THE Governor of New Hampshire, undoubtedly a good and sincere man,
issued a Fast-Day Proclamation to the people of his State, in which I
find the following paragraph:
"The decline of the Christian religion, particularly in our rural
communities, is a marked feature of the times, and steps should be taken
to remedy it. No matter what our belief may be in religious matters,
every good citizen knows that when the restraining influences of
religion are withdrawn from a community, its decay, moral, mental
and financial, is swift and sure. To me this is one of the strongest
evidences of the fundamental truth of Christianity. I suggest to-day,
as far as possible on Fast-Day, union meetings be held, made up of all
shades of belief, including all who are interested in the welfare of our
State, and that in your prayers and other devotions and in your mutual
councils you remember and consider the problem of the condition of
religion in the rural communities. There are towns where no church bell
sends forth its solemn call from January to January. There are villages
where children grow to manhood unchristened. There are communities where
the dead are laid away without the benison of the name of the Christ,
and where marriages are solemnized only by Justices of the Peace. This
is a matter worthy of your thoughtful consideration, citizens of New
Hampshire. It does not augur well for the future. You can afford to
devote one day in the year to your fellow-men, to work and thought and
prayer for your children and your children's children."
These words of the Governor have caused surprise, discussion and danger.
Many ministers have denied that Christianity is declining, and have
attacked the Governor with the malice of meekness and the savagery of
humility. The question is: Is Christianity declining?
In order to answer this question we must state what Christianity is.
Christians tell us that there are certain fundamental truths that must
be believed.
We must believe in God, the creator and governor of the universe; in
Jesus Christ, his only begotten son; in the Holy Ghost; in the atonement
made by Christ; in salvation by faith; in the second birth; in heaven
for believers, in hell for deniers and doubters, and in the
inspiration of the Old and New Testaments. They must also believe in a
prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God, in special providence, and
in addition to all this they must practice a few ceremonies. This, I
believe, is a fair skeleton of Christianity. Of course I cannot give
an exact definition. Christians do not and never have agreed among
themselves. They have been disputing and fighting for many centuries,
and to-day they are as far apart as ever.
A few years ago Christians believed the "fundamental truths" They had
no doubts. They knew that God existed; that he made the world. They
knew when he commenced to work at the earth and stars and knew when he
finished. They knew that he, like a potter, mixed and moulded clay into
the shape of a man and breathed into its nostrils the breath of life.
They knew that he took from this man a rib and framed the first woman.
It must be admitted that sensible Christians have outgrown this belief.
Jehovah the gardener, the potter, the tailor, has been dethroned. The
story of creation is believed only by the provincial, the stupid, the
truly orthodox. People who have read Darwin and Haeckel and had sense
enough to understand these great men, laugh at the legends of the Jews.
A few years ago most Christians believed that Christ was the son of God,
and not only the son of God, but God himself.
This belief is slowly fading from the minds of Christians, from the
minds of those who have minds.
Many Christians now say that Christ was simply a man--a perfect man.
Others say that he was divine, but not actually God--a union of God and
man. Some say that while Christ was not God, he was as nearly like God
as it is possible for man to be.
The old belief that he was actually God--that he sacrificed himself unto
himself--that he deserted himself; that he bore the burden of his
own wrath; that he made it possible to save a few of his children by
shedding his own blood; that he could not forgive the sins of men until
they murdered him--this frightful belief is slowly dying day by
day. Most ministers are ashamed to preach these cruel and idiotic
absurdities. The Christ of our time is not the Christ of the New
Testament--not the Christ of the Middle Ages; nor of Luther, Wesley or
the Puritan fathers.
The Christ who was God--who was his own son and his own father--who
was born of a virgin, cast out devils, rose from the dead, and ascended
bodily to heaven--is not the Christ of to-day.
The Holy Ghost has never been accurately defined or described. He has
always been a winged influence--a divine aroma; a disembodied essence;
a spiritual climate; an enthusiastic flame; a something sensitive and
unforgiving; the real father of Jesus Christ.
A few years ago the clergy had a great deal to say about the Holy Ghost,
but now the average minister, while he alludes to this shadowy deity
to round out a prayer, seems ta have but little confidence in him. This
deity is and always has been extremely vague. He has been represented
in the form of a dove; but this form is not associated with much
intelligence.
Formerly it was believed that all men were by nature wicked, and that it
would be perfectly just for God to damn the entire human race. In fact,
it was thought that God, feeling that he had to damn all his children,
invented a scheme by which some could be saved and at the same time
justice could be satisfied. God knew that without the shedding of blood
there could be no remission of sin. For many centuries he was satisfied
with the blood of oxen, lambs and doves. But the sins continued to
increase. A greater sacrifice was necessary. So God concluded to make
the greatest possible sacrifice--to shed his own blood, that is to say,
to have it shed by his chosen people. This was the atonement--the scheme
of salvation--a scheme that satisfied justice and partially defeated the
Devil.
