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.