The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1915. CHURCH REFORM.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 January 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1915. CHURCH REFORM.

Ail the reformers .o/ past ages were nut only (le.spi.sed, but persecuted, many .suffering long in loathsome prisons, and many pu<t to death. Vet monuments now mark the resting place of their a-shcs, and books extol their virtues. The world idolises its dead reformers and persecutes its living ones. It looks with suspicion upon the man who teaches something not in the ok! books. iS'ew truths are always unwelcome, ospecially if they come within the domain of theology. The Church has always been intolerant. Th« preacher who is bold enough to think iiir himself becomes a heretic. i'erliaps he lias discovered some truths that do not harmonise with the creed oi his Church. He gives utterance I to facts which he positively knows are I acts, and soon finds that he has disturbed a hornet's nest. He gets the cold shoulder; he is brought to 'book; a Church convention accuses him of heresy. If convicted he usually opens an independent Church and preaches to larger congregations than ever. Hence the heretic of to-day fares much better than did the heretics of the past. They burned them to death—thousands of them—as all know who are familiar with Church history. lo think and to teach beyond the limits set by theology was an unpardonable sin. How many, even in these days, havo suffered ostracism bccause they were outspoken and "kicked over the traces," to use a colonial vulgarism. The dogmas and creeds of past generations will not hold the people much longer, for there are spiritually-minded men - men of education and power—who are breaking the chains which bind so many. These men care not for persecution. Like, the Great Teacher, who was regarded as a heretic : by the established Chiurch of his day, and was charged with blasphemy, these modern tcachers hold on their way, heeding not the bitterness of those who assail them. What Jesus taught was not in harmony with the teaching of Moses, and he was put to death. He went about doing good, proclaiming the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and healing the sick. His appeals to his fellow men to live pure and' unselfish lives have found lodgment in the hearts of untold millions,. and his life, filled with noble deeds and wholly free from sefish motives has ever been the ideal of all who are seeking a higher pliase of spirituality. The great w<ir now raging is showing the world w'nt pres-ent-day Christianity is; it is shaking t' e Church as it has never been shy fen before, and as time wears on its leaders' will see the necessity of clearing away the rubbish whioii has accu:nu- ; latf-d for centuries, and which is liindi ering its usefulness. TK- purging process may be severe, but the Church will be purified by it. There will be reform, and the men who are not afraul will lead the way to a brighter spiritual day.