Show considered in the contemporary review tor for may mr richard heath discusses very strikingly the religious movement known as evangelicalism as formerly carried on by wesley arid and whitefield and in our own day by spurgeon moody and others and which it may be added ildved derives its origin from the so called of germany its distinguishing feature is its centralization around the he atoning work of the savior its teachings almost exclusively refer to his sufferings and death taking its stand on the hill of calvary it reverently and tearfully contemplates the tragedy there enacted with such intensity as to become forgetful of the which cross was but aut the stepping stone it is mt met with everywhere in Protes christendom often it has manifested bitter antagonism to the messengers af pf a doepel incomprehensive to the votaries vot aries mr heath takes the view that this pech peculiar liar movement is waning not because agnosticism is more general amon mong the masses of the people but BIM simply D g because evangelicalism has shown its own inability to save the world he believes people as a general rule are just juat as religiously inclined as they ever were yet the evangelical denominations are diminishing in numbers or failing to keep pace with the population the english baptists barely ly hold their own the wesleyann wesleyans Wesle Weale increase but five per cent while the population increases seven and a half per cent the attendance upon the services in the larger cities actually de cravea crae en ea protestant churches in prance france are declining atthe rate of one church a year in berlin ten per cent of the population attend churches and in hamburg only one and a half per cent once in a while revivals occur and now new interest seems to be awakened but the he results do not appear to be permanent the reasons given by the contributor to the te contemporary review for this decline are worthy of thoughtful consideration he says ays came into existence under an extremely individualistic and competitive order of things and his has seen nothing in the gospel but a plan of individual salvation it has had but little idea of the common salvation of the of mankind in iii christ and of the mutual mu responsibility fusibility of all men it has hardly hArd lV seeded to tb understand that a 11 helner ear wa was iff te world hopeni opening n aaeng en enist eyes to ahw wit hat la is e ech gradually hir thero notions of what is right r and anda a better judgment as asto to the real good and the real evil and falling to comprehend this evangelicalism has never understood the age in which it has run its course continuing his indictment mr heath says evangelicalism has denied god in history has refused to recognize his providential government of the or if it has not formally taken up this infidel position it hits treated the question with contempt als blindness to the great social sunrise which has lit up the whole century and is gradually leading to the emancipation of the laboring classes in europe and america has lost evangelicalism the opportunity it has desired to be the herald to them and all the world of the great salvation and still more this blindness has strengthened in it that hardness of heart and contempt of gods word and commandment which characterize the whole of christendom and which is one of the reasons why its official representatives senta tives have not only lost their hold on the masses but have driven into antagonism so ganv of the more conscientious ious and finer souls in europe and america another point the author makes is this that nas has displayed an astonishing lack of christian brotherhood it has allowed he says even those who have worked for it as faithfully as its agents to sink into being recipients of parish relief or to die in the workhouse and in that class which has afforded ism such support and whose families have been its peculiar domain how many hundreds of merchants traders and farmers of whom it has made I 1 much in their prosperity has it allowed when ruin overtook them to die brokenhearted broken hearted or in bitterness of spirit mr heath admits that his charges are serious but he justifies himself in the following argument contempt of gods word and com man dment is a serious but can it be said to be too severe a description of a movement which has systematically and persistently ignored the main teachings of the gospels it if in christ as evangelicalism evangelical ism has always taught dwelt the falness of the godhead bodily if he was in fact the divine wisdom fal teaching men the true way of life I 1 f e how can evangelicalism be acquitted of contempt of gods word when in place of obeying hla his commandments it has led its followers to regard the sermon on the mount as an impossible ideal which no sensible man could really think of taking as a rule of life causing men therefore to regard gods word as something quixotic and utopian possibly the greatest defect of the religious form here subjected to criticism is its failure to recognize the true nature and mission of the church of christ on earth it seems to have lost sight of the fact that this organization although not of the world Is in the world and that its ultimate object is to transform the world in accordance with the teachings of jesusi jesus in contemplating tem plating the invisible church it neglects the necessary rules and regulations of the visible church it boldly soars away into the dep depths of mysticism far above the thorny and rocky path of reality where toil and struggle and millions perish but that to is not the christianity that reaches out after that which to is lost offering a helping hand to the humblest of gods creatures there must be a return to that christianity a re establishment not only of orthodoxy but of 0 divine power and authority the world it seems la 19 beginning be to realize its need of primitive or what hat la Is t tie the same the gospel restored happy arg are those who can understand the signs of the times for the almighty is at work among the nations of the earth preparing for the beginning of a new era |