Full Text for CTM Theological Observer 5-9 (Text)

utheran Foreign Missions Council, the Lutheran Students' Association of America,), a merger has not yet taken place. .An endorse- ment of the proposed merger by the .A. L. C. would mean for this church- body another big step forward on the road of unionism. A. 726 Theological Observer. - .reitd)1id)~8eitgefd)id)md)es. The Child Labor Amendment. - In the Oommonweal of June 8 we find a long communication written by Cla,rence E. Madin deaJing with this amendment. Mr .. Madin is: defending himself against the strictures of Monsignor John A. Ryan, who had aUacked him for criticizing this amendment. vVe cull a, few statements from the long communica,tion: - "Monsignor Ryan is compelled to admit tha,t under the proposed amendment Congress would ha:ve the power to prohibit or regulate labor under eighteen and thus prohibit agricultural and domestic ser:vice under that a,ge,. etc.. But he is willing to trust Congress not to exercise its full power. vvnen a Federal bureau is created, such, for example, as the Children's Bureau and the Bureau on Educa,tion, and Congress federalizes the educa,tional system, it will be too late to object. IVhen the young man of seventeen is taken from the fa,rm and made to go to a camp for milita,ry or other chM-acter of training, the father ma,y object, but what right will the parent have? . .. Senator Walsh took the view tha,t the word labor means manual labor only. Mr. Wm. D. Guthrie, a, lea,rned and competent constitutional lawyer, in his brief filed this' winter before the Kew York Legislature, takes the opposite view and, citing respectable authority, asserts> that 'labor may be physical or intellectual or a com- bination of the two.' . .. Under it [the amendment] Congress can pro- hibit the, performance of the slightest task, agricultural, home work, or otherwise, of a, person to the age of eighteen. . •. Monsignor Ryan seems to assume that the amendment intends to give Congress' the power only to prohibit labor. He should read it again: 'limit, regulate, and prohibit' is, its language. And as· I pointed out, ... the word regulate gi:ves the power 'to foster, protect, control, and restrain' as· well as 'to enact all appropriate legisla,tion for the' protection and advancement of the sub- ject.' .. .. Unhesitatingly I repeat that under the amendment, if ratified, Congress would ha:ve power to federalize, education. It is, an incident to the power granted. It is appropria,te legisla,tion for the advancement of the SUbject" If this were not so, ... why is the Na,tional Educa,tion Asso- ciation so strongly in favor of it? . .. To me one of the, worst features of the edfort to get control of the children of the country and direct their lives from Washington ins,tead of in the home is the fact tha,t Congress must give a, bureau power to execute any statute it may pass in pursuance to the amendment. Of necessity, when this is done, the power to make rules and regulations is generally given. These rules and regula,tions, when not inconsistent with the act and in furtherance, of the power con- ferred, have the force of law. This fea,ture is known aSI administrative la,w. The a:verage citizen has little or no conception of the proportions to which this branch of the law ha,s grown in recent yeaTS. It if; what is popularly known as 'bureaucratic government,' bad at best. The Chil- dren's Bureau would then ha.ve an the power essential to carry into effect the statutes passed." Needless to say, we are submitting these quota,tions, not because of the grea,t interest this amendment has for us as a, social measure, but because of the religious aspect of it, inasmuch a,s it" if adopted, a.pparently would constitute a threa,t to the Christian training we are endeavoring to give our children. A. Theological Observer. - .ltitd)lid),~eitqefd)id)tlid)e~. 