Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-05-19
M'LENNAN Is
NOT A REFORMER,
q BUT A PREACHER
HAS NO ENTHUSIASM FOR THE MUCK
RAKIMG SCHOOL OF EvANGEL-
ISM. he SAYS.
DOES NOT BELIEVE THAT AFTER
HURRIED INSPECTION CITY CAN
Be CLEANED UP

here said Rev. Hugh Mcclellan Of the
Central Christian church, San Antonio,
now conducting a two weeks religious re-
vival in the tent auditorium ON Elizabeth
street.
IL have no enthusiasm for the muck
raking school of evangelism" he continued,
addressing an interviewer yesterday. at
j. my candid opinion that the spasmodic,
short lived cleaning up resulting from the
visit of a self styled reformer, who takes
upon himself, after a hurried inspection
of "A town or city, 10 decry evils that close
thinking citizens Of twenty years residence
have been unable 10 put down, is simply
meddlesome. Such an evangelist may be
thoroughly and desperately in earnest in
his campaign, and he may achieve "A tenn
porary betterment of conditions in regard
10 the social evil, the drink traffic, gambling
even dancing"-here the speaker smiled
the faintest of smiles-'and theater going.
That Is not either practicable or possible
for me to attempt. The root of these
things 90 further down than a single weed
ing can reach
DIR. Mcclellan went on to say that his
work here j. simply to reach the people
with the message of the gospel. In this
work he Is addressing audiences twice
daily, AT 10 a. m. and : p. m, in the tent
auditorium at Tenth and Elizabeth streets.
Last night he delivered a sermon based
on verses in the seventeenth chapter of
Acts: "' . some Knocked: others said,
We will hear thee again of this matter. So
Paul departed from among them. Howbeit
certain men clave unto him, and believed"
In speaking of these three kinds Of hear
ers DIR. Mcclellan first made clear the i'm
portance of the occasion of Paul's sermon
on Mars hill IN Athens. Standing there, he
explained, Paul stood in the very center of
cultivated heathenism. Up until his com
ing 10 Athens Paul had fought only skirm-
ishe> in the war of the gospel. When the
Apostle arrived ia Athens he found intel
lectS worthy of hi, best efforts. When the
Stole and Epicurian PHILOSOPHERS heard of
Paul'~ teachings they invited him out 10
Mars hill ito zee what he had" When
they had heard him ~nme Knocked. others
iNl~Utu ~ UtsI diih W ftt'~li'H Hisi lAiAHfI.
and Others believed, even ia the. io them.
we'll nigh unbelievable resurrection Of the
dead.
DIR. Mcclellan then. with q light but sure
touch. >ketched the contrasts between the
fataliStic doctrine of Stoicism. which
amounted Ia a great deal more than the
common conception a>cribe> Ia it-an in
difference To the feelings and 10 pain-and
Christianity. the doctrine Of a llmitle~>
hope, welcoming pain a. a great cleanser.
Though the followers of Epicurus were by
no means debased s~ensualiSt>, he contrast
4 the fleeing nature that the Epicurian
.cw hi~ bodily pleasures t. have with the
eternal nature Of the JOYS promised by
Paul to those who should follow Christ.
Discussing the three CLASSES of hearers
that Paul found and which ministers of
the gospel still encounter, the speaker as
serted that the first class, the Knockers, can
never mock. except through ignorance The
more we know Of Mahomctani~m Confu-
lcianiSm, Ncdanti~m. or any Of the religions
that have survived the test of time, not
excluding idol worship. the less we are in
clined Ia make light of them, he affirmed.
Though we may reject their teachings,
though We may not believe IN their truth.
if we are outside the pale Of ignorance we
can not dismiss them with "A laugh or a
sneer. Serious religion, IN any of its
forms, commands the respect of every
thinking man. though he may be- identified
with none.
.Delayers," the second class. he con
ltinuel. are morally lazy. Though some of
: them may profess to be waiting until the
evidence L. all in. "a a matter of fact the
+ evidence on which 10 base n decision l.
always at hand. Only the man who j.
lazy morally, just a. some men are lazy
physically, will put off a decision, hoping
, for a fairer and brighter tomorrow"
The third group. those who believed in
b Paul's message, had to face consequences
that we Of today Know nothing Of. Then,
7 DIR. Mcclellan reminded his hearers, it took
: courage of the strongest TO face the con-
sequences of conversion. In that day it
q meant a real fight against heathenism, when
h the reins Of power, social, political and
commercial were in the hands of men en-
c trenched in non Christian beliefs. Today
no man must face social ostracism when
! he joins a church. Then, indeed, a man
= might lose his job by departing from the
: religion of his employer into a new and
strange belief. If he were a merchant he
would surely lose trade by his conversion
|, if an officeholder his constituency would
} fall away from him. Now he actually gains