RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1806, 19 July 1913, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

CONSTRUCTIVE THOUGHT. A NEW QUARTERLY JOURNAL. SOME STRIKING ARTICLES. -We liavo received a copy of tlio second number of "Tlio Constructive Quarterly," a journal of the faith, work, and thought of Christendom. Its immediate purpose is to induce a better understanding and a truer sense of fellowship betweeq members of the different religious bodies. It is controlled by a board of distinguished scholars, including representatives of Britain, America, Germany, Russia, and. India, with the co-operation of committees of tlio ltoman Catholic Church in Britain, America, and tlie Continent of Europe. The plan, as stated by tho editor, "is to bring together members of all Communious, wlio will write constructively of the Christianity tliey profess and practice, in order that others may know their Communion as they themselves would desire to' havo it known. It is not neutral territory that is sought, wliero courtesy and. diplomacy would naturally tend to avoid issues and to round off tho sharp edges of truth and Conviction, but rather common ground, wliero loyalty to Christ and to convictions about Him and His Church will bo secure from the tendency to mere compromise or to superficial and artificial comprehension. Tlio purpose is to create an atmosphere of mutual confidence, of mutual knowledge, of mutual desire for fellowship. In such an atmosphere it should be easior to believe in others at their best, without minimising the real causes of separation." A journal of this character should appeal to a very wide circle- of readers. Religious thought is just now passing through an intensely interesting After tho' severe process of destructive criticism which modern theology has experienced, somo of tlio world's most distinguished scholars are now devoting their best energies to tho work of reconstruction, and it is this constructive work which will recti vo special attention in tlio new quarterly. The first number set a very high standard, and included articles by Archbishop Platon, of tho Russian Church, Dr. Du Bose, Dr. Wilfrid Ward (editor of tho "Dublin Review"), Dr. Sunday (Oxford), Dr. Loofs, M. Georges Goyau (Fellow of tlio University of France), the Rev. J. J. Wynne (editorial staff of the "Catholio Encyclopedia"), Dr. W. IJ.1 J . I'aterson (Professor of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh), Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P. ("Religion and Labour"), and a number of well-known American- writers. The second issue is perhaps even more interesting than the first, and the list of contributors is a remarkably impressive one. Dr. Denny, of tho United Free Church College, Glasgow, starts off with a striking article on "This Constructive Task of Protestantism." / He contends that reconstruction of tho doctrino of Christ is necessary. Ho is of opinion that the old creeds "do not enable us to exhibit tho real Christ in whom we teliove, cither to ourselves or to others; they do not furnish.' us with tho means of bearing a Iwliever's testimony to Him, or of showing the way in which He determines the relations of God and Man or .the relations of men to one another. . ... The, question rises whether we can represent tine work of Christ in a way which at once vindicates itself to the conscience which has experience of His power, and can appeal to the authority of His own word." Dr. Denny goes on to indicate tho manner in which he believes this can bo effectively done. The writer considers that a reconstruction of the doctrine of tlio Church is also necessary, and contends that it should bo done not from tho point of view of dogma, or of constitution and order, but of faith, its primary function being worship combined with witness. Another article of exceptional interest iB that of Mgr. Battifol, a distinguished Roman Catholic, who is one of tho leading authorities on Church history. Dr. Battifol writes with tho object of placing beforo his readers tho elements of a fair judgment of tho French scholars who for a quarter of a century have been devoting themselves to the study of the ancient history-of tho Church. Tho. Dean of St. Paul's (Dr. Inge);- who has .a world-wide reputation as thinker, schokir, and preacher,'lias some arresting things to say 011 "Tho Transformation of tho Messianic Hope in tho New Testament." He deals with some of the latest phases of Gospel criticism, and refers to the wonderfully rapid evolution of doctrine during the first century of Christian his■tory as a striking proof of tho suppleness and vitality of a great religion wfiilo it was still young and fresh. Ho concludes by saying that "a living organism must change; immobility is only a sign of petrifaction. And conservatives may console themselves with tho reflection that it is most unlikely that any such revolutionary changcs mil ever again be demanded of tho Church as that which in tho first century transformed it from a liand of Syrian - peasants, steeped in nationalistic and Oriental modes of thought, into the champions of 0. world religion, equipped for tlie conquest of the civilised world." "Some Tendencies of tho _ English Frco Churches" is a subject on which Dr. Solbic, Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, can speak with authority. He describes the changes that are going 011 in tho relations of tho Nonconformist bodies to one another and their attitude to the Church of England. He states that tho Preo Churches have their peculiar contribution to make to modern theology, and that for this task they have a real opportunity and certain marked qualifications. Dr. Bevan (United States) gives an original interpretation and estimate of Baron von Hugel's book entitled "Eternal Lifo." Dr. Newman Smyth, tho <listinjjuishod American Con£TQ.tioiKilifit» writes on "Tho Common Idea of the Clmrcli in the Prostestant Creeds." Tho other contributors include Mr. Setli Low (who writes on Christianity in the United States), Professor Williams Adams Brown ("Problems and Possibilities of American Protestantism"), Professor J. H. Moultan ("Methodism in tho Catholic Unity"), Lady Henry Somerset ("Place of Religion in tho Woman Movement"), Dr. R. A. Falconer ("Tho Present Position of the Churches in banada"), Professor Glubokovsky, of St. Petersburg ("Orthodoxy in its Essence'), Dr. w. 11. van Allen ("Catholic Privileges ) and Dr. Rufus Jones (" A Forgotten Hero of the Reformation"). If the .very high standard of tho first ? two volumes of tho "Constructive Quar- " terly" is maintained, it should secure a 3 permanent place among tho best reviews and oxerciso a very real influenco on tlio development of modern religious thought. It is published by the Oxford University Press. The price is 3s. net. Anuuil subscription 10s. net, post free to-any Dart of tho world. 1 PREPARING THE WAY OF THE LORD. SERMON BY DR. GIBB. Continuing liis sermons on tho world's need of tho Christian faith, Dr. Gibb went on to indicate signs of the dawning of a better day. They lia.d seen how sordid and materialised tho lifo of tlu? avcrago man had become. They had considered the wrctched substitutes with which lie had tried to replace tho great things of God and tlile soul. They had also seen how hopeless the Church seemed to bo in the faoo of the existing situation. But there were many signs of a salutary change. I.' Tho first sign was found in the. fact that multitudes of people were coming to recognise that tho present condition of human 'society is "a chaos of moral and mental disorder, of shallowness, and despair." It did not neac-ssarily follow from this that amendment would take place. Nevertheless tho first step in the process of recovery from an illness was to realise that you are ill. And largo numbers of men and women wore discovering that they had put. themselves out of tuno for the great and permanent interests of existence. This dissatisfaction was rellectied increasingly in literature. It had been said tliat i'or a long time past our literature could not draw blood, because there Has no blood in it. But literature was discovering its anaemic condition. The scalo of values was changing. Or if it was too much to say so, it was at least truo that tlio soalo of values esteemed during the last few deoadies was detected as a fraud. Men had taken stones foe biend. Noiv they know that tliey were stone*. i. But, second, many had cot beyond the stage of dissatisfaction. Vaguely but very learnostly tliey wero speculating how a change might bo brought about. Tliey were thinking new thoughts, dreaming now dreams. "Can wo givo a namo," asked Dr. Gibb, "to this now thing—this new ideal aftor wliioh men aivs aspiring, and which is destined, when it has been linked on to the Cross of Christ, to chanso our

