RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 237, 6 October 1928, Page 2 (Supplement)

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

PRESENT-DAY OUTLOOK. ; • ' (Contributed.) ■ : -> CHURCH Or ENGLAND i : - EMPOWERING ACT. ITS SCOPE AND PURPOSE EXPLAINED. Referring to the Church of England Empowering Bill, which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament without opposition, the "Church Gazette" states-. Every objection was fully, fairly and; . frankly met by. those in charge of the Mil, and , every reasonable doubt was .removed. The amendments made did not in any way alter the principles of the bill." They took the form of additional safeguards intended to prevent • any departure from the fundamental • doctrines of" the Church of England, and they were willingly accepted by the promoters of the bill. This readiness to give sympathetic consideration to every ' honest objection disarmed opposition, and the bill was presented to Parliament with the practically unanimous support of Church people. The unanimous consent of Parliament -was the result. . ' --■ ' • . ■ Important Problems. .. The Enabling Act makes' it possible for the Church of the Province of New Zealand to deal effectively with certain vitally important problems, ■which' must be grappled', with/ in the near future. ••During;the' last quarter of- a centiiry the need for a revision of the Book ol Common Prayer has become increasingly plain, and the results of modern Biblical scholarship have been forcing the .- Church to consider the desirability of adopting a new , version of tho Bible. But .the fundamental provisions of the constitution of the New Zealand Church . make it extremely difficult, if not absolutely impossible, for . General Synod, the supreme governing body of the Church, to authorise any changes as regards the Bible or Prayer Book.; As ■ these fundamental provisions are. de- / dared to be unalterable it was necessary to obtain the assistance of Parliament in making a -way out of a situation ■which threatened seriously to hinder the progress of the Churqh 'as a living and growing institution. Certain, clauses of the constitution were framed in accordance, with a mistaken forecast of ..politi-.-cal and. religious history, and-have ' become \ ■unworkable, obsolete and inapplicable.- .-.'.■ .../. '...'..; : ... -._.'.' . . A' Necessary Safeguard/ There .is no State. Church in New Zealand, and Parliament has concern with the doctrine, discipline or ritual of the' Anglican Church' or. any • other Church. But- the property- of . religious bodies, as of all other institu- : * tions, is held in accordance with* the law of the land, and in-order'to safeguard the property of ■ our.'Church it was neces- ' ' sary to obtain an Act of Parliament - before any changes in. the formularies of the Church are made.- General Synod was compelled to face the possibilityremote though it may be—that if .it adopted-a new Prayer Boole or'a new version of the Bible, a small .minority of irreconcilable dissentients might claim to be the real Church, of therProvince of New- Zealand, and appeal to 'the law' courts for possession of the 'whole of the Church's property./ . ,■;.. . The Act is a cautious and conservative measure.. It leaves the Church constitution, -untouched. •' It.'.provides that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the constitution, ; it shall be lawful for the Church to adopt a new Prayer Book, or a,,new version of-.the Bible, without losing its , identity;qr endangering its title to its _ property. The. General Synod of 1925 , favoured a much more radical and; ad- • venturous method - of ■ .procedure. , It .drew up a'bill for presentation to Par? . : liament which would empower Synod-to alter the constitution, including thfi fundamental provisions, in any way as new . needs, necessities .or circumstances.might from time,to time demand. This would probably be the most thorough and most logical course .'. to'take; but, it. is "too thorough for some' members of the" ' Church, who feared that it might' result in changes in ritual and.doctrine that might alter the character .of the whole ■ Church. .. .' ' ..;•"...'. ■'- ' ■

