Mr. World and Miss Church-Member: A Twentieth Century AllegoryHarris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Religion
Mr. World and Miss Church-Member: A Twentieth Century Allegory
Harris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Christian fiction
“Silence, thou agent of the Devil! Thou art again dealing in falsehood.
When thou speakest to me, speak truthfully or hold thy tongue in
quietness.”
He rolled his eyes at me, but spoke no more.
In the early hours of the following day I saw the same two companions
enter Hall No. 13 devoted to “The Best Literature for a True Christian
to Read.” They moved leisurely from table to table scanning and reading
the books and booklets which, in great variety, lay before them.
Weariness urged them to a seat in the lecture department where they
were entertained by a scholarly address on “_Choice Literature for a
Christian._”
“It must not be forgotten.” said the speaker in one part of his address,
“that the mind can be ruined by lack of vigorous exercise. In the
physical body the stomach would become weak and sickly were it not
compelled, quite frequently, to digest strong foods or a great variety
of them. So also the mind, in order to reach its true development,
needs a wide variety of thought-food. Not alone that of a
sickly-sentimental or sanctimonious kind which in its place is all
right, but such a variety as will best stimulate the mind in a
well-rounded, liberal education. In particular, a good Christian should
peruse such literature as will inform him thoroughly concerning the
enemies of Christianity. He should not spurn, but rather study
infidelity, skepticism and every other hostile movement, so that he
may be able the better to appreciate his own position. The Bible is
not so much a book for reading, as a book of reference, and therefore
a Christian’s loyalty to Christ must not be measured by his reading
and studying the Bible, but by his success in locating the enemies of
the cross and studying their designs, looking over their encampments,
and estimating the strength of their weapons. If he becomes thus
acquainted with the foe, he is in better position to order an advance,
or to effect a treaty whereby much strife may be avoided.”
Hall No. 16 was next visited. It offered to its patrons a happy time.
Here the work of the artist was in pleasing evidence. On beautiful
walls were pictured retreats of all kinds. The games and sports, in
endless variety, which make merry the park, field and glen, were the
subjects of some of the paintings.
These were the titles of some of the larger wall paintings:
“A restful day under the oak.”
“The campers at the midday meal.”
“An hour of idle reading.” “Around the camp-fire at night.”
“At rest beside the bounding brook.”
“Along the beach at bathing time.”
“The cottage by the sea.”
Nothing was said about the paintings on the wall; they were merely
suggestive of the refreshment that came after toil.
The lecturer of this hall was a jolly man, an athlete of fine
proportions, whose splendid appearance attracted the attention of the
throng of listeners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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