CHRISTIANITY DURING THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 24, 23 October 1917, Page 3

CHRISTIANITY DURING THE WAR

BISHOP'S EXHORTATION. In his address at the the Anglican Synod, says tlie Auckland "Star"), the Bishop of Auckland (Dr. Averill) spoke of the relation of Christianity to tho war. He said that while wo were convinced that our present duty was to win the war and to face courageously tho sacrifices involved, because only by a decisive victory for the Allies can the future happiness ajid peace of the world be reasonably secured, yet we were bound to take note of the problems which had forced themselves into prominence during the war, and study how best we could prevent future international, national, and social upheavals. It was doubtless a comfort to many to find a convenient scapegoat, and then lay the flattering unction to their souls that they themselves were guiltless. It was not so with us all. Wo know perfectly well that such a war as the present one should'hove been an impossibility amongst natious with centuries of Christianity behind them. Thcro was failure somewhere. Was it the failure of Christianity or the failure of the nations to act upon Christian principles? It was a cowardly, foolish, and illogical position for men to lay the blame upon Almighty God. It was equally foolish and illogical to talk about the failure of Christianity when every sane thinker knows perfectly well that' Christianity has not been tried in national and international concerns, and was repudiated by Gorman writers as a basis of national and international policy. Tho causes which led to international war were but an exaggeration of tho causes which led to industrial unrest and wars, and if we could go some way towards the solution of the industrial problem, we should undoubtedly mako some real advance in the solution of the international problem. Tho Church had undoubtedly failed in the past to lend a sympathetic ear to the just claims and aspirations of the great wage-earn-ing class which has done so much to produce the wealth of this and ether countries. If the Labour movement had_ to some extent developed a corporate spirit and-sense of brotherhood apart from tho great brotherhood of the Church, did the fault lie altogether on the sido of the Labour movement? It was easy to conjure up visions of the actions of extremists, fanatics, and _ iconoclasts when the appeal of the genuine Laboar movement sounded in our ears, and to pass by on the other side, but it was not Christian. The great bulk of the workers are not extremists, fanatics, or iconolasts, but tho real backbone of our and every other Empire—and lad they not fully justified their claim to such a position by their readiness to sacrifice all in order that the Empire might live? The comradeship of all classes at tho front, the readiness of officeTS to die for their men, and men for their officers, ■wouild, ho hoped, break down the foolish artificial distinction between man and man, and develop a new sense of mutual respect when tho men returned to civil life.