Welsh Journals

April 15, 1892. THE WELSH WEEKL 13 INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION. Report of the Tenth Annual Meeting. The above meeting was held on the 5th inst., in the Lecture Hall, Old Bailey, E.G. About 12,000 Members in Wales will be delighted to hear that it|was a decided success. Proceedings commenced with an Afternoon Con¬ ference of District and Branch Secretaries from all Parts of the kingdom. After a few well-chosen remarks £y the Chairman, Mr. H. Hawkes, the Hon. Sec, Mr. **. Waters, gave a most encouraging account of the year's work at home and abroad. Then followed short addresses by District Secretaries. All spoke highly of the great benefits of the Association. Mr. R. Burges, of Trevecca College, was in a position to present a favourable report of the headway which the Associa¬ tion had made in Wales. The chief speaker of the afternoon was the Be v. Loberfc Culley, Secretary of the Wesleyan Sunday School Union. He said, We can endorse the pleasant jhings that people say about the Bible, that it contains the most ancient history, the most entertaining of all stories, the truest philosophy, and the most perfect and Practical rules of human conduct; but, in addition to ad that, their chief reason for studying the Bible was that it alone was able to make a man wise unto ?alyation, through the faith that is in Jesus Christ. Ihis was why he heartily supported the Association. ■***© age we live in is an age of criticism. The best way to meet such criticism is to make it a Bible- Teading age, and this was the great aim of the Association. The speaker thought that the Associa¬ tion had four especially good features. First, it was systematic. That was a very grand thing. Any system of reading the Bible was better than none, and 11 seemed so strange that whilst we applied system to everything else, to our domestic life and our business fife, yet there were plenty of good people who imagined that the Christian life could so well take care of itself, that they could take at random their fading of the Bible—that it did not require system. ■That^ was a profound mistake. Secondly, it was definite. We suffered very much in our reading from itc miscellaneousness, in not being able to impinge our fc&nd and attention upon certain definite points. The system of the Association ensured definiteness. Then %t was regular. It had its daily reading. How necessary was this! Of course in the various Associations there were careless members, some who read, and perhaps did nothing else. They just read as a mere matter of form. But even these careless ones might become careful and thoughtful by the,in¬ fluence of that Word, even if they read it at first care¬ lessly. But there were those who read it very carefully and thoughtfully, and it became food for their souls, aud daily manna for thorn. A fourth reason, and it ^tf-s the strongest, tuas that it wonderfully helped Sunday School ivork by its beautiful system of con¬ centrating attention upon the subject for the week. Clear and definite ideas of great truths did not shape themselves all at once. They had to dwell in the ^ind. It was necessary to become familiar with them, to turn them round. They had to see how they looked next morning. They had the subject for each day, all helping to elucidate and make clear, and further explain the Sunday lesson. At 7 o'clock on the evening of the same day a public *tteeting was held, over which Col. J. T. Griffin pre¬ sided. The Chairman called upon Mr. C. Waters (Hon. Sec), who gave an outline of the work of the Association during the ten years of its existence. At the end of the first year there were but 11,000 members, at the end of the tenth year there were 350,000 mem¬ bers. The work of the 11th year was begun, and the present membership was 390,000. Of these 343,000 resided in the United Kingdom, while the remaining 47,000 were distributed in other parts of the world. The foregoing relates to the English cards alone, but °ne of the encouraging features of the present year is the extension of the work in other languages. Our report of last year mentioned that the Readings had ]^een translated into French, German, Swedish, Italian, oamoan, and Armenian. In addition to these there have been issued this year cards in Lettish, for use in the Russian Baltic provinces, Armeno-Turkish, and Grreco-Turkish, which, with the Armenian, supply Sunday Schools in European Turkey, Asia Minor, f^urdistan, the Caucasus, and Persia. A Branch Secre¬ tary having gone from Liverpool to Persia has been the ^eans of opening the wayfor the introduction of the Inter¬ national Bible Reading Association Readings, and the Proof sheets of a Persian translation are now in hand. Another well-known friend of Sunday Schools, in his Journey round the world, has established the work in the Hervey Islands, South Pacific, and cards in the Raiotongan language have been supplied. It has not been from lack of interest that no Welsh translation *?as hitherto been made, but simply because the way dld not seem open for a satisfactory use. Now, how¬ ler, cards have been provided, and it is hoped that *We shall be able to secure a good number of Welsh- speaking members.