OUR “CHRISTIAN NATION.”
By Editor
Is THIS a Christian nation? Thus the Supreme Court decided; and thus we are repeatedly told. It is said that Christianity is pervading all nations, that “this is a Christian nation,” that the human forces that make for good are dominant, etc., etc., etc., ad infinitum. And at the same time every earthly result of note proves the contrary. And in their sober thought our most optimistic men present evidence which shows that the world is growing worse. Before us lies an appeal to the public on the great “gambling evil,” which says:— An abundance of facts and figures is at hand to prove that this evil has been rapidly increasing in this country in recent years, and that it has already reached a magnitude hardly conceivable to those who have not investigated the subject. This appeal is signed by prominent men, mostly ministers, among whom are Bishop J. H. Vincent, President F. L. Patton, of Princeton College, Rev. R. S. MacArthur, D. D., Bishop J. F. Hurst, Rt. Rev. F. D. Huntington, D.D., Hon. Noah Davis, Ex-chief Justice New York State Supreme Court, Revs. E. P. Ingersoll, D.D.; Josiah Strong, D.D., Chas. L. Thompson, D.D., and others of equal note. They talk of the crime, misery, disgrace, and ruin which follow the evil, and declare “that over $2,898,000 was stolen in a single year recently by men who had lost money playing the races.” As regards the status of the temperance cause the Independent of November 9, 1893, declares:— No careful observer can well doubt that the drink habit is on the increase. This is certainly true of social drinking. Families entirely abstemious ten years ago now think nothing of having wine at dinner. This custom, which seemed at one time to have died out almost entirely, has been generally revived, at least in the Northern States. The saloon evil has grown to tremendous proportions. Our consumption of beer and ale is something terrible to contemplate; . . . nor does it seem to have sensibly diminished the consumption of the more fiery potations. The condition of the temperance cause has been anything but encouraging for the past three or four years, and the outlook is certainly not bright. Many who contemplate the prevalence of the increasing drink habit, and the apparent failure of legislative attempts to check it, are discouraged and do not know what to do. The same paper, of the same date, has an article headed “An Atmosphere of Crime,” and the first paragraph reads thus:— That is what we seem to be living in, here in New York and New Jersey. Moral right has temporarily shut us in, and we have to rub our eyes to find out where we are and whither we are being led. And this is about the same story that is told us by reputable journals of most localities. In the Old World matters are no better. The black clouds of intemperance, war, anarchism, and plutocracy gloom the entire land. The rich corporations of our own land hold in their grasp the governmental powers, and grind down the people at their will. Parties change, but gold and greed hold sway. The professed church of Christ, panic stricken, turns from her Lord—rather, she has already turned from her Lord, and is therefore panic-stricken—and clamors for earthly power, for human law, to do the work of the gospel of Christ. And yet this is a “Christian nation”! Christian, forsooth! the golden calf, the shrines of Plutus, of Venus, of Aphroditus, of Bacchus, are more numerous in the land than the altars of the living God, and their worshipers are more numerous and devoted; aye, they are found among the professed worshipers of Christ. Some, like Jeroboam of old, will declare, “Come and see my zeal for Jehovah,” but they crush out the worshipers of Baal to set up instead the calves of gold. Are we discouraged?—No; God lives and reigns. Nations and governments may prove false to their trust; the church of Christ may become apostate Babylon, yet Christ is risen indeed. He has a people in the earth, in the world, and in all the churches, and he will call them out by the same mighty gospel which shattered idol temples and shook the empire of Rome from center to circumference. His word abides; its foretold omens of the coming King are marshaling before us; in the closing gloom of the night of sin bright rays of the coming radiant morning flash hope to his children, and reveal to those trusting in him the glorious highway of his commandments, and the standard of his glorious gospel message.