No intelligent Christians believe in this atonement. It is utterly
unphilosophic. The idea that man made salvation possible by murdering
God is infinitely absurd. This makes salvation the blossom of a
crime--the blessed fruit of murder. According to this the joys of heaven
are born of the agonies of innocence. If the Jews had been civilized--if
they had believed in freedom of conscience and had listened kindly and
calmly to the teachings of Christ, the whole world, including Christ's
mother, would have gone to hell.
Our fathers had two absurdities. They balanced each other. They said
that God could justly damn his children for the sin of Adam, and that he
could justly save his children on account of the sufferings and virtues
of Christ; that is to say, on account of his own sufferings and virtues.
This view of the atonement has mostly been abandoned. It is now
preached, not that Christ bought souls with his blood, but that he has
ennobled souls by his example. The supernatural part of the atonement
has, by the more intelligent, been thrown away. So the idea of imputed
sin--of vicarious vice--has been by many abandoned.
Salvation by faith is growing weak. People are beginning to see that
character is more important than belief; that virtue is above all
creeds. Civilized people no longer believe in a God who will damn an
honest, generous man. They see that it is not honest to offer a reward
for belief. The promise of reward is not evidence. It is an attempt to
bribe.
If God wishes his children to believe, he should furnish evidence.
He should not endeavor to make promises and threats take the place
of facts. To offer a reward for credulity is dishonest and
immoral--infamous.
To say that good people who never heard of Christ ought to be damned for
not believing on him is a mixture of idiocy and savagery.
People are beginning to perceive that happiness is a result, not a
reward; that happiness must be earned; that it is not alms. It is also
becoming apparent that sins cannot be forgiven; that no power can step
between actions and consequences; that men must "reap what they sow;"
that a man who has lived a cruel life cannot, by repenting between the
last dose of medicine and the last breath, be washed in the blood of the
Lamb, and become an angel--an angel entitled to an eternity of joy.
All this is absurd, but you may say that it is not cruel. But to say
that a man who has lived a useful life; who has made a happy home; who
has lifted the fallen, succored the oppressed and battled to uphold
the right; to say that such a man, because he failed to believe without
evidence, will suffer eternal pain, is to say that God is an infinite
wild beast.
Salvation for credulity means damnation for investigation.
At one time the "second birth" was regarded as a divine mystery--as a
miracle--a something done by a supernatural power; probably by the Holy
Ghost. Now ministers are explaining this mystery. A change of heart is a
change of ideas. About this there is nothing miraculous.
This happens to most men and women--happens many times in the life
of one man. If this happens without excitement--as the result of
thought--it is called reformation. If it occurs in a revival--if it is
the result of fright--it is called the "second birth."
A few years ago Christians believed in the inspiration of the Bible.
They had no doubts. The Bible was the standard. If some geologist found
a fact inconsistent with the Scriptures he was silenced with a text.
If some doubter called attention to a contradiction in the Bible he was
denounced as an ungodly and blaspheming wretch. Christians then knew
that the universe was only about six thousand years old, and any man who
denied this was an enemy of Christ and a friend of the Devil.
All this has changed. The Bible is no longer the standard. Science has
dethroned the inspired volume. Even theologians are taking facts
into consideration. Only ignorant bigots now believe in the plenary
inspiration of the Bible.
The intelligent ministers know that the Holy Scriptures are filled with
mistakes, contradictions and interpolations. They no longer believe in
the flood, in Babel, in Lot's wife or in the fire and brimstone storm.
They are not sure about the burning bush, the plagues of Egypt, the
division of the Red Sea or the miracles in the wilderness. All these
wonders are growing foolish. They belong to the Mother Goose of the
past, and many clergymen are ashamed to say that they believe them. So,
the lengthening of the day in order that General Joshua might have more
time to kill, the journey of Elijah to heaven, the voyage of Jonah
in the fish, and many other wonders of a like kind, have become so
transparently false that even a theologian refuses to believe.
The same is true of many of the miracles of the New Testament. No
sensible man now believes that Christ cast devils and unclean spirits
out of the bodies of men and women. A few years ago all Christians
believed all these devil miracles with all the mind they had. A few
years ago only Infidels denied these miracles, but now the theologians
who are studying the "Higher Criticism" are reaching the conclusions of
Voltaire and Paine. They have just discovered that the objections made
to the Bible by the Deists are supported by the facts.
At the same time these "Higher Critics," while they admit that the Bible
is not true, still insist that it is inspired.