* . Any information concerning these Welsh cards can be had (post «ee) Irom Mr. B. Burges, Hon. District! Secretary, Trevecca College, Talgarth, R.S.O., Breconshire. Reference was made, amid applause, to Dr. J. L. Phillips, whose work as a missionary to the children of India is supported by the voluntary gift of |d. from each member of the I.B.R.A. Prayers for him were solicited. Attention was also called to the Silver Link, which, as the organ of the Association, had met with a grand reception. The Chairman then held the audience spell-bound by a speech which moved every heart. Mr. J. E. Newell (Missionary from Samoa) com¬ pared the Bible to the " olive leaf," which had been translated into the language of these South Sea Islanders. Truly to them it had been an emblem of " Peace." The portions selected by the promoters of the I.B.R.A. had been most helpful to them, and he hoped that soon every South Sea Island would have a branch. Rev. J. B. Meharry, B.A. (of Crouch Hill Presby¬ terian Church), had not DFoiten many words before all were in rapt attention. We wish that we had space for his scholarly remarks. Mr. Sa-Anga, a ministerial student from Samoa, then spoke in his native tongue, while Mr. Newell in¬ terpreted. It was interesting to hear him say what the I.B.R.A. had done for him and his fellow-country¬ men. After votes of thanks to all helpers, the meeting closed, which was acknowledged to be the most interesting and successful in the history of the Association, PRINCIPAL SIMON AT THE BALA THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE. Last week Bala was favoured with a visit from Dr. Simon, Principal of the Congregational Theological Hall, the eminent author of the well-known book," The Redemp¬ tion of Man." Principal Edwards had invited the Doctor to visit Bala, and to deliver an address to the students at the close of the winter term. He made his first appear¬ ance at the church meeting on Wednesday night, and seemed deeply interested in the old-fashioned way of con¬ ducting the " Society," where'each one gave his contribu¬ tion of verse or hymn on the subject which happened to be under consideration that evening, viz., " The Beading of God's Word." Dr. Simon made some excellent remarks on the verse, " Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me." On Friday afternoon a large audience assembled in the College chapel. Invitations had been sent out to all the county ministers, of which several availed themselves, also to the teachers and students of the Independent College, and these, with the office-bearers of the chapel, the students of the Theological College, and the Preparatory Section, made up an audience which comfortably filled the pleasant room known as the chapel. The lately-acquired library of Dr. Thomas has found a fitting home in this room, covering all the walls from floor to ceiling, and sug¬ gesting to the casual visitor a miniature Bodleian. After the Principal had introduced Dr. Simon in a few fitting words, and announced the subject of the address as "Idealistic Remedies for Religious Doubts," he called on the lecturer to proceed. We looked with interest on the figure that stepped on to the platform in obedienee to this summons.. To most of us he was a strangar as to the flesh, but to most also he was welt known as a Professor for many years in Spring Hid College, as a profound theologian, and as the writer of works which have made a deep im¬ pression on many. He has a lithe, active figure, a little over middle height, and has a quick, vivacious expression, a face that lights up readily and kindles into enthusiasm as he proceeds with his subject, unmistakeable signs of humour lurking about the corners of the eyes and mouth. As to his sge, though he has passed the mid-way inn, and has "some smack of age, some reli-h of the saltnesa of time" (as Falstaff would say) about him, he is full of energy anl youthful elasticity, and his upright athletic frame seemed to promise many years of hard work yet. He spoke for an hour and 20 minutes, and though his subject was such as to tax the audience to the full to follow it, there were no signs of weariness, but a deep and hushed attention from beginning to end. He glanced at some of the current objections of the day to the views of orthodox Christians, e.g., those who, while willing to concede that the history of the Incarnation, the sinless life, the miraculous works, the death and resurrection of Christ, is a true history, yet say that these events are past and that it is monstrous to say that the destiny of a man's soul depends on the attitude he may take towards these. We must, they say, assimilate our food if we would live, and so these outside facts cannot become the life of our soul—they are things of authority, and men cannot live by such; they can never become bone of our spiritual bone and flesh of our spiritual flesh. Science again pu's its veto on the miraculous, and