RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 36, 11 February 1905, Page 10

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

HUSBANDS ANTD WIVES. (By the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Hull.) Christianity is the religion of ideals. "It is not what man does exalts him, but what man would do." What then is the ideal of the relation of husband and wtfe? What would God have us to bp in this sacred- and most blessed relation which He has ordained, not as a mere social ..convenience, or a concession 1o our lower nature, but as part of His purpose of love for the race, who have a risrht to call Him Father? Tbe keynute is struck in our Marriage Service. Fnion in the Lord is the true ideal and aim of the man and woman who, 'having first given their hearts to Christ, give themselves earii to the other; and ivho. having been guided by His Providence in Ine choice they contemplate, Implon* His blessiug as they resolve to fuliil that relation after example, in His strength, to His glory. This is the Christian ideal. This runs •through the Whole service, followiug on the lines of Holy Scriptures., and especially St. Paiil'? teaching to the Epbesians and Colossiahs. But it may be said that while God gives children to parents, and brothers and • sisters to each other, not He. but we choose this relationship. Yes. "and therefore it is all the. more csse.ntfal that the choice should, be according to His will. But now, when the union is accomplished what is the ideal'! In the t/hureh's words '■'Marriage was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort that the one ought to have oi the other both in prosperity and adversity." By what means may this threefold purpose be attained 1;. ■'Xhe mutual society"—true companionship,, perfect confidence, absolute trust, fellowship in things little and _ 2reat—though (as it were by mutual arrangement) each may have and ought 1o have a different share in things of the family and the household aud social life. 2. I- PI&lp." j.xie first result of "mutual society" is help, service—'"the niu--lual help that the one ought to 'have of rhe other, both .in prosperity and adverfity.' . Each has definite help to render 1 r> the other which cannot be dispensed ■with in the. home and among kindred and friends. Bp-loved, let us Jew so well. Our work shall still be better for our lore. And -still our love be sweeter for our work. - And both oorumpuded for the sake of each By all true workers ajirt true lovers horn. —Browning, 3. "Comfort ,- —the second result of ' : mutual society" ■which •the ode ought -to have of the other, "both in prosperity and adversity.'' 'Comfort"' in the old sense of the word, that is. strengthening—mutual strength, each trying to strengthen the other in helping each other's character. If the wife be fool-is-li. - weak, worldly, -pleasure-loving, thoughtless, the husband will try gentIγ to raise her to a higher level. If cue fcusband be scliish, covetous, bad-tem-pered, imperious, irreligious, the wife "wiJl try by gentle remonstrance, by kindly influence, by sweet example, to lead liiui in the better way that so if the huabtind "obey not the word, he also may without the Avoid be won by I he fonverni-iiou," that is the outward life, of tho wife •which he daily beholds. Towards the attainment of this end M-me-offer one or two suggestion? taken from -Bt; Paul's Ep'istlefe. 3. "The husband is the head of the ■wife, even as Christ is the Head of Ilie Church. 4 ' True, aiid therefore the head should rule and guide, as Christ rules aiid guide* His Bride the Church, in unspeakable tenderness, justice, sympathy and love, not in caprice and wil- ■ fulness, not in harsh eomuiands and onsympathising demands. 2. Again, "give honour unto the wife sis unto the weaker vessel."' Xot merely because "noblesse oblige," but from truest Christian chivalry, whereby the weakness is not despised, but receives more abundant-honour that so it may bp strengthened. .3. Again, "let the wife see "that she .reverence her husband," because he is seeking to show towards .her -the example 6f the patience and gentleness of Christ. Her reverence is to be that of respect, obedience, devotion, and yet the while not ministering to his pride or folly or imperiousness, but ready gladly to submit her will to his will, except, in matters where the higher duty of obedience to the. Will of God forbids, and then there must be firm though reluctant refusal. This is the ideal the Apostle sets before v.