publisher's imprint again, no matter howgood it is."The editor encourages people to read books in thesewords: "We believe in books, in encouraging people to readbooks. We tell them there is no substitute, never will be,for books. Books, we believe, cannot be made passe by anyother mediumnot by radio and TV, not by movies, magazines, newspapers or any other means of communicatingideas."We agree with the editor in this. Let us not ceaseto search for and read good books!Synod of IrelandMr. Harold B. Holmes, as in former years and hisfather did before him, has kindly sent me a copy of theMinutes of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod of Ireland.progresssthat is being made in our church there. Dr. JohnThis I greatly appreciate and am pleased to note theColeman has already received several items in the Minutes,but we believe it will interest our readers to mention someadditional ones.The statistical report shows an increase in the numberof communicants, the average attendance at public worship,in the number of baptisms, the membership of the C.Y.P.S.,and the number of Sabbath School teachers. The report alsoshows increases in giving to a number of funds. The number of emigrants is not nearly so large as it used to be, atleast there were only nine cases reported to the EmigrationCommittee during the year. Four of these went to Canada.We wish that all of these might settle within the boundsof one of our congregations.370Irish EvangelizationThe Committee on Irish Evangelization (which meansTowork among the Roman Catholics) states: "It rejoices inthe fact that many Roman Catholics are receiving theScriptures freely and some are eager to talk about thethings of the Gospel." One of the missionaries, Mr. Beck,reports: "A good deal of the old antagonism to the workhas vanished, due, I believe, to a vast number of RomanCatholics listening to Gospel broadcasts. Over and overagain Roman Catholics tell me they listen to the Protestantservices on the wireless and would not miss them forPublic MoralsThe Committee on Public Morals reported that theliquor business has not achieved its primary objectives asit had hoped, yet there is no room for complacency. "Gambling remains an ever-growingharder for Christian bodiesto helpthan in the case of the liquor traffic,menace to society. It isrestrain this crazesince no question ofpublic health or safety is involved." Powerful vested interests are attempting to sweep away the old safeguards ofthe Sabbath, but they have made no noticable enroachmentsduring the past year.Changes in the MinistryAs I look over the list of pastors of the congregationsin Ireland I notice manychanges since I visited theintwenty-five years ago. It reminds us of the changes in ourown church during the same period. The Synod acceptedthe resignation of Mr. Henry C. Lyons as treasurer of theforeign mission funds for the past 24 years. At the time Ifirst visited Ireland Mr. Lyons had two brothers in theministry in Belfast, one is now deceased and the other,Rev. Nevin Lyons, has resigned from the pastorate of theGrosvenor Rd. church, the church where the TheologicalHall is located, and the Seminary meets. I look back withpleasure and profit to the time when I was entertainedin the homes of most of the ministers and spoke in most ofthe churches there. We have wished that more of the ministers from Ireland and Scotland would visit our church inthe U.S.A. It is with great regret that we have learnedthat one of the more prominent congregations of Scotland,that of Greenock, where Rev. Gregg was pastor at the timeof the 300th year of the signing of the National Covenant,has left the church of the Covenants.The Spirit of the MartyrsThe spirit of the martyrs has not been forgotten inthe Old Land, and it is being widely published in the New.Dr. D. H. Elliott has already called attention to the bookserial, "How Sleep the Brave," being published in TheEvangelical Christian, Toronto, Canada, and the other articles on Covenanter martyrs, one of which appears eachmonth. These articles and this book pay tribute to thestaunch and courageous stand of the Covenanters in thedays of the persecution and show how much we, as theirdescendants, and the free Christian world owe to themtoday. The book, "How Sleep the Brave," may be hadfrom Evangelical Publishers of Toronto, or from Zondervans.of Grand Rapids, for $3.00. This book is also running in(Continued on page 377)COVENANTER WITNESS