The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-06-19
SUNDAY R~ECREAT|ONS.
Jersey City Ministers Tell
Their Views of Sabbath
Observance.

The Tribune has been publishing a
| series OF interviews with ministers on tile
Observance of the Sabbath. 1t has today
some interesting ones with Jersey CITY
ministers which "The News" reprints:-
The Rev. Eugene e. Neudewitz, pastor
of the English Evangelical Lutheran
Church of the Holy Trinity, Jersey Clty'
sa DIT believe in the proper observance
of Sunday. 1t is the duty OF the members
to attend the services morning and eveh-
ing, but our Church is liberal. and | can
Sc no harm in any member, especlaiy
those who do not have an opportunity 70
have any recreation in the week. TO take
a walk, ride on the wheel or a drive on
Sunday afternoon n engage in innocent
amusements. A number of members Of
my church take their families out rid
ing every pleasant Sunday afternoon, aad
/ can see no harm in it so long as they do
MOI forget their religious duties"
The Rev. F. w Jackson, Jr., pastor of
the Scotch Presbyterian Church, Jersey
City, said:-'Ten years ago l should have
said with the Puritans that all such sun
day recreations are absolutely wrong and
forbidden by the Law of God. Today.
while still recognizing to exactly the
same extent Christ's authority over the
day and that it should be kept as a holy
day-not a mere h~oliday-and separate
from the other days of the week, ! am
compelled to suspend judgment on the
general question and deal more with the
individual. There is certainly a great diff
ference between certain forms of recrea-
ton and others. Those which are in n
Iarro1inp nf course.
no Christian can for a moment consioei.
Those which involve the labor OF otners
and deprive them of b privileges
TO any degree must also be looked a.
askance and generally be elasseo as oau'
Rut when we come to those whlch MI
c,,tor has mentioned. which are merely
healthy exercise and do not 70 any 81
tent denrive others of their time Tor rest
ana x.orshin we have to be more cautious
In Judgment. Christ the Sappatn
was made for man. and this means Oh
course for the whole m~an-physlcal Hei-
tai, spiritual To-
.srTnaer the present conditions OF "a
hor with long working hours ana cro"u-
ed city populations. perhaps some o. 'nese
simnle healthful outdoor sports may oS
permissible and even helpful to some.
R,,f as a rule, I think, the evlis out"eisH
he advantages. Too generally the sph-
trial side of the days opportunities aau
nriyileses is lost sight of through the IN
sn,rit,al atmosphere which SURROUNDS
thosa ;nd,,lping in such sports, BON
ar,one fhe richer and the poorer. Inc
cn;ritual nature of man and its advance
mont must be acknowledged to lave the
6rst claim upon the Sabbath. With the
u,ell-to-do there is seldom much excuse
for Sunday sports. as they have ample OPP
~nortunities on other days. With those
more closely bound down to six days OF
labor the sympathy which invites them
to use Sunday in these ways couia laf
better and more practically express It
self by seeking to cut down the hours ~
labor and especially in trying to make
general a Saturday half-hoiday. IL sucn
an institution was established, Sunday as
a church and family day, and more de-
voted to mans higher nature. should Ger.
tainlv take the preference over any otner
way of using 1t; inc even under present
conditions the tendency is too much TO
emphasize physical as against spiritual
needs. There is far too much iaxity, ana
often most where there is least excuse
for it."
The Rev. D. B. F. Randolph, pastor q
Trinity Methodist Episcopal cnurcn,
Jersey City, said:-'Tt is easy for a min
lister to acquire a shallow and transient
popularity by letting down the standards
of the Bible and the Church to the level
of those who care nothing for them, but
to recover and set them up again is
work. Golf may be as innocent as car
rage riding, bicycling and other things,
but anything 50 used as to impair the
n1blic conviction of the sacredness of the
sabbath is forging and welding the links
that are fast binding lei to seven days
of labor in the week instead of six.
Puritanic or not, nothing but religious
conscience can save the day of rest from
the grip and slavery of avarice. A
holiday Sabbath as the historian OF
modern Europe says. is the ally OF des-
potism.'"
The Rev. J.. A.. Owen. pastor of He'd
ding Methodist Episcopal Church, Jersey
City, said" I am tired of the efforts of
some ministers to attract attention by
some freak. The duty of a minister is
to preach the Gospel"
The Rev. H. c. Cussler, pastor of the
Free Reformed Church, Jersey City. said:
IT think the people need no encourage
ment from ministers in secularizing Sun
day; it is being accomplished rapidly
enough. The times demand the conser-
vatism of all that is left of this a in the
interest of public morality, as well as of
religion. Golf playing on Sunday is OPP
posed to an educated Christian sentiment
and subversive of the possible use of
Sunday for mans higher interests.