A new book entitled "The Twilight Years" was published that looked at the history of England between the wars. The book tells how England had given up on its Christianity and was moving towards a dark ages from the 1920s to the early 1940s. More and more Englishmen had given up on church and were turning inward and away from the Word of God. Pessimism became part of the fabric of those two decades.
Socialism, communism, and eugenics, were all playing a part in trying to find inner peace and tranquility in the nation. Books and pamphlets were written with the titles: "What Can Britain Do to be Saved?" And, "This Revolting World." Also, "Collapse of Western Democracy," and "The New Dark Age." Other titles read: "The Revolt Against Reason," "The Nightmare of the Future," "Is Britain Moving Towards Catastrophe?," and "The Chief Aspects of Western Civilization's Decline."
The unions, communism, and socialism were becoming more militant. And the people who could afford to, went each weekend to their country retreats and gave up on church attendance. There were no spiritual or Christian answers for the nation that was drifting away from God. During those Depression years, while Britain was in such a spiritual turmoil, America was surviving the Depression. While things were bad, and their had been some union riots, America was more at peace with itself than Great Britain.
America is now where the English people were following the Depression years. Today, no answers are found in the churches nor in Scripture. People in this country have given up on the Lord!
A reading society in Britain concluded "Optimism in any form must hide her head." Pessimism ruled. H.G. Wells wrote "The Shape of Things to Come" that sounded much like the book of Revelation. Others debated not "whether" the end would come but "when." The cry was that "civilization was in danger" of total collapse. Unitarians held discussions on "Religion and the Decay of the 1930s." Oswald Spangler wrote in "Pessimism": "I see no progress, no goal, no path for humanity. Western civilization is on the threshold of an inevitable and all-embracing decline."
Toynbee was the St. Augustine of his day in England. He wrote "Western civilization would perish unless it rediscovers the essence of Christianity, without which human beings cannot exist."
The National Peace Council in 1935 put out 14 million documents trying to get the English population to pledge towards peace. No matter what the people "voted" on, World War II was certain to take place. The nation had given up on God, in fact, they could not find Him in the dead, formal English churches. Church attendance was declining where now it is down to about 3% on any given Sunday. And what the people got in the churches was not worth their effort for attending.
America is moving in the same direction now. Spirituality is either canned, dead in formalism, or putting forth misplaced energy that has no meaning and no answers. Morally and socially, we are a confused nation. Problems are multiplying, and liberalism is dominating the landscape. Our young people want expression but that does not really satisfy or give true biblical answers to our needs. Homosexuality, that is sodomism, and abortion, are part of our culture with no stopping of its influence.
—Dr Mal Couch(1/11)
