The sun., 1880-11-21
Is Protestantism Decaying in Germany,

Is Protestantism Decaying in Germanyf
Complaints are everywhere rife enough
that Professionalism is declining, but no
where does It exhibit such unmistakable
signs Of atrophy and dissolution as In the
German empire. 1t is fact verified by
every traveller that In the larger cities the
Protestant churches are deplorably empty,
while in the rural districts the pathway to
the Lutheran or Evangelical house OF wor-
chip 10 rank with grass and weeds to the
very door. How can We account for the
eclipse, 80 complete and apparently so hope
less, which has come over the church
founded by LUTHER and MELANcrHoN
About the facts there is no doubt. They
have lately been set forth in great detail by
Prof. Won SCHULTZ in the Contemporary Re-
pieto, and again in the last number OF the
Edinburgh Rerietc. 1t is unquestionable not
only that far larger proportion OF Catho-
lies than OF Protestants attend church In
Germany, but that there is O much greater
| number OF Catholic than OF Protestant
clergy in proportion to the population. In
Protestant churches, with one clergyman,
public worship is held only once ON Sun
| day; among Catholics 1t Is very often held
| twice. 1t is natural that pastors should
grow tired OF haranguiDg empty benches.
| 1t resulted from an inquiry into the con-
| dition OF the Lutheran Church in the Grand
| Duchy OF Meckenburg that no service at
| all had been held in the head churches for
| 22S Sundays, because there had been no con-
| gregaton. 1t appears, too, that the number
OF Protestants who every year receive the
sacrament is extremely small compared
with that OF the Catholics. Yet statistics
show that the attendance at communion,
| meagre as it Is, very much exceeds attend
ance at church. This habit seems TO be the
| lingering effect OF laws which once made
qualification for Government offices depend
ent on proofs that the candidate belonged to
the State Church, partaking OF the sacra-
ment at stated times being held conclusive
evidence on that point
The poverty and social insignihcance Of
Lutheran or Calvinist pastors are, to Eng
lish and American observers, among the
most striking phenomena of German So
ciety. The German clergyman takes no
lead in the business OF charity, for there Is
none dispensed on the part Of the middle
class gentry. He hallows no meal with
preliminary grace" for he Is never ad-
mitted to the table. Now and then, in the
| VI COuutl iliti hc may uC Sul-
fered to take a fourth hand at whist but in
general the clerical element is altogether
absent from what in Germany is deemed
good society. In word, the German pastor
stands to-day precisely where the English
parson stood in FIELDINGs time. He is,
when not despised, ignored as a minister
and looked down upon as man. AS for re-
ligious home culture, there is, Prof. voN
SCHULTZ tells us, an entire lack OF it in Ger
many. Family worship, it is stated by the
same authority, is a thing unknown among
Protestants belonging to the Prussian Ma
tional Church, except in few pious house
holds. This Is soon apparent to the
foreigner, from the fact that the great
mass OF educated Protestants take no
interest whatever in religious or ecclesias-
tical questions. Indeed. until the so-called
Cultur- -Rdmpf compelled some attention to
these matters on political grounds, it was
considered an essential mark OF breeding
not to touch upon such topics in good So
ciety. In short, the influence OF the home
life upon the religious education OF children
is. in the great majority Of Protestant fami-
lies, absolutely nil. The children see no re-
ligious act they hear no religious word. No
doubt there are examples OF pastoral faith
fulness and private piety, the more impress
sive from their isolation and rarity; but the
religious condition OF the mass OF the popu-
lation is likened by one OF our authorities to
that OF pagan Rome just before the advent
OF CHRIST, when the people had ceased to
bring sacrifices and cared no more for their
idols, yet had nothing to put in their place
Besides the general causes which have in
our day tended, throughout the Western
world, to depress religion, there are special
agencies which have long operated to i'm
pair the influence OF the Protestant Church
in Germany The Reformation had scarce
ly begun when the petty princes who EN-
braced 1t resorted to a capricious tyranny
in matters Of conscience, which Rome her.
self had never exercised. federation wa!
, the last thing gathered from the precepts o.
religion. and the chief object to which the
princely converts applied the newly wor
freedom Of the Gospel was to extract from
r it points OF controversy, on which they
1 formed their own crude personal opinion:
and imposed them with the utmost rigor OF
t their subjects. Even LUTHER los. the cour
: age with which he had wthstood the Pope
r when he found himself confronting the pett!
' tyrant5 OF his own land. One OF the wors
8 blots on the history OF the Reforma
D tion in Germany was the wide con
o science of LUTHER and MELAECTHoN
d by which they permitted the Landgrave o
!, Hesse- Cassel, although his lawful wife wal
o alive. to take unto himself Zufrau, or com
Q panion wiie-a scandal which is said to hav
l. deferred the Emperor FERDINAND from join
II ing the Reformation. Even bigamy did no
o satisfy in one instance, for the Margrave c
Wtirtemberg was suffered to indulge him
II self in three wives at once Even as late Il
IS 1887 the Berlin Consistory, quoting thes
U shameless precedents. sanctioned NOR
II ganatlc marriage between FREDERICK VIII
II LIAM Of Prussia and n Fraulein Voss, tn
: Queen giving her consent, on condition tina