The Yale expositor., 1900-03-23

touch one like that little drama OF ac-
cident and suffering.
Oh, we want in all our different de-
partments Of usefulness more OF the
dramatic element and less of the d.
dactic. The tendency in this day is to
drone religion, to whine religion, to
cant religion, to moan religion, to
croak religion, to sepulcharize religion,
when we ought to present 1t in animal
ed and spectacular manner.
Let me say to all young ministers
of the gospel: If you have this dra-
matte element in your nature, use IT
for God and heaven. If you will go
home and look over the history OF the
church, you will find that those men
have brought more souls to Christ
who have been dramatic. Rowland
Hill, dramatic; Thomas Chalmers,
dramatic: Thomas Guthrie, dramatic;
John Knox, dramatic; Robert NC
Cheyne, dramatic; Christmas Evans
dramatic; George Whiteheld, dra-
matte: Robert Hall, dramatic; Robert
South, dramatlc Bourdalol dramatic;
Fenelon. dramatic; John Mason, dra-
matte. When you get into the minis
try, if you attempt to cultivate thaS
element and try to WELD it for God,
YOU will meet with mighty rebuff and
caricature, and ecclesiastical counsel
will take your case in charge, ana
they will try to put you down. But the
God who starts you will help you
through, and great will be the eternal
rewards for the assiduous and the
plucky.
What we want, ministers and lay
men, is to get our sermons and our eX-
hortations and our prayers out or the
old rut. The old hackneyed religious
phrases that come snoring down
through the centuries will never arrest
the masses. What we want today, you
in your sphere, and l in my sphere, Is
TO freshen up. People do not want IN
their sermons the sham flowers bought
at the millinery shop, but the japonicas
wet with the morning dew; not the
heavy bones of extinct -megatherium
of past ages. but the living reindeer
caught last August at the edge OF
Schroon lake. We want to drive out
the drowsy, and the prosaic, and the
tedious, and the humdrum. and intro
duce the brightness and the vivacity,
and the holy sarcasm, and the sancti-
fed wit, and the epigrammatic power,
and the blood red earnestness, and the
fire of religious zeal and do not know
of any way of doing it as well as
through the dramatic
But now let us turn to the drama as
an amusement and entertainment.
Rev. Dr. Bellows of New York, many
years ago, in a very brilliant but much
criticised sermon, took the position
that the theater might be renovated
and made auxiliary to the church.
Many Christian people are of the same
opinion. l do not agree with them.
l have no idea that success is in that
direction. What l have said heretofore
on this subject, as far as l remember,
is my sentiment now. But today l
take a step in advance of my former
theory. Christianity is going to take
full possession of this world and con-
troll its maxims, its laws, its literature,
its science and its amusements. Shut
out from the realm of Christianity
anything and you give it up to sin
and death.
II Christianity is mighty enough to
manage everything but the amuse-
ments of the world then it is very
defective Christianity. Is 1t capable
If keeping account of the fears of the
world and incompetent to make record
4 70 coll he
funeral, but dumb at the worlds play?
Can it control all the other elements
of our nature but the dramatic ele-
ment? My idea of Christianity is that
it can and will conquer everything. In
the good time coming, which the world
calls the golden age and the poet the
elysian age and the Christian the mil.
lennium, we have positive announce
ment that the amusements of the
world are to be under Christian sway.
Holiness shall be upon the bells of
the horses" says one prophet. So,
you see, it will control even the sleigh
rides. "The city shall be full of boys
and girls playing in the streets there
Of" says another prophet. SO, you
see. it is to control the hoop rolling
and the kite flying and the ball play
ing Now, what we want is to hasten
that time. How will it be done? BY
the church going over to the theater?
1t will not go. By the theater coming
to the church? 1t will not come
What we want is reformed amuse-
ment association in every city and
town of the United States. Once an
nounced and explained and illustrated,
the Christian and philanthropic capt.
talist will come forward to establish
it, and there will be public spirited
men everywhere who will do this work
for the dramatic element of our ma
lures. We need a new institution to
meet and recognize and develop and
defend the dramatic element of our
nature. It needs to be distinct from
everything that is or has been.
/ would have this reformed amuse-
ment having in charge this new in
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