The other evening I attended Forepaugh & Sell's Circus at Madison Square
Garden and saw a magnificent panorama of performances. While looking at
a man riding a couple of horses I thought of the "Higher Critics." They
accept Darwin and cling to Genesis. They admit that Genesis is false in
fact, and then assert that in a higher sense it is absolutely true.
A lie bursts into blossom and has the perfume of truth. These critics
declare that the Bible is the inspired word of God, and then establish
the truth of the declaration by showing that it is filled with
contradictions, absurdities and false prophecies.
The horses they ride, sometimes get so far apart that it seems to me
that walking would be easier on the legs.
So, I saw at the circus the "Snake Man." I saw him tie himself into all
kinds of knots; saw him make a necktie of his legs; saw him throw back
his head and force it between his knees; saw him twist and turn as
though his bones were made of rubber, and as I watched him I thought of
the mental doublings and contortions of the preachers who have answered
me.
Let Christians say what they will, the Bible is no longer the actual
word of God; it is no longer perfect; it is no longer quite true.
The most that is now claimed for the Bible by the "Higher Critics" is,
that some passages are inspired; that some passages are true, and that
God has left man free to pick these passages out.
The ministers are preaching Infidelity. What would Lyman Beecher have
thought of a man like Dr. Abbott? he would have consigned him to hell.
What would John Wesley have thought of a Methodist like Dr. Cadman? He
would have denounced him as a child of the Devil. What would Calvin have
thought of a Presbyterian like Professor Briggs? He would have burned
him at the stake, and through the smoke and flame would have shouted,
"You are a dog of Satan." How would Jeremy Taylor have treated an
Episcopalian like Heber Newton?
The Governor of New Hampshire is right when he says that Christianity
has declined. The flames of faith are flickering, zeal is cooling and
even bigotry is beginning to see the other side. I admit that there
are still millions of orthodox Christians whose minds are incapable of
growth, and who care no more for facts than a monitor does for bullets.
Such obstructions on the highway of progress are removed only by death.
The dogma of eternal pain is no longer believed by the reasonably
intelligent. People who have a sense of justice know that eternal
revenge cannot be enjoyed by infinite goodness. They know that hell
would make heaven impossible. If Christians believed in hell as they
once did, the fagots would be lighted again, heretics would be stretched
on the rack, and all the instruments of torture would again be stained
with innocent blood. Christianity has declined because intelligence has
increased.
Men and women who know something of the history of man, of the horrors
of plague, famine and flood, of earthquake, volcano and cyclone, of
religious persecution and slavery, have but little confidence in special
providence. They do not believe that a prayer was ever answered.
Thousands of people who accept Christ as a moral guide have thrown, away
the supernatural.
Christianity does not satisfy the brain and heart. It contains too many
absurdities. It is unphilosophic, unnatural, impossible. Not to resist
evil is moral suicide. To love your enemies is impossible. To desert
wife and children for the sake of heaven is cowardly and selfish. To
promise rewards for belief is dishonest. To threaten torture for honest
unbelief is infamous. Christianity is declining because men and women
are growing better.
The Governor was not satisfied with saying that Christianity had
declined, but he added this: "Every good citizen knows that when the
restraining influences of religion are withdrawn from a community, its
decay, moral, mental and financial is swift and sure."
The restraining influences of religion have never been withdrawn from
Spain or Portugal, from Austria or Italy. The "restraining influences"
are still active in Russia. Emperor William relies on them in Germany,
and the same influences are very busy taking care of Ireland. If these
influences should be withdrawn from Spain there would be "mental, moral
and financial decay." Is not this statement perfectly absurd?
The fact is that religion has reduced Spain to a guitar, Italy to a
hand organ and Ireland to exile. What are the restraining influences of
religion? I admit that religion can prevent people from eating meat on
Friday, from dancing in Lent, from going to the theatre on holy days and
from swearing in public. In other words, religion can restrain people
from committing artificial offences. But the real question is: Can
religion restrain people from committing natural crimes?
The church teaches that God can and will forgive sins.
Christianity sells sin on a credit. It says to men and women, "Be good;
do right; but no matter how many crimes you commit you can be forgiven."
How can such a religion be regarded as a restraining influence! There
was a time when religion had power; when the church ruled Christendom;
when popes crowned and uncrowned kings. Was there at that time moral,
mental and financial growth? Did the nations thus restrained by
religion, prosper? When these restraining influences were weakened, when
popes were humbled, when creeds were denied, did morality, intelligence
and prosperity begin to decay?
What are the restraining influences of religion? Did anybody ever hear
of a policeman being dismissed because a new church had been organized?
