p. 7 | The Decadence of Spiritual Life

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 16, 1909

The Decadence of Spiritual Life

WRITING to the Christian World (London), Rev. F. B. Meyer sounds a clear note concerning the decadence of spiritual life in the church:—

We have heard a great deal of the arrested progress of the church; and, alas! there are but too many evidences of it. As I travel over the country, I meet with few exceptions to the general lament over the recession of the tide. But, in my judgment, it is not due to the New Theology, nor to the rise of Christian Socialism, but to the diluted spirituality of the church. The old-time temperature, in which prayer-meetings, missionary effort, family prayer, and twice-attendance at the place of worship used to flourish, is very sensibly lowered. . . . I am no sour-faced bigot; but it breaks my heart to see the decay of the old strong spiritual robustness of our forefathers, due to the material wealth, the love of pleasure, the superficiality and scrappiness of our age.

This testimony from one who is well prepared to speak on the subject, but who is not an alarmist, is clear and impressive. We now face the falling away of Protestantism.