CHURCH AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2970, 6 January 1917, Page 12

CHURCH AND WAR

FAITH AND MORALS

CLOSELY BOUND TOGETHER

Somo people seem to think that tho war has mndo it more diflicult to de-

fend tho religious conception of tho universe, but as a matter of fact tho lvar has not essentially altered this phaso of philosophy. It has merely directed attention afresh, to the very old problem of reconciling tho presence of pain and evil in tho world with the existence of an Almighty, just, and cOod God. This problem has recently noon'dealt with in a vory ablo manner by Dr. Hastings Rashdall and others, and tho general trend of modern thought in regard to the theistjc interpretation of tho universe is discussed in a striking articlo in tho latest number of "The Constructive Quarterly," by Professor H. L. Stewart, who occupies tho Chair of Philosophy in Dal- I housio University. -Halifax, Nova Scotia. Professor Stewart states that a hundred years ago some people felt sure that the collapse of theism was at hand; but this prediction, lileo many other, ventured with equal confidence over tho centurios. has turned out false. "To the phychologist, looking at religion to-dav, nothing is moro impressive than tlio tenacity with, which lit has held its place If _ph.ilosopb.ers have proved anything during tho last thirty years thev have proved that wo should greatly restrict tho domain of which is called intellect, and greatly extent the scope of thoso psychic forces with which intellect has little to do. They are the forces which seem to guide us for tho most part, mid to guido us on the whole rightly throughout life. Mechanical accounts of tho world have proved inadequate and unsatisfying, and "our really _ creative minds to-day commend theories of tho universe which find amplo room for a personal God." As'regards the reasonableness of faith in a Divine order, Professor Stewart states:—

( "Within the last ireneration religious faith has been proving itself far more intimately bound up than philosophers of an earlier time would have acknowledged, with tho moral interests and moral progress of man. This does not, of eourso, imolv that those in whom religious beliefs are apparently strongest must provo to bo morally highest. We aro too familiar with tho individual discords between creed and .practice, though we do not always remember that this is a consideration which cuts both ways. /But I am struck by the fact that those speculative thinkers who repudiate religion, and at tho same i time uphold morality, have found themselves in increasing intellectual embarrassment. And their difficulties suggest that the samo point of view from which good arid evil, right and wrong, fall into sharp opposition is that from which a religious outloolc upon life is tho natural consequence. "A generation aco it was considered unenlightened to suppose this. And there was forco in the reproach, for theologians had spoken rashly, as if good was good simply because an arbitrary divino will enjoined it, and evil was evil on no other ground than that the same will reprobated it. They sometimes went on to develop such a position as that of Pa lev; it is a melancholy fact that the great Archdeacon,, in somo passages, seems to urge_ that one should bo honest or truthful simply because ho who steals and ho who lies

will find it a poor bargain in tho lake of fire. Against this it becamo needful to urge that good is.an intrinsic quality, and that the genuine conscience is sensitive to it, quite apart from uqpes or fears as in what goodness may effect in a future state. But tho recoil, as recpils are apt to do, carried philosophv' to the opposite extreme. Few things aro more pathetic in speculation than tho struggle of those naturalistic moralists who try to say two things at once, to deny an objective moral government of the world, and yet to prove a real obligation upon the human conscience. Tho most clear-sighted among them have realised that thev' must go back or go forward. A few of them havo elected to go forward, and our time has seen, what hardly any generation saw before, unbelief in" God followed by unbelief in moral differences. Tho world, 1

think, will not long rest satisfied with that.

"Thus the philosopher or the psychologist can survey tlio panorama of religions, and he can survey it oa a vast scale through, history, through material remains, through observation of the present. Ho sees that these phenomena are everywhere, persistent, indestructible proving in every ago the

futility of intellectual efforts to remove, them. He sees that their critics, equally confident for centuries tliat tho axe has at last been laid to the root of tho religious tree, have turned out to

be hewing down the rationalistic trees erected by one another. He concludes that the outcome of such, criticisms is, at the least, to leave tho matter where it was before. And as ho recalls how intelligence or reasoning is only one of the guides to life, he is impressed by the fact that faith has led Hie world far more, that it lias sustained man's hold upon the moral values, upon the things that matter most of all, and that where faith weakens these values weaken with it."