civilisation and put a. filial end to tin sordid materialism- that has so long dofiled our life? Wo can. It brotherhood. It is collectivism. It is Socialism. Avo you horrifted? Wait a moment'. I am no more enamoured of the tempct and mood of Socialism as we seo it displayed hero in New Zealand than thomost strenuous conservative in this congregation, tnotigh probably for very different reasons. But if Socialism could bo spiritualised, if to its demand for.a fairer partition of loaves and fishes it added tho ideals of tho spirit, if it wore not in its aims and sympathies shot through and through witii materialism, it ivouAd be— well, I will tell you what it would boit would be the Gospel of Jesus Christ id its social applications reduced to praftice." Was there not an element of liopf in tho fact that men wero learning to re-, oognise tho solidarity of life—that no man lives or can live wholly to himself—that to attenipt to do so cannot but l>e followed by disastrous and most woeful consequences ? 3. A third hopeful sign wo 3 tho attraction large numbers of people ivqrc finding in various religious cults, though these were at variance with what they doomed the central truth of the Christian faith. Spiritualism, Theosophy, Christian Science had all tlieir numerous devotees, i-'ronr mie point of view this was sad enough. From anotlfrr, what were all. these biwirre culls but a nianifestation'of the spiritual nature of man craving satisfaction. In all these things Uiere were signs of the coining of a better day. It was .surely a happy omen that moil are coming to see that man does not live by bread alone; that wo need some other provendor than that which ,our materialistic society provides for our sovils; that wo need a deeper satisfaction than the physical universe secures for us. The - Church of Christ alone could meet the need, but it must 1)3 a reformed Church —a Church which pi'etisttd as veil as taught' *piritua] ideals and tho supremacy of the spiritual life. - The Church must display a new order of life. Not .a new Gospel, but a new and true application of the old Gospel—a Church of which i?A r .v member wcnld 1)3 & Cross hfarcr—that was. the supremo need of the present hour.

CARDINAL BOURNE'AT NEWCASTLE.

