Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-04-05

ought to be. But men are free agents,
and many of them would wander away
from the church if every preacher in the
land were perfect and every service were
without defect Paradise was a well or
dered place, and yet Adam and Eve got
away of that attractive spot.
If the parable of the sower teaches
any thing clearly it is that the main
difficulty was not with the seed or the
sower, but with the soil. The blame tor
being among the unchurched masses is
found oftener with the unchurched the
man than with the church. Men cease
going to church not because the church
is not good, but because they are bad
and do not wish to be better. Religious
appeals do not please one who is bent
on an irreligious course of life. A short
time ago there was reported in the press
dispatches the case of a defaulting bank
cashier who had fed to Canada. 1t was
said of him that he was a teacher in
the Sunday school and an active partici-
pant in other church work, but he denied
the statement and remarked most sig
nificantly, II ceased going to all religious
meetings soon after L began taking the
money of the bank" When he began
to steal he ceased to be comfortable in
Gods house. Many are not at church on
the Sabbath because they are welded to
do not propose to quit their sins and
hence they quit all places where sin is
rebuked.
But In addition to all this, it should be
said that there is not as great a drift
from the church as some would have
us believe. Men who have themselves
drifted away do not know how many
still remain For example, it is said
there is great drift of young men from
I,ric nd whQH
are the facts. In a recent issue of the
New York Observer Rev. John F. Car
son d. d gives a most careful state
ment on the subject which is far more
accurate than any mans guesses. He
says:
THE young men who are not in the
church have been so much in evidence i'll
all the discussion about the church that
one might conclude that there are no
young men in the church. There is no
accurate way of ascertaining the atti-
tude and relation of young manhood to
the church. There are no statistics and
none can be made But light is thrown
on the subject by ascertaining the atti-
tude of young men in our colleges. Abb
solutely accurate figures are furnished us
as to their church relations. They are
average men, and it is fair to assume
that they represent young manhood. To-
day SO per cent of the student body of
America are members of the church. In
some colleges the proportion is much
larger Fifty-nine per cent of the stu
dents of Yale are church members, and
in Yale college Is the most effective and
best organized Young Mems Christian
Association in the world. F'ifty-nine per
cent of the students of Harvard are
church members. Fifty-four per cent of
the students of Cornell are church MEM
bers. One hundred and ninety-five of the
S55 students of Oberlin are processing
Christians. Sixty per cent of the 1,40o
students in the University of West Vir-
ginia are church members. Recently a
careful census was taken in 1855 colleges
and universities. This census shows that
So per cent of the students are church
members. This proportion is much larger
than il has ever been. hundred years
ago but per cent of the students were
church members Fifty years ago about
80 per cent were church members. Twen-
ty-fve years ago As per cent were church
members. Today So per cent are church
members. 1t is a fact also full of sig
nificance, that the Christian students
are conspicuous and outstanding men
among their associates. They are the
leaders in athletics, and they carry off a
large proportion of the honors of their
classes. These facts tell us the place
of the church among young men of IN
tellectual force, and tell us also that
scholarly attainment and intellectual