•.../■-':■ ■'■■&■ Compromise.' • 7 •■••' - Since 1925 further"consideration: was - ■ given to.the matter, and'.an. effort inade to meet .the'.-desires and allay.the• fear& . 'of the more conservative section'of the . ! Church. ■ Negotiations .'and conferences : resulted in. the compromise, , which bodied in the bill accepted by General Synod a few months ago and now passed Of? by .Parliament; ■• ~.' . -.■'.;:■ • •: The passing of. j;he bill does not mean that General Synod will adopt the-new English Prayer Book or the Revised, or any other Version, :of ,the Bible. ./It merely gives power to \ make such changes. General Synod mayveventually adopt the new Prayer Book as - it stands; or it may adopt it with: important'modifications, or it may. make an independent revision in accordance with the special circumstances . and : spiritual - needs of its own peopje.' : The enactment of, the Empowering Bill was a necessary preliminary, step. . ' r '.-.- . : YOTJTH AND THE CHURCH. -THE CHALLENGE OF TO-DAY; "There can be no escaping the fact ..' that 1 the Church of bur day faces a more ,' widely intelligent and more persistently ■ . scientific attitude of .mind in the- pews than the Church in any preceding gerie- « ration," said Dri F. W. Burhham. in an address before a large audience in the Church of Christ, Vivian . Street,' Wel- .";.. lingtori, recently. "The old conflict between - science' and, religion does not ; ' obtain; nevertheless the question'arises :},':.'• whether the Church of our day is meet- •. . ing the issue or can do so; whether we dare to send our young people to col-; ■ iege anid to university with the simple , injunction -to know the.truth; whether - we; dare '.bid! th6m to. \ keep their, eyes "-open to. all ,ihe 'facts which may come • from" any /source in- God's - world;, ~' whether we dare ■ encourage -them to :'•■; explore every, unknown field in sky or : ;. '■;.. sea or land ■ or human heart or" sacred ' • book; whether ..we'da.re trust the iTruth *r':-.: of. God. to. make itself known , to an- ; . v honest heart wherever, search is made; , : or whether, on the. other hahd, wei must , ; "• bid our youth- put on the ..blinds, look '<}.".■■ 'only in one .direction, and accept-only '..; those visions..iWhich their fathers-had held. Dare -vve risk the faith/- of r .our '.'■'".!.' da 7 to 'defend, itself in the" open, or

must it 'defend itself in a tower? Such, is the intellectual challenge of our time. Problems of Youth. "It seems probable that there always have been diUioulties. of adjustment between clinging age and mounting' youth. The 'conservatism of age has always looked upon the impetuous adventures of youth with perplexing alarm and hastening youth has always looked upon wiser and more cautious age as an impediment to progress, The significance of the youth movements, of our. time seem to grow out of two conditions, fori one hand the grinding burden 'of'.toil .of other generations has been so far , removed that the youth of our time arc: given greater opportupity for thought and for action. On the other hand the spread of popular education and learning has tremendously strengthened tho •mental equipment, and hence the effectiveness and. confidence of the youth of to-day." ■..-'.. •'. Dr. Burniiam referred-to.the crowding of the/colleges and'to the great opportunities' presented for good,: sound education. Yet, he said, educational ; expansion had not been able to keep pace with: the' growing demand for intellectual training. - .: •.: ' Vitality. : of Christianity. : . •■ .

One of the evidences 'of the vitality of; Christianity, said Dr. Burnham, was its ability to meet and adapt.its message and its programme to the changing conditions of'life- in our. world without losing its essential'testimony.'We had an unchanging Gospel in a changing world, in the sense that those elemental truths meet those persistent needs of human hearts which underlie all change. There were issues in our, day which the Church must help r "to meet as it had helped to meet issues in other'times.

"The problems which the Church faces in our day are not altogether new," he said.. "In many respects they are. common to those changes which come-from one generation to another. But there are phases of these problems which grow , out of our own time and which constitute the task of the Church, of to-day. We offer to the youth, of our time, the personality'of Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life, and bid -them follow Hini with open mind and willing heart. In the midst of the edticational processes of our time we would set Jesus' -view of God and His world as. the sanest philosophy. of life. We present it as a working hypothesis consistent with all the known facts of our ■universe.- T!o the young.-men -arid women of our colleges, seeking high adventure or the wisest investment of their talent or their.life, we offer the service of our great King, where the only loyalty required at home, or abroad is loyalty to Him as He reveals Himself through the. Word and .by the Spirit." ■ " . CURRENT 'NOTES. Friday has ceased to be the day of rest in Turkey, and Sunday has taken itsplace. • :jw.