SERMON ON AUTHORITY. • The Cardinal Archbishop of . West- . minister (Dr. Bourne) paid a visit to Newcastle on May 24, where during the week- ' end was the guest ol ! this Lord . Mayor (Alderman J. i\ Wcidner) at tho Mansion House. On Sunday morning his. Eminence was present at St. Mary's Cathedral, and preached the sermon, taking as his text tho words from the Epistle to til© Romans XIII: "Let every soul bo subject to higher powers. ... Tlicro is no power but'from God." His Emineaico considered in detail tho necessity of the existence of. authority, and sai'd it was God Himself who Was manifested in every rightful authority to which' obedience was given. Of the existence of authority, and of tho rightfulness of authority, no thinking man conkl have any possible doubt. If in seeking tho origin uf Authority they went far ■ back, they found the instinct of authority and tho yielding to authority, in some shape or form, were facts deep down in tho human nature of every 0110 of us, rooted in tho very fibres of our souls, and, that being so, they were tlrc-ro and could be there only because God who made us placed them there. Everyone, who by using his reason recognised tho existence of God, must recognise also that authority could come from God alone. In developing liis- subject, Cardinal Bourne spoko of how God had_ been pleased to constitute authority in the world. Authority had to deal with two different spheres—the spiritual and. tho temporal. As a general rule in tho temporal order, God, while putting in. tho heart recognition of the necessity of authority, had left to men for tho most part tho choico of that authority under which they would live. All such authority was legitimate if it (served' tho purposo of authority. Tho Catholio Church had bcea prepared to rcoogmw monarchies aaid every type of democracy. TJndor tho new dispensation God had made tho most complete distinction )>e- . tween tho temporal and the spiritual.; ; * Tho ono was not subject'to the other. They wero co-ordinate power.?, each having its own. legitimate sphere of action., neither being entitled to encroach upon . tho province of tho other. The matters which affected tho eternal salvation of man, in which tho interests of his soul wore oonoerned, in all that appertained! to his moral governance—these things wero reserved to the Church of Jpmii Christ. 11l tho temporal matters God had given power to' all Hie various authorities to govern in His name. The doctrino of tho Christian Clrarch' was. ' clear and 'distinct--wlitenover civifl authority was legitimately constituted obedienoo was given, not in virtue of Hm physical force it could exercise, but beoauso that civil authority represented to thlcm God himself. It was interesting on an occasion like that, to realise that tiro civic government of England wan built up and attained its highest perfection during the thousand years of tho undivided Christianity of England. They wero apt to forget tho great fact that , onythinpr done to-day was simply built up ou foundations laid in the thirteenth ami, fourteenth centuries by those who worn able to worship God with ono mind, ono heart, ono faith. Tlio very name of Mtiyor went back probably to tho twelfth century. Their prcsenco in stato that day was a recognition on the part of tins municipality that all their authority ca,mo from Almighty God; that their exercise of • that authority was. a responsibility of which they must give nn account to Him. It was a .nenunder to all citizens that the obwlience which tliov rendered to tho authority under wnich. t-hev lived was an obodie.nco not wieod on'fenr, but an net of -lioniago to God Himself. If thoas principle wero stronff in tho hearts of the people then would tho blessing "of God rest upon tho gov- • ernors and tho governed. •

THE SELFISH SUNDAY

WORKERS' REMARKABLE PROTEST. A fctriking- revelation of the seriousness with which tho workers of the country regard tho weekly rest-day was providedat tho niniual meeting of tho-Imperial Sunday Alliance held in London recently:. Tho list of speakers under Sjr John Kennawny's presidency at the/ Wcstminstei Palace Hotel embraced every.. possible shade of thought oil the subject (says (ho "Christian .World"). There were convinced believers in the Christian Sunday, like Sir Jolm himself, Mr. G. W. E.'Russell and Chancellor P. V. Smith; there were social enthusiasts like Mr. l?rederio Rogers; and thero.wore working men,'representing both the religions and seenlaristio sections ol' Labous—all united in demanding that unnecessary Sunday In-' bour should bo abolished, and in supportins the Alliance in its work. Tho speeches of these representatives of the workers were intensely interesting. Mr. W. Johnson (secretary of tho National As-: socintion" of Theatrical Employees) exposed the Sunday amusement- business, and showed it to to :i purely commercial enterprise. The workers who suffered for it dared not protest for fear of dismissal, and the Alliance was fightingi for liberty in their case. An electrical worker said he had worked seven days a week for sixtorn years. . A sewage worker had had twelve Sundays off in twelve years. "Wo don't want to become machines," lie said, pathetically. "Sonic of us are only younc men." A Jewish tailor supported tho Alliance ill whtft he said wes really a light for tho Jewish Sabbath as well as for tlx Christian Sunday. But perhaps tho meek ing was most touched by Mr. Charles Coborn, the famous old music-hall singer, who finished a breezy littlo speech bv saying, "Becausfl we sing frivolous thinn t you must not think wo don't think seriously. We would not like to lose our Sunday, a day to rest and to thank God for tho bread and buttor wo havo had during the week." Mr. Harry Lauder, by tho way, had sent a oordial message to tho meeting. So had tho Arohbishop of Canterbury. During tho meeting (fiawac-sllor Pi V. Smith explained Ihe Weekly Rest-Day Bill which tho Alliance had drafted. It is c modest measure, "founded upon tho strict, ly humanitarian view of Sunday," and provides for tho abolition of Sunday labour and trading, with, of course, a long list of exceptions under the heading of nocossity and mercy. "It ia a stop," 6aid Mr. F. Enston, tlio retail newsagents' secretary, "and wo support it as siiqli. But don't stop!" Tho preparation of this Bill was only one of tho many aotivitioa of the Alliance and its hard-working chaplain, Canon H. B. Ottley, during tho year.