RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1954, 10 January 1914, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

THC KIKUYU CONFERENCE. VIS or DLAN OENfjOV -jT-'o following letter from the Dean orDurham (Dr.- Henson) apj>ears in tho ■■"Guardian" of November :— ijiiSir,—l- -ha\-o hesitated long before giving public expression to tho very deep anxiety-winch.tills my mind when 1 re.lcet-ouvtlie fiitnation into which it seems probable, that the Church of lUngland will .boibrought as 1 a result of tho Conference in East ■■ • Quite' distinct- questionswoukl s; em .to ho mixed up-in this'episode, llie'iotio is.-.poiicerncd .with the proper limits of local episcopal action in- negotiations/- with"' non-episcopal Churches; i.io other., is concerned with the very enaracior^of;.the. Church, of Encland as an-.;Lya"gelica!; or v. Reformed "Church, line, first is 'of:; relatively littlo impnrtij']ec',- .the last ;■ is not . leß-s than vital. it u ., I ' cs f? c !:A < ?,tbo ftrst it appears that tncffacts., arc not ;to : yet clear. Was tlievplatforns'i.agreed upon at the coniereneo.niade. subject- to tlio sanction of the. central authority.of tho Anglican Conimumou,.. 0r... not ?. Did tbo rcpro* Goiitiitivos.,;.'; of ; tho »*. Arlvontisis and I Quakers accept-tho platform, or not? present'these* considerable questions I remain open,-;. TTntil they aro clearly answered., wo ■ cannot appraise the ac.tion oi. tho Bia'nons concerned, or tho practical ; value "of ■ tho platform the.v accept respect to tho Inst, tho facts -do not appear to bo doubtful. Aii Anglican , Bishop did frankly and tully acknowledge fraternity with tlio jcpresentatives of non-episcopal Churches in. tho only ; way such acknowledgment can formally. bo ■ made—by receiving tile. Hoiy Communion with them on the basis-o ; an : ; absolute religious eqwalitj Does, tile Church of England approve or condemn his action? ■ If the former, then-.(whatever-decision may bo finally reached as to tho conference) wo stiil stand on. .tlio. old ground cf the Reformation, and respect tho precedents or--our'own . past... if th 3 latter, then -de tho sophistries of sacredotalist bigotry , as. cleverly masked by smooth pi)rases as may bo—wo havo definitely, and,even dramatically, repudiated our principles and our history as an Evangelical, or .Reformed Church. It has ever been my conviction that a great- error was mndo by the organisers ot the Edinburgh jVOssionary ConlOrence when, they did not make intcrcij.'cmunion a condition of admission to their proceedings. Tlso inelusioii of tnoso who coukl not conscientiously own non-episcopalians'at tho Lord's Tablo as. Christian brethren gave a dolusivo air ot.completeness to the conference, nrmtcd unliappily the clisoussioris, map:nnwholesomely that facile charitv or the hps which, if it havo no adequate expressions in conduct, may even hia- ? er v!. eommitte-d the conference to conditions of action which aro really paralysing, nnd must lead finally to stenluy. are beginning to see tho lesults of that- initial blunder. Tho J'is.lop ' ot Winchester—surely tho strangest conceivali'o renrcsentative of « liiipsi Chcreli at the Edinburgh Lonference—-is ablo to protest agaiil3t the. proceedings in East Africa as a [ireac.i ot tho Kdinburgh understandmcrs! Mr. Mott. wh-o is overwhelmed wit'll lavish conmllment, hv mniiT vho would refuse religions fellowship with him at the Lord s Table, ig in dsngcr of lentg paraded before flio Anglican as tho anologist of Aup;](ci\n exo.usiveness I Tho situation threatens to bononto iiirlicroiis. - It is high time that thoso who really be-lievo in tho first- principles of. Evangelical Christianity, and who exult in of England as historicallv l-rKw,- c i t i c f estircssion and'advocate 'of those principles, should begin to consider nioro. anxiously and responsibly tlio continual advance in practice of ait ixc.usiio -Anglicanism which is tho categorical contradiction of Evangelical Christianity.' I say <«j n riractico". ad- \ lsectly, .or \ye havo arrived at an epoch of wonderful softness of ecclesiastical iTf up," ty'V" candid coluiaiis of i»mlv Ti ? nncs ; . sacerdotalism is >*»eab-mouthed, and ii roquires an ef-fQi-t .0 realise that the affectionate lan- ♦ 4, iago, which is now so readily outpoured upon non-Anglica.iis at church congresses • and such-like gatherings, h oes along with principles of exclusively more tenaciously held and more peisistentiy pressed than ever before. Ir oiii} - the intc-liigeuco of Evangelicals ' were as strong as their emotions and as sound as their hearts, the Stoadv march of osclttsivoncss to a complete control of Anglican policy abroad as well as ai home would be- arrested. As tilings - now stand, ic only requires a-sufi-gestmn, halt regretful, half minatory, that any action (words- do not matter) committing tho Church to a • °* non-episcopal ch'irchea hnsders unity," is a "short cut," and therefore a ■ wrong oourso towards the !ongc(!-for goal, and tho Evangelical laliS oack into silence, sells tho pass, and is properly ignored in tho future moro sately than over. It is earnestly to m hoped that tho leaders of Evangelicalism will be vigilant to guard tho liberty of inter-communion in tho mis-sion-field,. a liberty which has long existed,, but-is now endangered. - H. HENSLEY HENSON. '.In'"a footnote to tho-above letter tho tfUardiair' states:—

