The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-10-14
The Evangelical Alliance.

The Sixth General Conference of the
Evangelical Alliance has closed, and the dis
tinguished and able men who participated in
and gave character to its exercises have sep
arated. WAT the practical results of the
sessions, that have been of interest to thou
sands, will be cannot be well determined.
The purpose of the Alliance is to unite for the
common interest of Professionalism, all who
hold to that faith, and thus make common
war upon those who oppose what they hold
to be the truth. So far as the i, fiuence of
the men of talent al learning embraced in
the membership of the Alliance. it may be eff
fective, but it represents no united and disci-
pined force, nor can it act aggressively in any
direction, because it has no power.
In the debates and papers there has been
the widest latitude, in which men picked
from the civilized world participated The
first day was devoted to Christian Union.
One day was devoted to ''Antagonisms' or
rather to skepticism in all forms. For whole
day, "Romansm'' was the topic and the
Catholic church and its infable Head was
e7erely whacked-aE operation under which
it seems to prosper. Another day was devoted
to Literature and the Pulpit" Among the
other topics fully discussed were Christianity
and Civil Government, Sunday Laws, Church
and State, Missionary Work, and the Rela-
tons of the Church and Social Reformers.
The most marked discussion, however, was
that in which the subject of Science as it re-
lates to Revelation, was discussed. 1t is a
field that the ordinary teacher shrinks from,
but The able men that took part in the de-
bate in the Conference were not daunted, as
is evident in the declaration of DIR. Blown of
Scotlan !, who declared that ''the discussion
of the doctrine of development will exercise
beneficial effect upon religion and of Presi-
dent Anderson, who accepted Evolution as
"God's own unrolling of His creative plan,"
and that the pushing of "Darwinism" to its
fullest extent only moved back the Creator
few degrees and thus made his work grander.
But while the members of the Alliance
showed their ability to meet scientific unbe-
lief, and to cope with the open foes of
Professionalism, they lost sight of the practical
atheism which has grown up not only about
but within the church. The danger of the
interest that the Alliance met to advance does
not lie mainly in the direction in which that
body made its attack, but in the contempt
that may come to religion as they see it
through the Generalization of many Of its
leaders. The men who have standing in the
church and yet gamble in the stocks, rob the
banks of which they are placed in charge and
otherwise bring into contempt the principles
they profess, are the real foes that Protestant
tism has to fear ;and the religious organization
that accepts the money of infamous stock
gamblers and swindlers to fund its theological
schools and canonize the men by naming
such institutions for them, thus making them
examples for young men to emulate, has its
most dangerous enemy under its own banner.
The elevation of Christian character within
the ranks of those whom the Alliance recop-
nizes as its army, was evidently lost sight of
In its zeal to carry the war into the camp of
the enemy,