The sun., 1889-12-08
Tho Gospel for tho People.

| The Evangelical Alliance has been holding
| a meeting In Boston with Wow to deyisinG
means and methods Of getting people to &c
to church. So far as we have been able to
learn from the reports Of the proceedings,
the plans suggested are the cooperation OF
what are known as the evangelical commu-
Mons, and the general visitation OF families
in the several towns.
1t appears that this work Of oanvassing to
discover the religious condition Of the popu-
lation was begun in New York. with the re-
suit OF finding what Mr.. WILLIAM E. DODGE
described % great moral deterioration. A
lnrge part OF the people do not go to church,
the most OF them because Of indifference to
religion. and many, as we arc told, because
they have an actual hatred OF religious
teaching. They take Sunday as holiday,
and seek to make the most Of 1t as day OF
rest and pleasure. Churches and church
services repel them, and the Christianity
usually preached and praotised they regard
as offensive rather than attractive.
The indifference to religion, as Archdeaoon
SMITH remarked at the conference, Is not
confined to the humber people and those Of
irregular lives. 1t Is not even most marked
and frequent among them. The loss Of in
terest and Of faith is rather among people Of
education and Of superior social advantages.
A large part Of the young men have no con-
cern whatever about the subject. They arc
not the enemies Of religious faith and ser
vices, but they care very little about them.
They are materialists, and the things Of the
spirit are beyond the range Of their thought.
or old, doubts as to religion would have
caused such young men great mental
agony, and they would not have rested
until they had settled them. But
now they give the problem up as beyond
human understanding and dismiss 1t from
consideration; or if they think over 1t and
discuss it, they are in no wise troubled In
spirit. They can talk OF religion with the
cooiness with which they treat questions Of
science, and it is inconcevable to them that
anybody should be in distress of mind be-
cause he does not believe what somebody
else believes. They are hard set for the
Churches to get hoh of, the hardest OF all.
The fragrant sinners and the wild enemies Of
religion may be conquered, but these men OF
lives OF average orderliness. and cool and
critical intellects, seem to be beyond religious
influences. They are entirely satisfied to get
along without religious convictions aud they
feel no need OF faith. They are at ease IN
their paganism.
But there Is field In which the churches
can work to great effect. 1t Is among the
mass Of the people. where sentiment. enthu-
siasm. faith In the unseen. the spirit Of
brotherhood, and mutual helpfulness prevail
as no where else in society. In those ranks
Christianity must always be powerful and
II it is not so to-day we find the explanation
in the answer to the question OF Bishop
HUNTINGTON at the Boston conference.
May not the non-aoceptanoe by the masses
Of the Gospel we preach" he asked. "be be-
cause it is not in fact the Gospelf"
We therefore advise the Evangelical ALI
ance to wrestle with that great question and to
decide it without prejudice before undertak-
ing to devise methods of bringing the people
into the churches. They will not need to be
driven In or to. be invited by prizes and mate
rial advantages If the Churches give them
the genuine Gospel. That from the first has
been received with delight by the common
people. But 1t Ia hard rule Of life for tho
rich to follow, as the young man thought
when JESUS commanded him To give all his
goods to the poor as prerequisite for enter
ing into His service.