The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-07-27

Some seeds fell by the wayside, and the
fowls came and devoured them IN; +be,,
Some fell upon stony places, where they
had not much earth: and forthwith thes
sprung up. because they had no oeepniess
were scorched: and because they hao no
root. they withered away:
tho oI1 's sprung x" up and choked them
Matthew BAT.
A great deal of comment has been
caused in the last few days by the
statement credited to Bishop VIM
cent at the Coffeyville chautauqua' In
which the bishop is made to appear
as the enemy of reyivals. According
to the published quotations from
Bishop Vincent's address, he took ex-
ception to the emotional revival
whose benefits are only temporary.
The good bishop breaches religion
that is lasting; one that will benefit
365 days in the year the person who
is so fortunate as to possess it, and
that will show itself on week days as
we'll as on Sunday.
These statements have been inter-
preted in some quarters to mean that
Bishop Vincent is opposed to all re-
vivals. By some newspapers he is
criticised, by others commended. 1t
is difficult to believe, however, that
the bishop included all revival SER
vices in his condemnation.
There are revivals-and revivals.
There is no doubt that Bishop Vim
cent, who is one of the ablest men
in his own or any other church. is
right in his censure of that class OF
so-called revivals that appeals only
to the emotions, but there is undoubt-
eddy another kind of revival which
does good. In every community in
this country there are dozens of wit
nesses who will testify that revivals
have been of great benefit to them,
and certainly neither Bishop Vincent
strument of good.
These purely emotional revivals
might be likened to the hot blast of a
furnace that burns and sears. while
the benef1cent revival is like the life
giving rays of the sun that in the
springtime cheer and renew all ma
ture. The emotional revival does not
prepare the ground for the seed that
it sows, but casts the seed on stony
ground, among thorns and by the
wayside. where it may spring up tenn
Dorarily but quickly perishes.
But there is undoubtedly a kind of
revival that does good and not harm.
1t IS the kind that causes men to de-
Hberate and think of other problems
of human life than making money
and the mad rush for fame and glory
and riches.
The right kind of a revival is a
sort of religious chautauqua and it
benefits spiritually those who grasp
its spirit just the chautauqua is an
intellectual benefit to its devotees
Religion is of the heart and soul
and not of the intellect alone. A
purely intellectual religion would
never have sustained the early mar
tyrs when they were made into hu-
man torches or fed to the wild
beasts by Nero at Rome; nor would
1t have caused those heroes of the
middle ages to die at the stake for
their faith. Neither is religion solely
matter of emotion. The emotional
variety is the kind that quickly with
ers or is choked by thorns, as describ-
ed in the Parable of the Sewer. 1t
does not last, and real religion, as
Bishop Vincent says. is good during
the week as we'll as on Sundays and
it continues year in and year out,
while the evidence of it is seen in the
lives of those who possess it..