| Show A GODLESS AUM alie the author of life without a master makes the following observations relative to the christianity of the present age so far as europe and america are concerned this is emphatically a godless age such enlightened countries as france and germany make scarcely any pretensions in the way of christianity and as lar far as america is concerned her efforts in the same department are largely made up either of pretense or show the Chris christian people so called of the present century have only one day to devote to religion and only a small portion of the day t L business takes pece dence over everything of a character and what little there is done in that line is ia left chiefly to women and children grownup grown up men have no time to waste for such purposes unless it be when they have retired from busies pursuits or when on account of they expect to survive but a short time business men seldom have time even to pray especially so long as matters go along prosperously with them they might call upon god for help in case of a cyclone or some other desperate emergency but except under such rare co conditions adit to n S as these they feel that they have no occasion tor for the intercession even of the supreme being people have gradually drifted for a hundred years or more into a very worldly way indeed ever since the advent of that kallanj valiant and noble defender of the cross martin luther religious sentiment has beer been more or less on the decline martin meant it all right enough no better christian wan man than he has ever eiver lived provided we measure his conduct entirely by his own standard martin only intended to introduce some im In theology but as a direct result of his teaching was wag cut loose from its moorings and it has been drifting ever since As long as the pope and the priests weye were wed iwed to decide what the people should believe and what not thano a went along smoothly and pleasantly enough but when people were given the bible to read and they were allowed to construe its passages according to their own individual interests or fancy confusion followed and matters have been growing worse ever since or in other words faith in the bible and its teachings has been growing weaker and weaker from day to day down to the present time but this godlessness of our age is in decidedly phenomenal in the history of this world going back not only deeds but thousands of years the no record of anything like it 3 today outside of europe and A am the case is entirely entire lv different edans who are spread 0 oi asia and africa in such immense me bers are emphatically a devot idu people they believe in god ab therefore they worship him they ship him not only daily but hou hour tj the same is true of the chinese and ria the native people of india though ift course their idea af god is not JHa 1 l ours but it is well to bear in ant lidit iti la l that when the quantity of religion B 1 so excessive the quality is apt to IMF inferior X |
