The Dominion. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1913. THE CHURCH & THE NATION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1925, 6 December 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1913. THE CHURCH & THE NATION.

The diamond jubilee of St. John's Presbyterian Church, Wellington, which has been so successfully celebrated during the present week, is an event of great interest in the religious history of the Dominion. Such commemorations are well worth while, for they are impressive reminders of our debt to the past and of our responsibility to the future. Church and State in Nov/ Zealand have been extremely fortunate as regards the men who did the pioneer work in the early days. They were men of_ high character—resolute and self-reliant; and we, who have entered into the fruits of their labour, owe them a deep debt of gratitude for laying broad and solid foundations upon which the prosperity of the country has since been built up. In those strenuous, anxious times, when the founders of our cities were paving the way for future greatness, while others were carving out homes in the wilderness, the pioneers did not forget that they had souls as as bodies, and they made great sacrifices in order to provide for the religious needs of the community. The Gospel was first preached in New Zealand by S.uiuei, Mabsdes, as far back as the year 181-1, and since then the establishment and early history of the various churches make quite : a romantic story. Sixty years ago St. John's Presbyterian Church was : founded in Wellington, and from that tiiyc onward it has had a most interesting and successful career. It has passed through many trials and difficulties in the past, and no doubt the future will bring its own troubles; but the same spirit which surmounted so many obstacles in days gone by is still alive, and will no doubt enable St. John's to maintain in the years to come that fine record for efficient work in various spheres of. religious activity which •it now enjoys. Sixty years is a comparatively short period in. the history of the Mother Country, but it is nearly sufficient to cover the whole period of the British occupation of this country, and tho Church has played a great part in the making of our national story. A congregation like St. John's has a continuous life—a kind of corporate individuality. One congregation is like others, and yet different, for in the course of time each develops ideals and traditions of its own which give it a character peculiar to itself. Pulpit and pew, pastor and people, act and read? upon one another, and St. John's has been fortunate in having men of exceptional ability and enthusiasm for its ministers and officebearers.

Never in the whole course of its history has the Christian Church haci a greater. opportunitythan it has to-day, but it has a correspondingly great responsibility. The confident philosophic materialism of the latter half of the nineteenth century has been undermined by criticism; science ancl religion no longer fact caeh other like two hostile armies, and the social reformer has found by sad experience that his work is largely in vain unless it is backed up by something in the nature of moral regeneration. A great deal has already been done to satisfy the intellect by the restatement of the faith in the terms of modern thought, and there are many indications of a resolute determination on the part of the churches to grapple with the great social problems o f . (lie day. That "man cannot, live by bread alone" is a fundamental principle of Christianity; but it is also necessary to bear in mind that man cannot live without bread. The feeling is growing in intensity that disaster is ahead unless wo can moralise the great social movements which are sweeping over the modern world. As Dr. Forsyth recently declared, civilisation has put the Church 011 its trial to-day, but civilisation is on trial as well. The recognition of such facts as these have brought into existence the Brotherhood movement, which is emphasising the social side of Christianity, and the Church of England Men's Society, which now consists of over 120,000 men, and other organisations of a similar kind. Many of the foremost men in the British Labour party are convinced that if the movement ignores the fundamental spiritual instincts of mankind it will end in failure and disappointmentj and' in view of those signs _ of racial • degeneration which arc just now attracting so much notice, an eminent modern scientist, who has devoted a great deal of attention to tins difficult problem, tells us that "a nation that ignores the survival vnhic of religion will perish from off the face of the earth," _ People are insistently asking what is the Church doing to promote social reform? But the question ought to bo put in _ another form, namely, what are Christian men and women doing in this matter? It i<; not the business of the Church in its'corporate e/micUy to. devise and :arry out political cr social programmes, or to rush into the arena :>f party politics; but as Professoh llowertox, an _ American writer, points out, "it is one thing to say that the Church as an organised body must not go into polities, but- a different tiling to say that His Church has no message to politicians and imsiness men, no principles to teach hem which it is their duly to apply in the solution of old problems, as well as the new ones which are continually emerging with_ the develoonent of the world's civilisation." If :'iir Church cannot ro into business iiul politics iLs members can, and it .•an reform politics by reforming the .i<>!iticiaii_s, it can reform business iv reforming Die buiincss men, it can reform society by. reforming the

social leaders. It is tiie Church's duly to assist io mould the characters of the men who control the destinies of the State, It must stand for groat principles, such as truth, justice, and freedom, and resist tyranny and oppression in every form. While sympathising with all tlw legitimate claims and aspirations of Labour, it should remind both employers and workers that they have duties, as well as right!;, and it must be prepared, if necessary, to rebuke oven a triumphant democracy to its face. There is at the present ! moment a dangerous tendency on tho part of a. section of the clergy to pay too high a price for popular favour, and some of them are, to use tho words of the Dean of St, Paul's (Dn. Ixge), "tumbling over each other in their eagerness to be 'ftp" pointed court chaplains to King Demos." They are practically saying, "Let the Church strike it bargain with the Labour party; let the clergy abuse capitalists and abet strikes from the pulpit; let them advocate schemes for the forcible distribution of other people's property." It would he a great mistake for the Church to adopt the empty catchwords and popular fetishes of the day, and to commit itself unreservedly to the fitful schemes and temporary fads of the present generation, which will probably be tossed aside as useless by those who come after us. "Passing events," writes Dr, Inge, "are only important in so far as they are not 'passing,' but linked on to some great idea which is working itself out—some idea the beginning of which we did not hear, the end of which we shall not sec-, and the meaning of which we very imperfectly understand." The Church must, of course, do its duty to its own generation, but it is essential that it should also take long views, and never forget that first and foremost it must always stand for i the eternal verities.