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"God's Prophetic Word"
J. W. Shepherd more than half a century ago edited a "Handbook on Baptism" which became a standard authoritative work on that subject in every gospel preacher's library. A few years later M. C. Kurfees did the same kind of monumental work on the subject of instrumental music by his "Instrumental Music in Christian Worship." What Bro. Shepherd did on the subject of baptism and Bro. Kurfees on the subject of instrumental music, Foy E. Wallace, Jr. has done on the subject of the millennium. His "God's Prophetic Word" is exhaustive, authoritative, and conclusive. The first edition was quickly sold out. A second edition has now come from the press and is available. We believe it is destined to go down in history as the standard work on the subject.
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Our aim This paper will never at any time print any statement which the editor does not believe measures up to these two requirements: (1) the statement must be true, (2) its publication must be calculated to help and not hinder the cause of Christ.
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One-way opening There is a story about Holman Hunt, who painted the picture, "The Light of the World." It was a painting of Christ in a garden at midnight. In his left hand he is holding a lantern, and with his right hand is knocking on a heavily paneled door. On the day this painting was unveiled, a group of critics were present. One of them remarked, "Mr. Hunt, you haven't finished your work. There is no handle on the door." Hunt replied, "That door, my friend, is the door to the human heart; it has no handle. It can be opened only from the inside."
— Fairfax Downey
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S. 0. Martin takes issue Remember S. 0. Martin? He is the man who many years ago went as a missionary to India. Being weak in the faith to start with, he soon left the church and joined the Adventists. He was "sponsored" in his India venture by Bro. Don Carlos Janes and others. Martin is now connected with the Glendale Sanitarium in Glendale, California. He has taken exception to some of the articles appearing in "Ancient Landmarks" (our monthly evangelistic issue of "Gospel Guardian") and has written lengthy letters to W. S. Boyett of Tipton, Oklahoma, and Alstone Tabor of Lubbock, Texas. Martin writes tracts and pamplets and advertises himself as "A former member of the Church of Christ who was also a missionary of that denomination in India."
Bro. Boyett replied in part to Martin's letter: "I am not surprised at your going off with the Adventists while in India. From the company that you were keeping before you went to India, you were already off—way off. R. H. Boll, E. L. Jorgenson, and Don Carlos Janes have been the leaders in the unscriptural and anti-scriptural premillennial heresy in the church. I do not know when you went to India, but I do know that these men that you knew and were evidently close to have been out of fellowship with all loyal churches of Christ for many years. No, you were not sent to India by the churches of Christ, but by a faction or heretical group. If you are going to tell anything about your connections with the churches, honesty requires that you tell the truth. I suggest that you change the statement at the head of your tract to read: "A former minister of a heretical faction in the church of Christ, who went to India as a missionary sponsored by that faction."
It seems that Martin wants to debate the issue of the sabbath day. We are ready to accommodate him provided he can secure equal space in an Adventist publication of comparable circulation.
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Women preachers We certainly have no desire to gain a reputation for being always on the critical side. But neither can we stand by in silence and voice no warning or protest when we see plain and positive departures from the teaching of the New Testament. Lately there has been a veritable rash of "women preachers" among us, teaching classes in which men older than they are present. God has ordained that women should teach; he has told them where the sphere of that teaching should be. And it occurs to us that any public proclamation of the word before a mixed audience in which mature Christian men are present is a work that is clearly outside the realm of propriety for a Christian woman. As a case in point we have this letter recently from Bro. Geo. T. Jones of Nacogdoches, Texas:
"On May 15, Bro. W. R. Smith, Vice-president of ACC, along with Sister Smith was visiting College Station. On this Lord's day one of the elders who ordinarily teaches the class of married couples (twenty-five couples) introduced Sister Smith to the class and she taught the class. Now this class ordinarily has twenty-five married men in it, along with their wives. At least one elder was in the class taught by Sister Smith. It occurs to me that this is not in harmony with Paul's prohibition against a woman's teaching a man or usurping authority over a man." (I Tim. 2:12) We agree.
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The proper application
"Mothers who raise a child by the book Can, if sufficiently vexed, Hasten results by applying the book As well as applying the text."
— W. E. Farbstein
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James P. Miller to Florida
"On Wednesday, May 4th, I spoke to the student body of Florida Christian College. I was greatly impressed with the possibility for good, and the sacrifices that these brethren have made. Upon returning home we discovered from Bro. Cope that my wife (Bobbie) had her college training in the very field that he needed, so that we decided to move to Tampa. For a number of years I have stressed the meeting side of preaching, and have been shifted into that work until I spent about half my time for the last few years doing that work. I felt that I could hold my meetings out of Tampa just as successfully as I could from Kentucky, and at the same time my wife and I could be of greater service to the cause. She will teach Commerce in the college, and this will also give me more time to do the work I love.
During my Florida stay I was deeply impressed with the loyalty and sacrifice of the Florida brethren in behalf of the truth. With a man like Jas. R. Cope to serve as president of FCC, and with the fine faculty he has secured, together with the support of every loyal Christian in the state, it seems to me that the future of Florida Christian College is assured."
--Jas. P. Miller.