Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-05-06
The Methods of Moody

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guage. 1t says that "various ingenious
theories have been elaborated to account
for Brother Moody remarkable success
in awakening religious interest among
the masses, and many of the clergy es-
pecially have been puzzled to account for
it. He is certainly very plain, sim
pie man, without any of the graces of
culture or the gifts of oratory, or even
an impressive presence. Thousands of
ministers, not only in the cities, but
even in country towns and villages, can
preach more logical and better sermons,
aud yet fail to arouse their hearers. He
is not scholar, is entirely unfamiliar
with theology as a science, and appears
TO be unread in the works Of the fathers
the current theological literature Of the
Of the day, and the works of such scien-
fists as Spencer, Tyndail, Huxley, and
other controversialists, who seem to
disturb the average minister so much of
late. He does not appear to ally him
self with any particular denomination,
to formulate any particular creed, or to
observe any particular religious ceremo-
nial, and yet this plain, blunt man, with
only the Bible and hymn-book for his
authorities, continues in his work, at
tracing and arousing all classes of peo-
pie, the rich and the poor, the learned
and the ignorant. What is the secret
of his success
"It does not seem to us to be very
profound mystery, nor one requiring
much metaphysical research or spiritual
analysis to discover. 1t apparently lies
in the practical, common-sense, every
day manner in which he represents the
truths of religion before his hearers.
He addresses himself to his task as a
man does to his business, or woman
to her household duties. His recent in
terview with the ministers at the Hip
podrome Convention, and his plain,
practical answers to their questions, is
case in point. When they asked him
how to conduct meetingsso rs to arouse
interest, he answered :hem, make every
one work They then piled him with
all kinds Of questions. One wanted to
know what could be done if the church
were alive but the minister dead. Go
on without the minister, said Mr.. Moo
dy. Another put the supposition that
the church might be willing to hold a
revival and the trustees might object.
Mr.. Moody's solution Of this problem
was to revive the trustees and elect no
more unconyerted ones. If there was
a scandal in the church, he would apply
the discipline, and kick the scandaIous
ones out Politics were worldly
matter, and the world must take care
of them. Church fairs and bazaars were
a miserable sham, and ought to be sup
pressed. Prayers should be very short
and the same brethren ought not to lead
all the time, as that puts the people to
sleep. Ventilation and temperature
must be attended to, because people
can't be religious in bad air. If there
were thirty sisters and three men i'll Il
prayer meeting, then the men ought to
keep still and let the sisters run the
meeting. Ifpeople persisted in coming
late to church, then they should he Shut
out The last question asked him was:
If three-quarters of the attendants of
your churches were not confesSlng
Christians, what would YOU dot! To
which Mr. Moody bluntly replied: i
would make it hot for them.
''It is probable that the large crowd
of ministers, gathered from every part
of the country and from all denomina-
tions, who sat at the feet Of this plain,
simple, ungrammatical, uncouth, blunt
layman who has no d. ID. after his
name, whose only title is the familiar
"Brother" which the people have given
him, went away with some new ideas
in their heads which they evolved from
his strong practical common sense, and
that they will 90 back to their churches
better prepared for labor than if they
had read whole libraries of instructions
on pulpit-wolk. Undoubtedly many Of
them went out to see "a reed shaken
by the wind" and found tough young
sapliug, undisturbed by the hardest
gales. Undoubtedly many of them went
to the Convention with their puzzles
and conundrums, expecting to find
sensational evangelist who would be
tripped up with practical questionings,
and found man thoroughly in earnest
and hard at work in body, brain, and
soul, who long ago settled the questions
they put to him as the foundation Of
his lite-work, which he laid when or
ganizing his mission work in the slums
of Chicago The difference between
the average Clergyman and Brother
Moody is that religion is preached by
the one as sentiment, by the other as
a matter of everyday life; and that, while
the one makes religion mattor OF in
tellect, the other makes IL matter OF
soul and body; while the one allies it
with the closet, the Sabbath, the death
bed, or leisure hours of meditation, the
other iufuses all life with it, and brings
it into eating and drinking, buying and
selling. talking and walking, thinking
and planning, living and dying. The
pulpit too often breaches at the stars;
this blunt layman never gets above the
earth, and consequently,is always amoug
men and women. The pulpit seeks to
bring Heaven down to men; he lifts
men up to Heaven. The pulpit breaches
out of the library; he breaches out OF
| his inner consciousness and his great
experience with men. The one charms
and soothes; the other arouses and I'M
presses. The one is elevated little
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