Churches and the Mammonistic Spirit
“The Homiletic Review” for June tells us, in reply to the question, “How far is the church responsible for the prevalence of the mammonistic spirit?” that “many preachers bravely fight the prevalent mammonism and inquire the way to a more successful warfare; but some have yielded to the contagion and are leavening others with the same leaven. The mammonistic spirit is positively promoted by churches when the expensive pews, the dress, the entire atmosphere, make it evident that there is neither room nor welcome for the poorer members of society.” A pastor is quoted as saying: “What the Protestant churches want is rich men. The more rich men they get, the better they succeed. Their ideal is a rich social organization. The progress of the world is toward democracy; the trend of the Protestant churches is to an aristocracy.” We are glad this is not universal. May God open the eyes money has blinded.