"THE THEATRES FOR CHRIST."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1667, 6 February 1913, Page 8

"THE THEATRES FOR CHRIST."

• Sir,— "They rushed with one accord into the theatre," was the text taken by Rev. Connibeer. He said thero were some people who still thought it was nn extraordinary thing that there should be such a body as the Actors' Church Union. He could not understand the outlook of such people on life, nor could' he understand .what their religion really was. ~ Some extraordinary sermons'havo been preached from texts, the subject matter' of which was absolutely to the construction placed upon' them. A minister once preached a"mcmorial'sermon" from the text, "The Lord hath need , of him." He was evidently unaware ,that the' subject in-this case was an ass. Tho subject of Mr. Connibser's sermon was a murderous, idolatrous mob,' enemies of Christ, who seized two friends of -the. Apostle Paul, and rushed thorn . into' a theatre, as a tiger, would bear off its victim to its lair, and this-incident is held up ,to "chnrchmon" in defence of- theatre-going. "No, man- can serve two masters". and, when vou enter a theatre you .leave God's' Holy Spirit niltside. There are, of course, thousands of ministers who can, and do. 'enjoy, a, night, at-the play. Such have not been No, sir! the theatre is no place for God's'children, for in it aro portrayed all.the woTks of the devil, the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, hatred.'envy, malice, adultery, murder. suicide. God's Word, pays: "Beware lest ye also, beinfr led'away by tho error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness." How sadly has "the Church" fallen. Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil tho lust of the.flesh.' The works of the flesh are enumerated in Galatians .5: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things aro honest, whatsoever things are' just, whatsoever things aro pure, whatsoever -things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any nraise, think on theso things."— I am, etc., OBSERVING.. ■ P.S.—I pen these lines, not in condemnation of actors, but to, if possible, prevent some poor seeking soul from being led away by the new gospel. The world's need to-day is the' Gospel of the , Lord Jesus Christ.. A STUDENT'S COMPLAINT. - (Sir,—There is a movement afoot' to placo a strong protest before .'tho Education Department in connection with tho papers set for magnetism and electricity, in tho recent Senior Civil Service examination, tho'complaint being that the syllabus was not adhered to in setting the questions. The first three questions aro purely "physics." . The choice ,of questions was withheld. In former years candidates were allowed to choose afay question from tho whole paper, whereas in this year's paper candidates were restricted to "a certain set of questions." If wo are given a syllabus to guide us in our studies tho syllabus should be strictly adhered to. If tho Department intends to raise the standard it should bo com'pelled to first of all alter tho syllabus so as to allow us to preparo accordingly. If wo, as students, do not ventilate this grievance thero will (it seems to me) ono else to take enough interest m us to come forward on our behalf.—l am,-etc ' * STUDENT,