Norwich bulletin., 1915-02-18
WHAT HE THINKS
 OF BILLY SUNDAY Rev. w. T. Thayer Tells His Censre- cratioa 1. AH,IJfr1Eord

! church of this city:
 ! Rev. William T. Thayer of the Zap 1 list church in Wallingford, spoke upon Billy Sunday, the Man. the Message ! and MetlIod. The address was based 1 upon the experience. observation and ! investigation of q three days visit 1 to Philadelphia.
 After 3. brief introductory descrip- | ton of its tabernacle, a building ! especially constructed for meetings, Mr. Thayer spoke in part as follows: 1 Every thing centers about the man 1 Sunday, and our thoughts begin with ] him. Difficult indeed to speak Of the l man about whom is being hurled more 1 criticism and abuse than about any 1 other personality in the religious world, Hard indeed to picture him ! que augqIaLetS. -ia the obJect Of more love 1 and devotion than possibly any other 1 man of this generation. Criticism is 1 no criterion to go by. Jesus Christ 1 was hated to death. 4 mighty follow l Ing furnishes no adequate scales to i weigh oneFs influence; the most un- | Ecrupulous political gangster of our l day has his ari115 of devotees. But of ] Billy Sunday as a. man there is o.1e ] oplnlon. Arguments regarding his ] work grow hot with their presenta- 1 tlon' but when you ask about the man ] there is no argument. Billy Sunday is ! 8 man III every best sense Of the term. ] N1th Sunday there are few unsur-
 l Neyed boundary lines between right ! anu WlOllS. I1S tS IuT4Cal11c III max | Ing up the list of lonoranle practices ] in the spiritual and moral realm and l he has an unconcealed disgust for 1 coWardlce which scoffs and ridicules 1 the right. or the doer Of the right l And there is no hypocrisy in his 1 pulpit antics. if he is anything, Billy
 Sunday is fearfully in earnest. U11- 1 spaT1nsly he throws his agile athletic 1 body Into every utterance. He does
 under the spell of his message what l the baseball enthusiast does under the l influence of his zeal for his winning | team, and nothing more. Of Billy 1t | may be said: "A John the Baptist ! Crying in the Wilderness on every ! Slde, and every inch T man, a mans man, Christ's man.
 ] Billy Sundays message in it's pith ] and heart Is not unlike the message
 OF Moody and Sturgeon His inter 1 pretation of the Bible and his classi- ! hcation of practices right and wrong
 1 carry him back at least a. generation.
 ! Every sermon Ceuters about the deity
 l of Christ the stonenent and resur- 1 rection of Jesus. Indeed. a. common i expression to be heard after a service
 IS this: 'SundaE is the most loyal man
 | to Jesus Christ have ever heard
 ! Consequently he makes no uncer-
 1 tain work of sin. As when he says: -E Jesus one can see the very inper- l souation Of love, so when he utters
 f 'deEiP' hatred becomes incarnate. Oft
 1 entimes the word sin. when uttered,
 l has tho hiss of @ serpent, the snarl
 1 of an angered beast.
 ] But the sermon which is an hour 1 or more an length, is not all his mes ! sage. Coming to the platform a half
 | hour before he is to speak. he watches l the tbronGS come. Quickly he enters
 ] into the spirit of the hour. Interest ] grows tu eagerness, eaEerness to rest i less Impatenc lmpatieuce to we'll ! nigh incorriSible passion. was told 1 by an acquaintance who often sat near ! him that Billy spent this introductory 1 period in prayer. \ unique message ! comes into his prayers: Well, Lord. ! I've talked over an hour, that ought ! to be long enough. I've made d poor stab at it and why don't they come i tU Thee" Look at these presents, i Lord. They OyerWneim me with ther love and gifts. But just think, Lord. ! They spurn Your love and gifts i And after SohbiuG out this prayer he i made the appeal Billy Sunday clear { lE m n5s message brings the resp onse: ! Behold the Lamb of God Who takcth away the sins of the world" to the 1 challenge: If I be lifted up I will draw ali men unto Me"
 { -A word IS 10 his methods. T. un- l derstand t one must have gone to Philadelphia in eariy October and ! found hundreds of Bible classes or ] gtt0iZed for personal workers. stayed 1 till November lst and seen 1.29O noon 5t 1 tr2lnloaGs ct Sunday converts from l other cities and followed these sokres ! ct live wires into as many homes and 1 hundreds of churches, sat down with ] leading business men of Philadelphia as they planned out a purely DIsinesS rsroGramme for an evangelical cam ! pGign. The method Is strarceIv unique. Outside the Tabct1lacle every ' thing has the appearance and sound ! Of the city theatre CT country circle. l ,g,.-1- l service 6eSins' comes from many 1 tllr6ats.' Tn the Tabernacle comrno- ! ton everywhere. Here and there groups are singing hymns, others arc hoIdi1S d prayer meeting. Meanwhile 1 ben are going about crying, out their ! wares of singing books, personal worIa- l CT booklets printed sermons, etc. Then 1 HodeheaFer, Inc musical director steps 1 to the platform and the services be gin. And the method seems not to
 antasonIze. He who says Billy Sun ! day reaches only the down and out either d0esI t know of what he speaks | or enters 2, ridiculous charge. Side by 1 side the society bellc and the y7on1sr | who has sold her. virtue come; business man and bum. people Of opulenCe. and ! perhaps in rags: on they come and 1 the man who addresses them at the l close aud who also leads them in ] prayer may i>s an Episcopal3au rector 1 district superintendent. noted Pres | ny LSFloll QINlus> or any one blllS sun l day may ask
 ! In method Sunday is all things to i all men. that lls may saNe some. Why : do I weary you with this long story? i For the same reason that I made the l journey to wonder tabernacle, I want | cd to know the facts, and not to be l influenced in my thinking by Preju- ] diced writers who never saw nor heard l Sunday. went for another reason. 1 I wanted to be a. better Christian, a 1 worthicr preacher of the gospel; 2 1 better, minister of the gospel.
 ! And as I look across the miles and 1 see 10000 men assembled. iu that vast building, as I hear the message and 1 behold a half thousand men. pol1ce- meTl, soldier boys. rich and poor hit 1 the trail; as I see that I call upon | you men and women to acknowledge } Billy Sundays Christ. What opinion you hold Of Sunday matters not ' our 1 life and destiny depend upon ycur i opinion of his Lord. ATrzerl-
 [ FkvoRING DIVISION
 | OF THE DIOCESE. | -G-.. f q