so from many points our faith is assailed, and doubts come. One indication of it is the frequency with which the well-known hymn of Newman, " Lead, kindly l'ght" is sung by so many differing widely in their views. An earlier church would have eschewed them as savouring of an unevangelical doubt. The lecturer then proceeded to explain the Idealistic remedy, as found in Lessing and Fichte, and as advocated by T. H. Green (the inspirer of Robert Elsmere) in this country—the theory that " certain truths' which the intellect may now see to be true in their own light, constitute the real kernel of Christianity, and so it matters little whether the historical Christianity be true or not." These teachers lay great stress on the distinction between letter and spirit, form and substance, the historical shell and the spiritual essence. They say to doubters that the great truths of religion, the immortality of the soul, the Unity of God, original sin, and, in a certain sense, the Atonement, and even the Trinity, are now truths of reason, whether the historical events associated with them happened or not, for contingent historical facts can never be a proof of necessary truths of reason. We must, say they, get at the spiritual truths. We need not believe that God was. actually incarnate in the individual Jesus of Nazareth; what is really important is the metaphysical truth of the eternal and essential identity of Deity and Humanity. The lecturer showed clearly that these advanced views are only a reproduction of the ideas that dominated the 18 th century—ideas which have their chief upholders among us in these days in the Unitarians ; nay, more, they are older still—they are only a backsliding into the error that underlay some forms of Gnosticism ; and, curiously enough, those who lead the revolt against Christian dogmas only substitute ethical and philosophical dogmas in their place. The remedy for doubt i9 not to be found among these, nor yet by piling up arguments for the credibility of Christianity, nor by forming theological systems, however compact and convincing they may be, but in direct intercourse with Him who is the beginning, middle, and end of Christianity; personal experience that He actually does now what He professed to do in Judaia so long ago, and what the first disciples found He accomplished for them—this will link to-day with 2000 years ago. We are saved, not by abstractions, rationales, dogmas, but by a living God, a living Christ, a living Spirit. We may think and speculate as much as we like, as long as we remember that it is our living Lord's nature and work that we are trying to understand. Without this, all our study, though it may land us in an absolutely flaw¬ less orthodoxy, will leave us hard, bigoted, soulless, blind leaders of the blind." After the lecture all the students and staff and invited guests sat down to a tea provided through the kindness of a generous and never-failing friend of the students, Dr. Roger Hughes, the well-known deacon, magistrate, county councillor, and we know not what besides, who is ever ready to do kind acts to all men, but especially unto them who are of the household of faith. In the evening a con¬ versazione was held, when several addresses were de¬ livered by the representatives of the various denominations present and by the teachers, including, also, a very racy and humorous address by Dr. Simon. On Saturday morning we had a short but impressive service again. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. It was an ideal service. Outside, the glorious beauty of an ideal spring morning, Bala Lake shining like a sheet of silver below us and the Arran towering high in the distance, its rugged outline softened by the dim haze of an April morning. Through the windows we could see the trees waving gently, as if keeping time softly to the music within, as the words " Yn Eden cofia'f hynv byth" were sung to the plaintive strains of " St. John." Dr. Simon gave us a healthy, bracing, and helpful address, fresh and invigorating as the morning air ; while the prayers of Professor E. Edwards at the beginning, and of Dr. Charles Edwards at the end, touched and softened us, and led us very near to the throne of grace. Surely the King himself was present, and the place was filled with " the smell of myrrh, aloe3, and cassia," from his garments. It has been agreed to raise a " C. H. Spurgeon Memorial Fund," in aid of the Stockwell Orphanages and other institutions connected with the Metropolitan Tabernacle, and founded by the late Mr. Spurgeon. Mr. George Williams and Mr. Thomas H. Olney, who have each con¬ tributed 200 guineas to the fund, will act as joint treasurers. The Rev. J. Albert Thomas has been presented with a beautiful timepiece and a purse of gold by his friends at Nantgwyn and Beulah, on hi3 departure to St. Mellons, Cardiff. Many kind things were said in token of regard and affection towards Mr. Thomas by those present. Testi¬ mony was borne to his faithfulness as a minister, ability as a preacher, and the blamelessness of his character.