New Britain herald., 1917-12-26
J. A. Cooper of Youngstown, Ohio, Believes Such Ser mons Do Great Harm to Church and Christianity.
To Rev. N. HI. Hartman.


 Dear Sir and Brother:
 I have just read an extract from 1 one of your sermons that you are said | to have preached lately on the doc l Urine of evolution. You may not be aware, as I am, that this doctrine was annihilated last summer by the s. S. Times, but like Goliah, it probably needed killing a second time. It is sad to think of thirteenth century | theologian actually living in New England in the twentieth century; in ] Philadelphia, we expect it, but not in that enlightened land. As you know, Philadelphia is Gods headquarters, l and that the Presbyterian and the s. s. Times the official representatives on Earth They are ably assisted by the Herald and Presbyter and the Exposi- tor.
 You will notice in the last Times | that it calls attention to it. They daily thank God that they are 1 not as other religious papers, the Independent, the Homiletic Review, l the Christian Work, the Christian Ad- vocates or even like the Outlook. They are the defenders of the faith" once given to the saints" the sup porters of the "fundamentals'' not like Beecher, Gladden., Charming, Phillips Brooks, or even like the fac ulty of Union Seminary and practical ly all of the reputable theological seminaries of the world
 From time out of mind, these men | and their like, have claimed vested right to talk very plainly about those who differ from them. to call names, to misrepresent, to attribute false mo- tives to them, in short, to defy the recognized standards of good manners that prevail in the discussion of mat ters in dispute among gentlemen, therefore, we feel justified in telling the plain truth about some things that only this state of affairs would ex- cuse. Remember, we do not like you, impugn motives, but we deny the Jesuitical doctrine, that the end jus tif1es the means. that lying and mis- representation are justified in their use in any cause, however good. You ought to be wise enough to know that such means only hurt instead of help any cause. But such men seem never to have either learned or forgotten anything.
 They are a set of asses tied to thir- teenth century hitching- posts, stupid ly praying out their warnings of the dangers ahead to the pausing pro- cession on it's way upward toward the light.
 It is reassuring to know that very few are paying any attention to them fewer and fewer as they learn the truth about Gods ways and methods of guiding His good world, learning that He did not make it one day and lose it the next; that He has not sur rendered practically all His highest creation to Satan, one of His own creatures, with permission to keep and torture them forever, unable to con- trol this self-existent entity called ''Sin," but must allow it to forever prevail. That only couple of thou sand years ago He conceived a plan to save few by committing sort of japanese "hari-kari." Men are becoming too highly civilized to be- lieve these blasphemous charges against the God whose tender mer- cies are over all His works. They are catching Up to the Prophets of 25OO years ago who had no such concep- ton of God as this.
 I yield to no man by admiration for the church, my earnest desire for it's growth and prosperity, my belief in it's divine mission to make the world bet ter, to bring in the kingdom that would make EartH Heaven, but 1t has passed it's zenith unless it's man. agers recognize modern Knowledge and accommodate itself to it. Men like you are the men who are crip- bling it at this day, and nothing but the good works which you stren- uously deny have any saving power, keeps it alive now.
 Few people join the church except those who have been trained in the s. s. and carefully kept in ignorance of all modern knowledge. Our church has grown 25 per cent in four years and the s. S. is actually smaller. And it is not hard to explain.
 Instead of lessons from the proph- ets the Psalms, Job, the wise pro- verbs or the simple teachings of Jesus we have studied the very doubtful history of a lot of ancient barbarians, the doings of the bloody Jehovah, of Joshua and Samuel with f the childish stories of miracles in which few people now believe, and when we have the N. T., it is only the
 miracles that get the most attention. We teach that God created all things out of nothing, in the space of six ! days, and all very good
 Ina God For His m ere "good pleas ure'' from all eternity elected some to everlasting life, etc. That every sin deserves Gods wrath and curse both in this life and that which is to come. No wonder young people will not be interested in such barbarous doc trines. They are bribed by medals, by good orchestra and other things, but they will not come. The only Sunday Schools that are prosperous are those which teach something sensible, and I know of some immense mems Bible classes who are very much interested in,