727 Southern Presbyterians Accumulating Surpluses. - 'When the Southern Presbyterians recently held their General Assembly at Montreat, N. C., an a,stounding bit of news wa,s published in the daily pa,pers, to wit: "Presbyterian boa,rds, with one exception, able to accumula,te surpluses." This subject was enlarged on as follows·: "All of the Southern Presby- terian boards, except one not only paid in full for las,t year's work, but were a,ble also to accumula,te surpluses against their inde-btedness incurred during yea,rs of prosperity." Is not this food for thought for us, who a,re not a.ccumula,ting surpluses, but debts? A. Latest Statis,tics. - Dr. George Linn Kieffer, president of the Asso- cia,tion of American Religious Statisticians, published the statistics, on the churches· in America in the June issue of the Ohristian Hemld. As shown in the Luthemn Herald, the religious bodies, showed a, total net gain of 655,4.82 in 1933. The grand total of aU denomination membership is 60,812,874., a,bout 48.37 pe-r cent. of the total popula,tion. So almost every other American belongs to some kind of a, church. '1'he Methodists had the highest increase, with a total gain of 213,662. Next were the Ba,ptists, with a, gain of 193,571. Lutherans gained only 65,782, in the course of the yea,r" and the Roman Oatholics gained even less,. only 53,426. Presbyterians lost ground, a,sl did the Congregationalist- Christians. It might interest our readers to see the figures of some of the main church-bodies,. Membership Denominations Ministers Churches Total Adventists, 5 bodies .............. 1,.590 2,955 176,859 Ba,ptislts, 18 bodie-s ............... 62,634 62,891 9,866,2009 Ca,tholics, 3 bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,838 18,241 20,324,144 Church of Christ, S.cientist . . . . . . . . 4,198 2,099 202,098 C'ongrega,tional-Chr istian. .......... 6,321 6,233 1,024,887 Disciples of Christ ............... 7,1900 8,193 1,566,772 Jewish ........................... 1,751 3,118 4,0'81,242 Lutheran, 17 bodies ........ , ..... 11,788 15,469 4,381,094 Methodist, 19 bodies .............. 45,905 61,136 8,766,017 Presbyterian, 9 bodies ............ 14,404 15,720 2,674,875 Protestan.t Episcopal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,865 7,424 1,876,390 Reformed, 4 bodies ............... 2,471 2,721 755,881 United Brethren, 3 bodies ......... 2,072 3,238 421,597 N orthweste1"n L1dheran. II. ,2lu,hmll. Sfonttnentllfe miffion~fl1nferenll. ~ie im ;saljre 1866 gegriinbete .\'l!on~ tinen±ale .\miffionsfonferena ±agte born 3. his ilum 7. mai dum 17 . .\male in mremen. ~ie 70 ~eUneljmer, W6georbnete !Jon 35 miHionsgefellfdjaften unb miHionsfadjleute, !Jeriraten 7 @?taaien bes eur.opiiifdjen .\'l!ontinenis mit 2,500 .