The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1968

ensus • ee n a I W /1ile oi,t East iii special rrzeetings this past Fall we !1ad ca//e·d to OL1r attention tJ1e following article whic/ 1 appeared in the pages of Tl1e Evening Bulletin. It is a terrible article and we onf:y ri111 it to sl1ow the perverseness .of hur,1an nature and too, to 111ake known th e· gracious and ,.,veil written reply of R ev . John E. Greening. T/1is pastor is one of our G.A.R.B. 1ne11 pastoring the Fe/low– s/1ip Baptis t Churc/1 in the city of Philadelphia. First , we quote the article - "in full" . . . and the·n Brother Greening's reply. this is the article ... The cen u -taker from Ron1e wa se,t to Galilee around 1the year 28 A.O. As he entered the region , he came acros a man itting on a do:1- . key. The man had Jong hair and a flowing beard ; he wore an old ta,ttered cloak sa:1dals and bead . "Pardon me," the ce;i u -taker sa id ''but I'm taking the cen us. Do you mind answering a few question ? ' : "Not at all," aid ,the man on the donkey, "I believe ·i:1 re:1dering unto Caesar the thing that are Cae ar' ." "What i your job?' ' asked the census-taker. ' 'I have no job," replied the man. "Consider the lilies oi ithe field - they toil not, neither do they spin." "Where is your family?'' ' 'I have no family," the ma:1 a:i– iwered . "I have leift my parents and my brothers and sisters, and I Jive alone." "Humph," muttered the census– . taker to himself. "No job and no family. Now, do you belong to a:1y :lubs or have social affiliatio:-is?'' "None," said the man. ' 'For no man can erve two masters.'' ' 'Do you go to s·ch 1 ool?" "Nay," replied the man, "for which .)f us by taking thought can add one !ubit to hi s stature?'' "Do you have a:iy money or visible nea ,s of support?'' The man shook his head. "Lay not 1p for yourselves treasures upon !arith, where moth and rust doth ;orrupt," he chanted. ' 'Have you registered for military ,ervice?'' ' 'I resist not evil, but return good ror evil,'' replied the man. ' 'And Nhosoever shall smite me on the ·ght cheek, I shall tur:1 to him the )ther also.,, ''Wha1 is your addre ?" The ma:1 sighed, ' 'The f.oxes have 10Je~, and the bird of ~he air have 1 • t ; IJut I have not anywhere f o il)' 111 y head.,, liE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTISt • "W,ho are your friend ?" ' ' I go an1ong publican and • 1n- ner ." "What political parity do you be– Jo:,g to?'' 'f.he ma:, hrugged , "Onl y thi - a new command.ment I give unto you: That ye Jove o ne another. " The cen u -taker cribbled on hi heet: "Beatnik character, chool drop..iout, :10 permane:it addres , n·o job, probabJe draft-dodger and paci– fi st alienated fr,om family, no wife o r children, no church attendance, du,bi·ous a sociate among lowest ele– ment i:i town.'' this - the reply! November 9 1967 Mr. Sydney J . Harri cl o The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin P. 0. Box No. 8185 Philadelph,ia, Pa. 19101 Dear Mr. Harri s: Your column captioned "Cen u in Galilee', appeared in rt: he Saturday issue of the Philadelphia Eveni ng Bulletin. The Lord ha laid it upon my heart to write you a letter which I wan,t to be full of compas ion toward you. You began your article with thi paragraph: "The censu -taker from Rome was ent to Galilee around the year 28 A.D. A he entered t,he re– gion, he came aero a man i,t 1 ting on a donkey. The man had long hair and a flowing beard ; he wore an old tattered cloak, andaJ and bead .' ' Your de cription of the n1an doc not exactly match my conception, but I a ume , Mr. Harri , that you arc wr1ting about my Friend and aviot1r who e nan1e i Je u . Then yoLI contint1e with number5 of question\ fron1 tl1i fictional cen– sus-taker, and with qt1otations fron1 the teachings of Je\us. You conclt1de(i ), lit' 11~~ ·11aper article with tl1is J>aragr:tph . U' f1J1c ~cD:t1µ ""4 ~ Rev. John E. Greening cen u -taker cribbled on hi heet : ' Beaitnik character, school drop-out no permanent addre no job, prob– ably draft-dodger and pacifist, alien– ated from f an1i ly no wife or children, no church attendance, dubiou as- ociates among lo·we t element in town. ' ' That's how you concluded your column Mr. Harri . Now I am o happy that I can tell you omething quite different about Je u that you mi ed - in fac,t, three wonderful, con1pa ionate truths. The fir t i that Je u Him elf aid, recorded in Matthew 12: 32 uwho– soever peaketh a word again t the Son of man, it ha]l be forgiven him. ' Mr. Harri , i n' t it wonderful that even though you wrote tho e thing again t Je u , He Himself ha aid that you have not pas ed beyond the po ibility of focgivene ! Pau e over that - there i forgivene waiting for you even though you wrote that artic]e which appeared la t aturday. I want you to be able to rejoice with me over the f orgivene of Je u . We both need it, and we both can r - ceive jt. The econd con1pa.. ionate trt1th i the good new that c n1e fron1 the cro of Calvary. In Hi very fir t cry fron1 alvary a · recorded in Luke 23: 34 Je Ll prayed - "Father forgive then1 : for they kn w not \\'hat they do ." Mr. Harri . it thrill~ 111e to tell v ti that Jc. LI prayed f r \ ti on the er of alvar), where He \\"a. ti,– ing for 111 y in~ and \ ot1r~. l 'n1 't) glad H pra cd fo1 t()t g1 , c11css ft)r ~in of ignoranc-..:. aren't \<.1t1 ? It is '{) obvi tls that 'lOllt ig11()I a11c 1f Jesti s n1auc }'Oll Ci <.) \\'hat ' <.)ll tf H.i \Vhc11 yo11 \ rote th 1.1t arti le ·1l1ot11 J\.~~u s. (Continued on Page 7) APRIL, 1968 PAGE