RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1926, 8 December 1913, Page 3

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

WESLEYAN MISSIONS. A MESSAGE .FROM TUB KING. Olio li i! 11! I red years ago, jit a series of gatherings in Leeds, the Weslcyan Metnndist Missionary Society was launched. On Monday night (October u) the Albert Hall held a. vast audio nee ot Methodists in every nook and cranny of its ample spaces, assembled to cclebrato tho completion of that century of missionary enterprise, suffering, and achievement. Almost- at the. opening of the meeting a grateful surprise brought the audience to their feci. The chairnian, .Mr. Williamson Lamplough, read out a message of congratulation from the King, sent through Lord St-amford-ham, in answer to a loyal letter from the society's officers. 'JL lie Koto I message ran as follows:—

*'I am commanded to express iho sincere thanks of the King for the mcssago of loyalty and goodwill forwarded by you in the name of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society now celebrating its centenary,, which is attended by representatives from all parts of the world. His Majesty gratefully recognises the religious ami philanthropic •work so universally extended by tho society in promoting tho noblest aims of C-histianity, and JlO offers his hearty congratulations upon tho high- results achieved during the hundred years of its ministry."

Tho mcssago was greeted with the ' hearty singing of the National Anthem. * Tilt* note of rejoicing was naturally ( predominant (says tho "Christian 1 World'"), and at an early stage found j expression in tho singing of tho To ' Detim, led by a. splendid choir, and > later 011 by t'lio rendering of tSio Halle- l lujah Chorus under tho direction of tho ! vorsatilc'ox-president of conference, tho ! Rev. l'\ L. Wiseman. But the most : impressive feature of the gathering was j the procession of men from all parts of 1 the mission lield—white, black, brown, 1 and' yellow—who 0110 by olio delivered 1 tho mcssago of greeting from their ! countrymen to the Mother Church at. : home. Tho sight of these symbols of j the triumphs of the Gospel in every ; clime set tire to the imagination of tho ; audience, and they thunderously* ap- i pi,itulcd the men and the message:;, i Especially warm was the reception ot the Rev. Shcn Wen Cliing, a slight, , eager Chinaman dressed in the closefitting black silk tunic and brown skirt ; of his ra«e. "This is the greatest, day China has evjr known." ho declare;!. "Perhaps some day the world will learn that this opening up of China is one of the most important events in all history. My country must bo made over again. We want Christ to do it. My country will not always depend 011 foreigners. Give us your best for a, little, while , longer." "Native ministers from Ceylon, \ India, South and' West Africa, and tho , West Indies in tuni presented _ their greetings in varied accents, bat all one in gratitudo and loyalty to the- parent ( Church. . . . , Sir George Smith, of Treliske, prosident of the Methodist Laymen's Missionary Movement, said tho progress ol' their missionary history had been marked by severe trials and heavy (lis.couragemcuts. "We have _ taken possession of the shores of' West Af rica with the graves of our dead.'' But, surveying in turn every field at the. end of the hundred years, they could point 011 all hands to a wonderful talo ot trophies won for the Gospel, of ever widening opportunities for the advancement ot the Kingdom of God. Bishop Homer C. Stiiiitz, who has tho oversight of the Methodist Episcopal Missions in South America, mado the welcome announcement that he had just received intelligence that i'cru had • passed a law' of religious tolerance. The Uisliop eloscd his speech in time for tho prearranged singing of tho Doxology at liino o'clock, tho hour fixed for a similar. act. of thanksgiving at all other - meetings in tho country. Before tho collection was made the chairman .