ji-'Die conference to which tlw Dean of Durham refers Tins held in tlie summer at Jvikuyu, in British East Africa. The subject- ordkeussion was tlio federation of themissions of various religious uociies m East .Africa. Thorp, were nr<>sent representatives of tho Chufch of bnclaijd, and the Scottish Church, tho (American) Africa Inland Mission, tho Iriciuis Industrial Mission, tho United .Methodists, tho Lutheran Mission, and the Seventh... Day' Adventists. The Bishop of Uganda wag in the chair, and tho Bishop of Mombasa was also present.. Tho Universities' Mission to Contra! Africa refused to sencl a- representative. The gathering resolved upon t-no formation of a Federation of Missenary Societies, and that' "Iho basis of federation shall consist in iho loyal acceptaneo of tho Apostles' and Niceno Creeds as a general expression of Christian belief." "Heg.ular administration of.tho two Sacraments b.v outward signs and a common form of Church organisation" wore also urged. Another resolution ran,as follows:—"All recognised as ministers within our churches' shall be welcomed as visitors to prc-ach in other federated churches." After tho conference tho Holy Communion ivas eolebrnted in tho evening in tho Scottish chdrch at Kikuyu by tho Bishop of Mombasa. ; T!ie sermon was pmachod by -a minister of-, the Scottish Church, and all the delegates received tho Holy Communion . from the hands of.tho Bishop. : SCOTTISH CHURCH UNION. . ,A : - SPONTANEOUS"'JIOVEMENT. Preaching recently in tho U.F. ' St. O-c-orco's Church, .Edinburgh, the Rev! Dr. Fleming, minister of St.'Cohimba's Church, Pont Street, s-i>o!;o with enthusiastic optimism of tbo pro* poets of church union. The privilege of preaching ill a Scottish chwrch, So said, was above all precioas to him in its signitiennco as part of a movement.! which had already captured tho imagination, arid which had moro and worn harnessed to its purposes tho creative and constructive- genius of tho Scottish people—tho reunion of their common historic Church, "The.ro could ho 110 more disastrous blunder," ho continued, "than to imagino that such a movement could bo engineered by tho methods of a deft ecclesiastical statecraft If over spontaneity characterised any movement in Scotland it, is characteristic of 'this' movemont. For years it has Ueon the Moplo's instinct- that this thing . must-1», and to-day it is

more—ltjs tie pcnpio'a unalterai>lo will. Wiso leadership tnav hasten, faulty leadership me; retard, the fulfilment of this purpos®; but nothing caa afe its inevitable trswd, Tlio ship of reunion lias been launched on that t-ido which has never been successfully reb'istocl in Scotland—the tide o.i people's will. We are waiting for tho ' constructive wisdom which will glviv, external shape to this inward |>tirposo. Bttt meanwhile reunion is not merely^coming; it has largely 'come. May X instance not only such a courtes? and hospitality ,i-s 1 enjoy to-day, Isai? the experience I have in London* There,' under a common roof, in the church to which! minister, members of your Ohui'oli and of mine worship together without sense of incongruity or uufmuiliarity. Not only so; bill whilst same years ago tiie letters I received from ministers in Scotland commending their people to iny charge wero almost exclusively from parish ministers, it is with 'gratitude that 1 tell vou that, ■especially in recent months, I now receive almost as many of aueh letters of commendation from ministers of your great Church as «f my own, Is there not a wide significance attaching -even to this simple illustration? In it not an evidence of a changed, atmosphere—of the fact that the spirit of reunion (am! that, after nil, is everything) has s'ready come? For my own part I feel that chore eonld be no mora prave lesponsibility than to d-wooviragft the growth of that now and holy and blessed spirit, or to obstruct tho realisation of its purpose. To every age in t!io history of tire Church is given ji special _ responsibility and a special opportunity. To ours has been given: this great opportunity o{ reuniting tho rjven Clmrr-li oi Christ in Scotland. To have n- share, however humble, in its accomplishment is an honour and a privilege- than which I conceive that none greater is open to a Scottish minister or Scottish layman of Ca-day." CATHOLICISM !J4 PRANCE. Close on "Tho Times'-' article on Mia young Catholic authors of France, comes a paper in "The Nineteenth Century and After," by Dr. George Chat-terton-HiH, on "The New Spirit >u French Literature." This writer bad recently drawn attention to the "re- • awakening t>{ JJrance," and bo now explains tho new day to which she. is awaiting as "the renascence of tho national ' -religion." Dr. Ciiotterton-Hill recognises tho truth, obvious enough, that persecution, to be effectual, must, be much more thorough