Evening journal., 1902-08-14

ladvanced materially within the last
hundred years. Dr. Munhali expresses
regret at the absence Of certain fea-
lures that marked it in a former day.
He no longer hears the fervent
amen" that greeted the ears Of wor-
shippers years ago. Revivals are not
the same success as OF old. class meet
lings are not attended, and there is no
general systematic reading Of the Bible
as in the old days. This at first blush
is a strong aTraignment, but there is
something to be said on the other
side While the "amens" were doubt
less the result Of religious enthusiasm.
yet there can be the deepest form Of
such feeling with the exclamations
omitted. Isn't there something in our
age and education that makes for re-
straint in the expression of emotion?
But there is no occasion for the belief
that persons are less earnest. Indeed,
in audiences. whether in the church or
the theatre. when there is the most
violent expression of personal feeling,
there is the least true culture, refine
ment and self-restraint. We remem-
Der that il is said that the bereaved
husband who makes the greatest dem
onstration at his wifes funeral Is the
soonest to marry again, and that when
there is the greatest excitement at re-
vivals. there is apt TO be the greatest
number of back-sliders. True enthusi-
asm and deep earnestness do not usu-
ally run to excitable expression, and,
therefore, the church feels the change
II revivals are not the success they
were in the olden times. and if class
meetings have grown almost obsolete,
may one not inquire whether a form
that once contained substance is being
insisted on when the substance has
vanished? Certainly it is that many
modest souls shrink from a public
manifestation Of their emotions, and
do not regard such exhibitions as neces-
sary. We may ask in all honesty,
whether 1t is necessary for all persons,
the old and the young, the timid and
the bold. to unveil their feelings for
the public gaze There are those who
tell us that one has no true religious
experience who will not avow it to the
world. but there are those who shrink
from such public avowals who would
go to the stake for their faith.
Dr. Munhall deprecates the movement
in the church to remove from the book
Of discipline the articles prohibiting
dancing, card playing and attendance
at the theatre This strikes us as a
manifestation of the honesty of church
members. Seeing no necessary harm
in these amusements under proper re-
strlctions, they would have the church
withdraw the unnecessary prohibition.
When the book Of discipline was writ
ten. the theatre was a different institu-
iton from what it is today, and we i'm
agine that the same is true Of the other
amusements. If we mistake not, the
reverend critic has mistaken in part
the outward form for the substance
Finally he denounces the higher
criticism in bitter terms Well, al
higher criticism that is true is invalu-
able. while. of course, error is to be
deplored. whether it comes from the
ignorant or from those who profess
wisdom. There is a lot of senseless
abuse directed at the higher critics.
Among their number are many of the
greatest Bible students the world has
ever known. They have abolished
superstition, and have not held that
AN ancient error is necessary because
il has had general acceptance. They
have cleared up many puzzling points
and left the book on a higher em-
inence than before. True. we no longer
open the book at random to findaprOvi-
Dental text to fit a case in an emer-
gency, but we read its pages for the
broader and deeper meaning it con-
tains.
Then the claim is made that there
. is less reading of the Bible. Possibly
this is true. and doubtless il is TO be
deplored. But true reading is not a
mere physical act, and in former days
there was insistence on covering as
many chapters as possible. Children
were required to recite verses. which
without explanation were possibly
harmful. and to read Old Testament
history which even the wisest find II
hard to understand. So there is an
other side Of the picture. The worlt
. is growing better; Methodists ar,
growing better. The forms undel
= which they have worshipped may b,
. undergoing modification but in esseno'
n there is only improvement
,al "