Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-05-02
BISHOP GAMBLERS MESSAGE

ne6Q OF the world at LnlS moment
is a simple, elementary declaration
Of right and the creation of an AIDE
quate religious machinery for max,
ing the declaration effective; for,
of course, it can never be made eff
fective by the present generation Of
politicians in Europe. Nothing is
more appalling than the constant as
sumption on every side, in the press
and in private>conversati last
more particularly-that principles of
right and wrong have ceased to count
in political affairs. We are in real
danger of being forced into the men,
tai attitude of Germany, just as we
were forced into the use of poison
Gus gas. Statesmen, publicists of all
nations, men of business, men in
all walks of life are continually de-
|claring with complete cynicism-often
unconscious-that solemn treaties
between nations are inevitably
scraps of paper if they are Sc
riously put to the test. They may
be right. 1t may be true that treaties
can only be valid when there are
the political philosophy of Germany
is still the secret philosophy of the
world. One reason for this hopeless
dilemma is the almost complete
downfall of religion among the So
called 'intellectuals' of Europe.
"a quarter of century ago all the
creeds went into the melting pot; and
there are very few among the polit-
zeal or intellectual leaders in Eu-
rope today who would describe them
selves in private as anything but
complete agnostics with regard to
the eternal foundations of justice
and right We hear Bolshevism, for
instance, described as a terrible men,
ace to our political systems. But
we seldom hear it attacked on the
really fundamental ground that it
Thou shalt commit murder for the
old laws of God. It is far more
than a political problem. 1t is a re-
ligious problem affecting the whole
conduct of human life. If our lead
ing men had little more courage,
they would fight this evil at the source
and at the foundations, instead of
meeting it with the weapons of the
political opportunist. 1t must not
be supposed that the spirit of this
evil, which we have called Bolshe-
vism in Russia, is an isolated phe-
nomenon. 1t is active everywhere.
1t has been active in art and litera-
ture for more than a quarter of
century, and it has gone far toward
viciously perverting the whole read
ing public. The attack that has been
made on all the standards Of art
and thought and conduct can be met
by one power and only one-the
power Of religion
Pursuing the subject further, Mr.
Noyes says, There is no hope for
the future except in the re-estab-
wrong in the world. 1t is absolutely
necessary as one means to this that
art and letters should regain their
moral dignity and that the intel
lectual world should be purged of
it's poisons. For this purpose we
need a more conscientious criticism
and less Difference to the fashions
of the hour. But, above all, we need
more efficient machinery for con-
veying to mankind in general the
great outstanding truths of religion.
1t must cease to be below the dignity
of the modern thinker to concern
himself with the great central facts
now come for the combined forces
of Christianity to reassert their di-
vine creed and bring healing to a
wounded world
There is much in what Mr.. Noyes
says, and still more in what he sug-
gests.
0 During the last twenty-five years
forces have been at work in the edu-
cational and scientific world which
tend to the subversion of civilization.
Now the results are beginning to
appear, and men who have paid no
attention to what has been going on
in these fields stand aghast at the
outcome.
The educational world has been
hypnotized by the word Science"
and the science which has been meant
by the word has been that which
has been based on a materialistic
nf hnfh 10 .icriY n Il in,
of man. Materialism has penetrated
into the field of ethics, and half
baked, spurious science has sprung
up. in various forms, under the gem
epa+ II name IN -, Of msociology" 1t IS
this stuff has found its centers Of
propagandism in certain universities
and it has been accepted by imma-
ture seekers after the degrees offer
ed by these institutions as the last
word of ultimate wisdom for the 1u-
man race. Young teachers who have
gone to these universities have come
away from them obSesSed with the
notion that they must lie like the
misguided men under whose instruc-
ton they have sat, and call all their
theology" and "scientific ethics"
Now, science deals with matter and
with matter only. Hence, there can
NC Ho SuCll thIuS do NScicHIilIc Lue-
ology" and Scientific ethics" unless
one rests his religion and his moral
lty upon a materialistic basis. And
that is what many have done. They
talk of the evolution Of religion even,
and stumble over the Virgin Birth
of Christ because they cannot har-
monte that fact with the evolution
airy hypothesis of the materialists.
Callow professors of ethics have been
carrying on what they call '1abora-
tory methods" in teaching morality.
in all of which they have showed
themselves as the veriest education
I'D monkeys aping the materialists
whom they had met in the univer-
sites where they cribbed and cram
med for months in order to get the
degree of doctor of philosophy.
A generation as-grown up infect
ed with these poisonous doctrines of
materialism. Religion is no longer
matter of the souls relation to
the eternal God, but a scheme for the
regulation of the transient conditions
of earth and the ordering of the
| passing relations of men to one an
other Social Service" is supposed
the churches are denounced for call
! ing sinners to repentance instead of
wandering around with market bas-
! ketS on their arms, feeding the hun
CRY and distributing other physical
comforts to the indignant and idle
| classes. The wants of the body have
! been exalted above all the needs of
! the soul, and spiritual results. We
are told, can be expected only from
attention to bodily reliefs.
| 1t is not strange that socialism
and Bolshevism arise from such
| teachings. When the claims of God
| upon the human soul are put out