The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-02-16
STANDING OF THE TEAMS.
DOINGS AT Brown.
Prof, Dealey's Lecture on "GeneraI Prob.
lens That Confront the Churches Notes.

Yesterday morning Prof. James Quayle
Dealey resumed his series OF lectures on
the Social Aspects OF Religion" speak
ing on General Problems that Confront
the Churches" He said. in part: ,
zone of the greatest problems confront
ing our churches is the distinction be-
tween the end and the means, between re-
ligion proper and the stages OF the de-
velopment of its forms The aim OF relig-
ion as such is TO develop the Godlke in
the human. All our aspirations attempt
TO realize the spiritual, this longing and
strife 10 conquer ourselves and to COM
prehend the spiritual. is religion. No
man without an ideal side can claim TO
be normal human being. Everyone en-
deavors to reach the best
To help attain this spiritual end. socie-
ty has numerous agencies. especially the
church. Now the religion is permanent,
and the agency is transitory, the means
therefore, is less than the end. We have
tended TO emphasize various agencies in
the attainment of the ideal. To state
them: O) the tendency toward ritual,
which Is I'm some churches made so i'm
portaHt,-that salvation only come
through the observance OF certain rites;
CD organization of ourselves into church
es, and then calling the church the holy
thing; (S) allowing a priesthood TO take
the place Of God, when they are human
creed for the vital religion, for a creed
which IS reverenced makes the creature
rather than the creator the deity. The
moment that we formulate creed. and
call our view the only possible, we are
tending to injure religion.
The question OF clarifying the dstinc-
tion between the end and the agencies is
thus one Of the greatest questions before
the church. There is one true and vital
religion and many temporal agencies. III
dpmOnGtTata
the place of agencies and then show
that the religion itself is the only essen
tial it will have solved one important
problem.
Another question is this: Should one
endeavor to conflne his religion TO his
9w tS,n heart or & to his a own friends h s.S Th9 !,
through the world? The question is grad
ually being answered In favor of the
propagation, for al the great religions
are proseytng. If we assume that we
are TO attempt to spread our religion an
other problem arises. Shall attention
be paid only TO the religion we preach or
devotional or shall we develop civilza-
ton as supplement To our religious
instruction?
Another problem is that Of membership.
The old idea was that all persons good.
bad and Indifferent. should be members
OF the church, A second idea is To aid
I'm the education OF the members-to- be.
10 train them and then to accept them.
Still n third idea is to have n narrow
and select body OF people with high
ideals as church members. Just at pres
ent all Protestant and Catholic churches
are combining the second and third theo-
ries.
The tendency TO classism is a danger
ous problem The Protestant churches
especially tend 90 emphasize the wealthy
and the well-to-do, and to neglect the
man who has TO work hard at days
wages to support his family What shall
be the attitude of the church TO the man
who works for small pay?
10 seems that education has barred out
the masses from the classes. For the
ministers are taken from tho middle cla--
and educated until they lose all sympathy
with tho masses The Catholic church
has met this problem by taking the rank
and file OF her clergy from the lower
class The preacher Of the ordinary
church down town has 10 speak for the
benefit Of two kinds VI people. the intel
lectual well-to-do and TO the men VINO