RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 336, 24 October 1908, Page 12

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

THE CHRIST—^INDEFINABLE. For no more words of figures could present Iho living Christ unto the human soul, Wo more than plans and sections represent Some vast cathedral as a living whole, With its blazoned windows, arches everj'where, And ribbed and vaulted roofs of chequered light, Embossed aild Spandrelled, in their glimmering height, Spring from their massive pillars towering there; Tho which no measurements exact, could make, Nor all the boasted wealth this "world doth own; But which divinings of the heart did take For its embodied praise in sculptured stone: So with the heart, not with the brain, we See The Vision of the Christ eternally. A.T.T. Rom. x, 10; 2 Cor. v, 16.

EUCH ARISTIC CONGRESS

.;, THE OPENING PAGEANTS. For the first time in 350 years a Papal Legate made & public appearance in Britain on Wednesday, September 9. In the Roman Cath&lic Cathedral of Westminster Cardinal VannUtelli opened with solemn ceremony the Eucharistic Congress, which had drawn to London a large and distinguished assemblage of ecclesiastics, including the following cardinals:—Cardinal Vincent Vannutelli (Papal Legate) ; Cardinal Gibbons,. Archbishop of Baltimore; Cardinal Logue, Archbishop of Armagh; Cardinal, Salicha y Hervas, Archbishop of Toledo; iCardinal Ferrari, Archbishop of Milan; Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Mechlin-; .Cardinal Matthieu, formerly Archbishop of Toulouse, now in Curia. Long before 8 o'clock, the hour fixed for tho ceremony, tho cathedral was quite full. As early as 5 there had been little crowds of ticket-holders Waiting at tho doors. The vast liavo was but dimly lit, and up above the huge domed roof was all Mysterious alld dark. Only in the choir was tLoro brilliant light, showing up the fine marble baldacchino, the fed seats set for the Princes of the Church, the archbishop's throne'' which the Legato would occupy, and the\red faldstool placed before the altar at which he would pray. Fanfare of Trumpets. . As the hour approached, a long procession entered from tho sacristy. . The chief figure in it was tho Archbishop of Westminster in cope and mitre. Following him\came ; the canons of the cathedral) and then a'• long line of archbishops and bishopSj who took up their positions on either side, lining tho 'pas* sageVay up the nave. Just after 8 O'clock a fanfare of trumpets blared out. It was the welcome' given to th's Legate by a detachment of a Roman Gatholic Boys' Brigade. There could be heard also the sound of hearty cheering. A few minutes' later Cardinal Vaiiiiutelli's exceptionally tall figure was seen in the doorway, and then tho procession moved up the church. The Legate walked Under a White silk canopy supported by eight bearer's. In his cardinal's cap and robes Of Vivid red, with ait immensely long train Carried behind him, ho struck a note of splendid colour among tho black and purple cassocks of the prelates surrounding him. As he walked he gave his blessing; the people, as they received it, knelt and made the sign of the cross. The scene, when all had taken their places in the choir, was picturesque and impressive. There was a blending of many colours, all dominated by the cardinal's glowing rod. j Probably never has such a gathering of high ecclesiastics been seen outside 'of Rome. " Isle of Saints." After some collects and versicles EM been sung, the Pope's letter appointing the Legate was read, his Holiness speaking of Britain as ' l the Empire rightly, famed for the liberty it extends to its citifeenS," aiid commending the .cbngress to the blessing'"' of'""Almighty ..Godi.is n „u'a «jr a iimy »'>;!■> Next the Legate himself ascended into the pulpit and iri a pleasant, high-pitched voice, with freijuent dramatic gestures, gave a long , address lh,Latin. Britain, lie said;.had once j been greatly' favoured by God, an'd ; although painful dissensions had sprung up these-were 110W softened, and they must give thanks to Pi'ovideiice for the admirable dispensations' which had brought such a gathering together in London. The Holy Father was especially glad that that great city had been chosen aS their meeting-place, since it gaVo him the opportunity to express his benevolent regard for the lloble British race. The Legate believed the results of the Congress ivould be important. He only wished that it could have the result of again Uniting all the people of Great Britain in that faith which Was once their most precious treasure, and reviving the Eucharistic ago which formerly existed in the "Isle of Saints." It was easy to imagine how those saints must long for the revival in their beloved country of the faith in the Eucharist held by east and west. '. , , The Legate's place was then taken by the Archbishop of Westminster; whose sonorous tones fang through this building as he Welcomed the cardinal in English and spoke of the congress as an act of reparation for all the words uttered ,in the English tongue which had done outrage to the Blessed Sacrament.

After this it only remained for the solemn Bonediction service to follow.

"ThE CHRIST OF THE CROSS."