\miHionaren. ~ie meridjte uus ben einaeInen Eunbem ganen dnen @iin6rtcf in bie ®efamtrage ber ,j).Rtfjion ber ®egenroari. @iitle allgemeine finanaielle motrage wurbe fefigefierrt; a6er audj ber un6eugfame )ffiille, bas )ffierf allen S)emmungen burdj ben borbringenben ~sIam llnb bie illlneljmenbe romifdje ~rOj:laganba unb bie aufbringIidj !JorlDiir±i3jIoflenbe lDenndje Sl:ultur 728 Theological Observer. - .Ritd)Hcf);8eitgefd)id)t1id)es. ilum ;;rrot unbeirrt foriaufUljren, tourbe fidj±bar. ~enn immer nodj tint> bie 5tilren illeitljin geiiffne±. lJIur forbert ber auneljmenbe ~rang nadj @?dbf±iinbigfeit nidj± aUein bei ben nfiatifdjen Q3iiffern gebieierifdj, ben jungen Sl'irdjen meljr unb meljr bie boUe ){5crmt±toortIidjfeit fUr ben %htfbau iljrer &emeinben 3uijufdjieben. ~ie eigen±ItdjeWhffioni3arbci± an ben nodj un~ erreidjten Q3oUi3maffen toitb bann nodj meljr am bi§ljer bie befont>ere ~uf~ ga'Oe ber fremben ilniHionare f ein. ~ami± ift bie ilniffion aber nidjt ber Wottocnbigfeit en±ljoben, @efaljren unb ~ufgaben ber im @in±fteljen begriffe~ nen miHiiJnarifdjen Q3offi3firdje in§ ~!uge au faffen. ~uf &run1> reidjfter £ebeni3erfaljrung gnum in biefer 'Beaieljung D. m5arnecf unb D. ~naf lRidjt~ Hnien fUr bie mi[fionarifdje ~raldis. D . .\"i·nal, ber bie aftueUe iSrage, toie toeit bie ilnif[iol1sfirclje biiUfidj fein milffe, beljanbeUe, Ul1ieliiridj mit lRedjt, baf3 gerabe bie beutfdje IDhffion bon jeljer aUf ben biiIfifdjen CC\:ljarafter ber jungen @emeinbe ftiidften Wadjbrucf gefegt ljabe. @iine innerHdj berHefte ftberprilfung ber finanaielIen lJIotrage h:mrbe burdj Dr. Sjartenftein burdj~ gefUljrt. ilnan barf fidj nidj± bamit oegnilgen, fie aui3 bet toirtfdjaftIidjen m5ertrage alIein aOauleiten. ~ltdj bie iBebriingnii3 burdj bie bem @ibange~ Hum toiberftreuenben @eif±e§ftrom1lngel1 ber @egentoart tuirb an biefem an fidj ii1lf3eren '{5Ul1ft ficlj±oar. ~arum finb nidjt nur griit±mogIidje @?par~ famfeit, iBeicljriinrung aUf bas lJIoitoenbige unb forgfiiHige i'tberpriifung ber ~rbeit§me±ljobcn, bor alIen ~ingcn aoer unermiibHdje Q3crfudje, bas eban~ geHfdje ilniffion§Ieoen fefter aufammenaufdjHef3en, am ~I~e, fonbern audj cine beftiinbige lJIeubefinnung iiber @runblage 1lnb Q3erfaljrung§toeife ber ilniffion. Sjieriloer fpradj ~rof. Dr. m5eftmann~Upfafa. ~enn bie ilniHion§~ praldi§ muf3, toie ilorigen§ alle firdjridje iBe±iitigung, forttoiiljrenb bon ber tljeologifdjen lJIeuoefinnung ilber Hjre lJIormen unb iljre Biefe nnb bor allem iloer ben ~nljar± iljrer Q3erfilnbigllng ocgleitet fein. ~udj bie je~t ent~ )tanbene @?'pnllnung atoifdjen ber bfumeni8itiit ber ilniffion unb ber iBe~ fonung ber biHIifdjen @iigenart ift im ilniffion§Ieoen ber @egentond a{§ oe~ lebenber 5'aftor au roeden. @?ie Ieljrt nur, UncljriftIiclje§ unb UnoiliIifdje§ forgfiiItig bon ber Q3erfilnbigung fernauljaIten, noer audj bie boIfiidje unb raHifdje @iigenart in bie luerbenbe SNrdje einiluoauen. (~lIg. ilniffion§nadjridjten.) 9lufjflln'il. 91un ift audj iBifdjof )!Re~er, ber 06erljirte ber Iutljerifdjen ~irdje in lRu[lInnb, geftoroen. ~er teme )!Rann, ber um 1920 aum iBifdjof getoiiljIt toorben toar, )jat @?djroere§ bmdjgemadjt. ~a§ @?djtoerfte roar, baf3 cr, ootooljI er feTher unangetaftet brieo, feine SNrdje gegen Me @eroaItafie be§ @?tan±e§ nidj± fdj~en fonn±e, fonbern aUfeljen muf3te, wie fie immer meljr aerftiirt tourbe. ~ft roirffidj unfererfeit§ aITe§ gefdjeljen, toa§ gc~ fdjeljen fonn±e, um ba§ £o§ unferet @Iuuben§orilber in lRuf3Ianb au milbern? SJaoen toir un§ ljier niclj± eine @?djulb aufgelaben, bie un§ nodj f djtoer briicfen unb ltll§ ben @5egen @otte§ raulien m1lf3? (iln. lR. in ,,~irc)jI. Beitfdjrift".) Dean luge Retires. - On account of the prominence which attaches to Dean Inge of St. Paul's, London, known as the "gloomy Dean," it is proper tha.t we chronicle his retirement, which will take pla.ce in October, and that we mention the name of his successor, Dr. W. R. Matthews', who at present is the Dean of Exeter. Both of these men belong to the liberal wing of the Anglican Church. A.