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The Church and the Stage

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 24, 1913

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 17.

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The Church and the Stage

In the Western Recorder of March 27, A. C. Dixon quotes Sir Beerbohm Tree as saying that the church and the stage have now come together and are on friendly terms. To this Dr. Dixon truly replies: “If so, it is not because the stage has been lifted to the level of the true church, but rather because the church has fallen to the level of the stage.” He then contrasts the difference between these two institutions as follows:—
The difference between the church and the stage is an impassable gulf. The purpose of the stage is to teach people how to act a part; the purpose of the church of Christ is to teach them how to be real. The purpose of the stage is to amuse; the purpose of the church is to save. The symbol of the church of Christ is the cross; the symbol of the stage may well be the baby’s rattle. The purpose of the stage is to make money, and managers are not slow to do it, even at the expense of good morals; the purpose of the church of Christ is to make character, and good morals are not for sale at any price. The stage gives what the people want, and, sad to say, the worst plays often draw the biggest crowds; the purpose of the church of Christ is to give what people need, regardless of its popularity. The stage ministers to “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father;” the purpose of the church of Christ is to crucify these things. The stage is a caterer; the church of Christ is a prophet. The stage in its tragedies glorifies revenge; the church of Christ teaches forgiveness of enemies and the patient endurance of wrong. The tendency of the stage is to make people childish in their feverish desire for diversion; the work of the church is to make people childlike in their faith and love and simplicity of character. The tendency of the stage is to keep the race in its childhood of self-gratifying amusement; the work of the church is to lead the race into the manhood of self-sacrificing achievement.