Rev. Dr. Van Dyke at Appleton Chapel last night made an eloquent plea for the adoption of Christianity. He took his text from Acts V, 42 verse, "And daily in the Temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Dr. Van Dyke said, "There are two general principles in regard to the gospel which I think every person of common sense will admit. The first is the principle of adaptation, and the second is the principle of permanence.

The gospel must be adapted to the age. It must speak the language of today. It must recognize and meet the needs of men as they are, not as they ought to be. This has been said so often we have almost forgotten the other principle without which this idea of adaptation becomes vague and meaningless.

The gospel must have in it a permanent and unchanging element.

This is an age of doubt, not of irreligion. Its temple is one of doubt, not of denial; of unbelief, not of disbelief. Man is a ship made to steer, not to drift, and when he finds that he does not know where he is, the voyage of life becomes melancholy.

What has Christianity to say in reply to this age of questioning? It should not answer by science; because science is unsettled and preachers have only a bowing acquaintance with it; nor by trying to raise up an unpregnable fortification of theology. Christianity is something more than logic and philosophy. Christians should proclaim Jesus Christ.

In the first place it is a doctrine of a person, and a person is a reality. In the second place it is a farce. If you believe in Christ he will lift you out of doubt. It is a supernatural force, and all attempts to account for Him naturally have failed. Other great men have stood in clusters of lesser men, Christ stands in a vast solitude. Christ is sinless, Christ is truth. In answer to the three great questions "Is there a God, a soul, a future life," he without doubting speaks to the soul and says "He that has seen me has seen the Father," and dying told his disciples that He went to prepare a place for them. I can't explain why out Christ crucified does save sinners. Christ is at once our teacher and example. Let us receive Him as our personal deliverer and put our trust in Him.

The choir sang the following anthems:

"Harvest Anthem," Stainer; "O Blessed are Ye," Barnby; "Lift up Your Eyes," Waring.