Baptist Courier

The masses of the people are more infected with socialism in Germany than in any other land, and it is socialism of the most pronounced atheistic and materialistic type. The result is that the masses of the people are estranged from the church, which they regard as one of the strongholds of capitalism and industrial oppression. Many of the Protestant pastors of Germany, sympathizing with the wrongs of the masses, have entered into the political and social agitations which engage the people so much and are seeking to win back the masses to religion by advocating socialism from a Christian point of view. Those engaged in the movement belong mostly to the party of liberals in theology, though many conservatives have also joined in the agitation. They control two newspapers, and are exerting so wide an influence that the ecclesiastical authorities have attempted to suppress the movement. The Superior Consistory, the highest ecclesiastical authority in the kingdom of Prussia, the members of which are appointed by the Emperor, has issued an address instructing the pastors to refrain from political and social agitations and limit themselves to preaching the gospel. The authority of the Consistory, while very great, is not absolute, and some of the socialistic pastors are defying the order. They propose to interpret the gospel for themselves.