Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-07-11
newBookS
In Review
Dr.. Wosson Discusses the Question,
"ReHgion and Drink, Nth Able Pen
His Book Bearing the Above Title Condemns Attitude o.
the Church in Dealing With the Evils Which the Clergy
man Admits Have Grown About the quor Traffic.

to stumble, | will certainly never eat
flesh again for evermore. that | may
not make my brother to stumble"
The declara ton is conditional, Il
the Apostle knows of definite cases
in which his eating food will lead to
others being encouraged to violate the
dictates of conscience, then, certainly
he will never eat meat so long as
there 10 real danger of this. But, II
he knows of no such danger, he will
use his Christian freedom and eat
| without scruple.
He does not, of course, mean that
the whole practise of Christians is to
be regulated with a view to the pos
sible scrupulousness of the narrow
minded. That would be to sacrifice
our divinely-given liberty to the ig
noran Mt prejudices of bigots.
The circumstances of this or that
CHRISTIAN may be such that it is his
| duty 10 abstain FROM intoxicants al
| though he is never tempted to drink
to excess; but Christians in general
are bound by no such rule. and it
would be tyranny to impose such a
rule
And. l add, has the church a right
to confess itself vanquished by any
lawful appetite? 1t is not it's duty to
snow that 1t is master of all by say
ing to everyone of them, thus far
and no farther" The church's credit
is not in retreat, but in conquest.
1t IS proper for the weak brother
TO say, / must let this alone, because
IL is TOO strong for me- But it
would be humiliation and an abdi-
cation for the Christian fellowship
to say that there is moral majesty
IN sustaining wholly from wrong.
Ihere is also an equal moral majesty
IN moving freely among the lawful
appetites, passions, pleasures, using
all. mastered by none
The weak brother may find it
profitable to cut off arm or leg, even
to pluck out his eye and cast them
from MIN If they cause him to offend
But the rest of us are not OBLIGED To
this self mutilation in order to make
him feel comfortable. Lib
erty and truth were purchased at too
costly a price to let them go by de-
/ taut from any consideration what
ever. For the nonce the weak broth
er must look out for himself.
Our religion undoubtedly teaches the
healthfuIness of drink rightly used"
1t may be gathered from the above
that there is scant mercy for the
Weak Brother" in the eyes of DR..
WATSON. If it were not in question
able taste in discussing so serious a
problem, one might remark that 1t
would be delectable sight to see
the cynical curl of the lips of a
Jack Dunston If the Moral
Majesty" of moving in freedom. and
unscathed, among the appetites,
pleasures and passions, guided by
potations from his decanters, were
called to his attention.
When one talks of human freedom
in connection with drink one is in
clined to think that the writer or
speaker has never tested himself.
After reading the book of DIR. Was
son, but before reviewing it, the
writer asked very eminent physician
of Newark which was the stronger,
the human will or alcohol?
THE human will, of course" he an
swered, but he added, when alcohol
enters the human system disease in
tervenes and the will Is paralyzed,
even though the amount absorbed be
small"
In the concluding portion of his
book DIR. Wasson-who apparently
constitutes himself special advocate
discusses the attitude of the church
toward the public house and declares
that it has been wholly wrong. That
the church has not acted wisely or
successfully in Graduating the de-
plorable evils which he admits have
fastened themselves on the drink
traffic
DR.. Wasson's Drink and Religion"
is learned, it is written with singular
skill and it presents facts and
philosophical views of which most
people are ignorant; but we should
hesitate to place 1t in the hands of
the young man or woman, and, of
one thing we are certain, DR.. WATSON
has no conception of the power Of the
inherited or acquired taste for alcohol
RELIGION AND DRINK" By the
Rev. E. A WATSON, Phi. d.. rector of st.
stephens Protestant Episcopal Church.
Newark, n, ], Burr Printing House, New
York. 1914.
1.-THE Efficient Man."
Thomas D. West has written very
earnest. painstaking work on the eff
ficient man. He has dedicated it to
his sons. who. he says, have made
good, and ito other fathers sons who
wish to be thoroughly efficient as
managers of men or as operators. y
The author holds that the ineffi-
cheney of man is growing, and that
inability to produce economically,
through utilizing modern improve
ments that should have greatly
| cheapened living costs, is caused by
his recent universal craze to escape
! work, especially that which begrimes
and callouses and may debar him
from readily frequenting the haunts