CHURCH AND STATE
A! statement on the Prayer Book •by the Bishop of Winchester prompted the Rev. Randolph E. Healey, “an octogenarian' presbyter of the Church of England,” to examine the relations between Church and iState. Writing to the Hautz Gazette, he said: “We speak of Church and State. What is the real difference between Church and State? The same people make both. The bishop writes of church law and State law as if they are different. What is the difference? The hishop refers to a divine community, probably thinking of ‘the Church of England.’ What makes a community divine? Is it its origin, or its members-, or what it accomplishes? Is it unreasonable or fantastic to ajffmn that the 'State is divine? Both are human organisations and consist of humans. If a tree is known by its fruits, shall we not consider whether the British Parliament has not achieved, in the providence of God, more for the English people and for humanity than any . ecclesiastical assembly that ever existed? Has not England taught the world the art of good government, which is divine? Is ' not justice a divine attribute, and therefore spiritual? Is it not the State which administers justice through its'judges and magistrates, , who never' think of themselves as ‘spiritual persons?’ Consider what the British Parliament has accomplished. What of the abolition of slavery, the removal of pests limiting the freedom of thought and worship, its concern for- the sacreduess of human life, factory 'legislation, provision for accident in employment, and a score of other benefits secured by Parliament. What church council or synod lias achieved through the ages one tenth (as much good for mankind as lias been accomplished by the British Parliament? Cjod forbid that I should deny that the churches —societies of iClmstians — have taught us the religion of Christ, and so inspired the State and its Legislature. But when it is suggested that the Church is divine and the State secular, that the Church is spiritual and the State not, I say, look around.”
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MH19291126.2.2
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 40028, 26 November 1929, Page 1
Word count
Tapeke kupu
340CHURCH AND STATE Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 40028, 26 November 1929, Page 1
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Manawatu Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.