Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-02-07

" ~ EaInHb
Lately, in different parts of the country,
ministers Of the gospel have uttered with
increasing frequency warnings against
! infdelity. Indeed, the warnings have
been 30 frequent as TO attract general at
! tention and excite comment. One of the
/ questions which these warnings sug gest
is this: Is u6delity on the increase or is 1t
| only thought to be because Of the dispo-
sition to disregard more and more the
strict rules for the observance Of the Sab
bath which most teachers OF the Christian
religion insist upon?
A New York clergyman OF prominence
last week, in the course Of his sermon,
pointed out very strongly how terribly
dangerous it is to undertake to pass
through life without religious faith, aud
distinguished Chicago minister on last
Sunday night said that the people Of
that city were forgetting the God OF their
fathers, and were ''daring, as Babylon's
King did, the arm of the Almighty to
STRIKE" He declared that little regard
is paid to the Sabbath. and that the
boys and girls of that city are growing
up in an atmosphere OF dissertation.
There can be no possible objections to
warnings against inddelity, nor to pro-
tests against lawlessness and excuses on
the Sabbath day. They keep people re-
minded that there are limits beyond
which IL is dangerous 20 go. 1t Is prOba-
bly, a mistake. however, to suppose that
the world is not growing better, or that
the Christian religion is not making pro-
gress.
A great deal Is heard about agnosticism,
and there are not a few educated men
who do not hesitate TO declare themselves
agnostics. They are, of course,
atheists, but lack the courage
to announce themselves as such.
The percentage of unbelievers
however, is not perhaps greater than 1t
was before 1t became the fashion in GER
tain circles to be known as an agnostic.
There are a great many doubtless who
pretend to be agnOstics who are really
believers. 1t is only q question Of time
when they will cease 10 be pretenders.
There are questiOners and dou bters among
scientists, but their number is not on the
Increase. Indeed 1t is perhaps safe to
assume that IL is on the decrease, because
the discoveries that are constantly being
made in science tend to support, rather
than to knock the props from under, the
Christian religion.
The desire for religion OF some sort Is
i'm planted too strongly in the human
breast to be successfully resisted. To the
people of the highest civilization the re-
ligiOn preached by Jesus must always
appear the best and the only true re-
ligion. There is not much danger, there
fore, that in6delity, whatever name may
be given it, will make much Roadway.
The fact that there is a growing disre-
gard for the old way of observing the Sab
bath day is not an indication that the
people are becoming unbelievers. The
Purtans were remarkably strict OBJ
servers Of the Sabbath. but If the his
tories of their times are true, they were
not more moral-not better in any re-
spect--than the people of the present day.
Under their austere and formal manners
and severe moral code there was great
deal that would not bear investigation.
II is not the lack OF respect for religion
that is producing the revolution in the
methods Of observing the sabbath, but the
change that's going on in the condition of
the people. AS population becomes
denser, the struggle for existence becomes
harder. In the great cities six days in the
week is not more than enough for a great
majority OF the working people to earn the
bare necessarles of life. On the Sabbath,
therefore, there is a desire for recreation
and amusement. From this desire comes
the demand that the Libraries, museums,
aud various other institu-
tions shall be kept open, and that the
suburban and seaside resorts shall
furnish entertainment, on the Sabbath
day. The aim should be 10 see that the
sabbath recrentions and amusements are
pure and elevating, and that, to as great
an extent az possible, they lead the mind
towards, aud not away from, religion.
Those who insist that the tendency TO
greater freedom in the observance OF the
Sabbath indicates growing uRbelief are
who do not accord TO the teach
ers OF the Christian religion the credit TO
which they are entitled.