Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-12-05
WHY CHURCHES ARE NOT FILLED.

WHY Oh URCHES ARE NOT FILLED.
speak concerning Christ and the Church.
|-Ephesians, v, 80.
We have noticed that in most con
ventions of religious folk one of the
practical questions which excites earn
est interest is, "Why do the people
stay away from the Church 2''
1t has sometimes seemed to us that
the question might be more prOftably
debated if it were put in a different
form-namely. why does the Church
stay away from the peopleg'
No one can doubt that a church edi-
flee is by far the most significant struc
ture ever reared by an Intelligent com
munity. 1t is more thoroughly repre-
sentative of the whole nature of man
than the schoolhouse, the library or
the hall Of legislation. These build
ings deal with man as a citizen, and
their purpose is to fit him for the re-
sponsibilities and obligations and
duties of public and private life, while
the Church has a double mission, it's
aim being to add fitness for another
life to proper education for this life.
The scope of religion therefore is larg
er than that of political economy, and
the church edifice, which is the archi-
tectural expression of the world SLOPES
and aspirations, ought to be crowded
by those vino are tried and distressed
and who seek encouragement or resig-
nation.
Why is it. then, that Church and
people draw apart from each other, a
fact which is constantly deplored and
the reason for it constantly sought?
Is it because the race is degenerat-
ing, becoming Indifferent to eternal
verities, is so sordid and selfish and
avaricious that if it can take its ease in
this life it doesn't care whether there
is another life or not ?
On the contrary, we are assured that
the world is more generously furnish
ed with every element of strength to-
day than ever before. There is a wild
er appreciation of virtue and deeper
distaste for vice. There is no lack of
heroism either on the battlefield or in
the household. Lives of radiant self
sacrifice are found everywhere, and
that general honesty and integrity
which are the basis of healthy and
prosperous society were never nearer
the millennial high water mark than
now.
Moreover, there never has been
time when people gave more thought
to the future or had profounder con-
viction that souls will continue their
careers after their bodies have been
deposited in the cemetery. Heaven
was never quite SO near as at the pres
ent moment. and the consultations of
religion have never been SO eagerly
sought after. So far are we from any
decadence of faith that hundreds of
thousands have even convinced them
selves that it is possible to hold com
munion with the departed, and they
rejoice in the belief that 1.-The cloud of
witnesses who hold us in full survey"
are daily ministering to our comfort
and aiding us in our perpleXities.
There is so deep trust in these things
that it sometimes seems to us that the
world has entered on a new era of
cheerfulness and hopefulness, as
though a new sun were climbing the
hilltops and filling the landscape with
beauty never before observed.
But this is a severely practical age.
We have grown to be impatient with
the old fashioned theories of religion,
the Scriptures which satisfied our fa-
theirs, and have taken the liberty of in
terpreting them for ourselves This,
it is true, is rather bold step; but we
are by no means irreverent when we
declare that ancient beliefs are not
suited to our spiritual needs. On the
other hand, we are very reverent, for
cur one desire is to come into personal
relationship with God, in the hope
that He has something to reveal to us,
as He had something to say to those
who came before us. We are as much
His children as our ancestors, and if
He was not silent then, He certainly
will not be silent now. So we read the
Bible, not with other mems eyes, but
with our own eyes. If we see there
many matters which escaped the no
tice of our forebears, and do not find
there many matters which they saw,
we are bold enough to insist on our
| right of Interpretation and do not feel
bound to accept theirs.
They put their thoughts into creed
which represents their conception of
God and His dealings with the race
They were quite justified in doing so,
and were sturdy enough to live up to
its requirements. We love them and
| honor them and hold them in grateful
| remembrance. But there is no reason
why we should accept their theologi-
| cal conclusions as final. We, too, have
warm hearts and logical brains; we,
too, are in search of everlasting truth
and if we cannot believe in all things
as they did it is neither our fault nor
our misfortune. We must be loyal to
ourselves, as they were to themselves,
and if this loyalty involves rejection
of their most favored doctrines, their
rejection is as much our duty as &C
ceptance was theirs. They did the
best they could to get at the secrets of
life, and we must do the same.
Now, the Church represents the old
and rather disdains to even examine
the new. 1t is not in sympathy with
the present because it is in sympathy
with the past. 1t has an impression
that 1t is unsafe to explore holy things,
whereas in reality it is our most urgent
duty as we'll as our greatest privilege
to do SO. 1t ought to lead us in the
field of inquiry instead of holding US
back. 1t has so much to say about
the creed of our fathers that it has no
enthusiasm for the adaptation of new
truths to our new lives.
While the Church has stood still,
therefore, the people have moved on,
and it must either quicken it's pace,
throwing aside the hampering burden
of doctrines which can never again be
received, or fall hopelessly behind in
the march of religious progress.
Give us a Church which deals with
humanity in practical way and it
will be filled with eager inquirers
Men are SO made that they must have
spiritual truth. They long for it with
kind of holy avarice, but they can
not live on the husk of creed, and if
the Church does not furnish nourish-
ing food they will search for it in some
other quarterly Y Herald.
The Moon and the Wives.
/ saw the moon bright, full and round
It shed its beams o er all the ground,
+ 81. L. IL