Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 9
June 13, 1957
NUMBER 7, PAGE 12a-13

The Overflow

F. Y. T.

Frost's article

The excellent article "Baptist Doctrine", printed elsewhere in this issue, is available in tract form (.05 per copy; .40 per dozen; 3.00 per hundred), and can be ordered from Jere Frost, Box 72, Newbern, Tennessee. It should be widely used by churches maintaining racks for tract distribution.

Coming soon

On the first Sunday following his ninetieth birthday, Brother W. W. Otey preached a sermon to the congregation at Mulvane, Kansas, on "The Value of The Soul." Through the good offices of Brother Judson Woodbridge, the sermon was taken down by tape recorder, and has been transcribed. We expect shortly to publish the entire sermon in this journal.

Schedule

This page is being written in Columbus, Ohio, where the editor is engaged in a gospel meeting. We go next to Wilmington, Ohio; then have this schedule: Grand Saline, Texas, June 2-9; Campbellsville, Kentucky, June 16-26; Locust Bayou, Arkansas, June 30-July 7; Broaddus, Texas, July 7-14; Portales, New Mexico, August 4-11; Santa Ana, California, August 18; El Cerrito, California, August 25-September 1; Lebanon, Oregon, September 2-11; Tompkinsville, Kentucky, September 22-29.

New "Work Book"

One of the best "Work Books" we have seen for class use is the new booklet by Brother W. S. Irvine, 10038 Rose Avenue, Bellflower, California. It has thirteen excellent lessons on "first principles", and should be highly useful for classes of any age from Junior High on up. There are fifty-two pages (four pages to each lesson) in the booklet, and it sells for 40 cents. We recommend that you order a copy from Brother Irvine, and look through it. It may be the very thing you are looking for to use in class work.

A delightful surprise

Only rarely does this writer get to hear in person the speeches of the "promoting" brethren, but the other day in Abilene he had an opportunity to hear one of the "Herald of Truth" promoters make a speech, and was impressed and pleasantly surprised to note that throughout the greater part of the speech the brother kept both hands — in his own pockets! Why can't Highland Church take a lesson from him?

In loco parentis

The natural home is a divine institution. By death, desertion, divorce, or delinquency the natural home is destroyed, and a man-made substitute is set up under a board of directors. Thus the substitute becomes also a divine arrangement, the board of directors acting "in loco parentis" to the home. The same thing happens for a home for widows. And then if there are a bunch of antiquated widowers who need a home, no doubt a "divine arrangement" can be set up for them, with a board of directors acting "in loco uxoris" (in place of a wife) for these men whose natural homes have been destroyed. It's all very neat and convincing.

In loco elderis

The church with its eldership is a divine institution. By death, disqualification, or removal of its personnel a church may lose her eldership. Then a human substitution of "leaders" instead of elders can be arranged. This also becomes a "divine" arrangement, the leaders simply standing "in loco elderis" (in place of elders), thus re-establishing the divine institution which had been lost. And, furthermore.... we think some of the brethren have been chewing on too much loco weed!

Oliver Wendell Holmes

"I think we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death. . . ."

— Dissenting opinion in the Abrams case.

Precaution

From somewhere we picked up the little story of an old Methodist preacher who was conducting a revival when a fellow came forward who was converted every summer — and backslid every winter. The mourner was praying with great abandon and gusto: "Oh Lord, fill me full; fill me full." The somewhat disgusted old preacher raised his voice in a word of caution: "Be careful there, Lord; he leaks!"

Brother Garrett demurs

We recently carried a series of seven articles by Brother Roy Cog-dill, entitled, "Preaching:, A Critical Study", which was a review of a paper written by a Houston disciple whose position we quoted as being "similar to, but in a few vital features radically different from, the teaching advocated by Brother Leroy Garrett." After reading the first three articles of the series. Brother Garrett writes, "The truth is that the position postulated by the Houston brother is no more similar to my views than to those of Tant or Cogdill" — and then proceeds through eight columns to defend and expound the identical teaching Cogdill was refuting!

From a neutral observer

Karl Ketcherside and several of his co-workers came to the Paragould debate last winter. They were in the position of "neutral" observers, declaring that both Woods and Porter were equally in error. After the discussion Ketcherside wrote: "It is the candid opinion of this scribe that Brother Porter won a decisive victory for the one body. We have never seen a more complete devastation of an opponent than his exposure of Brother Woods on the final night. The latter was simply 'hanging on the ropes'. However, this was not accomplished so much by affirmative argument as by revealing the tactics of the opposition. We have heard a great deal of 'the Christian atmosphere' of Bible Colleges, but if that product is to be judged by the conduct of the college representatives, we would prefer to act a little more like heathen."

"The debate is a typical example of how two inconsistent factions can meet in forensic combat. Both groups defend some organizations to do religious service. They are merely disagreed over which to destroy and which to defend."

Alexander Campbell on unfairness

"A great deal of unfairness shows itself on the part of our opponents in respect to our sentiments. They impute to us doctrines which we disavow, ascribe inferences from our acknowledged tenets which we deny, and in every way misrepresent our views. This is a common form of persecution now-a-days in this country. It originates in the same spirit that erected the cross, prepared the rack, and kindled the fires of the Inquisition."

— Millennial Harbinger, 1836