Prospect of the Religious World.
THE custom has so long prevailed of giving only favorable accounts of the spread of Christianity in the world, and of the evidences, which many affect to see, of the approach of the millennium, that it has been considered quite out of order to invite those who hold such ideas to examine into the real facts on the subject. Some cheering news has of late come to us from a few places in heathen lands, of converts being baptized into the faith of Christ; a few out of the hundreds of millions of benighted pagans coming to the light of life. But this prospect of good, which we would not undervalue because it is small, is set against a dark background of sad truths concerning our own land and other nations popularly styled “Christian.” In England the converts to the Romish church from the Episcopal or English church form a continuous stream, not of the lower or ignorant classes, who, we might expect, would be captivated by the gaudy forms of the Romish ritual, but of the educated and titled classes; of the leaders of public opinion in both ecclesiastical and civil life. The fifth published list of recent converts, which we have examined, contains over three hundred names, most of them of eminent people; some of them wielding a powerful influence. The highest dignitaries of the established church either feel little concern over the matter, or consider themselves incapable of staying the tide; for scarcely anything whatever is done to arrest the progress of the work of perversion. Some of these converts to Rome, who have held high places in the English church, declare that they held for years in that church on private judgment, that which they hold on a surer basis—that of authority—in the Romish church. They claim that consistency requires them to go over to Rome; which may be quite true from the ritualistic stand-point, which is now the popular side in the English church. But the outlook is not pleasing, to behold the church of one of the largest nations of the earth, and considered one of the most Christian nations of the earth, making such rapid strides towards the darkness of the darkest centuries of the perversion of Christianity. Many have rejoiced over the prospect on the continent of Europe, because Italy has been united under a secular king to the entire overthrow of the civil power of the papacy; and Prussia, under the policy of Bismarck, has checked the ultramontane spirit of the Catholic church. We can see very little over which to rejoice in either event. The opposition which the papacy has received in Prussia is akin to that which it received from Voltaire and his associates. There is nothing seen of the spirit of Wickliffe in the overthrow of the civil power of the Romish church; no undermining of the pillars of error by the power of sacred truth. It has been a strife of error against error for the mastery; one form of despotism trying to demolish another form, with the sole object of serving its own purposes. And the only forcible opposition which despotism itself receives is from communism,—the most dangerous element in the State. This is a conflict between tyranny and anarchy; and of the two, anarchy is more to be feared and dreaded. For even oppressive order and rule of law is better than the disorder and misrule of lawlessness. In the midst of this confusion the stoutest hearts tremble for the future. Superstition is not being corrected and reformed; there is no general inquiry for the light of truth. It would not be surprising if, in the midst of the trouble which is impending there would be reaction in favor of the rule of the pope; if the superstitious masses should attribute their disasters to their unfaithfulness to “the church,” and trust to the strength of this central power to best guide and control the conflicting elements. Looking in every direction we find that the interests of pure Christianity are in the hands of a very few as compared, not to the whole population, but to the number of those who make Christianity the instrument to aid them in their ambition for worldly gain and honors. And what are the prospects in our own more favored land? Turning from the theatre of civil strife—from the politicians, speculators, and communists,—we inquire for the ground of hope in the prospect presented by the religious part of this nation; where there is certainly as much to be expected as in any quarter of the globe. We have a few statistics furnished to our hand, of a suggestive nature. The Cincinnati Gazette is one of the most reliable papers in the country. Although it is a “secular” and political paper, its conductor is a member of the Presbyterian church, and takes a lively interest in everything pertaining to the moral and religious affairs of the country. It recently presented some figures which have been largely commented upon by the religious press. But we have not seen one religious paper which appears to be awake to the lesson which these figures teach. The Gazette sent out its reporters to canvass the churches in that city, and they gave the entire attendance at all the Protestant churches on a Sunday morning. It amounted to 12,487. This in a population of nearly 300,000. But the smallness of the number compared to the whole population is not the most suggestive of the facts connected with these figures. The reporters visited the theatres open on Sunday evening and found the attendance to be 9,820; a few minor ones were not counted, which would swell the figures to over 10,000. Forty years ago it was often cited as evidence that New Orleans was the wickedest city in the United States, that the theatres were open on Sunday. Now in the city of Cincinnati the attendance at the theatres on Sunday evening is found by actual count to be almost equal to that at all the Protestant churches including Swedenborgians, Unitarians, and Universalists, on Sunday morning. And yet this is not all. A Cincinnati correspondent of the Christian at Work, commenting on these figures, says:— “Seventeen of the English-speaking Methodist churches in this city, the united attendance upon which on a recent Sabbath was 2,113, claim a membership of 4,497. If this proportion is true of other denominations, we cannot doubt that at least two-thirds of the reputed church members failed to put in an appearance on that day at their respective places of worship.” The italics are his; and full well is the statement worthy of especial notice. His conclusion seems to be safely drawn, for we may not suppose that all who did attend were church members. A similar estimate recently made shows that in Chicago there are over 12,000 church members who regularly absent themselves from public worship. It was also ascertained that, in Cincinnati, the houses of worship were not nearly filled, many of the congregations being very small. Some attempt was made to apologize on account of the unfavorable state of the weather. But this was met with the reply that the weather did not prevent a large attendance at the beer gardens, and at the theatres opened; and the attendance at Catholic worship was large, every house being crowded. A similar reason was given some time since for the failure of a missionary meeting in Cleveland for want of attendance. And there also it was replied that hundreds were turned away from the doors of the theatres, on the same evening, for want of room. A correspondent of the Christian Union also speaks on this point. He says that safely estimating the population of Cincinnati at 250,000, any computation which can be made will leave 100,000 beyond any direct Christian influence. “In some of our very largest and finest churches,” he writes, “the average evening audience is from 75 to 100 persons; while at the same time from 3,000 to 5,000 persons may frequently be found at any of our hill-top resorts, reveling in the enjoyment of music, beer, and tobacco smoke. Of these hill-top resorts we have four, and 15,000 people is a moderate estimate of the number who are sometimes gathered at these four places on Sunday evenings, not to mention the hundreds of concert halls, theatrical performances, and beer saloons in all parts of the city, and the thousands who frequent and support them.” We have no idea that Cincinnati is worse than the average of American cities. To the contrary, we think few could present a better showing, while some would prove much worse. It is a common custom with many to denounce as fault finders all who call in question the boasts of the progress of the age. But it is not wise to shut our eyes to the facts, especially when the facts are so ominous of coming evil as these are. The following conclusion we think is beyond the possibility of denial,—that the Protestant churches are not only losing their influence upon the world, but upon their own membership also. It is sad to contemplate that the light is becoming darkness with those who have stood as the conservators of public morals; the salt is losing its savor. The warning of Rom. 11: 20-22 falls unheeded on the ears of converts from the Gentile world. We have ideas of the cause of this, which we cannot now state. But the facts stare us in the face, and they are truly alarming. We fear that very few who ought to rise up and sound an alarm, and call upon all to inquire into the causes of this state of things and to put them away, will be faithful to their calling as watchmen. But the Lord will never suffer the people or the nation to go down unwarned. If they who ought, by reason of their position, to lead out in a radical reform, fail in their duty, God will raise up those who will discharge that duty, and receive the crown which follows it. Rev. 3:11.