BAPTIST FORWARD POLICY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 942, 8 October 1910, Page 4

BAPTIST FORWARD POLICY.

;' In these days when we are, so often fold ; that the Churches 'are; losing ground and'.when. announcements ;of decreasing membership are only too frequent, the report presented at the annual Conference of, ;tho ' Baptist Union, which, is at present being, held at: Dunedin,;is in ; , many . respects; decidedly encouraging;... it states'that, in the last 25 years the membership"has.more, than doubled, and that the..net,, increase ,;lasfcyeai; is the largestrecprcledin trie history of; the Union. The; Baptists^of New Zealand have embarked upon' a' definite forward policy;;and are-mak-ing strenuous efforts to keep pace ' with the growth of' settlement. In a'■ young; country like this it is always a difficult thing l to meet' the spiritual requirements of the backblocks and 'sparsely-settled agricultural districts; but;this aspect of tho work has many attractions .for earnest men,-,andis well, worth all; the energy,.thought,-.and ; ;enterprise that, pan- bo devpted to it..-However, as the', presidential, address of: the Rev: W. Hay, must have reminded his hearers, organisation and numerical increases riot; everything., Mr. Hay dealt with certain aspects pf the great spiritual' and moral problems which are engaging, the attention of some, of the best minds of t/he present age, and he; was no doubt correct when,he indicated-that the post fascinating: of these problems, centre round the Person of the Founder of: Christianity, -and His trerQ-andouti claims upon-,the allegiance of mankind.; These questions aro being as keenly 1 debated asthey were. in.the.'first five centuries of the Christian era..''•■ Only a fewmonths ago a very striking,. article kppeared in the London Kmesintho form of a review; of a remarkable book entitled The Quest of the Historical Jesus, published by a distinguished German _ scholar; ; Dr. (Schweitzer, who gives a most interesting account "of the struggle which the.best equipped intellects.of the modern world, have gone, through in endeavouring to realise for themselves the; historical personality. of pur, Lord." It is really, a wonderful story.. Beginning with the;theories, of Keimartjs, who died iri;l76B,'the book goes on to deal with the views regarding the. greatest Personality in human history; propounded by Paultjs, ' Baur, Strauss, v 'Keim, Holtzmannv Weiss, Eenan,- Bousset, Harnaok, and others. The simple fact that such: outstanding intellects 1 have thought it worth while to devote the best,part pf their lives fo the study of tliis problem 'is. a 'complete answer to those, people der. plare that religious .questions' have; ceased to interest the leaders of em thought. The writer of the Times review tells us that the greatest achievement of German ■ theology "is the critical - investigation i of the life of Jestts. It is the' most tremendous thing which the religious consciousness has ever dared arid done." But after, all the problem remains unsolved and tho. "quest'? still goes on. The Times / reviewer suggests that "perhaps .it -is the starting point that is false. Are we quite sure that Strauss was right because he eliminated the ..superiiatural?" .And yet, as the ireviewer says,/these men have not laboured in vain, for everyone who steadily works at German critical' theology will discover that although 'there is much with which he disagrees, he will always come out of his study feeling that he.has understood more of Him "in whose words every thinker and every age has found all that "was best of its own ideas." Mr. Hay's' thoughtful and stimulating address must havo been a welcome and- bracing change to the Baptist Conference after an afternoon devoted 1 largely to the consideration 'of organisation, and figures and finance, and must have helped to remind his hearers.,that the machinery of the Church is not an end'in itself, but only the .means.towards the supreme end for which all religious : organisations exist—the moral and spiritual betterment of humanity*