*lll- - nounccd the receipt of one gift of ±12500, two gifts of £1000, and another of £010. Tho Rev. William Goudic, who lias been the inspiring force of the centenary movement, told the audicnco that lie was in good hopo about the financial results. Nearly'£lßo,ooo had been paid in, and they wero iu sight of £200.000, ; Whilst news of the Sunday services showed that largo gifts had been made ill many, if not all, their churches. Among the speakers the most interesting ligure wa3 the veteran pioneer missionary and ethnologist, Dr. George Brown', who has faced many a peril and menace, of death alone among the cannibals of New Guinea and the. headhunters of the Solomon Islands. The Rev. A. H. Hodges spoko for South Africa, tho Rev. A. C. Lawry for New ' Zealand, and Mr. A. H. A\<xid for ! Canada. A searching speech on tho ! call of the future was contributed by Lieutenant-Colonel John Ilarnsley, • a * Birmingham local preachor, and Dr. 1 Haigh gavo as watchwords for the. n.ew ' century, "Everybody in the business ! and everybody'in it systematically." The crowning moment was reached when ■ tho Rev. W. R. Budd. representing tho > Irish Methodist Conference, handed to 1 the chairman, Mr. .J. Yarmer Early, ! an envelope containing a cheque for t £660,, Ireland's gift to the Thnnks--1 giving Fund. - THE CHURCH IN FRANCE, ' ——— 1 RELATIONS WITH THE STATE. The present religious situation in Franco forms tho subject of a long and 3 informing article from t'ho pen of M. > Georges Fonsegrivo in the "Dublin Review" for October. "It may bo seen from this resume," writes M. Fonsc--1 grive, "that Catholicism in Franco is . passing through a crisis from which it may and should emerge strengthened t and rejuvenated. It is not true, as I some are pleased to say, that separation . has of itself the Church. , It must, 011 tho contrary, bo recognised 5 that in despoiling her it has taken from I her many means of action. The Church . 110 longer exists in the eyes of tho French State; she -sail no longer posJ sess anything or perform any act de--3 noting existence. In refusing to organ* iso associations cultuclles tho Church of Franco not only renounced her goods, sho renounced tho legal status which tiio State was arranging for her. . . Clearly this situation cannot continue. ' By force of circumstances combinations must be formed, intermediaries between Church and State, intermediaries ?.<> ' cepted by both parties, must bo found. 5 The Church commands the consciences of Catholics; the State allows to Caioo- " lies freedom of worship. 5t is clearly * in this direction that tho reconciliation] " will bo made—and perhaps .the ive.tling j s together. Already the stcictos iiiimo- j '< biiieres, which build churches and at- j r tcrwards let them to tho clergy, have. !• opened up one path. Others wii bo '• opened, until tho diy when Catholic ' citizens will compel the State iO sps-ik p with the Church. In choosing to ipolc 0 Home, France loses more than home. So many interests of every sort «io linked with our Catomw past in .Assyria. iu Turkey, in Morocco, , the Far East, that one day or nnotnti, „ when tho present political £ altered when fresh men change viuu predecessors' tactics without seenung to blame'their own action.,, olhe, 1 icl. ;f relations will in the cud bear nun. THE CHRIST Of HISTORY. GOSPELS AND'MOHERN CRITICISM Z One of the most shiking papers read of nt the Anglican Church Congress at ie .Srntlinnipton was that 011 "the• Cluisu of History." by the I?«v. C- • 'V ni " mot, vicur of A\cst ?n Tho vorv brief summary oi iue address j published ill TjthTlosuMyN at- Hi' l ' stated that Mr, Emmet "made the is-

