THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
J. F. JOHNSON
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MISS EMMA P. JOHNSON
L. A. WISE
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It is not too early to seek information as to what pre
cinct you live in before voting for the candidates who will
be seeking governmental offices; both, Democratic and
Republican. We request all of our readers to seek informa
tion from the County Board of Elections or the Registrar
of your precinct, to be sure that your name is on the books.
If you have moved or if you are a new-comer in the city,
be sure that your name is listed in your precinct.
General Election Day is November 3, 1970.
Listed here are the various governmental offices of
which candidates will be seeking election: County Board
of Commissioner, House of Representatives of Guilford
County, Senator (State), U. S. Senator, Register of Deeds,
Board of Education, Judge of High Point Municipal Court,
Congressman of Sixth District. All candidates who will be
seeking places in one of these governmental offices will
distribute literature based upon his platform. We urge you
to read this literature and Drenarp vourself tn vnto
REGISTRATION
In 1956, one representative from the House of Repre
sentatives of Guilford County recommended to put the
N.A.A.C.P. out of business. Now if such candidate seeks
for election knowing that only about two or three hundred
Negroes are properly registered and vote in the Negro
precincts, one could easily put the Negro in the "dog
house."
Now there are enough Negroes registered in the city
limits of Greensboro, not counting the county, High Point,
and other little village towns. It is up to our professional
and business leaders to see that these citizens exercise
their rights and go to the polls to vote on election day. We
have observed that there are five thousand Negroes who
are registered and qualified to vote. Voting in the general
election shouldn't be such an excuse as "I forgot what
precinct I live in," or "I worked too late," or "I was re
minded to vote, but I had to take my children on a little
outing and forgot about it." Please do not let little petty
things upset this important event.
DRIVE SANELY
T his Weed's Sunday School Lesson
WHAT 13 UNIQUE
ABOUT OUR FAITH?
Beginning Where You Are
One feature of the 1968
American Baptist Convention
was a discussion between Har
vey Cox, a Harvard theologian,
and Carl F. H. Henry, former
ly editor of Christianity Today.
At one point the two men were
asked to pretend they were try
ing to explain the meaning ot
the gospel to a scientist. This is
what they said:
"Henry: I'd say that what
God expects of us is that we
should love him with our whole
being and our neighbors as our
selves. And we are all miser
able sinners. And if we face the
future trusting in ourselves, the
God of the universe Is more
righteous than that, and we will
simply inherit condemnation
that we have brought upon our
selves. And Christ died for our
sins and rose again the third
day. And he is the author of
hope, in the forgiveness of sins
that he provides. And we can
know him. And what God has
in view for me on the basis of
redemption is my restoration to
fellowship with the living God,
and to holiness and to the ex
hibition, in relation to my neigh
bor, of what it means to be in
the service of my holy Father."
"Cox: I think I would try to
say very much the same thing
but try to explain what I mean
by the language that Dr. Henry
has just used. What does It
really mean today to say that
we are miserable sinners? That
we're headed for condemnation?
That we're trapped in sin? That
we have hope again? Jifst re
peating these phrases to (a
scientist)) or to anyone else
today doesn't fulfill our respon
sibilities. I think that as a Chris
tian I have to know him person
ally. ... I'd like to know who
he is, what's worrying him,
where his hang-ups and fears
are. In telling him that he is a
miserable sinner (which he Is
and which I am) or that we're
all headed for condemnation
(which we are if we dont
change), how do you put con
tent in these words for a person
for whom this kind of language
has a hollow ring? That's my
problem. And I dont think you
can simply repeat the phrases.
I think you've got to know him
and to know what you mean
and to put it in a kind of lang
uage that will cause something
to happen in this man so that he
really does have hope, so that
he really Is dedicated to work
ing for ? future and a hope
which God has made possible,
instead of a kind of phraseologi
cal solution.".
Before you react to these two
statements, read the rest of the
lesson. After studying the Scrip
ture, you can return te this con
versation and see what insights
you have gained.
Searching The Seilytuiea
The Scripture for this lesson
is Acts 17:23- 28a; Epheslans 1:
8-9; Hebrews 1:1-4. Selected
verses are printed below.
Hebrews 1:1-4
1 In the many and various
ways God spoke of old to our
fathers by the prophets; 3 hut
in these last days he has spoken
to us by a Son, whom he ap
pointed the heir of all things,
through whom also he created
the world. 3 He reflects the glory
of God and bears the very stamp
of his nature, upholding the
universe by his word of power.
When he had made purification
for sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high, 4
having become as much superior
to angels as the name he has ob
tained is more excellent than
theirs.
