Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1908-05-17
Is CHRISTIANITY LOSING GROUND

Any one reading the newspapers
of the large Northern cities, and more
especially the Monday issues in which
reports of the sermons of the preced-
ing day, appear, would soon arrive at
the conclusion that the religious out
look for this country is gloomy in
deed Hardly Monday comes with
out its doleful arguments from the
pulpit that the church is losing ground
and that religion has no hold upon
the people, that Christ is as dead to
the masses as he was to the masses in
his own day, and that great spiritual
cataclysm confronts a nation which is
presumed to be Cody.
The latest utterance of this nature
came from Rev DR.. Aked, of the
Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New
York City, the church attended by
the Rockefellers and other men of
great wealth and prominence in the
metropolis. Here is a portion of
DR.. Aked's views:
What is the condition of Chris
tianity in New York? When [ inter
view my parishioners, and they are
among the most representative in the
city, l find the spirit of religious de-
preston very unlike the spirit of
Astounding enterprise in business, in
manufacturing in engineering and
construction.
1--WE have heard of the great adj
vance made by the Roman Church
in America l stand on the broadcast
grounds of liberation, but [ should
not be content if we had lost ground
to the Roman church-but have wei
Give the Roman Catholics in America
all they claim-twelve millions. Wei
still find that there have immigrated
into America no less than 100000
Roman Catholics So that the Roman
Church has lost instead of gaining
from US.
Take our own denominations; the
increase in the Baptists of American
has only been equal to one-fourth of
the birth rate among us, proving that
three our of four of our young peo-
pie fell away from us.
Let us look at~this great city of
New York. Fifty years ago there were
over 40 churches. Now there are
1900 But the population has in
creased much faster. If the churches
had increased in proportion, we should
now have 1000 instead of 1900. Fifty
years ago there was one church in
New York for each 1920 people. Now
there is but one church for 300.
THE decline in Christianity is uni
versal. In England, in France, in
in Tfa1u
hear the same cry.
yet there are one million in this
city who are not Jews, nor Roman
Catholics, nor Mohammedans, and
who must be Protestants. But this
million is entirely unchurched 1t
is not classed in any of those Protes-
tant denominations to which it should
belong What use is church with
out a congregation?
THE spirit of the age has gone
ahead, but we have made no progress
in the old formulas, the old theology,
the old sanction. We are afraid to
speak of religion. When we do so
we speak with bated BREATH apologe
tically.
This is an age of great schemes, of
great ambition But what have we
to do for Christ? What have we
done?
1--WE are content to go on the same
old way, unsuited to the times. We
want to appeal to the young men. We
want to appeal to a higher class,
and in higher way. We want preach
ers of the highest type-spiritual and
prophetic. Spiritually, you can rise
no higher than the level of the pull
pit"
The conditions in New York may
be as bad as Dr. Aked pictures them.
Probably they are. But New York
cannot be considered as representing
the life of the American people. 1t
is far from it. Go away from the me-
tropolis and the two or three other
cities that are built on the same lines,
go into the smaller cities and towns
and villages and into the great coun-
| try districts of the land, and there
| is not the irreverence, the indifer-
ence, the contempt for religion and
religious things of which DR.. Aked
complains The reverend gentleman
| is blinded by the things that confront
| his eyes and his vision does not take
broad enough sweep. Let him come
South and travel over its princely
domain, and he will doubtless come to
the conclusion that all is not yet lost
and that in the most American por-
ton of the country God still reigns and
the church is doing powerful and
effective work