The record-union., 1898-09-11
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.

1T is often said that the catechism
mas ceased to be a factor in the re-
nslous education OF the young. Per-
maps that is so,'' moralizes the IN
terror (Pres.) of Chicago. But as a
matter of fact we have a primer of
assent with which our little people are
perfectly familiar. 1t is the popular
hymn book, usually the Gospel Songs,
or some still cheaper collection of jing-
ling verses written by nobody knows
who. The boy or girl of to-day re-
celves and accepts a system of belief
as truly as their fathers or mothers
ever did; but the difference is that in
the past the system was carefully and
logically prepared by eminent scholars
to-day it is turned out by anybody
that can make even an allowable
| rhyme. The child's conception of God
To-Day is not derived from serious
study OF the sublime revelations of the
| Word, collated and restated with sci
entlhc precision, but from a hop-skip-
and-Jump verse into which every possi-
Die distortion may be crowded, provid-
| ed II can be sung. Poets have never
| Deen known as precisians, and our
| Sunday-school poets least of all. The
| result has been to give to the church
of to-day an underestimate of the Sc
| r1ousness of religion and an over
estimate of it's emotional elements. The
faith which was nurtured upon the
Catechism was mighty by reason of it's
| grit; that of to-day, the faith which
takes form and character from song,
is feeble because of it's 'gush' A cam
| ~ ion
lect crowd, but it would form a very
poor substitute for the constitution of
a State"
| The Christian Register (Unit) of
Boston sees a change in the religious
world like that brought about in the
business world through the growth of
the department store. The time was, -
| 1t says, when a man who was a Uni
| tartan went to a Unitarian church for
| his inspiration. If he was an Ar
menian, he sought Methodist church
| While, if he was a stanch Calvinist, he
| easily found congregation of that
form of faith He knew when he en-
/ tered the door what he would hear and
what he would not hear. 1t would be
good square Presbyterianism that
would be furnished him, or unmistak-
able Methodism, Episcopalianism OF
| Liberalism; and that church was the
| member of denomination which also
stood for certain well-defined and we'll
known doctrines. A church was known
by the company it kept. With some
| times a slight variation, the denom-
| ination was as homogeneous as the
| individual church. You knew just
| what was to be found in any church
| that bore it's name. That time has
| passed. 1t is no longer possible tc
say before entering church what you
| will or will not be taught before yoU
come out. The sign no longer describes
the contents The fact that this church
belongs to certain sect does not nee
essarily imply that it holds the doc
trines commonly supposed to be rep
resented by that body. The denom-
ination no longer denominates. 1t in
cludes churches in which very diverse
doctrines are taught, according to the
views of the ministers in charge, the
tenets once distinctive of the body be-
ing to a greater or less degree passed
by in silence. On the other hand, the
old practice of selecting the cuhrct
|
nominational title is becoming a thing
of the past He who seeks a religious
home tries this or that church, regard
less of it's affiliation, and joins at last
that one whose minister pleases him
| most" A4e
Continuing the department store an
| alogy, the "Universalist Leader" o.
Boston and Chicago says: THE time
was when the church meant distinctly
| and only religious service; to-day a
| some of our churches it is possible t
get all kinds of amusements; the mu
| sicale, the drama, the social; you cal
find classes in literature, stenography
| bookkeeping, languages. You can de
velop your muscle in the gymnasium
| and your mind in the lecture-rOom
periodically at fairs (the ecclesiastical
| name for bargain saleso you can buy
the 9S-cent article marked down from
S104. There are few evenings wher
the restaurant or ice cream parlor i:
not ready to greet customers. EXcur
sion headquarters are always open, ant
and the ticket office is never closed