A SYMPATHETIC NOTICE. The much-discussed hook of the Rev. j. Gibson' Smith, "The Christ of the Cross," has been reviewed for the monthly Organ of English Presbyteriauism ("The Presbyterian Messenger"), which is not at all alarmed hy any suspicion of heterodoxy. The reviewer is the Rev. R> Bruce Taylor, MiA., of London) one of the contributors to Hastings' "Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels." The review states:— The difficulties that attend the current presentation of the doctrine of the Cross are manifest. The mystic is the bbst part in us, and he refuses to be content with a logic that may coerce his intellect while it leaves his heart untouched. The expiatory view seems so to separate Father and Sou that the Divine unity is disturbed, if not destroyed. The agony of Gethsettiaho, its utter human reality, scemfed to, become in Calvary a relentless piece of solil-niachinery. The awful cruelty bf mall, lb'oked iit from the standpoint of its blessed result, becomes simost a righteous afct. There has been published recently by the Rev. J. Gibson Smith, of Wellington, New Zealand, a book which is not only full of good thinking, but is as well the reflefctioii of a very living mind. Mr. Smith's evangelical power and earnestness admit/of 110 doubt, but these questions as to the link of connection between the suffering of Christ and the salvation of , the sinner have loft him 110 rest. He has cut himself adrift from the view that the sacrifice of Christ was offered td the retributive justice of God. He feels that thfe regular lines of discussiou have taken insufficient notice of two points—the Awful Crilne of tho Cross and the reality of the tinning judgment. Tho redemption \vroUght through the Cross, the infinite results that have accrued to the human race through the sacrifice, have tended to obscure the fact that, in itself, tile doing to death of our Lord was of all the world's sins tho most dreadful The stress that has been laid upon the bhlaiice between , the suffering of Christ and the sin of mail has put forward a aspect of the Atonement Very far removed from the free working bf tho grace of Godand the Whole conception of expiation has made men think of the work of Christ iii its relati&h to the past rather than to the future. 111 1 . Smith desires a change of emphasis. Silice God's own Soil \Vas Seftt to His death by prejudice and hatted of tho light it must be insisted oil that tho iuvfulness of sin has taken on a ne\v gravity, and the coiniiijr judgment has, for those Who refuse to Seek forgiveness, acouit'ed a new certainty and tfcrror. Tlife whale trend of Mr. Smith's thinking is thus to prevent men's minds from resting; on tho past, to libld Up tho Cross as the supremo ttagedy, to fill tlio forgivsiiess of Siiis with liew ethical value, and with not a little holy, terroi*. There is 110 tlnh'crsalisiii hero; 110 haziness as to the necessity aiid uniqueness of the Sacrifice. Rather is tliete the pasSion for righteousness, tho shadow as well as the gloty of the world to come; the .ilrcad lest Christ's sacrifice should be made

of nono.effoct by becoming a dogma without claims on human effort.

To describe his view of tho Cross of Christ Mr. Smith comes back to the old word "propitiation," ill which he reads some shades of moaning not hitherto . associated with it, Christ, as absolutely sinless, was not subject to the law of death, but chose to suffer death i that Ho might know to the last pang what human wickedness could do. Ho thus gained His perfect hatred of sin, a hatred which is communicable by Him, as risen Lord, to, believers. "He had not merely opened lip tho way of salvation,' for that in itself would have been insufficient. If the way were open, and yet men remained blind to itß existence, and deaf to all voices that told them of it, then they could .not be saved. But He had also become'-qualified to convince them that the way was opeil,>jmd that, .with the consent and full authority of God and of their own consciences, they might freely and joyfully avail themselves of it." The book, of course, leaves, questions unanswered; and Mr. Smith's own view does not always satisfy the difficulties he has pointed out in other theories. But the. main thesis is full of helpfulness; the "neglected elements" really have been neglected elements. To read the volume with the care that it deserves Will make the comprehension of a man's own sinfulness tho measure of hij understanding of the Cross.

BAPTIST PROCRESS.

NEW ZEALAND AND, AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCES. The New Zealand Baptist Conference, which has ■ just concluded. in Nelson, was specially notable in sevoriil' respects, states tho. Rev. J. J North. In'the first place, the annuity fund for aged and disabled ministers and ministers' widows was set on itß. feet. The condition of this fund haS been a reproach to _ the denomination for Some time. The capital sum has now been lifted over £1000,. and, large amounts' have been promised for the coming year, so' that it is expected that there will bis a workable fuild within a few years. The foreign- mission work of the Church has been remarkably successful. It has two' very.'complete mission stations in India, and arrangements are being made for a fully qualified doctor to join forces with Dr. North., A general hopefulness pervaded the Indian "mission? reports received by the conference. While the iiational movement has to sorne extent interfered with missionary is having »n excellent effect in breaking down caste, and thus opening wider the doors, of opportunity. The conference also took in'.ljand the instiftjtion of Missionary .operations along the Mam Trunk lino, and allocated money; for the immediate appointment j.of a man for pioneer Work in that district. All extensive scheme was also inaugurated! for the liberation of ministers with special evangelistio B'ftS to conduct missions in .other churches. .The Australasian Baptist Conference, which Mr. North 'attended in Sydney, had no r.powers of legislation. Its object was to feel V the way towards a kind of federation of tha Baptist churches and Baptist unions of the different States. A great scheme was sot in motion, which will require a largo ambunt of .negotiation, and cannot, mature for a nuntber, of years. The creation of an AusBaptist Church, with interchange of Ministers, and reciprocity of: annuity fundß, alia the establishment of Federal papot for the denomination throughout Australasia, Were the ideals in View. The New Zealand conference received these Suggestions very sympathetically, audi carried resolutions indicating.'tlifcif teadlites to Co-opevato for their .realisation... '} • ' ,

