The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1881-01-16
4 LITTLE LAY SERMON,

At Christian conference in San Fran
cisco Mr.. Moody was solemnly asked, What
"do you think of Christians going to the
" theatre" and replied in this strain:
Go, II you do It for the glory of God. You can
go to the theatre, dance, anything else that you
do to the glory Of God. That is the test. II you
are sincerely converted and filed with the regenerat
ing influence you won't want to go. God don't set
any OF these things before you and say you shall not
go, but lie offers you something better, that you
don't want them. never desire these things, be-
cause God gives me something that makes happier
than they could, and If you truly His child you
won't want these things.
This is somewhat better than the old Ppri-
tan spirit which summarily described the
stage as the mouth of the pit, and all the
good men and women upon it as deputy
demons, dragging down the elect. In fact,
as we do not see why the professionally re-
| ligious should use all the tremendous words,
we may say that instead Of being fiat BIAS
phemy the above is only cant. We are will
ing to wager, without knowing Mr.. Moody,
that he enjoys eating a good dinner as heart
| lily as the rest of his kind. 1t is purely
carnal pleasure, with some people verging
into the cardinal sin of gluttony, but he may
say, and without irreverence, that he often
does it legitimately to the glory of God.
But whyi Simply because, to argue it for
mally, healthy hunger is a God-given appe-
tite, designed for the sustenance of the body,
and the things on which it is satisfied ase Of
Divine providing for that very purpose.
Fasting is also ordained, but as penance.
Penance is the refraining from something
otherwise Misunderstanding from the un'
lawful is not penance at all, but the mere
preliminary to the Christian life.
Now, take the theatre again. We hold
we unregenerate" according to Mr.. Moody
that equally with the animal needs there are
higher needs of the soul, among which are
aesthetics, the pleasures of the imagination
the development of the nobler sentiments
the taste, and dozen lesser faculties ant
we hold that the aliment for them, revealed
TO man by his natural reason and powers o
invention, is equally of Divine ordination
and provision. This may not conduce an.
more, directly, to the narrow scheme of " sal
ovation put forward by Mr.. Moody thai
does the keen enjoyment of the good Dime
which is the innocent example we hav
used. But we hold that what leads to tn
development and conservation of the uhol
man, with all his powers, is within tn
broader scheme of Providence. True, it ma,
be said that the theatre appeals to the sense
and passions that are the cause of half tn
} sin in the world: but SO does the dinner ap
peal to the other group, the desires of sell
preservation, that are the cause of the othe
half. To put the matter in the words q
Matthew Arnold, whatever proportion W
assign TO conduct in the affairs of life, be
twothirds, or be it nine tenths, culture claim
the other proportion, and with equal right
If either be neglected there can be only
| sickly, stunted, or lop-sided spiritual growth
We have said above that Mr.. Moody ha
} got little further along than Puritanism
but it may be added that the old leaven
Puritanism is still working. On no othe
ground can We explain the hostility to plea'
ures which, as he admits, are not forbidde
by any commandment. The Puritans hel
that this world was given over TO the Ev
( One, and the only work Of the Christian III
name they very inappropriately claimed ,ws
! 10 work his way out of IT into a better life
i To indulge in any amusements here.coul
therefore be no other than wicked trihin
, with the powers of darkn ess, irreyerence
criminal already in pres ence of his judg'
and therefore sin in itself. Let us not den
to this conception of life both grandeur an
. consistency. But it could not spread an
could not last among men. pleasar
day in June, the laugh of a child, are il
sufficient refutatiOns. With II are doome
to die these recurrent notions that the innt
!, cent joys and pleasures the Creator hs
a placed within the reach of man are not
d be culled as We pass on our toilsome way
: If there are thorns, there are also roses, an
/. the latter grow as naturally and rightfull
p in their place as the former. II is to
observed that we have not said one wor
!. about the correlative duty Of the good, eve
Is the "unco' guid I" to patronize the theatl
and raise the standard Of the performance
: there by Kissing down immortality. Thu
e might stagger them too much and the aboS
" homily will suffice for one Sunday.