Newspapers / The Star of Zion … / July 9, 1925, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
VOLUME FORTY-NINE. CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA. THURSDAY, JULY 9/1925. NHMBER TWENTY-EIGHT. CRUSADING FOR AF RICAN REDEMPTION. OLD CUSTOM AND WISE PROVERB. Bishop C. C. Alleyne. There are many ancient customs and suggestive proverbs still extant in Africa—the land of antiquated but not altogether discarded civilization. These customs have passed, through usage, from one generation to an other for centuries. These proverbs, inscribed on the tablets of peerless memories, have passed verbally down, the ages; epitomizing the wisdom of men whom nature carved out of ebony. Young Africa still hold-: these native productions in veneration One is at first inclined to regard this people as being too much wed ded to custom; holding tradition in . exaggerated esteem. But on second thought one takes a different view. We admit that time has the knack of making ancient good uncouth. Yet it must be remembered that conserva tism holds those whom we designate the "backward people” with those whom we regard>as highly civilized, alike in its grasp. The leading na tions are even to-uny glorifving the past; and well-informed individuals still sigh for the/‘good old days.” Occasionally path-finders arse, blazing new trails and pointing to untried paths. Blit these are alwn.»? i years ahead of their daj and gene ration. Humanity en masse, is inva riably static, disi icll ini to break away from'the-oMi-taf:.preferring, t 1 walk in beater, 'rocks. The multitude , resents the implied charge of iner tia, lack of Initative, which the pio neer'-, attitude suggests: The popu lace flouts his summons to discard 1 their ancestral trid *s lions and long cherished customs. Though eventual- < ly memorialized *.h ? seer is pr<-s vnt ' ly anathematized. S ich is the price ' of progress! Even Jesus Christ must pay the penalty of b^akd* the old 1 and advocating the new. Tradition ’ dtps hard; custom contend.* tor con tinuity, and contests, with change ^ every step of the way. Progress- is 1 ever the result of persistent^ effort 1 by those who are followers of the •< Those who would save Ainca mum themselves be saved from “a holier than thou” attitude; 'and from a .too premature iconoclasm. In the mat ter of promiscuous attacks against cherished usage *haste makes waste.’ The enthusiastic reformer must ra lize that “purposeless uniformity spells deformity;” and that mere “imitation means limitation.” Hence the ages-old custom of an indigen ous people must not be treated with haughty disregard or contemptuous defiance. Indeed wise discrimination is needed in order to distinguish be tween the utilitarian and ornamental; the good and the bad. But. I started out.to tell of a speci fic custom; to recite a particularly striking Fauti proverb. The Fauti infant, while still of tender age, is made the subject of a ceremony, surprisingly similar to that of infant baptism as practiced by a large portion of the Christian ChuTch. On an appointed day the family gath- , ers. The babe is held in fond em brace, while water is thrice sprinkl- ( ed, or poured, on its tongue. With ^ each application this proverb is re- ( Peated, which when translated reads ( “when it is yea, say yea; when nay, j say nay.” The new arrival is thus en- ^ joined to ever hold frankness and sincerity as cardinal virtues. Inth'8 * Way the Fanti bespeaks Ms contempt , for duplicity and double-doling. Christ, of whom It wasWdi “TKou^ are a teacher coine fSppm God,” ex* jj borted His foUbwere: .“let ; yonr1 speech be yea, ^; ttxjr, *a#^ wbatsoewefc He Ranee In Praise, ' no place in true Christian inter j course. Principle rather than policy; sin cerity rather than expediency; direct ness rather than diplomacy; straight forwardness rather than duplicity; fact rather than tact. These are the distinguishing traits of him who de sires to say: “Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear branded on my body (character) the marks of JesjUs.” New York, N. Y. THE BIBLE TEACHING SCIENCE. Rev. E. George Biddle, D. D. S ■—s In the controversy concerning Sci ence and Religion, some sha'llow thinkers say “The Bible does not teach Science.” This is almost in variably said by those who know very little gboUt the Bible. There is absolutely no contradiction between the Word and the works, of God. The', fact is the Bible does teach science. The Book of Job, generally conceded to be the most ancient bit of litera ture in existence, is teeming with scientific assertions, uttered thous ands of years before there was any “science” as now paraded as the pro uction, or discoveries of these later centuries. In this great drama the question is asked: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiader r* canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? KNOWEST THOU THE ORDINANCES OF HEAVEN? Canst thou set the domain thereof in the :artM Jo^ .. ?: In Job’s answer to one of his so called "comforters” he states th<- . great scientific truth that God ‘stretched out the North over the jmpty place, and hangeth the world lpon nothing.” Antedating by thous mds of years a thorough knowledge . >f the centrifugal and centripetal i !orces which at least conterbalance he law of gravitation, and -causes he mighty planets to move on in heir divinely appointed orbits—as Bishop Warren says in “Recreations n Astronomy,” “never a moment out >f tinie, nor an hair’s breadth out of ! dace.” i Said the Prophet Amos seve^‘ or sight hundred years B. C., nearly, if lot more ‘than two thousand year? >efore modern science was heard of: ‘Seek Him that maketh. the Sever stars and Orion, and turaeth the sha low of death .into the morning, and naketh the day dark with night; and* ralleth for the waters of the sea, and xnireth them out upon the face of he earth; The,Lord is His. name.” Lmoft 6:8. This reference is undoubt ily to our LORD JESUS CHRIST vhom the “modernist” would not on y rob of His divinity, but would make Jim who created Jhe universe an ig loramUs. He, the Almighty Creator s held .forth as a creature of- circum stance, a -deceived, a deluded man. [he Prophet Isaiah in the seventh sentury B. C' speaks of the Lord God is "sitting upon the circle pf the arth.” Thousands of years after this he so-called sciences were denying he self-evident facts of astronomy-— aving that the earth is flat, and reater than the Sun. - The chief cause of the rejection of The Virgin Birth” is the utter in bility of the natural, or unregenerat id man to take in the biological scientific) fact of the conception of Jhriet without the help of man; they leny it because it is scientific, and beyond their comprehension. The niraeles are denied chiefly because hey'arp based on scientific facts, »?> ar beyond the comprehension of nan—tfee most .astiite scientists of tie 80th century are unable to ac> ount for what is perfectly .plain tr filth. Aerial navigation, x-rays, radio, md hundreds of .other common-placer ONE HUNDRED THOU: SAND DOLLARS FOR LIVINGSTONE COL LEGE. ■r BUREAU OF PUBLICITY A. M.^E. Ziorl Church Tire election of Dr. W. J. Trent, of Atlanta, Ga., as President of Living stone College, Salisbury, N. C., has so stimulated th#* Zion Church, of "which it is its chief Institution of learning, that plans were made at the Trustees meeting* in Washington is June to-raise one hundred thousand dollars immediately for the main tenance of a standardized College of Arts and Science and Literature. This money is to come out the humble earnings of members and friends of our own group and will be the first time such a task has been undertak en by Negroes for Negro Education. ' | Livingstone College stands almost alone" among Educational Institutions jfor our race group as the re,al school tl\at is entirely supported by Ne groes. It is the Negro's successful at tempt at self help. The College gets , no large donations froin philanthrop- • tsts and very little has been received ,in the past years from sources out {side of the A. M. E. Zion Church. It is .neither tied or controlled by any of the wealthy Foundations and there Ifore its students and graduates are independent in thought, fearless in leadership and intensely racial. The Zion Church believes that ifca large following in „■ this country can and will five to jitrlcijy. a Col- i lege, Tated acceptably, that is the product of its own group educators and an example of what the Negro can do for himself. While We hope j to encourage donors by the first do ing for ourselves and going to the limit of our own capacity, yet until hen the Church is determined to rally its own forces and build an in stitution that will in all things meas ure up to t^ie standard of training given in other great schools. I To this end a Committee has been | selected by the Trustees, headed by j .Dr. Trent to lay plans and push for-1 jward this effort to raise one hundred thousand dollars within a year. Cen ers of Zion Methodism as Washing ! ton, St. Louis, Pittsburg, Louisville,1 .Birmingham, Cincinnati, Boston, New I York, Charlotte, Mobile, Hartford, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Rochester Buffalo, will be given quotas to raise that insure even in perspective the 1 realization of the required sum. 1 Dr. Trent »’s long association with M. C. A. work and his splendid work in this connection especially' at At lanta well prepared him not. only for jthe duties of the Presidency of the I College but for this special effort of jthe Zion Church to test the loyalty j -of the Negfo to Negro,,, leadership I and initiative in giving to the race * purely Negro “A" class University. _N# year is the 125th anniversary ! f A. M. E. Zion existence as a pure ly Negro Denomination and. it is the plan to celebrate this event by a monumental _ educational movement, that w|U be a credit to Zion Meth- i odtem and an honor to their race. , WHAFS NEXT? Rev. C. S. Whitted, D. D. The . Ministers and Layman’s As- ■ oociation will meet in Norfolk; Va., I The Ministers and Laymen of last year are not the Ministers and Lay men of today. They are asking ques tions and theqe questions are of vita1 importance to the Churph. in fact th- I Church belongs to the \^mqn.. \ wish they would TealUi^00^t and . Tuesday, August 11th, Z P. M., tiie day- before the sitting of the Connectional Council. The retiring Chairman of- the Board of Bishops ! - .r ... grounds. But after the election of the present chairman, he made the re quest’that no other meetings be held during the hours the Board was in session, lfstening to reports. It was a reasonable request and the men adhered to it. Let this one thing be understood by all. We do not. hold these meet ings in order to destroy harmony, but to promote it. The Bishbps of Zion Church, and some of them do know that the Min i?ters and Laymen are not cowards. They hjjfire such a high regard for those in authority that when they say go, they go and go cheerfully, not as