DR FRENCH E. OLIVER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 16114, 1 May 1923, Page 8

DR FRENCH E. OLIVER.

WHAT IS PRAYER?

''There is no telling what God can accomplish in Gisborne through prayei if you people, grt down to business," declared Dr. French E. Oliver at the obvc of a scholarly address that was listened tu with the closest alien! ion at the Methodist Church last evening. The subject of the lecture was "The Psychology ol Prayer," and the doctor gave a muster!} exposition on the scientific and praelieaj aspect,-; of Ihe quest ion. Longing in the bean," be said, war, the true basis oi piayer and communion. God was more interested in the condition of the heart than the words you speak with yom lips. "As lie thinkeih in the lie-in SO is he." was the. line basis of n man's life. A man may be religious outwardly, but a gross hypocrite inwardly. Man looked upon the outward appearance, but. God looked upon the heart.

"fray without, censing,"' was the injiinc tion of God's word. Hearts of people bear unceasingly. Dead people did not breathe. Bogie was essential, and God declared all ungodly people are "dead in trespasses and sins." So the text, "pray without censing" was not for the sinner. A drunken man did not attract much attenton. but if i church member staggered round town it would create a sensati; ■>•. . ...■ diff-

erence was one of relationship.. Von expected the reprobate to do the crooked thing, but something different'from the child of God. The fatherhood of the devil was taught as clearly in the Bible as the fatherhood of God. Man was a trinity in unity, bavin;; spirit, soul, and body. Dis mind was also a trinity in unity : composed of the conscious, subconscious, and super-conscious. The latter in the ungodly mind was dominated by the devil. This accounted for sudden criminal brain-storms which resulted in dreadful crimes. The supercohscious mind in tho child of God was dominated by the Holy Spirit and accounted for the calm repose of Christians in the face of martyrdom. He believed that the majority of cases of insanity were demon possessed. One could account for crime waves on the basis of the Bible alone. A baby brought no information into the world, but. material of which the brain cells

were formed. The lecturer proceeded to describe the formation of brain cells

through the connecting up of the various crises of sight, heavingj smell, etc. Thus men developed the brain areas in the study of medicine, Jaw, etc. People who built up their brain colls with profanity were 33 per cent, fools —they polluted'; their brain cells. "As he tkinketh in his heart so is he," was the "round work of all psychology. Thus the man who committed adultery was an adulterer before he did it. So with the murderer; Imagination was .the birthplace of thought. Imagination, thought, desire, action, habit, character, and destiny—these were the steps, whether of purity or impurity. The same principle operated on the up-grade if following God. on the down-grade if following the devil. Dr. Oliver went on to speak of the effect of the distm-bance of brain areas. The body, he said, was not criminal, it was a machine subject to motive power. The automobile was dependant on the engine, so the body was dead without a mental apparatus. God said tho heart of man was dreadfully wicked. .Man's attitude towards God depended upon tho matter he had been putting into tho plastic brain cells. A man could make himself an agnostic by certain lines of thinking. So a destructive critic, a modern theologian, had filled up his brain cells with the poison gas of German manufacture. Destructive criticism had made many

infidels. Many a theological seminary had been turned into an infidel factory, and many an ordained minister a Judas tscariot who had sold his Lord for his rflairris of scholarship. Here was a declaration of Professor Cramb, (ho defender of modern theology: "l)ne mighty issue is secured. Germany is delivered from the loathsome burden of the past, the cancev'-ef the centuries —Christianity." No child of God would go round telling people the Bible was false. Man was the architect of his own fate, and had poured into his own brain cells that that had made him an enemy of Christ, of the Gospel, and of the Bible. Destructive critics said science was too great to permit men to believe the Bible. It was not science that made men sceptics. it was their relationship with (he devil. A child of God on the "new birth" is brought into relationship with heaven and begins to learn the language of heaven and prays for the first time. That causes bis brain cells to develop along that line'and' prayer becomes a fixod -habit. The more a man prays the more the prayer life grips him, creates a, love towards Rod and for the study of the Bible. With prayer comes the joy of answered petitions, and victory. The thing grew on him and brought him in harmony with God until he became literally dominated by God. The dominant line of thinking determined a man's character. Thus one could account for every line of thinking.

varying from the criminal to the one Tilled with a love for Christ and the Bible, T(, depended on tlie way man filled his brain cells. Pray without ceasing was God's pronouncement. This afternoon Br. Oliver spoke on "The Psychology of Faith." To-night he speaks at the Opera House on "The Black Horse."