The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1914-12-02

"Al evolutionists are consigned to hell
Mr.. Sunday names one by one. those
whom he supposes to be evolutionists. and
with a dramatic gesture filings each Of
them into perdition. There goes old OAR
win! He's in hell sure! And the enrap-
tured audience yells it's applause, as one
evolutionist after another is dropped into
the fiery pit. A staid Methodist preacher.
who watched this performance, said aft
erwards, I would never have believed, If
I had not seen 1t, that an audience of
civilized Americans could show such
spirit as that The scene at a Spanish
bull fight is really, when you think of it.
less HORRIBLE
It is well known to church workers
that DR.. GLADDEN. is a consistent be-
lever in the theory of evolution as it
applies to all life, including the spirit
ual life. and both his writings and his
preaching make this clear. This suf-
ficiently explains his objection to the
doctrine which Mr.. Sunday breaches.
Another thing to which DR.. GLADDEN.
objects is what he calls the CONNER
cial feature of the Sunday campaigns.
Concerning this phase the article
above quoted goes on to say:
''The commercial feature of this EVAN
gelism is also a serious matter. 1t is
far truer today than when Paul said 1t.
ss.es the ln1za Of money is the root of all
kinds of evil; and the warning Of Jesus,
Take heed and beware of covetousness,'
Is counsel which was never before so per-,
tinent. 1t is the one vice of which
Christian teacher should never be sus-
pected Mr.. Sunday sets all that counsel
at defiance. It is notorious that he is
making himself rich in this business of
ave ,-rnIi low, - col
lists held in Chicago last summer one of
the younger men told of counsel which
had been given him as to methods of
work by 'one Of the leading evangelists.
Among other things this leading evan
gelist had said to him, I've got all those
other fellows skinned a mile in the free
will Offering The name of this leading
evangelist was not given. DR.. Chapman
thinks it should have been, and so do l.
Only one man could have truthfulIy said
it.
MIR. Sunday takes out of every con-
siderable city which he visits. for an
eight weeks service, money enough to
pay the average Congregational minis
ter's salary for twenty years; and his
years accumulation would support one
hundred foreign missionaries He is not
reticent about this: he breaches about it
frequently and def1antly; he insists that it
is nobody's business how much money he
makes or what he does with it,
Returning to the Sunday doctrines,
DR. GLADDEN. sums them up in the fol-
lowing paragraph:
GAS for the doctrine taught, It is the
most hopeless form Of medieval substi-
tutionism. Salvation Is a matter of con-
tract; hell is a literal pit Of fire and brim-
stone; the bible is verbally infalhble; ev-
cry man who teaches the higher criticism
Is liar. Any minister who disputes any
OF Mr.. Sundays dogmas Is leading his
people to hell; Edward Everett Hale Is
undoubtedly in hell. Adventism of the
most Grass variety is unflinchingly pro-
claimed; the world is going to hell as fast
es it can; all talk about improving social
conditions Is rot"
Since DR.. GLADDEN. is admittedly one
Of the leaders in the Higher Criticism
and was for many years personal
| friend Of Edward Everett Hale his
sense Of resentment toward what he
understood Mr.. Sundays attitude to be
is not hard to understand.
Concerning the GLADDEN. article
which it printed, the Congregationalist
said editorially, in the same issue:
'Dr. Gladden's powerful arraignment OF
Mr.. Sunday will undoubtedly convincs
many that he Is a man whose methods
and spirit disqualify him for effective
Christian service. Others will continue tt
| feel perplexed and almost baffled in theil
| endeavor fairly to appraise him and his
| work. We have never thought of him
| for an instant, as one to whom we could
point as a model for young people. HI
| Is far from being the best illustration o,
| the graces and virtues Christianity i.
| supposed % engender when given a fall
chance in the human heart. What W,
have said and what we are disposed t.
reiterate Is. that Judging by what he ha.
| done throughout the western country, HI
| has apparently been the means of bring
| Ing into the Christian life multitudes who
humanely speaking, would never hav,
been converted. AS one Of his own con
/ yerts wrote US the other day, The NOR,
] hear and see OF Mr.. Sunday the more
| wonder at the instruments God uses fo1
accomplishing his purposes Ultimatei,
| we are all brought to one or the othel
| conclusion. Either Mr.. Sunday Is q harm
| full and devastating force whose influenc,
blghts every spot 1t touches, or else. de
spite his glaring faults. he IL a man whom
God. for reasons which we cannot ex
1 pidiup sees III 10 use TOT bringing many
| persons into obedience to Jesus Christ.
God does not lodge all his gifts in on,
man. Some men in the pastorate repe
/ those whom their successors win. Mr.
| Bruce Barton, In the article which startet
this discussion. rightly said that the ques
ton Of Mr.. Sunday is wrapped In tn,
larger question of the wisdom of all kind,
| of special evangelfstic effort. Many
| good movement in the kingdom Is fol
/ lowed by reaction and disappointment
| Varied indeed are the modern manifesto
| tons of religion and some of its outstand
| Ing opponents sometimes not only offend
| our tastes, but cross our most cherished
/ conviction We have sought I'm our re
cent exploitation Of Mr.. Sunday chiefly
to fulfill our function as a religious news
/ paper confronted with a remarkable
/ phenomenon in the field Of current re
hgious life rather than to attack or de
/ fend him. Either of these courses nigh
be easier than to try and weigh the evi
| dence concerning him and his methods
/ and to reach conclusion just to hin
and all the issue involved.
| These publications, coming almost
without warning, produced the mos
| profound sensation in the newspaper
in the cities where Mr. Sunday ha(