than is possible in modern, times. . "Violonw must be pushed to its furthest limits, or it; must not be resorted to at- all." To the moral impossibility of such annihilation as was dealt to the .Tows in •.Snain, to the Catholics at Ptotsheda and Woxford, and to tho Koiiilits" Templars by Philippe lo Bo!,, he attribnles tho wonderful survival of the Catholic religion in France. . This-is onlv a partial truth. . Dr. Chattcrton-J.iffl writes justly _of tho nttcnvpt to annihilate Christianity in Franco—he calls the Law of Separation a law of spoliation atut robbery. But he ii.rmlly does justice to the foresight ef the malignity that worked in the early eighties of tlio last, eositury to destroy -religion in Franca by educating a whole feneration in denial of Christianity. The men of that, dav were content 'to provide a sccuro atheism for a generation they would not see. Thero is something heroic, in their action. It was intended to do more than Cromwell did, or To-r----micmnda, or Philinpo lo IVi. And that the generation tints provided for is now bringing about "a re-na Police of the national religion" in something even more than "wonderful."—London "Tablet." THE BLASPHEMY CHARGE. A secularist. Ircturar ha» been convicted at Staflords'mro Assissos for "blasphemy"—"by attacking tho .truths of Christianity by ribaldry, profanity, and indecency," at- Wolverhampton. Ho was sentenced to four months imprisonment for th-s blasphemy, ani aeouitted on a charge of publishing and selling ohscene pamphlets. The. ronvicticm, remsrks the "Christian World," raises the old quest km as to whether religion is really helped br prosecution for denying, even in ■aii' offensive way, its tenets. On tin* other hand, no man has a right, whether talking en religion or on any other question in public, delibemtely' to usi langua&o that deeply hurts the feelings of the average listener. ft a. Christian speaker used uimardonabSy vulgar and violently provocative language, calculated to cause a breach of the peace, Against a denomination other than his own, or against agnostics or atheists, he would have no reason to complain if the ln\v stopped him. . At the samo time, wo hope this secularist;,' lecturer—a voting man—will bo soon, rc-1 leased with a caution to bo more con-* siderato in future of other people's-feeU nigs. TEMPERANCE IN AUSTRALIA, , An Australasian eonforence, represent tative of all the States, to consider tiiOj question of temperance in its various aspects, is to tako place in Adelaide j next March, from tho 21st to 27th. Tho/! reason for tlio selection of Adelaide i' 4 that the proposal to hold an inters-tat« conference was first inado by tho S.. A.J Temp-oranco Alliance. Such a satis.!'.- ;<>! Tory response was made that the >,ili-| aiico hag issued invitations to the various alliances, and State organisa'agi-isi of tho temperance bodies of Aus-fralia, and New Zealand. Arcli-dciicoii Joyce. Messrs John Vale and S. Maugeii,, 'anil Finlayson, M.P., with other we-11-Uiiown and highly-esteemed temperance T.vorkers have been appointed delegates. Among the topics set down for 'discus6ioi\ aro the following :---,lnvetiif,o tornporanco training in '.various departments; scientific temperance teaching; the. individual temperance pi'edge; licensing legislation—existing iv.id required ; State and local option • ' tlio divum-i erotic majority; early closing of liquor bars: licensing benches; Idw Church' and the liquor traffic and 't-sio attitude; of tho Tesnperance party" (to iwlitieal! parties and candidates. RELIGION AND SCIENCE, "What seemed at ev.e tiaio an ia terminable conflict to be carrier d en without truce between religion -an/t seienco has now, in tho passing of tlr'.o years, teuio to bo seen," says t-hr» Now York "Churchman." (P. E.), a nceessaryrelationshtp. 2!eligion has gainednnicli, hewever, Jroni tho liisiorv oi the struggle, and scienco, alsv-. now that the heat of passion has -passed awav, lm como to see the wisdom of Newton's statement, who said- that even in respect to physical phenomena, in which knowledge might seem to be attainable, men wero but as children playing on tlio fch'Orcs of tho \inkno\vn. In religion a similar lesson of hur.iilitv has been noquired. That- positiveness, that aggrcssivo dogmatism, which wa-s so often characteristic of religious people,has given placo to an attitude which might be descriVxl in Paulino langnai* .ES 'sweet reasqjiableness.' ' " , "The religKjus world has learned from tfio spirit to confess that an ranch as wo know and as much as we are learning, what we do not know - ; s certainly more than what we do knew New methods of establishing the faith havo bcc-.il introduced t-itrangli tlio influoncc of sci-entiiic rriticisni." The dermatic tone has passed away almost Vii--tircly from tho pulpit., from religions books and newspapers. Tho parthan spirit lie longer sways, as it did a aeneration ago, religions meetings asßomblies. There is cvcm-hcro a wil- | lingness to learn, to. feel that mistakes ■ may bo made, a readiness to -aeknowlodge that consistency is sometimes purehasod too groat pTico. ,>