Condition of Religion in Germany by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 29, 1873

Condition of Religion in Germany.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

The following from the Christian Union of May 14, 1873, gives a lively picture of religion as it now is in Germany, right at the birthplace of Protestantism. This is the condition of the millions of Protestant Christians of Europe! Read this, and then tell us if Babylon has not fallen.

“A GERMAN COUNTRY TOWN.

“The little German country town where I am staying—Blankenburg am Harz—is situated in the Duchy of Brunswick, where the established church is Lutheran. Just to the south, lie Mansfeld and Eisleben. So you may say that it is close by the fountain of the Reformation. It became, in early times, so thoroughly Protestant that to-day it contains only two Catholic inhabitants. Here, then, one might expect to find German Protestantism at its best estate.

“On entering the church for the first time, I was surprised to see, in a town of 5000 inhabitants and only two churches, so few at church. In the gallery were about fifty soldiers, who were detailed to go to church. Besides these, I counted thirty-six persons. Since the first Sunday, the pastor of the other church has been removed by death, and no service has been held there. But our congregation has not by this means been perceptibly enlarged.

“The average has remained about the same through the summer—from thirty to fifty of the towns-people. In the last eight weeks, the soldiers quartered here have been absent on a “manœuvre,” as they call it, and without them the church appears almost empty. Six or seven old men are in their places every Sunday. The rest of the willing church-goers are mostly women. The boys in the gymnasium are obliged to go to church once in three weeks, but complain of the tyranny. It is noticeable that among willing church-goers appears hardly a single young man. The boys are, as a matter of course, confirmed when they come to suitable years. To outward appearance, they are, for the most part, confirmed in indifference to the church.

“In the afternoon of every Sabbath, a service is held especially for the candidates for confirmation. It is not so well attended as the morning service. It takes the place of a Sabbath-school, an institution which is almost entirely unknown in this country. There is one Sabbath-school in Braunschweig, started by some ladies who caught the Sabbath-school spirit from England. This school has struggled forward under much opposition from the clergy, till it is now in a flourishing condition. It has not yet been able to secure male teachers.

“It seemed to me a pity that the good sermons of our pastor here should have so few hearers. But I was informed that he was quite fortunate in this respect; and that the pastor in the neighboring village of Timrode has been often obliged, for want of an audience, to go home with his undelivered sermon under his arm.

“Once our church has been full. The second of September, the anniversary of Sedan, was celebrated with great zeal throughout all North Germany. A part of the celebration was a church service in the morning. On that occasion we had at least 400 in the church. Then came the doctors, the lawyers, the town officers, and the aristocracy.

“To the outward eye, the social element here makes more of a display than the religious. By every object of interest in the neighborhood, be it an old castle, or a high rock, or a wild waterfall, stands a hotel of some kind. It is the regular practice of the families in good society to take coffee or beer at one or another of these hotels every afternoon. If the weather is good, the question always arises: “Where shall we take our coffee this afternoon?” Social life centers around these hotels. Here the children meet for play; and here, too, the young men and maidens rejoice in each other’s company. Of course a good deal of beer is drunk at these gatherings; or, at least, what seems to an American a good deal. A steady, temperate man in this part of Germany drinks on an average four glasses a day. The people here speak of the Bavarians as beer-guzzlers, because they drink on an average seven glasses a day. In Munich, children drink beer as soon as they are weaned. The reason is that the water is not fit to drink, and beer is cheaper than milk. Here, although the children do not begin quite so early, young men often come up to the Bavarian standard of seven glasses a day; but always with the disapprobation of the parents.

“Sunday is of all days the social day. All marriages, picnics, and shooting feasts, are, if possible, made to come on Sunday. On my first Sunday afternoon here, having just recovered from the shock occasioned by the almost empty church, I took a walk of some four miles into the woods to see some of the richest scenery in the Harz mountains. From one high rock I looked down and saw seven lager beer saloons, or gardens. In several of them were bands of music. And gathered about these points of attraction were, at a moderate calculation, 4,000 persons. An American unacquainted with the customs of the country, might think, Here are the wicked ones of Germany. Not so. Here are the church members who were missing at the church in the morning, as well as the few who were present. Hither also have come the pastors from the neighboring villages, for relaxation after their morning and afternoon work.

“If a man should undertake to teach German children not to play on Sunday, I venture to say the majority would not understand what he meant. The older ones might take him for an American or an Englishman. But the little ones, who know nothing about foreigners, would very likely think he was crazy.

“The distinction between religious and irreligious people is not so sharply drawn here as with us. Besides the matter of church going, many of the outward distinctions between church members and “world’s people,” which exist with us in such matters as dancing and card-playing, are unknown here. The pastor’s wife asked me if it was really a fact that there were people in America who held it wrong to dance?

“Judged by our standard, the people here are shockingly profane. A little girl of the sweetest temper sits at the piano, and when she strikes a wrong key, says: “God!” or “Lord Jesus!” She is no more ruffled than an American girl would be when she could express her feelings with an “Oh, dear!” These expressions are not branded with the name of profanity here. What is a little comical is, that the parents will generally scold their children if they hear them say, “Donnerwetter!” which, translated, means “By thunder!”

“If an orthodox New England Christian of the stricter sort were appointed to run the dividing line here between the elect and the non-elect, he would probably give it up and pronounce the whole population “medium sinners.” As far as I have seen, there are very few atheists here. It seems to be an axiom, handed down from father to son, that to suppose a world without a Creator is nonsense. This is the whole creed of many. A man who holds so much is religious. The rest is optional. The Germans ought to be apostles of toleration; for, no doubt, the great mass of the laymen think much as the dentist though who told me: “I have come to the conclusion that one religion is just as good as another.”

“A New England preacher, if he were to preach here, would have to leave behind him such expressions as “Experiencing religion,” “Change of heart,” “Finding the Saviour.” The corresponding ideas are not current. The expressions would be untranslatable.

“On one topic of theology are young and old zealous. Though the pastors are often to the contrary, the intelligent laymen are almost unanimous in asserting that there is no personal devil. When one notices what a prominent feature the devil plays in the German nursery tales, and how many objects are named after him here in the mountains, for example, “Devil’s Wall,” “Devil’s Bridge,” “Devil’s Mill,” “Devil’s Kettle,” it seems as if this new feeling is only a natural reaction from an excessive belief in the devil.”

“While the church may be gaining a few thousands in the heathen lands, millions are apostatizing at home. Surely this does not look like the millennium at hand!”

D. M. CANRIGHT.