Acts 17:22-28a
22 So Paul, standing in the
middle of the Are-op'agu^ said:
"Men of Athens, I perceive that
| in every way you ar? very re
ligious. 23 For as I passed along,
and observed the objects of your
worship, I found also an altar
with this inscription, 'To an un
known god.' What therefore you
worship as unknown, this I pro
claim to you. 24 The God who
made the world and everything
in It, being Lord of heaven and
earth, does not live in shrines
made by man, 25 nor is he serv
ed by human hands, as though
he needed anything; since he
himself gives to all men life
and breath and everything 26
And he made from one every
nation of men to live on all the
face of the earth, having de
termined allotted periods and
\ the boundaries of their habita
tion, 27 that they should seek
God, In the hope that they might
feel after him and find him
Yet he is not far from each one
of us, 28 for 'In him we live
and move and have our being.' "
Memory Selection: For it is
the God who said, "Let light
shine out of darkness," who *"??
shone in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of
Christ. ? 2 Corinthians 4:6
Exploring The Questions
In general, one must ask of
every passage of Scripture the
five W's: who, what, when,
where, and why. Who wrote the
passage? What was he writing
about? When did he write?
Where was he writing? Why did
he write. Some of these ques
tions will be more important at
certain times than others.
When and where the Scrip
ture was written is somewhat
important for our understanding
of this particular passage from
Hebrews. We need to know that
the writer of Hebrews was try
ing to speak to second-genera
tion Christians in Home. And
the setting for Paul's sermon In
Athens is obviously important
for understanding that message.
At times we will need to see
how the verses under considera
tion fit into the message of the
entire chapter or even the whole
book But in this lesson the most
important questions are what
and why. <
The what question is really
the question of theology. What
was the writer of Hebrews try
ing to say about Jesus, And
what do we learn about the na
ture of God In Acta 17? The
neyt section of the lesson will
discuss these questions.
But let me suggest quite
openly that our main concern
in this lesson will be to draw
out the implications of the way
these writers presented their
material That is, why did they
write as they did? I think at this
point we can gain much in
sight for our own lives.
Finding Help
With Year Questions
The writer of the Hebrews
passage is talking about Jesus,
but be is not concerned to tell
us about an event in the 111a
o f Jesus. He wants us to under
stand Jesus' significance ? who
he was and what he did. But
why does he use such exalted
language?
The Purpose of Hebrews
The writer was a man who
knew the Hebrew traditions. He
knew about the prophets, about
angels, and about the Jewish
sacrificial system. We see all of
this in the first four verses of
Chapter 1. But the writer waa
also familiar with Greek thought.
Verse 3 in particularly telling:
Jesus "reflects the glory of God
and bears the very stamp of his
nature."
Greek thought, particularly
that of Plato, held the idea that
this world is only an imperfect
copy of an ideal world that ex
ists somewhere else. Likewise,
everything in this world has its
perfect counterpart in that other
world.
In using the type of language
we see in the first part of verse
3, therefore, our writer was
adapting the thought forms of
Greek philosophy to help ex
plain who Jesus is. He was say
ing that Jesus is the final, com
plete, and perfect revelation. Ha
Is not just an imperfect copy.
Jesus Christ is as closely related
to God as are the rays to the
sun itself.
The Book of Hebrews address
ed itself to the task of proving
that Christianity is superior tc
Judaism. By the time It was
written, the church was com
posed of second - generation
Christians. They were beginning
to return to their old Jewish be
liefs and practices. Thus we have
in Hebrews an attempt to per
suade them of their error.
Jesus, the writer argued, la
superior to the prophets and tbe
angels and even to Moses.
Christ's sacrifice was full and
perfect and complete ? superior
to the sacrifices offered by the
Levitical priests.
William Barclay sums up the
message of Hebrews in these
words:
"So to the Greek the writer
to the Hebrews said: "You an
looking for the way from lb*
shadows to reality; you will Had
it in Jesus Christ' So to the Jew
the writer to the Hebrews said:
'You are looking for that per
fect sacrifice which will open
the way to God which your sina
have closed; you will find it In
Jesus Christ.' To the writer to
the Hebrews Jesus was the one
person on earth who gave access
to reality and access to God.
This is the key-thought of the
whole letter."
Paul In Athena
We turn now to the passage
from Acts. Scholars disagree on
whether Paul actually gave this
speech as It is reported in Acts.
Some accept the account as we
have it Both the setting and the
theology fit what we know of
Paul and of Athens, these schol
ars argue.
Athens was a city of culture,
of philosophy, and of inquiry.
Paul was doubtless thought to
be a traveling lecturer on phil
osophy and as such was brought
before the Areopagus ? a body
charged with oversight of all
lecturing in the city. Scholars
(Continued on Page 3)