A MOTEb . PREACHER,

THE LATE .FLEMING.,; Canon. Jatoes Fleming,-Bit),, diedrecently in; London ht the-'agd.of 'seventy-eight. 'Of Irish parentage, !mfl ' tdutaM, iit Shrewsbury School and Magdaltai© College, Cambridge,, his :firsHfo"&3r w£sf6f "Bit Stephen's, Ipswich/! whenwf he- Bath in 1850. ,Eleven years - later Ifo'wertt toi Loudon, to Chufch. "Ckfebei-frell, where the Celtic eloquence,, of . h*. ttreiicliiilg attracted the attention'of the'Buko .of' Westminster, vrho presented, liim to tlio vicarao-a of- St. Michael's,. Chcstet. 1873. Thres_years later Lord Beaconsfi'dd aripomt-ed ' tun Canon of York, and he fed'- tlib two offices till lus death. In tl'io i'aiSj- Teat' ha : was appointed honoratj-. chaplain Victoria, becoming her. Chaplaiil-itfttdfriafv ill 1880, an office which .)ig~ : ha'e>, alsii'-held under- King Edward of tha Duke of Clarence. Canon" Fleminfcbnrcaclied m SalidriiSgham tihwfcli, King and Queeti, the feiiiarkabte 1 , Sc<-i]iou "Recognition .in Eternity," ;tIM reafched a _ thiftieth edition,''rcSfisitib sojne £1600, which liaS 'been divided 'BifiVfttn tlia Gordon Boys' Home arid the [vHoma for Ininlrables. 1 His answer, in that'sermon, to the- question''."Shall we. other in another world was, "It to'thie. S»od has lifted qlifestioa 'Out of tie surmise into, pbsitivo certainty; 'Ntfw through a glass darkly, but then" fais ib face. . Face to face! Wliat re jhis•'.bitt recognition?" A total abstainer sii\oS\ ho hfeard J. B. Gough at Bath, Caufo Flenji; l '. ing . wiis a keen _ advocate of . terfperahc^A'' work. Ho organised a vigorous anu Sunday School. Intimate'in his relations with :< S nonconformists, be became honorary clerical lo> secretary to the Religious Tract .Society in 1880. He declined invitations to the bishopric of Sydney and two deaneries. His prefer* £■ ilieiit in England, under' Lord Salisbury and Mr. Gladstone, was hindered by his advocafcy of legitimacy marriage with a docfeased frifos sister.

church And labour.

A STRIKING ADDRESS. At the Quarterly Association of North "Walfes Calvinistic Methodists the Rev. John Owen, of .Festiniog,, addressed a large audience Upon Christianity , alid social questions. Mr. Owen said the religion of Wales stood in danger of being exclusively exercised in the direction'of theology.lt was well that they should occasionally apply their Christianity to the affairs of this world. At prosent society was nothing less than humanity out of joint. This was a terrible thing tg contemplate. There were, however) thousands Of men upon whose spirit the suffering of their fellow-men lay as a heavy' burden. Many of these were not in any way associated with Christianity, and many who with one hand endeavoured to raise a wall of shelter for the distressed:' with the other t.ficd to pull down the walls of the City of God. What was the duty of the Church ill faeo of these things? Had the workmen a right to expect the Church to interfere ill ilidustrial disputes? He did not believe they had The Church was not an institution intended to take the side of the men of necessity in all disputes. It should not nolifinfe itself id any particular class, but it should not stand aside and allow elements of disaster to spend their strength without intervention. Its duty was to teach employers and workmen such things as would make disputes impossible. At a later meeting, the Rev. Griffiths Ellis, ' M.A. (Bootle), said ho had seen the million' aire palaecs Slid the workmen's cottages at Pittsburg, and seen how those who enjoyed and those who produced wealth respectively lived. He had been compelled to ask himself whether the Church was justified 111 remaining silent under such conditions, and his answer was " No." | Mr. EIHb Davies, M.P., drew a pathetic picture of the "submerged tenth.*' and nf . the .comfortless homes aiid hopeless lot of many of the workers. He warned the assembly that Unless t-lie Christian Church fnok the lead ill remedying these evils others - would arise to perform that duty ami ths Churches be thrust aside. The Rev. Cynddylan Jones, D.t)., ng-MH. 0' the British and Foreign Bible Society? nskn how much of the suffering described iiv jft Davies was due to employers ami liow'nit;e\ should be attributed tb the publican. Ths duty of the Church was to make niell good before doing good to men. 011 Sunday, November S, his Grace Archbishop Redwood will hold n confirmation se'rvice at St. Joseph's Church. General. Booth has been iihcorded a ttm reception iii "South Africa. Mis rot'optm.i :it Johannesburg, where his campaign oiinvdivas spontaneous and the W trerno.