The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-15

jealous rivalries of England and Germany
will for time prove a serious obs acie 70
the progress Of christianity in East Africa,
and the ultimate withdrawal of the English
and German occupation will be highly Dene-
! hc.al 70 missionary enterprise"
Rev. DIR. Talmage, although abroad, is
not unrepres anted Ia the religious press at
home. In the forthcoming number OF the
| New York Observer presbyterian he will
have the following pregnant paragraph on
creeds and thar critics:
"All intelligent people have creeis-that
| Is, favorlte theories which they have
adopted. Political creeds-that is, theories
about tariff, about finance, abo 1t civil ser
vice, about government Social creets-
that is, theories about manners and custom
and good neighborhOod. H5thetical creeds
that Is, theories about tapestry, about
bric-a-brac, about styles of ornamental
ton. Religious creedS-that IS, theories
about the deity, about the soul, about the
great future. The only being who has no
creed about anything is the idiot. This
| scoflng against creeds is always a sign Of
profound ignorance on the part of the
scoifer, for he has himself hundred creeds
! In regard to other things. In our time the
| beliefs OF evangelistic churches are under a
fusilade Of caricature and misrepresenta-
ton. Men set up what they call orthodox
faith, and they rake it with the musketry of
/
| the christian churches believe.
They take evangelical doctrines
and set them IN harsh and repulsive way,
and put them out of them association with
other truths. They are like a mad anatom-
list, who, desiring to tell what a man is,
| dissects human body and hangs up in one
! place the heart, and in another plaza the
Two lungs, and in another place an ankle
bone, and says that Is man. They are
only fragments of man wrenched out of
their God-appointed places"
Apropos, it Is said that Pastor Talmage,
who is estimated 10 be worth 100000, ex-
poets to clear $4,000 on his Life of
Christ" which will be ready for publication
next spring.
Rev. Dr. j. A. Roche of Brooklyn Meth
odist has been the innocent cause of
stormy discussion on the vexed quest ton of
church attendance. His recent speech in
the Methodist preachers nesting in Phila-
delphla was interpreted as a frank admis-
sion that MethOdism, long the most potent
denomination in the United States, was on
tue decline. He was quoted as say
ing that the New York churches,
although they hal put forth all their
energies, and placed the best available
talent in the pulpits, were none of them
more than half filed, and that all had to
look to the societies for support. This Rev.
DR.. Roche denies and declares that Meth
odism was never more prosperous than
now. He explains that the great trouble
encountered by his denomination results
from the radical change in the character Of
population in large cities "A trouble which
other churches have avoided by removal,
while the Methodists have remained at their
old locations, and struggled on in the face of
obstacles
THE agitation among Presbyterians over
the creed is in the direction of emendation
merely" said Rev. DR.. John r. Paxton of
the Forty-seoond street Presbyterian
church, New York. owe still retain pre-
destination, but wish to do away with some
of its hard features The portion of the
creed teaching this point does not say that
there are non-elect infants, but implies it,
and asserts so much by Inference, When
Calvin lived there were no republics
and in contemplation of the monnrchicai
sovereignty everywhere visible, the subject
was overlooked. In their view of God his
sterner attributes alone were considered
1t three criminals were drowning, he might
save one to glorlfy HIMSELF the other two,
who were lost, could not complain as they
deserved their fate. 1t Is desirable to so
modify the creel that it will embody less
exclusively the sovereignty of God aud
more pointedly his love and mercy. Pres
byterians will still be Calvinistsn
Rev. DR.. William NJ. Taylor, the distin-
gulshed Congregationalst, says: Tho habit
OF cAurch-going is declining in some classes
of society and gaining in others. am be-
ginning TO feel more concern about the rich
than about the poor, on account of the grow
ing neglect OF the church and OF the lack of
interest in religion that pervades the higher
circles of society"
This somewhat startling statement is
partially explained by the Rev. ". H
Ward, tie editor of the Independent, who
says: "The churches do not encounter any
difficulties on account or the decadence of
the popular interest in religion. The trouble
IS rather with the tn Biological schools, which.
while they afford excellent instructions in
Greek, Hebrew and theology, fail to
give proper attention to holniIetics
Their students become scholars, but not
teachers, and do not understand how to
properly write and deliver their sermons.
Many preachers deliver we'll written essavs
that lack practical poiat and effectiveness.
The result is tame, apathetic and lstless
congregations, who are never aroused by
the preachers duh and aimless efforts.
DO the theological semnaries get rs
good class of students as formerlysn was
asked.
Yes; they get their full share of the best
men graduated from the colleges every
year. OF course, they do get poor material
sometimes. If the theological schools would
students proper training in pulpit oratory.
the power of the clorgy for good would be-
greatly augmented"
"a leading topic among Presbyterians is
the revision OF their confession, which
must be settled by Il consensus of all the
Presbyterian bodies through the medium
of the Pan-Presbyterian alliance added
DR.. Ward. Cautiously enough, in the
programme of the Evangelical alliance M
Boston, last week, there was no mention of
the status of colored race in the churches
The omission was probably Intentional,
and caused by desire to avoid any discus
sion of the lject The Methodist, q lis
copal, Congregational, Presbyterian and
Baptist churches are equally affected
Bishop John ID. Newman (Alethodlsn re-
Gently declared that he had ceased to desire
a union of the northern and southern Meth
odist bodies, and hoped to see three general
conferences: The northern, the southern
and the colored conferences.
Considerable interest is felt in the result
of the Evangelical Alliance Conferences in
Boston. One of the principal topics of dis
cussion was THE Needs of Che Rural Dis
trictS." Last summer the alliance made
canvass of forty townships in New York
state. one with population of go and an
average attendance of twenty-five in each
Of the churches, another with a population
of 200 and an average church attendance of
fifty, or less than one in twelve Co-opera.
hf,v1c vic tot