The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-22

tory OF both The poet Is also the see
OF truth: the preacher. the philosopher
the founder Of a religion, Is also a poet
The religious thought Of any age L. likel,
TO be photographed in its literature. from
the time when sagas dealt with gods AM
heroes impartiaily. through the age OF tn
philosophers. and the generations OF bal
lads, miracie-plays and other plays. to tn
present with its innumerable religion
books. novels. philosophic works, and evei
religious dramas. some OF which are rath
er near the level OF the oid-time miraci,
play in which Satan was depicted will
horns. hoofs. and tail. prodding sinner,
with q trident. In the modern play the
sinner and the saint alike get eaten b.
lions, but the moral is Just as obvious.
Aside from these products Of playwright
who are looking for money in new nelds o.
labor. and novels which merely depict some
phase Of the conflict between the old and
the new faith as 1t AFFECTS society, we have
today distinctly religious literature, aarg-
er in quantity than ever before In the his
tory Of the world. We have serious works
on the philosophy Of religion. and Sunday
school tracts of the simplest variety OF lit
erary and scientific ignorance; We have
novels with a purpose, intended distinctly
for the propagation of some particular form
Of belief and publications Of all grades and
kinds devoted to the same purpose; In fact.
It may be said that the religious literature
Of this country appeals to as large an audi
ence and is almost as great in quantity,
il the newspapers be counted out, as the
secular literature. It must be remember
ed that large class of the reading public
peruses moral and religious periodicals,
books, and tracts. paying comparatively lit
tie attention to any other printed works
save the newspaper. This element is to be
found In country villages and towns, ana
among q certain class Of city-dwellers,
though the latter make the newspaper their
main dependence when they have time to
read at all.
The religious literature of today differs
materially from that of two generations
ago, as anyone may discover by coming
q file OF old church newspapers. 1.-The
Copgregationalist," for example, is the Or
gan Of one of the broadcast and most pro-
gressive sects of the Protestant Church at
the present time. In the Congregational
Church one may find people of all varieties
of belief from those who are nearly Uni
tarians to those who are almost Church of
England communicates. Yet about twenty-
five years ago that periodical was publish
ing presumably with the consent and up
proyal OF its readers. d;atribes against
dancing, theatregoing, card-playing and like
Rmusements, which 1t appeared to place en-
. level with the seven deadly sins. One
tale of woe which appeared In its pages de-
scribed the horror OF 8 deacon upon learn
ing that a young lady had died suddenly
at q dancing party. The lesson was
which a benevolent friend solemnly re-
minded him. that he had allowed his own
children to attend dancing school. Pre-
sumably. he went home and told them that
they must not go any more lest they, too,
might drop dead in the middle of dance
some day and lose their souls thereby.
1.-The Congregationalist' would no more
print a similar story today than it would
advocate witch-burning and the boot and
screw. That shows how far religious lit
erature has progressed in the line of toll
erance and gentleness. There is dispcsi-
ton. in modern works of this kind. to ad
vocate the simple old Bible virtues of tell
Ing the truth, avoiding SANDER and injus-
tice, and generally doing as one would be
done by, rather than to lay stress on any
particular doctrine. And that is a coed
thing.
But there is another kind OF religious |
literature, aside from fiction, and it is pro- |
duced by the expositors OF Christian faith. !
on dogma, any more than We have long |
sermons on the five points Of Calvinism. |
Two thirds of the people in. the orthodox |
churches today do not know what the five /
points Of Calvinism are; and in nine cases |
out OF ten II the audience did not know |
what church they were in, they would be
unable to tell whether the sermon was Fro
duced by Congregationalist. Methodist,
a Presbyterian. Baptist, or an Episco-
cf1 rtrv b., to-. rhg rI ali
these different sects were at iosgerheads
with one another In the sixties, as de-
scribed by James Lane Allen in his recent
novel. THE Reign Of Law" and it will be
'een that a considerable progress has been
made toward love OF the brethren.
What, then, is the religious literature of
oday? 1t is not mere emotionalism and
ensation. like the miracle play: it is Lot
logma like Jonathan Edwards sermon:
here are only two thiags left for 1t to be:
Mysticism and ethical instruction. Some
lines 1t is a mixture of both; 1t generally
) when it takes the form Of fiction. On
ne side this combination touches secular
rec thinking: there II acts as a police
orce on society. So far as religious belief ,
eeps men from killing. robbing, abusing,
nd cheating one another; SO far as IL
romotes happiness In the home and hon
sty abroad, every Intelligent man must
pprove 1t. II q wrong system produces
God results that is one argument for its
ontinuance, since in view OF human inn
ERECTION, no system can be exactly right
the orthodox church can make good men
nd women, 1t should continue to teach
Is doctrines until they give some other
esult.
On the other side-that Of mysticism
be religious thought Of the day approaches
ure truth; and here 1t Is not the infiu- {
nee upon human conduct of any particu {
II system Of thought, which is in ques- I
on, but the amount Of absolute truth 1t t
,ntains. When a man says that the story r
the miracles must be believed be- t
luse, If 1t is not believed, the moral In I
incts of many people will be wrecked, Q
I'd they will have no guide to right living
they cannot accept the Bible. he offers ?
good sound argument for encouraging the r
,lief OF the story. That is the ethical b
,gument. But when he declares that the t
ible must be believed word for word be- t
use II is true. he then lays 1t open to p
,mparison with all the other religious o
,oks OF the world. and with the discove- r
es of science and the intuitions Of the a
imam soul. Mysticism recognizes the v
ct that none OF these books is absolutely, L
terally true. but that all clothe truth in t
mbolism. colored by the prevalent &
oughts and customs Of their day and gen. q
alton When an Old Testament prophet Il
,eaks of the Lord as coming with char e
is and horsemen. he speaks according to K
onal preacher of this year Of grace 1900 G.
Va II tell you God doesn't do businese n
at way!- he also speaks in the SYM n
lism which his audience will understand v
that Of the counting room and the mar Il
4. The philosopher recognizes the fact ii