The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-18
SAM JONES AND HIS KIND.
Why the People Read His Sermons--The
Church's Responsibility.

Why the People Read His Sermons--The
Church's Responsibility.
New York Hour.
The people of Chicago read "Sam' Jones's SER
mons, and filed every day building as large
half dozen churches in which he preached And
what were the sermons that attracted such
phenomenal audiences, and crowded SO many
newspaper columns2 Were they models of
doctrinal statement, of touching appeal, of pre-
sentation of the beauty of holiness? Not at all.
They were mere adaptations of street corner and
bar room methods of denunciation and argument.
They abounded in invective, great deal of it as
rude and bitter as that OF q political campaign;
there was as much coarseness of speech as can be
heard in religious word" meeting of Mormons
in Salt Lake City, and as much abuse of exist
ing religious organizations as the most virulent
church hater could desire, and the rnder bit
terer, coarser the language. the better the hear
ers liked 1t, and the more space the newspapers
gave it; this is shown by the comparatively
small space allotted to the remarks of s'Sam"
Small, who, though as forcible and direct as
Jones' is a man of fine education, good taste and
admirable command of language Some of
Smalls sermons would be effective from any pull
pit. but there was no slang in them. so they did
not please the Chicago crowd as well as those of
Jones'
Chicago Is not the only city in which these
peculiar religious services have been held. ST.
Louis, Cincinnati and Louisville we believe,
beside other Southern cities, have been visited
by Jones, who has in every case proved a greater
attraction than any circus, prze-fght or politi
cal meuagerle that ever reached the same places.
The sermons were not exactly the same but the
methods were-harangues SO passionate that
they seemed virulent, language that was prac
tically the slang of the Streets and invective
about as savage as that one hears in a bar-room
brawl. OF language that inspires veneration for
Deity or impresses the nearer with sense Of
divine love, patience and yearning, there was
scarcely any.
But Sam Jones is not pulpit monster; he is
the natural outcome of the revival system
which many churches have been following for
years. So-called "evangelists" go from town to
town. holding special meetings in rapid success.
sion, sometimes . Two OF three day Success is
conditioned absolutely upon excitement Excite
ment can be caused only by something startling,
and, as the old custom Of presenting lurid vesnal
pictures of literal hell Of fire and birthstone has
become questionable, sensations must be
sought elsewhere. All the ''evazgelists' OF mod
ern times rant and are illogical Most Of them
are so coarse and offensive In manner as to dis
gust many of their hearers with the name of re-
ligion but they do what the churches ask of
them-they get up a great excitement, during
which number of men and women declare their
intention TO lead new lives Then the workmen
go elsewhere and the churches make haste to-
gather in the new converts
Sam Jones and all preachers like him are
offensive and disgusting to good church mem
bers, but the churches are responsible for the
existence of them. The churches shirk their
duty too often and too much. The tendency of
the majority of Protestant congregations is, APP
parently, to become delightful, and somewhat
exclusive, little religious clubs, where the man
who stands in the place of the Great Physician
shall confine himself to soothing attentions for
those who think themselves whole, instead Of
caring for those who are believed to be spiritual.
" sick. The great mass of outsiders are not
preached to, for they do not come largely be-
cause they are not wanted, unless they are able
and willing to help pay the omnipresent church
debt; so they are turned over to the evangelists,
very much as pauDers are sent to the poor
houses and hospitals.
1t is argued by some pastors that the classes
whom the evangelists reach cannot be affected
by ordinary preaching-that it needs a sledge-
hammer blow to bring them to their knees.
We'll. has language lost its power, that it cannot
be forcible unless it ia coarse, ungrammatical
and rude! Does any one imagine that Xavier or
Loyola used the slang of their day when talking
to the ignorant thousands whom they reclaimed
from Paganism? The most successful revivalist
ever known in the United States was George
Whitefied graduate Of the University of OK
ford, and master Of elegant English, who,
nevertheless, made himself understood alike by
negro slaves, poor white trash,' Harvard pro-
fessors and Philadelphia lawyers, persuading
wrong-doers of all classes to forsake their evil
ways. So forcible did he find good English
properly used that on one occasion he preached
all the money out of the pocket of irreligious,
selfish old Benjamin Franklin
Sam Jones is q reproach to the religious com
munity, and one which, with all its kind, the
church should purge itself, but it can do it only
by performing the churchs whole duty, instead
of farming out such portions as are unpleasant
or hard. Sam Jones and his kind will endure
just as long as most churches prefer to be Sun
day club houses for respectable sinners.