maikaljlo adniirs.sion tlmt many customs, practieej, and observances »t . Cliurcli we re 011 C!in.-. ; "L ! ' ; sayings, which scholarship had shown to be unauthentic. So much was this the caso that it was hopehss'lo attempt to rely to the letter 011 the word:: rpokeu by Jesus.'' This is a. very one-sided description of the paper, and gives a most inaccurate idea of' Mr. Emmet's argument, as will lie seen from tiio following report takc-n from the "MaucDosier Guardian":— Mr. Enunet asked how far, in view of modern criticism} they could trust the Gospels. It was pretty generally agreed, lie said, that the mass of tho teaching of Jesus came i'roiii the hypothetical document that scholars called "Q." There wero first tho actual words spoken by Jesus, probably in Aramaic; then the recollection and interpretation of them by those who beard them : then the record of iheso recollections as jt appeared in "Q"; and finally, process of the translation and editing of

"Q." until it reached the form in which they knew it in the Gospels. I'nlciis they were to posit a miraelo tt'ey eoul;l not claim under those circuiusta.ucjs any certainty as to tho ipsissima verba* of tho historical Jesus. Even 1 in the Lord's Prayer they could not be absolutely certain of the exact words actually used by Jesus. To rely 011 the letter of tho words spoken._by Jesus was to build on a foundation which criticism was undermining more and more relentlessly every .day. They wero therefore driven back on tho old contrast beuveen the spirit and the. letter. They applied that principle readily enough iu order to adapt to their own needs St. Paul's teaching on slavery or the position if women. Wliv should they not apply it fearlessly and consistently? liard though it was to do this, they need not shrink from the attempt. Once we realise all that this principle implies, the speaker went on, and the real strength it brings with it, ue need not be afraid to follow criticism in treating Our Lord as One who belonged to a particular age e.iid nation, and to some extent shared its limitations and its outlook, awl .wo shall 110 longer trernblo at every iresa pronouncement niado by modern scholarship. Since tho days -of "Lux Mundi" it has been more and 11101'© impossible to believe in a verbally infallible Jesus. —(Protests, and a voice, "Jesus Christ, tho same .yesterday, today, and for ever."). Wo have g<j ot j reason to say that He never intended His claim to authority to bo interpreted in that way, for if Ho had meant Christianity to be based on the actual letter of His spoken words would 110 not. have secured that iheso woi'GS should have been recorded without alteration or, mistake? An infallible teaching given in the past is of 110 practical value to-day unless we possess an infallible record of it, and to that we must add an inialliblo preservation of that record and an inlmjible interpreter known and recognised infallibly by infallible evidence. In conclusion, Mr.- Emmet said that to some extent each individual and to a greater extent each age the Church must bravely shoulder the responsibility of interpreting for itself the mind of Christ, and apply tho piinciples of His teaching to its own needs and circumstances, Would the Congress bo bold enough, lie asked, to do this in its decisions on sooisil problems, the position of women, and the marriage laws? Mr. Emmet's address was received with loud applause, which was renewed when tho President described it as a singularly candid, lucid, fearless, and reverent- treatment of tho subjcct.

in response to the interjections evoked by the words "Sinco 'ho days of 'Lux Mundi' it has been more and vuoro impossible to believe in a verbally infallible Jesus," Mr. Emiwit substituted tiio expression "infallibly-re-ported Jesus." . . Later, when Dr. Inge, Dean of St. Paul's, stated that the Christ of experience is tiie same Christ who became .tlesii nineteen hundred years ago, whose deeds and words are preserved for 11s in tho Gospels," there was further loud ami prolonged applause. In a. letter to tho "Guardian" Mr. Emmet states; —I shall bo grateful JF von will allow mc' to say that I did not mean, as you suggest, by "a verbally infallible Jesus" merely "an infallibly reported Jesus." When I used the phrase that "sinco the days of 'Lux Mundi' it has bccomo more and more impossible to believe in a verbally, infallible Jesus,"'! had in mind tho view, which I confess.l believed was by now fairly generally accepted, that- when our Lard spoko of Dnvid as tho author of Psalm ex., or of Moses as tiio author of the Pentateuch, His .words were not to be interpreted as tho infallible expression of Divine omniscience. It is true that Dr. Gore argues in "Lux Mundi" that this admission does not imply our Lord's fallibility as a lonelier, but it does carry with it the corollary that His every utterance on every, sub-' jock cannot be taken as literally acc.u.r-

ate in a sense which forecloses further discussion or growth of knowledge. This may surely bo described as tho denial of verbal infallibility. His essential infallibility in all that concerns tho things of tho Spirit I accept with 110 shadow of reserve, and 1 began my paper by insisting that where we could ascertain His real mind arid teaching the last word had been said. May I express my surprise that some of the audicnco should havo semi ;i contrast, as, indeed, you do yourself, botween my position and the words you quote from Dr. Inge's paper that "tho Christ of experience is the same Christ Whoso deeds and words aro recorded for us iu the Gospels" ? 1 suggested no sort, of gap between tho living Christ and tho Jesus of the Gospels, and I insisted more than oneo en tho genera!, as opposed to tiio verbal reliability of tho Gospel record as "enabling us to grasp with all reasonable certainty tiio main outline and general principles of (His) teaching," pointing to it as tho first of our aids in interpreting that teaching to-day, THE BROTHERHOOD MOVEMENT. , A RELIGIOUS FORCE, Speaking at the National Brotherhood Conference at Birmingham, the Rev. R. Moffatt Gautrey referred to tho Brotherhood as a world-wide missionary force, and s;iid that since the conference in Birmingham eight years ago the country had been covered with a network of country and district federations, and iho membership had increased to something like half a million. Eight years ago Blatohfordism was in. iho ascendant. It was practically defunct to-day, and he claimed that ! their movement, helped lo kill it. From | a thousand platforms they exposed the j shallow sophistries of an. antiquated infidelity and brought conviction to tho minds of working men that anyone who tried to uncrown Christ was their foo and not their friend. Brotherhood had bccomo the magic word of this country. Pastor Moscherooh (Boulogne) ami Professor Yallee (Lille) spoke of tho movement in France. Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P., was Clioscn as president for next. year. A reroUition was passed expressing the opinion that tho adoption of a national programme for social service was essential" if the aims and objects of iho leaders were to lie realised.

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