536 



The Review of Reviews. 



splendours and the marvels and the miracles 

 of the world which God has made. And as His- 

 tory is but the continual manifestation of the 

 evolution of the embodied thought of God, and 

 the events of the day are history in the making, 

 so there would be an attempt to make the 

 Cinema represent the realities of that drama 

 " whose scene-shifter is Time and whose cur- 

 tain is rung down by Death." The word that 

 was spoken to Peter, " Call thou nothing 

 common or unclean," may be addressed to cavil- 

 lers who may object to using the Sunday Cinema 

 to rouse men to a realisation of the truths of 

 science, the inspiration of history, and the 

 infinite marvel of the universe. 



SUBJECTS NOT CONFINED TO BIBLE. 



The Cinema Sunday Mission might become a 

 popular, a very popular, picture university, in 

 which the Extension lectures would be the 

 explanations of the pictures. It could be, at 

 the same time, a rousing and inspiring religious 

 service. Discarding pictures of crime and 

 scenes suggestive of vice, it could be used to 

 help the masses of our citizens to fulfil the 

 apostolic dictum, "Finally, brethren, whatso- 

 ever things are true, whatsoever things are 

 honest, whatsoever things- are just, whatsoever 

 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 

 whatsoever things are of good report, if there be 

 any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on 

 these things." 



Things lovely and pure and true and just are 

 not confined to the pages of the Old and New 

 Testaments. The Christian pulpit, conveniently 

 confined to the exposition of the Holy Scriptures 

 of the Word, makes but a passing and furtive 

 glance either at the great Revelation of the 

 thought of God that is mirrored in nature and 

 revealed by science, or at the pages of the new 

 Bible to which Lowell alluded when he said — 



Slowly the Bible of the race is writ, 



And not on paper leaves nor leaves of stone ; 



Each age, each kindred adds a verse to it 

 Texts of despair or hope, of joy or moan. 



The necessity of preaching no sermons which 

 you cannot illustrate by lan'tern slides or living 

 pictures may seem to some to be a fatal diffi- 

 culty. But it is the wont of inspired men to 

 convert difficulties into opportunities. Our 

 Lord spoke to the multitude in parables which 

 are pictures in prose. If we have to arrest the 

 vagrom attention of the ordinary man we must 

 address him in Cinema pictures which he loves 

 to see, instead of in sermons to which he turns 

 a deaf ear. 



RELIGIOUS AND EVERYDAY MARVELS. 



The aim of the conductors would be to secure 

 that these talks and explanations should be 



written by all the leading men, preachers, 

 scientists, travellers, and philanthropists of the 

 day, so that the Cinema audience should have 

 the best pictures in the world described or talked 

 about by the foremost men of the day. 



Such a Sunday Programme could not fail to 

 attract. It would be a mental stimulant, far 

 superior to the uninterrupted run of unexplained 

 pictures. In the course of a series of twenty, 

 the wisest words of twenty of the wisest men, 

 the most picturesque stories of the Old and the 

 New Testaments, the sublimest scenes on land 

 and sea, the most interesting of the marvels 

 of modern science, the most inspiring scenes of 

 human heroism, the realities of life as it is lived 

 to-day, the great modern philanthropies, and 

 the lives of the greatest benefactors of the race, 

 the masterpieces of the poets of all ages, 

 together with the hymns which have been the 

 inspiration and the solace of our race, could all 

 be brought before the Cinema crowd with vivid- 

 ness and force. Can we, dare we, who are 

 always bemoaning the dulness, the indifference, 

 the lack of inspiration of the monotonous life 

 of every day, refuse to avail ourselves of this 

 greatest of all agencies devised by mortal man 

 for rousing attention and stimulating imagina- 

 tion? 



It is obvious that from an educational stand- 

 point, especially in matters of hygiene, and in 

 the campaign against disease, which some hold 

 out as the great campaign of the future, these 

 services could be made enormously useful. 

 Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and Health is 

 next to Holiness. I have not enlarged upon the 

 immense opportunity which such a mission 

 would afford the teaching of the history of our 

 own country, which is a sealed book to the 

 majority of our people, and all the masterpieces 

 of English literature might be brought before 

 the public by the aid of the animated films. 



WHAT RELIGIOUS LEADERS THINK. 



A proof of the foregoing article was sent to 

 the heads of the various religious denomina- 

 tions, to the leaders of the religious and social 

 life of our time, asking them for their opinions. 

 It was also sent to the Secretaries of the Sun- 

 day League and of the Lord's Day Obser^'ance 

 Societies, and various educational authorities. 



The Bishop of Lincoln writes as follows : — 



Your suggestion is an interesting one, and deserves 

 attention. The use of lantern slides for teaching the 

 lessons of the Gospel is widening amongst us Church 

 people. My Church Army friends are experts in thif 

 field. It is only an extension of it when the kinemato- 

 graph is also employed. I would use all lawful means 

 to help men to understand our message ; and let us be 

 careful what message we deliver, and that the Christ 

 whom we preach is a living Saviour. 



