Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-17
REVIVALISM

CTANDARDS of vice and virtue change from
~ one generation to the next, but the princi-
pie of the struggle between good" and bad"
persists through the centuries. With the evo-
luton Of the race, our notions of good and
evil are radically altered, but the principle of
the two opposing forces between which we
must choose stands out as one of mans most
permanent instincts.
For some centuries religion has had estab-
lshed headquarters for moral struggles and
questionings in the churches, and has sought
to strengthen the standards of good and bad
with doctrinal teachings and laws. The su-
premaCy of the church authority has
been threatened in recent years, however, by
the growth of institutional churches. settle
ments and numerous ethical cults The old
line, orthodox religion has found an ardent de-
fender in "Billy" Sunday, and the contrast
between the strict old-fashioned supernatural
ism of the evangelist C'hell- fire theology" 1t
Is called) and the newer and more liberal
interpretations have given an almost dra-
matte interest to his career.
BILLY" Sunday signs his name to some cpl
grammatic Punches" in the Cosmopolitan
~:
All sins have blue eyes and dimples when
they are young.
A man with good gray matter under his hat
can learn more by stubbing his toe in the dark
than fool learn by going to college.
The right kind of a loses more
than one finger by fooling with n buzz saw.
The young man who is willing to go through
life saving the second fiddle will never
lead the band.
When the devil wants to run his claws clear
through man and cnch them the other
side, he makes him believe that foollng with
booze won't hurt him.
The devil hates n happy home as bad ms n
saloonkeeper hates prohibition preacher
The man is headed straight for the pit who
tI,a.
he is a gambler a pillar in the church.
Nobody spends much time looking at wax
figures in store windows, but a live man there
who is doing something always draws crowd.
The higher you lift little man the more he
shrlnks
The woman who marries a man to reform
him has more faith In human nature than st.
Paul had.
Puck suggests list of titles for hymns,
which perhaps might have struck us as ir-
reverent, before we became accustomed to
''Billy" Sundays vernacular. Puck (2) writes:
Certain ministers not only defend Billy
Sunday. but glory in him. They mildly classify
as slang the evangest's rough-neck vocabu-
larry. and refuse to be shocked at the means
he employs. when the results he obtains
are so inspiring. But why Gonfne slang to
"dry-rot' as well as the pulpit dseourses? The
words OF some hymns are beautiful, but what
is beauty compared with punch? Let hymnals
be revised to suit the times,
Abide with Muh.
Onward, Sawdust Trailersl
Come Ye Disconsolate Ginks
Get Hep, My Soul!
My Days Are Beating II Swiftly BY.
Sacrilege? Undoubtedly, according to old
"dry-rot" standards. but no more sacrilegious
than the average "Billy" Sunday sermon The
punch. gentlemen. by all means
Taking Revival to Pieces
An interesting analysis Of "The Mechanics
OF Revivalism" appears in the Atlantic
Monthly (3). It's author Joseph H. OdeI is
we'll fitted to write on the subject. For 10
years he was pastor Of a prosperous Presby-
terlan church in Scranton. Pa. He left the
ministry 70 go into literary work, and as edl-
torIal writer on the EVENING LEDGER had a
first-hand opportunity of watching Billy
Sundays work in Philadelphia and other
towns. He writes:
Gospel hymns play tremendous part in
modern revivalism Some OF them have a
hypnotic influence when used by skilled di-
rector. Just AS I AM Without One Plea"
and II Am Coming Home.' sung with a di-
minishing cadence, have lure that few emo
tional people can Withstand Such pieces are
the time when the revivalist Is seeking his
results. Unfortunately there Is a mercenary
side to this use OF music Hardly any OF the
great standard hymns OF the Christian Church
fectlve ones OF the present-day revelations are
copyrighted and jealously guarded. Not be-
cause they are valuable as music or as poetry,
but for the simple reason that they are a
lucrative side line OF proht for the evangelist
or his musical director.
BILLY Sunday Is not scholar, not a
thinker, not sophist, not an actor, but q
healthy. frank. fearless and irrepressible man,
who offers no apology for doing the one thing
that he feels his God has told him 70 do. He
Is easily the most compelling personality In
America Judged BY a prasmatical standard
the results are rather confused. bad and good.
The nrst thing noticeable Il 4 tone of an
IA hn IN > .