, 1874-05-26

Tho eernlonB Of last Sunday, published In TIE
TRIBUNE yesterday. aro at once an index OF tha
religious future Of this country mud mirror Of
its present. Tie Evangelical churches show
themselves extremely rostlosB under the yoke Of
thoir various crceds. Their mcmbors aro yearu-
ing for q more cheerful Wow Of lite and Of God.
Tho aequittal Of Prof. Swing is approved by por-
sous, by o1orgymnn even, Of tho most opposite
views. Prof. Patton has fou friends aud few aup-
natioua. 1t la not difficult to understand why
this should be. Thcro was q time WHOM the world
was thoroughly Christian in the souae In Which
that word was used by our grandfathera. Tho
number Of intldels or unbelieyers was then
small. Tho atmosphere Of society was either
Catholic or Protestant; either Episcopa1an or
presbytoriau. i man could not breathe aud not
take IN Catholicism or Professionalism, Calyinism
or Lutherani8m. Literature aboundea with the
one OF the other. LII Christian countries thore
hnvo always boon large numbers of porsons who
sct no store by creedg Of any kind, but they were
few and far betwoen. They were rarely mot by tho
faithful, aud t4oy influenced tho course Of thought
about al much as If thoy had had no existence.
There was no great power antagoniatlc to the
churches or thoeocts and extorual to .heu such rs
modern thought and modern criticism have crc-
atod for Christianity, as DR.. Ohristliob ehowa
IL his iece1t work, ie no longer tho only great
force III Chrlatondom. Thare ia auothor force
| netting counter to it.-another which it would bo
difficult to tind g namo for, perhaps, sinco sci~
| once doc anot cover it, but which all men feel.
| Whatoyor people may think OF this other power,
It ia certainly not wholly OWL. Mems viewa of the
world they arc In, Of their own essential nature,
| OF tho character Of God, Of their whonce, and
| their whittier, and their wherefore, and
Of Thousand other important quos-
tions. have been insonsibly modified by
the results and Developments Of modern In
! yestigatiou. There can DO no doubt that tlls
spirit Of modern culture and tho average spiri
OF Christianity, including IN that phrase tht
Catholic, Protestant, and Crook Churches, ar.
not III hnrn,ony. They mutually exclude ont
| auother, or at legst teud to do 10. Dr.. Christ
lieb holds that tho Church itse!f iB largely 70
sponsib1o for this fact. Few arc tho Christians
olesgynon or other. who can Withdraw than
eolyoa entirely from these influences, or presory
their religious opiuious from the modification
| which contact with them ia sure to produce. I'll
reault is that there arc thousands who, 1ko Prof
Swing, feel less aud loss ut home In tho Oh
household; 4 household by continuing In whic
they confer upon another tho power to asraig
thom from timo to timo ''oyor gome dea
dogma, or over the middle Of q ser
tonce, or over some aabollinn or Nc
Lamnedan word," AZ Prof.. Bwiug say
III bis lottor to tho Chicago Proabytery announe
lug Ills Withdrawal from tho Presbyterian Churot
Prof. Bwipg'a sermon on Bunday last La tue Q,
pEossiou, not OF hs yio1a nlouo-it e1presHea til
foelipgs Of thousands In his Own and otht
churohos,--of thousands who. nurturoa in thea
, organizations, arc ondoavorlng, out Of tue
religious boiofs aud tholr other acqulationB,
mako consistent whole. Tho text OF that So
: mon Ia significant. It points to those 70,
changes or notifications Of Eyangolcalism
t which We roter. It ia from tho sixteenth ohal
r tor Of Matthew, and reada. "Can 70 NJ
t discern the sigus OF tho tlmes7" tt
r e!gna Of tho tl1uea are That msn ne 1
{ longer willing to aeoopt God OF yongoanc
? Men, women, aud oven dear olildrau, have
= como allow md powerful metamosphoBia con
oyerto now hunger aud now thirat ~ to Il
. character OF God" Dlasatlattotiou NTH Il
y charaot&4 Of dua u taught BY our fakhars, Ii