=. Do we admire it? Will we strive after if. though here we shall never fully attain it? If so, let us remember— 1. There must be love. 'Well does good old Jereiny Taylor, write.: "Let every one of you so love his wife even ' as ■ himself. Thou art to be a father and a. mother to her and a brother, and great reason, unless the state of marriage should be do better than the condition of an orphan. For she that is 'bound to leave father ana mother am! ■brother for thee either is miserable as a poor fatherless e'hild. or else ought to find) all these "or more in thee." There must be love. In the beautiful words of the prayer in the Marriage Service, 'iook peacefully upon fhese Thy servants tha.f both this man may love his wife according to Thy Word, as Christ did love His spouse' the Church, and also that this woman may be loving .and amiable to her husband." Noth3Qg can make amends for lack of love. Yes, for the love of married life should be. not less true and intense than that of courtship, but should rather be its ripening fruit and its beautiful crown. Tlius with mutual love life's sorrows will he halved and life's joys will be doubled. And when husband and wife come to the cross-roads where the hands united on the- bright marrifege morning must be unclasped, the hope of reunion to part uo mSre will be sure and certain --such ties are not of the earth, earthy, of the transitory, perishing. If in the . world to come "they neither marry nor are given in marriage," if no new" relationships are formed like those of 'e.art-u. yet the old relationships, so far as they have been "holy to the Lord." ■will be proved to be everlasting, and the family circle will be. reunited above. Yes, so live together in the earthly home as those who must one day part, and then you will n&rt as those who vrill one day live together in the heavenly home to part no more. May God make this relation in the case pf those of us who are married sweet, happy, ,hol,y, the centre of light, the a,bod« of l°>e, ths image, faint but true, of the D'-rrtfe ideal! thus the words inscribed W^ arIP A grave-stone in ' OhuTchyaj-a will express our . our conviction, our hope— u *>'-"^aroue,» » Amabimn s"_ "J ck7C loved-we- dD love-wesha.il

. .jCSS^Ca. SEEWS AKP NOTES. ■The Bishop of Ely. Lord Alwyne Gorapton, announced in December his intention of resigning the See during the year 1905. Dr. Compton is nearly SO years, of age. arrd lias been 18 years Bifhop of Ely. The Dean Farrar memorial window in Canterbury Csctiiedral \va? unveiled on December 18 by the Primate, the Most Rev. Dr. Davidfou. Th.p British and Foreign Bible Society, London, has up to date received i; 200---.-080 towards the £LVjO,(»OO guineas asked for "'urgent now developments." A eonsidprable amount ha? been contributed by the native churches in Africa. India and China. The London Primitive Metboiist Council, "impressed by the Welsh Revival, and if. l influence on the denomination's churches in Wales." decided to make their January meeting oae of thanksgiving for the revival, and of spiritual preparation for a revival in London. In connexion with the East London Wesleymi Mission, new prevnises are to be erected shortly, on the ?it? of the erisiiDg •'Strpney Temple."' A new lease of these and adjoining premises has been obtained for i)S) year?., and the central premises to bt? erected are estimated to eosi ,i:35.000, which with the renewal of The lease, wii] bring up the outlay to £-13.00(1. According to l>a!zie!'-- Roman correspondent, the I'opc.has drawn up n new Apostolic Constitv.tio-.i. under which the. right oi vpin exerws;'d'by Austria, during tliP lasi Conclave for the Pup.il election, has been definitely suppressp.d. an.l any Cardinals in future Conclave, who constitute themselves the mouthpieces of their Government, will, it is stated, he subjected 1o heavy canonical penalties. Concluding his Advent addresses on inspiration. Dr. Armitage Eobiuson, the i Dean of Westminster, said that he had endeavoured to clear up many misconceptions regarding the Bible, and his hope v.n.s that they -would read it with a uew intprpst and a better understanding. "We bavp not lost our faith," lie concluded. "We move fearlessly forward towards the growing lig"ht of a .liir/jer day. confident that the. Bible wiL] always ! prove its own inherent power; that its j elα-ser study will reveal its deeper truths and its divine element be more intelligrently recofrn'sed. It Trraictains an authority over the spirit euch as 'no other book can maintain, and by our use of it or our neglect of it we shall be judged in that day when God calls us to account." In America the bodily removal of a | hou*o is not Jin uncommon oecxiirencc, ■and now at Newcastle (England) there is to be an attempt to remove bodily fit. John's Church. Tbe building ia very ancient—sonic 800 years old —and it stands in the centre of the city. It i--estimated that the money for which vhc site will sell vrill cover the cose of the removal and reconstruction of the J church, and leave a handsome balance to the credit of the benefice. I The total membership (including probationer?) of 7.5U5.