FRENCH BISHOPS. THEIR ARDENT PATRIOTISM. illicit satisfaction lias been evinced in franco at the prouioion at length accorded to the Bishop of Arras by his nomination as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (says the London "Tablet"). Mgr. Lobhedoy's patriotic ivork and fidelity to duty during the war will bo already ivol Iknoivn to our readers. From October, 1914, to Juno, 1915, he remained at Arras under violent bombardments, visiting the soldiers, burying the dead, and providing hospital accommodation. Ho thus gave to all, as the Ordre du Jour declared, "a magnificent esamplo of calmness, coolness, energy, and duty fully done under the immediate menace of the enemy." If the honour lias como somewhat tardily to his lordship, the method of its giving makes amends. It was awarded'at tho instance of the Minister of War, and was presented at Arras by the President of the Republic, accompanied by tho Ministers of War, Justice, tho Interior, and Finance, and M. Denys Cochin, who is without a portfolio. Mgr.- Lobbedey is tho second bishop to receive the honour siheo tho outbreak of hostilities. The first was Mgr. Rucli, Bishop Coadjutor of Nancy, who is acting as a military ehaiilain and was decorated on the field of battle. The Cross awarded to Mgr. Lobbedey, though given for work connected with the war, is given to him as a Bishop who lias dono splendid work in a diocese which has suffered so heavily at tho hauds of the enemy. Thus by 'the side of his episcopal pectoral cross a grateful country has set the cross of the brave. It is at once an act of gratitudo and of justico, and, let us hope, a symbol of a union of hearts which will not be broken. There are those in neutral countries who wonder afc the ardent patriotism of the French episcopate, which lias in recent vears suffered so much from the anti-clerical poliov of tho Government. That is doubtless because thoy fail to sen that the country and the State are two different things. Against tho Inter, as M. Francois Vcnillot pertinently explains, there is plenty of room for complaint, but without weak-. 1

oning tho bonds that bind tbem to tho country, so rich in beauty, nobleness, and moral worth, which they lovo so passionately. "lu a word," ho continue;;, "our Bishops, whilst showing themselves patriots, have over spoken as Uishops. It is for this reason that their attitude is at ono and the same time a national force and a veritable religious apostolate." That patriotism is again showing itself by the appeals which tho Bishops aro making for the , war loan, and by the award of tho Legion of Honour to tho Bishop of j Arras it has been officially recognised. | MEN WHO MARCHED AWAY. With a sorrowful pride those davs Scotland reads in tho casualty lists the namos of her young soldier ministers. Two of that bravo littlo band who wont forth "to tako the hazard of tho night" havo just fallen on fJio field of honour. Tlio Rev. John Pinkerton, B.A. (Cantab.), M.A., B.D. (Edin.), was assistant minister in St. Matthow's, Edinburgh, and perhaps tho most distinguished probationer of tho Church of Scotland. A lance-corporal in tho Royal Scots, ho was killed in actiom at Salonika, on October 1. Tlio Rev. Arthur Dight Walker, 8.A.. second lieutenant in tho Manchester Regiment, was a grand-nephew of tho lata Professor Blackio and assistant, for a year to Dr. Kelman, of United "Free St. George's. Ho was killed in Franco on October 18.—"British Weekly." A THRILLING EXPERIENCE. Tho two present Moderators of tho Church of Scotland and tho United Free Church Assemblios, Di\ Brown and Principal Sir Georgo Adam Smith, recently returned from their visit to tho Western theatre of war. Dr. Brown gave- a short account of tho visit to a meeting of tho Glasgow Presbytery. He said his experience in, France had been the greatest and most thrilling of his life, and tho impressions which ho and Principal Smith had carried away would lie treasured in tlieir memories. They could not but bo impressed with the magnitudo of the task which our soldiers and sailors were undertaking. They could not forget the nien coming out of the trenclios weary and worn and—not sad. Striking, too, was the sight of the men going into • tho trenches cheerily and with the determination that led them to victory. In reference to tho remarkable bearing of the wounded, ho added that if science- had perfected tho destructive engines of war, it • had equally perfected the appliances and methods that worked for human salvation. If our people could go out and see these things, it would make a different country, and religion would be more vital. THE CROSS AND THE SUPERMAN. Tho Bishop of London, speaking in Birmingham, said that it was a monstrous misuse of language- to talk of the breakdown of Christianity when wliaif produced the war was the exact contrary to Christianity. There was no such precise contradiction of the doctrine of the Cross as the doctrine of tho superman. They who stood for religion were not afraid of a- discussion on the war and Christianity. THE WAY OF RECOVERY. "Can this old Church of England, so intimately bound up with tho history of our country, prove itself a National Church capablo of showing to tho nation tho way of moral and social recovery?" asked the Bishop of Oxford in a sermon at Westminster Abbey. "We havo been' sadly deficient," he added, "clergy and laity alike, in moral courage and spiritual, faith. There is such a' thing in tho Church as a common sense. When, oh, when is tho common sense of our old Church of England going to express itself and say, 'Hero are plain nccessitios; they shall bo provided'?" "A STUDENT IN ARMS." Second Lieutenant Donald Hankey, whose death in action has been recently announced, was a frequent contributor, under tho title of "A Student in Arms," to the "Spectator." Ho was engaged on a novel just before his death. After being at Sandhurst and Oxford, .he settled-in South-East London to study life among working mon, and ho was engaged in settlement work when the war broke out.