CHRISTIAN UNITY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 395, 2 January 1909, Page 13

CHRISTIAN UNITY.

~ MR. BIRRELL PESSIMISTIC. . -Mr. Augustus Birrell, in an address given v .- at the David Tliomaa Memorial Church, Bristol, on - "Tho; Conditions "of Christian . Unity,"-, said that a universal religion, binding .• ■ npon. all. jnenj_ was a comparatively-modern jdea.' . No religion to-day had a; chance of • success which did not aim, or profess to:aim, et being a .universal faith. * Spcaping on the: possibility of unity, in the ;; : .Churches of Christendom; he said tho Eastern . ■ Churoh .was- wholly indifferent, and had not v:.vv; the: faintest desire: to .unite .with other com-' ,>■: ' x munities. The Church of Rome had no wish • .to unite with the Churoh of .England except • -on - terms of ; complete submission, . and' tho the' latter ' for-uni&n. with-Rome came from the with-tho ■i' .pious C&tholic in its aspecMowards tho Mass. .■ l : He < pointed out,-, however, • that there ware ,- i:m airy-, obstacles in - s the :way. Romewas re- ,. sgardedv as 'too . foreign a .Church' for Jfihn ' Boll.' ' Neither the Evangelical nor the Broad '. Church seotions: of-the' English Church cotdd : . pos.Bibly unitO) but the question arose; as to - whether; they were likely to ■: seek union with : other Protestant:communities.'' He confessed ■ ho saWy.nb.slgn of & movera6iit-iii .that diree- : tion.- The Broad Church Party: would nover . i-. make: any progress towards .union with Nono -■ . conformity until ityrecognisedthefact that it.must make it plain that'in its creed priest- . lood was not . an essential - part >of its doc.v.:., trine. He did not see any.great possibility,; . either, of union among Nonconformist bodies.' Ho urged, however, that there should- bo . . frank outspokenness; on all sides. For his part, he was not hopeful of Seeing'in his'day ..■(/any,very.formal recognition ■■of. Christian nnity between different branches of tho v.-vphnreh-plie rather:,thought they' must'look forward to a time when there-would be such ! . . -. .wave of Christian . sentiment thf.t ... \ frtsoplc. would feel that tho differences which separated them into--groups might be over- : .: comer This could tome about only by each side putting aside questions / that were; of little importance. ........ .