The New York herald., 1922-01-02
DIR. STETSON STANDS
FOR OLD TIME FAITH
Trinity Rector Decries New
Churches Offering .ROsy
Cloud Beliefs.

The church of to-day needs not num-
bers but better people and the restora-
ton of an authoritative. reasonable, mill
liant faith, said Dr. Caleb f. Stetson,
rector of Trinity Church. yesterday in
his New Years sermon. Preaching on
THE Righteousness of Faith" he de-
scribed his subject as ''about the most
important thing in the development OF
society to day."
1t is infinitely more important than
money. material progress wealth or the
consideration of corporations" he con-
tinued. Unless a country has a right
eous faith and the men of that country
have that faith that country is destined
to become extinct and that civilization
will fall in ruins. This is important be-
cause definite Christian faith IS on the
wane.
There has been a great alienation OF
the masses from the churches in both
England and the United States. The
churches are trying to draw people back
by watering their teachings. by offering
concerts and motion pictures and in Va
rious other ways In a futile effort to
win them back when the onlv thing
s rhich can do that is the assurance that
ssae church is teaching something worth
while. The only thing which can do that
is the Christian religion"
AS evidence of the condition which
DR.. Stetson called the result of failure
TO teach the young. he cited the case of
a student of fashionable girls school
who, he said, had told him that ON grad
uation from the school not one of her
friends expressed a belief in God. He
also referred to school for boys con-
Quoted by the Episcopal Church in which
the headmaster found on examining
members of the entering class that less
than half could repeat the Lords prayer,
few had never heard of the Ten Com
mandments and only two could repeat
the creed of the church.
That is evidence of something which
rs going on in the world to-day because
Of failure to teach the young" he said.
DO not listen to the prophets to-day
who tell you that we are on the eve of
a great revival of faith. The times are
difficult We must face the facts. You
and I can help. / don't believe that the
Christian church is going to fail. But
we can't go into battle by hearing just
sweet words and singing hymns that all
Is going we'll. We must fight.
THE church needs not so much num-
bers of people, but better people, people
who have q better understanding of
what they believe and why"
Faith ought to be reasonable. said
the rector, and he urged his parishioners
to read their Bibles. accept the results
of proper scholarship and read books
about religion.
Beyond a reasonable faith we need
an uplifting faith" he continued, "a
faith that will uplift us from sordid
conceptions, make us hope and give us
joy Only the faith of Jesus Christ
makes me see in human beings some-
thing beyond the sordid belief in books
of to-day that human beings are little
more than animals. The horror of real
ism in the book of to-day! The dirty
meaness in the sex and hunger motives
The bad psychoanalysis which makes
man only a slave 10 passion If that
Is life we welcome DEATH"
that preaching which retained nothing
In it long enough TO stand up, and said
he did not believe in a religion clothed
in rosy clouds and lovely poetry"
THAT is sentimentalism, self-hyp-
not;sm," he declared. There is no
sense in II. Let's be clear thinking.
Thighs no better than the Greek myths.
it isn't as good the mythology of
sun god worship. Let us be ready to
fight to-day for the faith of Christ and
for the propagation of Christianity. The
blood red banner of Christ must be lifted
up to-day in order to win. Let us not
be sentimental and weak about this,
but strong and virile."