A DEADLY REMEDY by S.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 23, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 43.

A DEADLY REMEDY.

By S.

A SYSTEM wrecked by morphine can not be restored by a further use of the drug. The protesting nerves may be anesthetized and thus temporarily quieted by continued doses, just as the “nerves” of the habitual tobacco-user are smothered in the fumes of the pipe and cigaret; but a cure does not come by their further use. If persisted in as a remedy, the evil is increased. The remedy is a dangerous and deadly one.

No more dangerous or deadly, however, is the remedy which the noted writer and preacher, Charles M. Sheldon, is proposing for the unsatisfactory conditions which he finds in the religious world. He says:—

I do not see any prospect of a change for the better until we have established a school for Christian acting, or even founded a theater which shall be as distinctively Christian in its purpose, in its financial management, and in its entire life, as the most Christian home or church that we now possess. That this is within the reach of possibility I believe, because I believe in the elevating power of Christianity over all things that belong to humanity. The histrionic passion is a part of life. If it can be ministered to through a Christian channel, there is no telling what wonderful impulses might be set in motion, or what influence upon conduct and character might be permanently established.

Thus, then, the work of the church, from the day when its founder was baptized in Jordan, has been a failure, the methods which He devised for the establishment of His kingdom are inadequate and out of date. The whole proposition is a denial of the power and foresight of God in devising a plan for man’s redemption; a declaration that the founder of the church has established a work which He is unable to complete in the way which He designed; and that the inventions of the world are more efficacious for God than are the ways which God Himself has pointed out, and the instruments which He has dedicated to His service.

The actor is always playing a part; and in the “Christian theater” which Mr. Sheldon proposes, the actor would still be “acting a part,” representing for the time a character other than his own true character. This is being done already by altogether too many who profess the name of Christ; and it is this very fact that is responsible for very many of the unsatisfactory conditions existing in the church to-day. Christ demands that His followers represent Him, and Him alone, in all things. They are never to play a part for any purpose. They are to present and represent the realities of the Christian religion. This they can not do when playing a part in any conceivable drama or tragedy of the stage. The world knows that that which is put upon the stage of the theater is imaginary, unreal, deceptive; and “Christian playwrights” would be expected to produce for the entertainment of the world that which was imaginary, unreal, deceptive. Thus would the cord of real Christian influence be broken so that it could not draw; and thus would the edge of real Christian truth be dulled and broken.

Rather let it be said: “I am not ashamed of the ‘Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto ‘salvation.” That has never been said of the theater—it never can be truly said. There is no place for the “Christian theater” or any other theater in God’s plan of salvation, and the true Christian will not look for any such device.