THE CHURCHES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 289, 31 August 1908, Page 8

THE CHURCHES.

book of revelation and modern CRITICISM. In the course of his sermon at St. Paul's pro-Cathedral yesterday morning tho Rev. i. U. Sprott said no Book in tlie-Bible had gained more from tho application of modern critical methods than the Book of Revelap°xV had been do)iv ered from the hands of the prophecy-mongers, and tho volumes that had, been written from that point of view had become so much waste paper. It was now possible for a reasonable, sano man to see some meaning in this book. All difficulties of interpretation had not been cleared up, but scholars were now practically certain about tho purpose of the book. It. was written to meet the circumstances of tho writer's own age, though tho eternal principles then at work were, of course, applicable under view Had become so much waste paper. It was written at the time of the first great specific persecution of Christians as Christians under the Emperor Domitian. Christians had been previously persecuted under Nero, but that was because they were regarded as malefactors, while under Domitian it had becor?6 j.i a crln * J to bear the Christian name, and tlio greatest force the world has over seen was deliberately put in motion to crush Christianity by killing every Christian. The isook of Revelation was written in order to give the early Church hope and courage to meet these trials, and the miter attained this object by pointing to tho victorious Christ—the Lamb that had been slain. Sacrifice was "the price paid for progress. Tho world had learnt this from the Cross of Christ. Suffering and sacrifice were ever ,?' h r r f, as selfishness was barren, ihe. fact that the whole Roman Empire was against them simply because they were on the side of right must have been a staggering tw problem t° those early Christians They might well have believed that the Devil was the real ruler of the universe; but they wore saved from that belief by the thought of the . victorious Christ. Some people nowadays would have men believe that Christ was merely a good man—perhaps the best man martyred; but such ■ teaching would never have earned the early Church through those terrible days of persecution. Thev would never have suffered as they did merely for the sake of a good man,.and this new teaching which regarded Christ as the best of men and nothing more had yet .to be put to the trial to prove that it would work.' If it would work ,t .was true; but it had not yet shown that it would work,, or that it'had fn i+h "pessary driving power, whereas the fnr wnS victorious Christ had woried :,° 00 /? ars ' 'i out a glorious hope t?iR Pirl^rif 0 - ?• ma ? kl ?, d - W bat sustairied rtn fWr5 8 -? th ? ™s r ' who llatl mado the supreme sacrifice, was on tho throne of tho universe.

LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. PW^V? 10 , Cot F tena y P J ao ° Congregational Church yesterday morning Miss A. J. Harband, 8.A., of the London Missionary Society, addressed the i congregation on the subject of mission work in India. The sneaker described briefly the conditions of lifo prevailing in India. A great deal of tho hardest work, ,sho said, was dono by the coolie women, the men contenting themselves with supervising. One great obstacle to progress was thecasto distinctions, these applying even to children, so that in .the schools in Madras, whero Miss Harband worked, separate classes had. to be formed or else the upper caste children would have been taken away Yet another difficulty .existed in the multiplicity of languages. Oounting the various dialects, there were no fewer than 400 different tongues spoken in the Indian Empire. Tho three principal languages had to bo spoken by teachers in tho mission schools 'in Madras, as children speaking them all attended. Christian work dono by the Missionary Society comprised many branches, but'-the main effort was in tho direction of training teachers and educating tho children. Tho work of education was carried out with the aid of a.Government grant, aiid in§ppQt>oft3 .examined the children* mi secular subjects.- Miss Harband gavo a short, description of the school -work in Madras. The children were allowed by their parents to attend school until they wero'a-bout ten years of age, when they wero generally taken away. Every day tho little ones had to bo escorted through the streets to school by women employed specially for that purpose, as- many as 300 attending one school in this way. Speaking of the religion of tho Hindus, Miss Harband said thf.t there wero millions of gods- in the Hindu- belief, and natives wero apt to toll missionaries that tho Christian Church, with its different sects, was just tho same, so that some amalgamation would bo a great step forward. A Hindu's religion consisted chiefly of endeavouring to pacify the various gods till ho had passed. through several forms of lifo and become ultimately absorbed in one or other of the deities he worshipped. The address was concluded by an appeal to the people .'to do their utmost to help forward tho,work of .tho Church in foreign lands.;

Tho preacher at the Terrace Congregational Church yesterday morning was the Rev. W. J. Smith. He referred to the present unrest in India, and' supported tho opinion that the ultimate, salvation of tho country would come through its conversion to Christianity. Tho speaker at the evening service was Miss Harband, who gave an address on tho present state of the people in India and Christianity as tho remedy. The Hindus were very religious, and religion entered into their every thought and action. They showed, by marks on tho face and body, to what religion they belonged. ' They were not ashamed of their God, and this was an example that could well be followed in Christian countries. Their religion, however, had no hope,, as karma and reincarnation were accepted as arbitrary and unchangeable. What was the end of it all ? sho asked. Simply non-existence. The women, though they were despised, had a great influence in the home life, and it was through them that the Hindus- must bo reached. If a father or brother wished to make a confession of. Christ, they were hindered by the:women. An educated Hindu had said that the lady and medical missionaries had captured their sympathy, and consequently such men and women were sent forth. It was found that trained students were much more successful than their predecessors. The best work, however, waß done by native converts, and the lecturer gave an interesting life history of one of these, a girl. Tho special graining tho missionaries had to go through was described by Miss Harband. The evening's collection was devoted to Indian mission work.-

WESLEY CHU ( RCH. At Wesley Church, Taranaki Street, yesterday, the Rev. S. J. Serpell conducted a meriiorial service to tho late Mrs. F. Billman. The pulpit was draped in black, and suitable hymns wero sung. Sympathetic reference was made to the long and painful illness of the deceased lady and to her many Christian qualities. In the evening the Rev. Mr. Ballantyno, missionary from Now Guinea, conducted tho service, • and gave an interesting address on missionary work. On Tuesday a foreign missionary meeting will be held in Wesley Hall, when musical items will bo rendered and Mr. Ballantyno will givo an address on tho work in Now Guinea,