Article August 7, 1902 Issue

Religious Items

with contributions from O. P. Gifford, G. H. Simmons, C. J. Perry, Arthur T. Hadley, Henry Wilder Foote, F. W. Robertson

The St. Louis Globe Democrat quotes Rev. Dr. Edmund Duckworth, rector of St. James Memorial Church, as follows:—

"What is true religion? Pure and undefiled religion does not consist in singing hymns, sitting in churches, and performing intricate rituals, but in keeping unspotted from the world. It has its being in being a father to the fatherless and an aid to the widows and the afflicted. It is doing good and being good, and not in acting good on church days. Church membership is a great help to the maintenance of a spirit and conduct of righteousness, but in itself it is not righteousness. Righteousness is in living and doing just the good things, and the Church avails only as it assists to the promotion of that kind of living. The great trouble with the ministers is that they magnify the trifles and minify the essentials.

"The reason that men do not go to church is that the character of God has been presented to them in such a form that they really have no use for God. He has been pictured as a vigilant, vengeful being who is eternally standing, whip in hand, ready to get in a blow. It is a distasteful character; it is a repellent character. The righteousness of God is not brought forward. The God of the Scriptures is merciful, is patient and slow to anger. He is one who invites us and whom our hearts seek. He tells us to look to Him and regard Him as one who will comfort as a mother. . . .

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