The record-union., 1899-01-22
IN RELIGIONS REALM,
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS!
RELIGIOUS NEwsPAPERs.
The Religious Thought Of the Day
A. Expressed in the Sec-s
tartan Press.

tartan Press. .
| after what had just been said, no
one, we think, can fairly suspect US of
| a disposition to take pesslmistic view
of the present prospect of the church,
says the Church Standard" P. Ed of
Philadelphia. But we should be faith
less to the truth if we We're to close
our eyes to other facts which are far
| less fiattering to our hopes. If we COM
pare the progress of the first half of
| the century with that of the second, it
is somewhat startling to find that the
average rate of growth in the former
period, relatively to the growth Of pop
ulation, has declined during the latter
period in the ratio of about sixteen to
nine that is. nearly one-half. The ap-
parent loss on momentum may be part
lily explained by an arithmetical princi-
pie which we need not here discuss,
and partly also by the unparalleled
immigration which has taken place
since 1850. We need not, therefore, be
Itoo much downcast by the observation.
| Just made, unless we find some other
facts of similar import which admit of
no such explanation. Such facts, how
ever, we regret to say, exist. The sta
tistics of the last three years, as re-
ported to the late general convention,
show our progress during those years
to have been far less than it was in
the first three years of the half century,
and considerably less than the average
of the first forty1ive years of the same
period; while the percentage of growth
| -Q2 ir 10 In
on record
1.-The religious statistics for 1898 may
show great gain in the number OF
| church members in the United States,
and a large increase in benevolent offer
iings" SAYS the "Watchman' (Bapt) of
Boston, s"but hardly any one who has
been closely observant of the life Of
the Protestant churches can doubt that
there is need of a prodigious reinforce
ment of spiritual power in all the. de-
nominations. Z It is not enough that the
showings of 1898 compare favorably
with those of previous years. There
should be a great advance in religious
! energies, in order for them to keep pace
with the rapid movement of the COM
mercial, political and educational
| forces. The true way of estimating
whether Christian influences are meet
| ing the demands of the age is not to
be found by comparing them with
themselves, but by comparing them
with the totality of the life of the ma
ton. 'Pessimist' is an adjective pro-
miscuously applied to-day to those who
| who do not take roseate views of every
situation, whether or not such a view
is warranted by the facts of the case.
No matter what the figures of denomi-
national grdw tn may show, we are in
clined to believe that a sober estimate
of the present efficiency of Christian
forces constitutes a most solemn and
urgent appeal to a revival of vital god
illness, and to an enormous reinforce
ment of aggressive Christian activi-
ties
@44ss = =
while there is no real symptom of
any approach to organic unity between
the various religious bodies, the theo-
| logical lines are not drawn with any
thing like the defniteness and intensity
of former days. says the Living
Church" P. Ed of Chicago. 'It might
be hard to discover any fundamental
reason for the existence of any partic-
ular body. We are not aware that any
| Protestant body now takes its stand
upon a proposition or set of propositions
which it is prepared to insist upon as
the articulus5 ecclesiae stantis aut ca
DENTS. Everything turns upon differ
ences of opinion not of faith, and a
| new doctrine or at least view of
| what the church is, has grown Up to
fit this changed state of things; namely,
that it consists of the congeries of sects,
new and old, which call themselves by
the Christian name So far as there is
discussion, it no longer concerns itself
with anything which is understood to
be of fundamental Importance, and,
therefore, it lacks the stern earnestness
which was once its leading character
istic. In this sphere, then, it appears
very clear that the decay of controversy
is result of the decay of conviction
The faith of these denominations, we
are told, has 'broadened,' which means,
so hazy and indefinite that it is difficult
to say just what it is.''
Efforts for church union have not
apparently been very successful re-
|
| The Protestant Episcopal Church has
waived the immediate use of its prayer
book for congregations looking wistfully
into the Episcopal fold, but that is only
until they get, accustomed to its con-
tents. Eventually it is to be as hith-
erto, de rigeur. The consolidation of
the Congregationalists and Christians
has fallen through, and apparently few
feel very badly. On the other hand,
mutual relations of the denominations
have never been more cordial. Never
have they pulled together more harmo-
| niously in the practical work of bring
| ing the knowledge of the Gospel to
men, whether in the slums of our cit
les, in the mining camps of the West,
on the plantations of the South, or in
the foreign field Men of widely di-
vergent views honestly and firmly held
have met in council and joined in ac-
ton, and learned that the one spirit
of the Master may and does control
even apparently antagonistic forms. So,
too, they are learning that difference of
race and geographical separation are
no barriers to spiritual communion