Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-08-28
HURLS
SINGING REPLY
At DOCTOR AKED
San Francisco Pastor Takes
Issue With Man Who OPP
poses Billy Sunday

/ ROOOS I'll SaBi00y
Rev. Paul Smith, pastor of Central
Methodist Episcopal church, member
/ of the Committee of One Hundred
and of the executive committee,
which outvoted Dr. Charles F. Aked in
favor of bringing BILLY" Sunday to
speak In San Francisco, wrote let
ter to Dr. Aked, telling him in no
uncertain terms that he disagreed
with his condemnation of Sunday and
of the Protestant clergy supporting
the evangelist, said the San Francisco
Examiner in a recent edition.
Following is the text of Rev. Mr..
Smiths letter:
my Dear DR.. Aked: Your attitude
toward me has been so fine and gra-
cious since / came to San Francisco
that am truly grieved to be COM
PEELED by conscience now to differ
with you about Billy Sunday. l feel
an inner drive to preach Sunday night
on BILLY Sunday, Protestant Theology
and Jesus View of Things" You may
be sure that any reference to your
self in this sermon win be tempered
by q deep-seated personal regard
Il am not unmindfuI of your point
of view. / shared your preconceived
prejudice toward Mr. Sunday before
knew him personally am Chris
tian evoIBtionist, as you are. | be-
lieve IA the essential cosformitr of
scientific and Biblical truth. as you
do. regret, as you do, that Mr.. Sun
day does not view these matters diff
ferently. Having heard Mr.. Sunday.
and, more than this, having met many
OF the converts of his meetings, from
various walks of life, give him my
whole-hearted Endorsement. In this,
/ believe, express the well-nigh
unanimous conviction of the Metho-
dist ministers of San Francisco and
of the country over. and, if am not
greatly mistaken, l express also the
appreciation of a vast majority of the
Protestant religious sentiment of the
entire country. ,i y
4 cannot let your attack on Billy
Sunday pass without answer, for the
following reasons:
First-Your picture of him is a
grotesque caricature of the man as he
really is You admit ii is a picture
founded on newspaper clippings. Any
one who has no other way of inform
ing himself about Mr. Sunday except
through your description would be
wholly mislead in his. estimate of the
man. ~
Second-The particular point that
the drift of his sermon is salacious
IL A. hsnr, eriV Il
could receive nothing except great
impetus toward moral purity from
hearing him.
Third-You object radically to his
rhetoric and would cast him out on
this ground. On the other hand, many
people, including myself, regard Mr.
Sunday as the most convincing preach
er in America in his power to reach
the men of the street, largely because
Of his marvellous ability to use their
thought forms, expressed in langu-
age which the average man under
stands The sentences which you
quote from him do not in any COM
pleteness represent his style. For |
man OF his early disadvantages and |
Mr.. Sundays command |
Of telling sentences is a continuous |
marvel.
Fourth-Tne greatest ground of diff
however, lies in your at
tempt to restrict the liberty Of the pull
pit by your keen instrument of satire
and ridicnle. You have conspicuously
erty of thought. Recently you lent |
your presence and name to congress
in which Oriental religions and the
of Atheism had their voice.
Surely the difference between your
own point of view and that of the
speakers on that occasion must be
more marked than the difference be-
tween yourself and Mr.. Sunday in
your theology.
II have personally expressed my
hope to Mr. Sunday that he should
come back to San Francisco for an
extended campaign and / believe that
IN so doing, | voiced the oyerwhelm-
ing sentiment of the Protestants of
he CITY,. 80 ...-ss
81 thought it only fair to write
.hese things to you personally before
making any public statement. shall +
not follow this line of argument In
my sermon, but shall so far as posi-
Die omit all personalities.
"Regretting this difference in point
If view and with continued warm APP
probation of the great work which
Tou are doing for righteousness in
he city, / am, with all good wishes,
Tours ever, -, -. IL. .N:..:.
wv