RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 852, 25 June 1910, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

NEW THEOLOGY. REV. 11. J. CAMPBELL'S POSITION. The Rev. R. J. Campbell, of the City Temple, recently attended tho annual Assembly of the Congregational Union to demand a definite reply to tho following question he recently put in a letter to the secretary:—"ls it or is it not. the wish of the Congregational Union that' I should withdraw from membership of it?"

Mr. Campbell, who on rising was re. ceived with loud and prolonged applause from his admirers, began by remarking that he did not require to be reminded that the union possessed no powers of excommunication, but there was such a tiling as practical excommunication, and his contention was that this had been drastically enforced at the present time agaiust certain individuals. The executive of the union had maintained an attitude towards him and his work which made it clear that his severance from tho union was desired by- those in authority. (Cries of "Xo.") No other inference was possible from what they had done, and apparently meant to continue to do. In addition to this, responsible and prominent members of the union had recently accused him in the strongest terms of dishonesty in 'not voluntarily withdrawing from the denominational fellowship. (Cries of "Shame.") In his Hull speech before the Free Church Council, Principal Forsyth used language concerning him, or what the members of .the general public understood to refer to him, which had passed the bounds of Christian courtesy. (Hear, hear.) It was distinctly libellous, and after being in the Congregational ministry fifteen years he had been publicly denounced- by an ex-chair-mail of the union as a crank and an adventurer. (Shame.) One would have thought that some public protest would have been made by some other prominent members of the uniou against tho use of such bear) —aud that some opportunity would have been taken of dissociating themselves from it. So far from that, however,: the committee's reply went far towards supporting it. Self-respect compelled him to ask this Assembly whether it did or did not endorse this general policy and those extraordinary individual outbreaks. ■ Tho Rev. Silvester Home, in responding, said ho hoped Mr. Campbell would believe there was a real brotherly feeling towards him personally. (Hear, hear.) It was impossible that a resolution such as he liad suggested could bo put to tho meeting. Their constitution did not permit of it. Tremendously important as tho matter was _to Mr. Campbell, there was something more important at stake. There was til© whola constitutional position, and they cotthl not override tho rights and liberties of all the county unions. That would be to provoke a dispute that would rend Congregationalism to pieces. The proper tribunal at which to raise tho question was the London Congregational Union. There was no desiro to excommunicate Mr. Campbell. On tlio otliir point, as to the way in which tho general business of the union was conducted, they being a democratic representative Assembly, Mr. Campbell must repose 'complete confidence in their officials. They might have made mistakes. Their desire had been to act impartially. ("No, no.") As to "personalities," personally he had never heard u .word that.could be construed into a personal attack upon Mr. Campbell. Criticism upon teaching could not he so construed. He personally_ regretted that Principal Forsyth put his view of things as ho did—(cheers)—hut ho equally and profoundly regretted that Mr. (iampbcll had put some things, as ho had.

"I want to say this," lie added, "that wo do not' mean, by ono party in the Assembly or by another in the Assembly to be driven from our loyalty and allegiance to the great central truths for which wc stand. Neither are we going to be driven to relying on the letter of a written dogma, lior are wo going to'forsake our, beliefs in historic Clirist.endom and identify ourselves witli TJnitarianism. Wo stand as to our Church lifo exactly where we did, and wo believe that the affairs of this union are in the hands of the living Lord."

The Rev. It. J. Campbell made tlio following statement to a representative of "The Christian "World" after tlio meeting:—"To say that I am satisfied Mvith the result of Monday's 'meeting would be incorrcct; but as most of my friends seem to think that the end wo desired was really secured, I suppose I must bo content. The feeling of the Assembly has been tested, and it was evidently against iht policy of exclusion. That was what I wanted to find out. If there are any more semi-official charges of dishonesty levelled against New Theologians for remaining in the union thoy will be laughed at. These charges have been fairly and squarely mot. Ono has not been ablo to exact a definite authoritative repudiation of them, but the spirit manifested in the Assembly was unmistakably such as to make any repetition of them entirely ridiculous in future. I am receiving a great many letters just now urging me not to take, any step involving formal severance from the union. I have no intention to do so; but what the future may bring forth will entirely depend upon whether the spirit manifested in Monday's meeting influences the attitude of the union authorities in any effective way." AN OUTSPOKEN ADDRESS. The Archbishop of York, speaking in the Albert Hall, Sheffield, in connection with. Biblo Classes Federation, dealt in a masterly manner with the subjects "Lust, Drink, Gambling." The primary duty of man was to keep his body pure and clean. Tho gambler's idea was the accumulation of wealth without honest industry. To put an end t-o the awful drunkenness of tho times, self-sacrifice was imperatively demanded. Tho greatest need of the English democracy to-day was personal character. The time was coming when they must ask those who were taking the lead among the. working pooplo to be more like honest John Burns—(applause)—who called a spade a spade, and who waged war, with all the energy of his nature, against the trinity of evils, Lust, Gambling, Drink. The Ko.v. T. TV. Holmes, referring to the Archbishop's address tho day following, characterised his outspokenness, its fearlessness, its determination and denunciation as a new chapter out of the book or Amos or Hosea. If the Archbishops and Bishops in the past had manifested a similar spirit, Christendom would not have been divided as it now is. There would have been one church, one law, one united Christian forcG fighting against tho world, tile (lesli, and the devil. Canon Henson alluded in a recent speech to the definite repudiation of what is known as the Xew Theology. "He would he the last person," he declared, "to obstruct natural and necessary theological development, but wo cannot in the name of liberty commit suicide, and to tamper with the supreme position of the Lord Jesus Christ is to commit spiritual suicide. The distinctive possession of the Christian Church, tho faith on which it lias built its work in the world, by which itlives. and apart from which it must die, is conviction that Jesus Christ is divine*"