._ Dr.. Berry said recently: . "I would keep the ether free on Sunday from the harmonium at one end and the saxophone at the other.'.' • . .

The "Church Times" says' thai the bulk of the Anglo-Catholic clergy, must oppose the latest revised prayer book, and in thfe nature of things, they cannot be pa"cified. ■■■ • •• ' . ■.<■■■■:■:'..-:

There are at the present time 668 .Christian missionaries in Japan, and about 20,000 students attending the schools. ■ The greatest number of Christians in Japan is at Tokyo. '

"The peril of the level way was greater than the peril of the hills. There "was nothing' more exhausting than a dead level stretch, unbroken by, change. More people break down beneath, the monotony of life than beneath its changes. There is scarcely a greater achievement than the victory of the man who keeps fresh and on the level road. , '— The H, C. Manders,. president of the Baptist Union. "'.■"■''. ': r ',

The Rev. William Grinishaw, , incumbent of Ha worth, in the heyday of the Evangelical. Revival, was. wont to welcome toiis pulpit the two "WesleysJ He had "a way with him" which resulted, in the races at Haworth being stopped and a 'most strict observance of tljo Day of Rest. On Sundays this 'energetic parson ised'to raid the nearest public house and drive the customers to church with a whip. He managed to raise the number of communicants from 12.t0 1200. '•■' ;

The. Wesleyan Conference in England passed a vote of warm appreciation to .the' Archbishop of Canterbury on his retirement, Dr. Barter pointing out , that the great service he had rendered to the work of Christ in'the whole of the land and throughout the wo'rldj the beautiful spirit , in:which- he had done his work, the wisdom with which he had been endowed, were .such: that the whole Catholic. ChurcK rejoiced' to do him honour; « r *V. • ■ ... • -;'

"The L;M.S." carries oh its-operations abroad through astaff of nearly 8000, of whom only 300 '(including wives)' are Europeans. The-remainderj 1000 of whom aro ordained' ministers, are drawn from indigenous populations. The Christio'n community in'.the mission fields' of the -society number '570,000/, of ■ whom' 107,000' are church members. The' total area of the society's 'field of operations is 450,000 square miles, with. a population of 44 millions: Nearly half the cost of .'the, whole work is raised on the mission fields. ■ ■'.'■ .' : : ' "_•'-

In answer to a war widow's question of how-to prevent "another Avar, Dr. John Bevan wrote:. "If the .day ever comes on which the Governmfent has ; to decide whether we shall have another war, neither the women nor: the men of this, country will be consulted. • By that time all sections of the community will alike be incapable of controlling the. country's policy, or influencing to' any real extent the Cabinet's action. It will.: then be too late for any of us to do anything but loyally do . what we, are. told—as we did last time.. What can be done to prevent war must be done years before the crisis arrives, otherwise it~can never be done." .-, . . ■ '■..:

a recent meeting' of. the Standing Lommittee of-the Diocese of Auckland the. .Archbishop- referred to the' forthcoming jubilee.liof ~ the ordination -of Archdeacon Mac Murray, and statedthat in.his"opinion,':a:lthough. the whole of the Archdeacon's 1 ministt.-ial-life had not been spent in - this c diocesej the ver*-* eminent.- 6ervices> -rendered ,by him an'o ; the.an"ectionate'.:regard'in-.which lie was held, demand thaf.-'sb'me "steps be tako U to .mark so notable an .event. ■ •. ■»

It was resolved that. a.committee be appointed, consisting :'.;6f," ; Archdeacon Hawkins, -Archdeacon-vSimkin ;and Mr. Gilfillan to take;steps to suitably mart the events .■■■■ .. .. : ' ■'