CHURCH & SOCIETY

Hokitika Guardian, 10 July 1931, Page 3

CHURCH & SOCIETY

INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS.

WELLINGTON, July 7

In his presidential address at the opyening of the Anglican Diocessan Synod, Bishop Sprott said the question confronting the Church and the world to-day was: “Shall tottering human society be reconstructed* upon a Christian or upon an anti-Christian, atheistic basis?” ’ . . •

i j “It seems to me,” he said, “that the ys time has come for the Christian Church i° j earnestly to consider whether the t- Christian really has a veritable 10 , social and whether, its doctrine r- of the' ,: M&'ture, of God, of,.the nature of a- man and his relations to God and his Id j fellow-men and its ethical principles, do it form a sufficient basis .for human socieic ty and to do this/ not. in a vague abit stract way, but to develop study into 3, detailed application to every depart-

• ment of human life. I think also, that j it is of the,utmost importance that this I study should be prosecuted in entire independence of all social theories and [programmes, even of those theories 1 which, in origin, have been mor e or less influenced by Christian conceptions. “What we need to be furnished with is a clear comprehensive conception of a specifically Christian social order, wholly based upon Christian principles. Such a task is far too great for any one human mind to attempt and certainly far too great for any one mind to successfully accomplish. I rejoice to know , that this tremendous task is being undertaken. There recently has been created an organisation known as the Universal Christian 'Council for Life and Work, representative I think, of all the great churches in Christendom, with the possible .exception of one. “The task which the council has set itself, is to view all our social, industrial and economic problems 'with all that is implied and involved in them from the point of view of a Christian order of society. This would seem to imply an effort to gain a comprehensive view of what a Christian order of society would really be. It is a tremendous task and may take years to accomplish, but its accomplishment would meet the need of the new age.’’