The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-17

d
vannah through his having conduct
ed meetings here some years ago, the
author Iaments a very great change
which he says has come over Metho-
dism.
Thousands of Methodists." says Dr.
Munhau. ere counting the world and
conforming 10 its fashions" They have
put steeples on their churches, have
introduced into their once simple ser
vices vested choirs, professionals, re-
cessionals and elaborate ritualism,"
borrowed from the Episcopal Church.
"a great popular movement that prom
ises to proceed at the new general
conference is being pushed forward
with energy to remove from the dis
cipline the rule that forbids dancing,
card playing and theater- going" prac-
tees once universally eschewed by
Methodists as diversions of the devil.
The sweeping revivals which distin-
gushed the Methodism of earlier days
have ceased. Aiethodists used to burst
out with "amens" and glory to Cod
to give vent to their bubbling religious
emotion. but usually such Interrupt
tons are looked on nowadays as bad
form" Hired professional singers
have replaced 1.-The fervent aqd soul
stirring singing that was in other days
so important a part of public wor-
ship"
Glass meetings" once a distinguish
ed feature of Methodism, are to be
found in but few churches" The
prayer meeting is languishing; family
affairs are no longer common" Mean
time there is Comparatively little in
crease in the membership of the
church"
Declining faith in the Bible is at the
bottom of the trouble, according TO DR..
Munhall, and he says further "A large
majority of the teachers in the leading
Methodist educational institutions
deny the infallible authority of the
Bible"
Rev. Bascom AnthOny's Views.
Rev. Bascom Anthony, pastor of
Trinity Church, whose attention was
called to DR.. Munhall's statements,
said:
If DR.. Munhan alludes to the North
ern Methodist Church it, like Henry
Clays mouth, is able to speak for it.
self If he refers to the Southern
church, there his presentation as a
whole is not true. Our growth last
year was quite satisfactory and our
people and preachers hold fast to the
old truths that are fundamental to
the Gospel.
"Of course, it's hard for most of US
to discriminate between the Bible and
our notions about the Bible. Yet,
nevertheless, there is often a great
gulf bteween the two. For instance,
Usry figured ii out that 1000 years
elapsed from the creation of Adam to
the birth of Christ. The Bible doesn't
say so, but Usry does, yet in the minds
of many, to deny the Arbishop's con-
illusions is to deny the Bible.
Again, other pious souls become
greatly disturbed about the theories
of creation as if it made any differ
ence whether God made Adam in flf-
teen seconds or in fifteen thousand
years; whether Adam came forth full
formed and perfect as Minerva from
Jupiters brain, or came by way of
the tad-pole route. 1t takes as much
of a god to make a man one way
as the other. In either event it is
only our theories that suffer-the truth
abides.
Two Kinds of Higher Critics.
"Unquestionably there is a general
upheaval of thought and method in
the religious world, but l think the So
called higher critics are the result
rather than the cause of the upheaval
Some of them are good men, and will
help forward the cause of truth; others
of them are 'smart-Alecs,' followed by
a school of enchanted apes, who are
ready and anxious to believe anything
that wars on the Bible, and who by
their excess of faith in unfaith will
prove their folly and thereby also help
forward the truth. 1t is well to know
what not to believe. 1t is also well to
know a k-'o-my-lantern' from a
genuine torch.
Some of these gentlemen weary my
patience. Why, because they have
found out that plank is made from
a tree, seem to think they have settled
the whole question of vegetable growth
and development, and that yet moTV
subtle something called life that dwelth
in the tree.
'From some of their past perform
ances / should not be surprised to hear
them denounce all music as a cheat
and delusion, and gravely inform us
that it was nothing more than
waves of air set in motion
through the agency of some pieces of
wood glued together. a few cat-guts
and some horse-hair. OF course such a
statement takes no account of the
genius of the musician or the intelli-
gence Of the hearer-it deals only with
the material aspects of music, which
IS quite enough for these sapient apes.
DIR. HunhalPs fear of these gentle
men reminds me of the coat-of-arms
of the French Evangelical Society,
which consists of an anvil with many
broken hammers lying around it, the
anvil representing the Bible and the
hammers its critics, while underneath
are the words THE hammers break:
the anvil abides."
This Is IA Transition Period.
Standing in this transition period
of the churchs thought we are certain
TO see some things we greatly love pass
away; let us devoutly hope that their
places will be taken by higher and
better forms of the same truths.
Some of the old people regretted
10 see pass away the days when every
cross-road had its blacksmith shop. but
surely the days of the great boundaries
are better. Some years ago Bill Arp
lamented the passage of the old time
teanster, but he is superseded by the
railroad. Some of the old methods
sustaining religious life will pass but
others viii take their places.
Religion adjusts itself to the needs
of the world. TIL of late years our
civilization emphasized the individual.
but with the coming of improved
methods and machinery the concentra-
ton of men in great centers became
a necessity, then also the emphasis
was placed on the brotherhood. As
the ethical demands are there, the
church is also transferring the en-
phasis from the individual to the
community.