Christianity teaches that the man who does right carries a cross. The
exact opposite of this is true. The cross is carried by the man who
does wrong. I believe in the restraining influences of intelligence.
Intelligence is the only lever capable of raising mankind. If you wish
to make men moral and prosperous develop the brain. Men must be taught
to rely on themselves. To supplicate the supernatural is a waste of
time.
The only evils that have been caused by the decline of Christianity,
as pointed out by the Governor, are that in some villages they hear no
solemn bells, that the dead are buried without Christian ceremony, that
marriages are contracted before Justices of the Peace, and that children
go unchristened.
These evils are hardly serious enough to cause moral, mental and
financial decay. The average church bell is not very musical--not
calculated to develop the mind or quicken the conscience. The absence of
the ordinary funeral sermon does not add to the horror of death, and
the failure to hear a minister say, as he stands by the grave, "One star
differs in glory from another star. There is a difference between the
flesh of fowl and fish. Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt
good manners," does not necessarily increase the grief of the mourners.
So far as children are concerned, if they are vaccinated, it does not
make much difference whether they are christened or not.
Marriage is a civil contract, and God is not one of the contracting
parties. It is a contract with which the church has no business to
interfere. Marriage with us is regulated by law. The real marriage--the
uniting of hearts, the lighting of the sacred flame in each--is the work
of Nature, and it is the best work that nature does. The ceremony of
marriage gives notice to the world that the real marriage has taken
place. Ministers have no real interest in marriages outside of the fees.
Certainly marriages by Justices of the Peace cannot cause the mental,
moral and financial decay of a State.
The things pointed out by the Governor were undoubtedly produced by
the decline of Christianity, but they are not evils, and they cannot
possibly injure the people morally, mentally or financially. The
Governor calls on the people to think, work and pray. With two-thirds of
this I agree. If the people of New Hampshire will think and work without
praying they will grow morally, mentally and financially. If they pray
without working and thinking, they will decay.
Prayer is beggary--an effort to get something for nothing. Labor is the
honest prayer.
I do not think that the good and true in Christianity are declining. The
good and true are more clearly perceived and more precious than ever.
The supernatural, the miraculous part of Christianity is declining.
The New Testament has been compelled to acknowledge the jurisdiction of
reason. If Christianity continues to decline at the same rate and ratio
that it has declined in this generation, in a few years all that is
supernatural in the Christian religion will cease to exist. There is a
conflict--a battle between the natural and the supernatural. The natural
was baffled and beaten for thousands of years. The flag of defeat was
carried by the few, by the brave and wise, by the real heroes of our
race. They were conquered, captured, imprisoned, tortured and burned.
Others took their places. The banner was kept in the air. In spite of
countless defeats the army of the natural increased. It began to gain
victories. It did not torture and kill the conquered. It enlightened
and blessed. It fought ignorance with science, cruelty with kindness,
slavery with justice, and all vices with virtues. In this great conflict
we have passed midnight. When the morning comes its rays will gild but
one flag--the flag of the natural.
All over Christendom religions are declining. Only children and the
intellectually undeveloped have faith--the old faith that defies facts.
Only a few years ago to be excommunicated by the pope blanched the
cheeks of the bravest. Now the result would be laughter. Only a few
years ago, for the sake of saving heathen souls, priests would brave all
dangers and endure all hardships.
I once read the diary of a priest--one who long ago went down the
Illinois River, the first white man to be borne on its waters. In this
diary he wrote that he had just been paid for all that he had suffered.
He had added a gem to the crown of his glory--had saved a soul for
Christ. He had baptized a papoose.
That kind of faith has departed from the world.
The zeal that flamed in the hearts of Calvin, Luther and Knox, is
cold and dead. Where are the Wesleys and Whitfields? Where are the old
evangelists, the revivalists who swayed the hearts of their hearers with
words of flame? The preachers of our day have lost the Promethean fire.
They have lost the tone of certainty, of authority. "Thus saith the
Lord" has dwindled to "perhaps." Sermons, messages from God, promises
radiant with eternal joy, threats lurid with the flames of hell--have
changed to colorless essays; to apologies and literary phrases; to
inferences and peradventures.
"The blood-dyed vestures of the Redeemer are not waving in triumph over
the ramparts of sin and rebellion," but over the fortresses of faith
float the white flags of truce. The trumpets no longer sound for battle,
but for parley. The fires of hell have been extinguished, and heaven
itself is only a dream. The "eternal verities" have changed to doubts.
The torch of inspiration, choked with ashes, has lost its flame. There
is no longer in the church "a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty
wind;" no "cloven tongues like as of fire;" no "wonders in the heaven
above," and no "signs in the earth beneath." The miracles have faded
away and the sceptre is passing from superstition to science--science,
the only possible savior of mankind.