New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-11-12
THE UODDY MEETINGS.

Some earnest Christians are puzzled TO eApia'n
why the revival which Messrs. Moody and san
,.ev ore now conducting In this city Is not aro"s-
ing the same degree Of popular interest whicn
was felt I'm their remarkable meetings III the
uinnodrome. on rhp site OF the Madison Square
Garden. twenty-one years ago. Mr.. Moody NM
Golf however, has no desire to duplicate the
methods of that great revival the object OF which
was 10 reach those who were not PROGRESSING
Christians. He Is quoted as saying thnt thls
time he wants to talk to those who are airpau!
Christians. and send them back to their respec
tive churches aglow with zeal and enthusiasm
There can be no question that If he succeeds III
doing this to any great extent he will have done
nh,ch for the cause Of religion-perlaps even
more than he did twenty-one years ago. But 10
tho outside observer the results Will not De so
apparent. A..
In thus changing his method Of work MT.
Moody has undoubtedly acted with his usial
good sense. For 1t would hardly be possible to-
dov TO reproduce the Hippodrome meetings. Mr.
Moody's faith has not changed one whit all these
vc,rs' except TO become stronger. II possible,
and his power over an audience is as great as
eyer: but large percentage of processing Chris
tIons have been drifting away from his theo-
and some unconsco,lsly. The great evangelist
tells his hearers to-day. Just as he told them
twenty-one years ago. that he believes Implicitly
in the literal truth OF the story Of Jonah and the
whale. and of Ralaam and the ass-nay. more
he declares that to dlsbelieve In these stories IS
the same ms to renounce the Bible and the Chris
tIan religion which is founded on it.
Now Mr.. Moody may be perfectly right III
IA NOT %
70 enter here At any rate. he Is both consistent
and honest. If his premises are correct. MS con-
illusions must bc accepted. But to multlt'ides
of Christian men and women today Doth the
premises and conclusions are coming to be incred
ble They simply refuse to believe that man
ever lived three days in the stomach OF whale
or that an ass spoke. or that the sun was mnde
to stand still And when they are told that the
traditional view of Biblical inspiration compeis
them to believe these stories. they Mt once dis
card the traditional view Of inspiration. and
adopt one that will permit them to regard these
stories as myths That Is what modern Blblical
criticism has done and Is still doing In spite OF
the earnest efforts OF the conservatives TO break
Its force. II has found Judgement In the hearts
OF men who know little or nothing OF Biblical
criticism Mt first hand. and. as result. large
proportion OF the average Intelligent people IN
the community are ont Of sympathy. wholly or In
part, with the conception Of Christianity which
Mr. Moody presents with such earnestness and
power. lie would doubtless call these people In
fdels and from his point OF view they are But
the fact remains that they are now very numer-
Gus. in the churches and cut Of them II Mr.
Moody should succeed in converting these men,
he would remove one OF the greatest obstacles
In the way OF the old-tlme evangelical Gospel
which he Is preaching.