slaves, but some act as if " they ' were slaves, but as men who love the Church. become more intensely interested in the affafrs of the Church. Some are asking the following questions in re gard to the local Church Extension money, Conference Workers and Daughters of Conference. The money collected for the endowmeht of Liv ingstone College, and other monies paid in at the Annual (Conference. The only answer I can give is as> the chairman of the finance commit tee. I think it is about time for us t^ do something for the Superannuated Ministers, Widows and Orphans. We for the support of the claimants. We have received since January, ?1,000 are not reflecting on the Budget system. We know it will work won ders if given time. Lord hasten the day when the Church will have more sympathy for the claimants of this department. \ You will Jiear from me again soon on subjects , which I think are tor the best interest of the Chuych. Philadelphia, Pa. GIVES ADVICE TO 500 WHITE MEN. Mary mcCleod bethune SPEAKS AT BLUE RIDGE, N. C. (For. the Associated Negro Press) There is a need for hetter under standing between the races and these are some of the' things .the Negro wants. “A fair square chance for the un folding of the best in us.” “The Negro has awakened to his possibilities and is manfully striving to measure up to them. He asks that the bolted doors to knowledge be opened to him, not (hat he may become like other-men, but that he may be his best. He de ires to throw off poverty and ignor ance that he may be an asset to his eomxpunity. ~ No''special favora he asks, but a' man’s chance. He has been loyal to the South, to America. He has hot failed to an swer the call of his country. N “The home life of the Negro tn vites your investigation that you may know him better. He covets for his ome. and family all that an intel ligent citizen covets. L and ''“He covets freedom to live develop and have. “Protection for himself and family under the American flag.” “He wants the consideration of man in association, travel, business, and the activities of life. “He believes in his racial integ rity and is not ashamed of it. ides not want to be white, nor his identity with his race, he the PASSION IN PREACH ING. J. W. Jones in Western Chris ' tian Advocate. If even evangelistical preaching is to be effective, there must be pas | sion in it. I cannot myself; imagine anybody preaching the mighty gos pel of the cross in. a cool, detached way. Preaching is not the reading jOf a nice, correct little essay, Preaching is the proclamation of the. most amazing message that ever fall upon mortal: ears. V*e^a#e’ " preach until the fire In our- hearts lias kindled an answering fire in the hearts of those who listen to us. I happened in a recent Sermon to refer to a< volupie of sermons just issued by a Scottish preacher.. A friend of mine who heard the reference wrote to a friend of his. who happened to ^ live in the same town as the preach er, asking his opinion of him. Hie answer came back that he was an excellent preacher, but “too intense for my taste”! Too intense! If wonder what that superior per son would have said of St. Paul, pass ing from land to land like a flame, spending himself out for souls, cry ing, in the passion of his soul, to King Agrippa, “I, would to God that not only thou, but also all that hoar me this day, might become such as I am—except these bonds!” Too in tense! Nobody can fee too intense in preaching this gospel. It is more in* tensity in the preaching of it that I desiderate. Passionless preaching is powerless preaching. Coolness in the pulpit creates coldness in pie pew. But who can be cool when preaching the gospel of deliverance and re demption? We may be cool enough when discussnig some literary prob lem, but there is something amiss if we are cool when telling the people how. England was not cool and tepid when news ' of^the febin he long nightmare of war reached these shpres. Ojar people went well nigh wild with joy. And, theu-rsalisa tion of the deliyeranefer»ptyk!h <G6d has wrought fills the soul wr|pt .a sim ilar irrepressible enthusiasm. Bait the realization must be there first. We must experience grace before we can preach it. We must ourselve^ know the power of the gospel before fere can, proclaim it. The heart must burn before We can speak effectively with our tongues. The three mightiest preachers the world has ever known judging -by the effects produced by them—were Paul and Luther and John Wesley. The secret of the power of each«of them was a mighty passion bora of a great experience. Paul wentthru the world preaching the gospel of re demption from sin and death thru Christ. “Christ Jesus Came into the world to save sinners,” was the mighty message he proclaimed. And he himself was the proof and veri fication of his gospel. "Of whom,” he urfed to add, "I am chief.” Luther's gospel .centered in the same placed— it was a gospel of forgiveness thru .the free grace of Cod. And it was his own experience of forgiveness, that constrained him to preach. Lather might have remained a droning monk in a German monastery to the end of his days, and the world might nev er have known his name, itdd It not been that one day he hadl tile tre mendous experience of knowing him self a forgiven mid redeemed man. That experience lent such passion and power to his mfttftiitiir Umt ka
The Star of Zion (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 9, 1925, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75