The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1920-01-23

christians. The "just christians" are
the leayen that must ieaven the whole
lump, and the non-christians are those
from which converts nuts be made.
But the christian tells us that God
is good, wise, and does all things well.
Then He must have provided for this
whole five Of the genus homo. OF what
use is the anti-christian you may ask.
Is he not needed, think you, to Offset
the strenuous christian :" What
other influence have we with which
to combat that terrible evil but for
him?
In one of his series of sermons in
Cleveland some years ago. Rev
Sprecher-the brainest preacher that
Cleveland has ever produced-put
forth the argument that God knew
what he was doing when he per-
mitted these several classes Of indi-
viduals; he said God had to, permit
them to allow the law Of redemption
to do its full work. The anti-chris-
tian in making his fight against re-
ligion could not but call attention to
his own errors at the same time that
he placarded the errors Of the church
and those errors certain to creep in
to religion through the imperfection
Of man. And he argued further that
the anti-christian often did see the er-
rors Of christians before they would
see them themselves, and in pointing
them out the anti-christian was do
ing a wonderful work.
+ That has always been the province
of the theater: To point out the er-
rors of processing christians who
were in the wrong, and many times
trying to force down the necks OF
honest christians their own pet
schemes. For the theater to per-
sonalize these errors, often enlarging
on the evil itself, has enabled many 8
christian to see the error satirized
and to see it in time to correct it be.
fore great damage has been done. In
doing this the theater has not only
done great work in itself, but it has
saved the church from many con-
tinuous errors and aided the church
in turning about and doing good
when if left to itself it would have
continued on in evil indefinitely.
One has but to study the history o1
the church through the many cen.
turies before the theater. In the ear.
ly days the public worship was
termed temple worship rather thar
church service. It was the same a.
now; the same God served, the same
arguments put forth for the service
where it was not compulsory-ane
the gifts and sacrifices conformed al
nearly to those of today as thu
finances Of the times would permit.
There was no theater to satirizt
the follies into which men driftee
and note the result: Where is tn,
Egyptian religion, the Babylonian
either the old or the new; where thu
Carthegenian, the Greek, the Persian
the Assyrian under which Moses sal
for so long; where any Of those olde
religions by and through which man,
millions went to heaven?
l. They have all fallen into the dis
card; but not religion has fallen b!
the wayside in any country wher
there has been a theater since tn
theater was, instituted. The theate
teaches many good things itself asid
from the furnishing Of amusement
But its greatest work has been il
breaking up the very things tina
would have broken up the church; AM
permitted the church, before it fel
into the discard, to destroy the live
of many Of its votaries.
It has always been the ignorant AM
evil men who have committed tn
crimes in the church; the crimes tina
have made it possible to destroy man.
individuals in the church and in tn
end destroy the church itself. Th
ignorant man has been the big fac
tor in the evils Of the church and tn
world, for it has been an easy thinl
for the evil man to use him un
willingly. The ignorant man has {
flight Of fancy and almost immediate
ly he, without any study or thought
accepts it as a fact. If he was edu
Gated his learning would show hin
his fight Of fancy was wrong, and h
would forget it. But having no learn
ing he imagines he has had a visiol
and at once begins to tell it and me-
and women as ignorant as himsel
are impressed and convinced.
This ignorant man condemned tn
theater without sufficient knowledg
to judge the theater, himself, or tn
world in which both he and the thea
ter now live. He may be simply re
peating what he has heard other
say, but in any event he was ignoran
. and without knowledge to warran
him in opening his mouth. And thi
old world is suffering today fror
people Of this class.