To address this enquiry, a look at 18^th century England provides a superb example. A brief look at the history of the time and an analysis of the drawing, "Gin Lane" by William Hogarth 1784 will help us see the relationship between society and church. As an example of what the church can do to help solve societal problems a glimpse into the origin of Sunday Schools will be presented.

ENGLAND, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, was in a moral quagmire and a spiritual cesspool. Thomas Carlyle described the country's condition as "Stomach well alive, soul extinct." Deism was rampant, and a bland, philosophical morality was standard fare in the churches. Sir William Blackstone visited the church of every major clergyman in London, but "did not hear a single discourse which had more Christianity in it than the writings of Cicero." In most sermons he heard, it would have been impossible to tell just from listening whether the preacher was a follower of Confucius, Mohammed, or Christ! Morally, the country was becoming increasingly decadent. Drunkenness was rampant; gambling was so extensive that one historian described England as "one vast casino." Newborns were exposed in the streets; 97% of the infant poor in the workhouses died as children. Bear baiting and cock fighting were acceptable sports, and tickets were sold to public executions as to a theater. The slave trade brought material gain to many while further degrading their souls. Bishop Berkeley wrote that morality and religion in Britain had collapsed "to a degree that was never known in any Christian country." (Christian History Institute’s Glimpses, Issue #38)

‘Gin Lane’ and ‘Beer Street’ its companion piece are concerned with the high consumption of gin among the working classes in the eighteenth century; the plates were part of a general attempt to legislate the sale of the alcohol that brought about the Gin Act in 1751. Hogarth himself writes of their origin and comments on them in his Autobiographical Notes:

The drawing is to be viewed as a narrative, it tells a story over time. It is in contrast to our notice of a snapshot of a scene. The elements of the drawing consist of the following.

Section I (lower right)

A ballad seller (he holds 'The downfall of Madam gin'), half-naked because he has pawned his clothes and wasted away to a virtual skeleton, dies clasping a glass in one hand and a large bottle in the other.

Section II (central figure)

An unkempt, stupefied woman with open sores on her leg, her tattered clothes hanging off her, takes snuff; her unattended son plummets to his death in front of the 'Gin Royal'. This cavernous pub, bearing invitation 'Drunk for a Penny / Dead drunk for two pence / Clean Straw for Nothing', seems more a stable than a tavern. To the left a dog and a man, indistinguishable in their animal ferocity, fight for a bone. Next to them a person sleeps so soundly that a snail crawls up his arm.

Section III (left side)

A carpenter pawns his coat and saw (his means of livelihood) to the exploitative 'S. Gripe Pawn Broker', the most perverse figure in the print; he examines the goods with an assumed skepticism. An anxious woman stands behind the carpenter to pawn her kitchen utensils. Gripe's flourishing house, together with the tavern, the undertaker's, the distiller's and the church (which stands noticeably above and distant from the scene), are the only firm and solidly built houses in the neighborhood. In the background, a beadle oversees two figures lowering a woman's body into a coffin; beside the coffin, the woman's child weeps. Behind this burial scene three men in a funeral procession are about to be killed by a collapsing building.

Section IV (above and slightly to the right of the central woman’s head)

An insane alcoholic, chased by a screaming woman, dances down the street with a pair of bellows on his head and a live child skewered on a staff. In front of and to the right of him a woman feeds gin to a man being wheeled home in a barrow. Behind them a man has taken away a blindfolded cripple's crutch and uses it as a weapon against him. The staggering cripple aims a stool at his tormenter; a crowd enjoys the cruel battle. Several figures are being waited on 'Kilman Distiller'. Behind them two unchaperoned young girls from St. Giles (one bears 'GS' on her shoulder) parish school drink openly. In front of them a mother forces gin on her unwilling infant. In the ruins of a house (above and behind the distillery) a barber has committed suicide, possibly from loss of trade and alcoholism.

As can be discerned from the moral climate of society and the Churches ineffectiveness, the problems of society and the church are intertwined. Man by nature is prone to sin and thus society will always have problems because of this. Since the Church is filled with sinful person, it too will have problems. As the Church stands in the background preaching a water-downed gospel or unmerciful judgement on the deplorable morals of the pagans no salvation of souls or relief from societal problems will be forthcoming. The origins of Sunday Schools, Mr. Raikes Ragamuffin Roundup, gives us a specific example of what influence the Church can have.

During the last half of the Eighteenth century, many communities in England dreaded Sundays. It was the only day the children working in the factories had off, and not surprisingly they let out all their rowdiness and mischief on that day. From 1702-1801, the population of England had doubled; more and more people were moving to the cities and towns to find work in the factories. The traditional social and religious ties of village life were severed. Very often there was no place for the immigrants from the countryside in the churches of the industrialized towns, and a generation or two of children grew up without any religious or moral guidelines.

Raikes once commented that: "The world marches forth on the feet of little children." Public schools have now taken over much of the role that Sunday Schools pioneered. But who can doubt that there is today a desperately important educational task for the church with children, whether through the Sunday School, or some other format. To change the world, reach the children! (Christian History Institute Glimpses, Issue #34)

Notes:

Enquiry – Old English spelling of inquiry.

Beadle – A hired person to keep order in a London parish; precursor to policemen.