Who Can Be Saved?

In " the good old days" of the Bible Baptists, members of this denomination held that only persons baptized by immersion were Christians, because immersion was the New Testament mode of baptism. The Southern Baptists still hold to this belief, and refuse to cooperate with any other Protestant denominations in the Federal Council of Churches. The Northern Baptists cooperate, but have a communion service which is closed to all Christians except those who have been immersed. Dr. Cornelius Woelfkin, of the Park Avenue Baptist Church, New York, has declared for the " open church "--i. e., receiving members from other communions without immersion. Along with this " heresy," Dr. Woelfkin declares that he believes in evolution, and thinks that the church should try to elevate the theatre, not obliterate it. He is assailed by conservatives like Drs. John Roach Stratton and J. Frank Norris, as subverting Baptist faith and morals. The controversy assumes importance because the annual Northern Baptist Convention will be held at Atlantic City on May 22, and this " open church " question disturbed last year's convention at Indianapolis. Dr. Woelfkin is in no danger of a heresy trial, because each Baptist church governs itself, and Dr. Woelfkin's church is largely in his favor.