The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-08
MEN AND THE CHURCHES.

There is a psychologist law in opera
ton, it appears to explain the absence
of men from Sunday church services,
notes the Literary Digest, Belief in
the existence of this law. according to
DR.. r. s. Holmes. of The Westminster
Presbyterian. Philadelphia), rests
upon two assumptions. First, that men
GO stay away, and, secondly, that
church services are dull. Business
iife," he declares. furnishes a certain
sort of excitement to which the mind
becomes habituated, and the psyche
logic law makes the dull, emotionless,
excitement lacking church service a
source of larger WEAKNESS than even
business ITSELF That this statement is
not made in a spirit of irony. We see
ty DR.. Holiness further words, which
are contributed to symposium of ed
itors of religious journals printed in
eslie's Weekly New York;. We read:
1.-The church itself is in fault for eN-
listing conditions Old ministers remain
il the pulpits, who have forgotten the
things of which young men think.
There are assistant pastors in large
churches who have no more fitness for
the places they occupy than the ma
i he members of the churches are often
worldly and worse, and the knowledge
Of what they are repels men of the
world.
THE church clinss to the same old
methods and werships,i in the same old
style. There is no chance to answer
back. to discuss the propositions the
pulpit may make. The whole matter
is one-sided, and the humdrum
preacher does things in a humdrum
way.
1.-The bond of sympathy between
Iaen and minister is broken.
.'They get no dividends of any sort
from the investment they make of time
end attention in going to church.
Men OF mediocre ability go into
the ministry. There are a few rare
exceptions, and they have crowds of
fr en- to hear them preach; but for the
most part the preacher is stupid.
1T is not the fault of the Gospel. 1t
IL the fault of an effete church.
why do not men go to chuch?
They do not want to.
II quote a recent letter from a New
Y ork business man upon the subject.
He says:
'Men-by whom I necessarily mean
New York business men-absent them
sc Ives from religious services, either
remaining at home or going elsewhere
i or mental relaxation or physical rec
| 1eation, because they become so ia
ssgued in the pursuance of their daily
| business duties as to dread the effort
and begrudge the time spent in attend
| ing gathering which, in the nature of
! things, is formal The demands of
| business OH a man in this city do not
! terminate with his nominal working
! hours, but are almost constantly with
! him and seem to require periodical
respite, such as a Sunday at home or
afield affords. Religious Indifference
e ems more prevalent than active dis
belief in any doctrine
| DR.. Holiness law, as was said. re-
| auires the assumption that men don't
&C to church. But another Philadel-
| nt.ia editor, DR.. C. G. Trumbull, OF
I he Sunday School Times. thinks they
do go. He says. 1.-The question, Why
don't men go to church p reminds one
OF the old question in logic, why did
ycu kill your grandmother You
admit kill your grandmother, and men
&C go to church, He adds:
"Of course not every man goes tc
church. The churchs work for the
world is not yet finished. But the
hurch is a great deal nearer it's goal
when the secular magazines are al
asking the false premise question why
don't men go to church 2 and devotine
asages and pages to pointing out the
81 ritual unrest and the blasting a.
the Rock of Ages, and the failure
generally of Christianity and the
church. than when the world paid nc
detention to these subjects. A deac
issue arouses no attention. Corpses
are seldom criticized But when a mar
III an institution is one of the lives
things on the horizon, there is never
cking a widespread effort to poin
out that ones failure to what he Cor it.
should be.
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