Article September 26, 1901 Issue

Religious Items

with contributions from Fannie E. Austin, R. L. Carpenter, John James Taylor, Theodore Parker

It is startling at times to see men and women of pure minds and right conduct apologizing for the act of a man who leaves his wife and children, and consorts with a woman whom he regards as his mental or moral affinity. We hear it said, "Oh, he did not intend to do wrong; but he was misled by his poetic instincts and generous affections." Several times of late we have found good men and women recognizing and trusting those who were covering gross moral offences with a veil of sentiment. Their explanation was that all this was past; the guilty parties intended no wrong; and, now that affairs had been adjusted and some legal formalities had been complied with, it was better to forgive and to forget. In an easy-going society where morals count for nothing in comparison with pleasure and comfort, such treatment of the sins of men and women is consistent with the low standards adopted. But, carried into circles that represent the best forms of social virtue, such notions and practices can only tend to degradation. The evil world that is seeking always a decent cover for its offences, gladly quotes the saints who, through a mistaken interpretation of Christian charity, say that wrong is not wrong, and that possibly wrong may even be right.—The Christian Register.

The New York Observer has the following to say regarding the need of spiritual power: "What the Church of Christ to-day needs is not less machinery, but more of this inner, energizing power. We have method in abundance, and men in multitudes. We are organized excessively. What is demanded, then, is the inflow upon the Church of a baptism of divine power which will drive all the machinery to useful purpose, just as the pressing, throbbing, steam starts the whee's, gearing, looms, and spindles of a great mill, otherwise idle and purposeless, into intensest activity. Formal Christianity can never be a success. What is needed is a 'living spirit in the wheels.' There are at present in numerous quarters an alarming apathy regarding spiritual interests. Pastors, teachers, editors, and other watchmen upon the walls of Zion are all taking note of this sad condition. Now, therefore, is the time for the Church to put on her strength. There is no deficiency in the sources of divine grace. The question is rather one of human capacity and willingness to receive from the Lord enabling power. God is, as we well know, ready to bestow this most valuable gift, and still the Master's word to the disciples is echoed pleadingly in our ears. 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' "

Three classes come under the censure of our Lord. They correspond to the classes he rebuked in his ministry,—religious rulers who opposed his teaching and himself in the name of their religion: the multitudes indifferent to him, except when they thought he would gratify their natural appetites or sordid desires: and those who, though they failed grossly, sought to understand his teaching and attach themselves to him as his disciples.

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