The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1921, Page 74

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74

The Lutheran Pioneer. ?

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sure guide to heaven? In the eyes of the lodge the
Bible is a good book, one of a number of “good”
books. The lodge puts the Bible on a level with
the Hindu’s Vedas, the Mohammedan’s Koran, the
Mormon’s Book of Mormon, and the Christian
Scientist’s Science and Health. ‘The lodge sees no
reason why one should not be as good as the other.
“To require that a candidate profess his belief in
the divine authenticity of the Bible, or a state of
future reward or punishment, is a serious innova-
tion in the very body of Masonry. Masonry has
nothing to do with the Bible; it is not founded on
the Bible,” says Chase in his Digest of Masonic Law,
p. 208. Since. the Jew, the Mohammedan, the
Hindu, the Buddhist, the Mormon, and others are
welcomed at the altar of the lodge, the sacred books
of these religions and cults are necessarily recog-
nized by the lodge as being just as good guides in
spiritual matters as the Bible. 1f a man has no
regard for the Bible, this does not close the doors
of the lodge against him. In the eyes of the lodge
all religions are alike good, and so, of course, all the
so-called “sacred books” of the various non-Chris-
tian religions are “just as good” as the Bible. The
Bible is the sacred book of the Christian, but as
such it is no more than the Koran of the Turk or
the Vedas of the Hindu, says the lodge, and for the
Christians to place the Bible above these other
“sacred books” is inexcusable arrogance and repre-
hensible narrow-mindedness.

Do you agree with what the Church says of the
Bible, or do you share the view of the lodge? If
you believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of
God and the only rule and guide of faith and life,
then you do not agree with the lodge, and then, to

. be consistent, you should have nothing to do with
the lodge. = F. J. 1.

_ Plaquemine. °

In Plaquemine building operations have been

begun, and if God gives His blessing, our little con- -

gregation there will soon have a church home and
our prosperous Christian day-school a safe shelter.
Just with reference to Plaquemine the editor has
had some more pleasant experiences during the past
month.

- A few days after a friend in Oak Park, Ill., had
handed him a hundred dollars for Plaquemine, a
letter came to his desk with $10 from far-away
- Colorado, sent by a mother and her daughter, “to

_help Plaquemine in building the church it needs so

badly.” The writer then continues: “I wish we
could have more services out here. We have a stu-
dent to preach to us in the winter. We have four-
teen miles to go, and the roads are very bad most
of the time, so that we cannot go very often. In
the summer, when the roads are good, we have no
church at all. I hope you can do something toward
having a minister out here all the time. We have
a nice house for a minister, but we haven’t had one
for two years. Hoping that the Plaquemine people
are getting cnough money for their church,
I am,” ete.

What touched me especially was the fact that
this lady and her daughter, though they were prac-
tically deprived of the blessings of church services,
were so willing to help the Plaquemine people to
get a church. This is surely the spirit of un-
selfishness. :

A few days later came another letter, this time
from Texas. It contained a draft for $500 for
Plaquemine and read thus: “Inclosed find check
of $500, which is a thank-offering for God’s special
blessing, to be applied towards a mission-building
at Plaquemine, La. I had intended to send this to
another very worthy charitable cause, but after
reading your statement and appeal in the August”
number of the Pioneer, I recognized it to be a true
Macedonian call for help. I sincerely hope others
may be moved to help in this cause, since it would
be a shame to close this mission-station. But the
good Lord will see to it that they will not be dis-
appointed. Yours sincerely,” ete.

How happy the pastor, teacher, and people at
Plaquemine will be when they hear of this liberal
thank-offering! When we read this letter, the
thought came to us that there might be others
among our readers that have good reasons and also
the ability to offer a gift of thanks to the Lord for
special blessings received from His bountiful hands,
and that this example might be an incentive to do
likewise.

Besides the above, the editor has received a
number of other gifts, all of which have been duly
forwarded to the Treasurer, Mr. Ewald Schuettner,
323 Merchants-Laclede Building, St. Louis, Mo.

F. J. L.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

The undersigned gratefully acknowledges the receipt
of the following moneys for Plaquemine: N.N., Texas, _
$500.00; Mrs. Louise F. Orth and daughter, each $5.00;
J. F. Brown, Napoleon, 0O., $10.00; Miss Esther Bock,
Port Huron, Mich., $5.00; Miss Kate Kiefer, Bremen,
Ind., $2.00.— God bless these friends of Plaquemine!

September 10, 1921, F. J. LANKENAU.