-JlB is now claimed by the various sections of Methodism throughout the world, as compared with ! 1.040,401 in 1837. These are ministered !to by 40,364 ordained ministers and j 106,418 recognised lay preacher?. The I total number of places of worship is J said to be 50.705, with' 50.506 Sundayi sc-huols. in which 6.567 .739 scholars rei opive instruction. These have 812.41.8 teachers (including otliorrsi. In Great { Britain unci Ireland the Wesloyp.n Jloi thodist Church has the largest membership, 586,641, followed by the Primitive I Methodist Church, which has 197.036. j The United Methodist Fre*» Chnreh has ! 82,010 members: the Methodist New Connexion, 40.504: the Bible Christian Methodist Church, 24.662; the Independent Methodist Churches. 90o2; and the Wesleyan lioform Union. 8053. In Canada, and more recently in Australia, tbe various s-ectiont; have combined and formed one church. That of Canada has 209,1378 members, and Australia 139.501 members. Tn South Africa the returns I of the Wrsleyan Methodists give a mem- ] bership of 95,428. J There are now 347 congregations and mission stations associated with the Presbyterian Church of England. Accommodation is provided Tor 171,131 persons. There are 81,55.1 communicants. The eptimated value, of the church I property is £2,211.937, on which there is ?. debt of less than 5 per cent., viz.. £104.407. The total amount contributed last year for all purposes was £297.216, including £35,309 to the synodical funds of the Church. The Bishop of London in his Xew Year letter to his diocesa warns the clergy of the harm a bad clergyman— even as a casual niinistraiit^—may do. lie has asked every incumbent to cooperate in supplying an adequate number of qualified and trained candidates j for the ministry of the Church in the diocese. Several' good candidates are I available, but they need ediica-uion. a.nd the Bishop appeals tn generous laym«) to begin the New Year by making theini selves each responsible, wholly or in parr, for the education of one of these young iran. The liishop has before expressed his opinion that the ranks of the clergy would be strengthened if likely young men. drawn from the working classes, could be given a chance. It has been arranged that the remains of the late Pope Leo XIII. will be transferred this month from the Church of St. Peter, where they were temporarily entombed, to that of St. John at the. Lateran, where tfie permanent monument is nearing completion. In order to avoid disturbances such as nr-eurred when the remains of Pius IX. wore taken to S;ui Lorenzo. Pius X. has ordered the transfer to be made in the daytime, and the necessary arrangements have been made by the Cardinal YiearGeneral of Rome with the Italian officials to preserve order. The Dean of Westminster, in his concluding lecture on "Inspiration." referred to elsewhere, illustrated the inaecuraeks of the New Testament by the quotation in Matthew xxvii. f). wWh is said to be -spoken by JpTemiah the prophet." whilst- the original is found in Zecheriah. 31rs Lewis, whose brilliant work in MSS. research is well known, has come forward with the suggestion that the writer of the first Gospel was perhaps not at fault in the matter. The palimpsest copy of the Syriac Gospels found on Mount Sinai, and two early Latin versions, all omit, the reference to Jeremiah. These versions are based upon Greek MS?., probably of the second century, but at any rate much earlier than our earliest extant MSS. of the Gospels ia Greek. The inference is a very strong one, that the first Gospel, as originally written, did not refer the quotation to Jeremiah, but that the mistake is due to the insertion of a "copyist. St. Augustine supports the received reading; but, as Mrs Lewis justly contends, the witness of this grea* father (living in the second half of the fourth century and ignorant of Greek) is not strong against the MSS. authority. Mrs Lewis "inclines to think that other discrepancies in Scripture may be capable of a similar, explanation.