LITERATURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19475, 9 May 1925, Page 4

LITERATURE.

CHRISTIANISING THE

CHURCH.*

THE TREND OF RELIGIOUS - LITERATURE.

By Constant Reader.

The Rev. Rdbert Aris Willmott, author of “The Pleasures of Literature,” has a chapter on “Literature of the Pulpit,” in the course of which he says; “During two .hundred years the sermon shaped and nourished the English mind. Greek and Latin fountains of philosophy and grace flowed into Poetry from the Pulpit. Shakespeare might have picked up crumbs of Plato and Euripides from the crater of Paul’s Cross. The Preacher had a religious and instructive character. He entertained that he might improve the hearer. He unfolded the grandeur of a Prophecy or the comfort of an Epistle, and alarmed the conscience oc bound up a wounded heart; ho brought tidings of foreign learning to the scholar, of discoveries to the naturalist, and of manners to the people; and thus ho won the ears of the thoughtful, the inquisitive, and the idle.” It may reasonably be doubted whether to-day the preacher is able to fill so comprehensive and far-reaching a role. Seeing that the question “Why people do not go to church” is being actively canvassed in and around Dunedin, it may prove prolitable to inquire into one at least of the reasons given for such abstention. Formerly the preacher was looked up to ns one of the few men in the community who had access to books and other avenues of learning. To-day almost everyone reads! and students of the arts and sciences are to be found on every hand. Many a man when asked the question “Why do you not go to church?” replies instanter, “I find I get greater good by staying at home and reading a hook.” Without dwelling upon the plausibility of the excuse, it may be remarked that hooks upon the various aspects of religion abound; probably they were never so plentiful as to-day. And it is instructive to note the character of much of the religions writing. The books in general circulation are not sermons, for they seem to have lost their vogue; not even theological works, the study of which is confined to a select, circle, but books (leafing with pressing social and religious problems, the trend of which may roughly be summarised as on endeavour to Christianise the Church. A selection of such volumes is here passed, very briefly, under review.— I.—CHRISTIAN CONVERSION.

“Conversion is not simply a lingering superstition among certain sects, but an undeniable fact, occurring at all periods in the history of the Christian Church.” This is the starting point of Dr Alfred Clair Underwood’s comparative and psychological study of “Conversion: Christian and Non-Chrlstlan," for Dr Underwood, bearing in mind that Starbuok and other investigators on the subject have been content to take the bulk of their evidence from Protestant Evangelical circles, has widened the range to include nonChristian as well as Christian conversion. “Professor Janies and others,” as Dr Underwood points out, “have further recognised that conversion is not a distinctively Christian phenomenon, but one which is also found in non-Ohristian religions.”

Dr Underwood possesses peculiar qualifications for his task in that, as professor in Serampore College,_ Bengal, he spent several years in India, ,and was thus able “in some degree to put himself en rapport with the psychological climate of the country.” In answer to a possible criticism that the religions of India bulk too largely in liis study, Dr Underwood says 1 “In no other country has religion taken so many forms and engaged such numbers of men and women in its passionate quest.” The historical examination of the fact of conversion starts with examples taken from the Old Testament. This is ; followed bv examples taken from Hinduism, Early Buddhism, and Islam, together with conversions in tho religions of Greece and Rome and various non-Christian religions. The difficulty of finding a definition of conversion that will cover every case under review is recognised; but for the most part the definition of Professor James is adjudged sufficient: “Conversion is the process. gradual or sudden, by which a self hitherto divided and 1 consciously _ wrong, inferior, and unhfppy. becomes unified and consciously right, superior, and happy in consequence of its firmer hold upon religious realities.” As Dr Underwood points out, this definition excludes conversions in which there is no conscious feeling of being wrong, divided, inferior, or unhappy. It also extends the conversion process beyond the moment when the. subject first gets a grip of religious realities. The chief interest, however, centres around the second half of the book; which deals with conversion .as a psychological process, and in which the - types of conversion. the immediate > consequences of conversion, tho psychological mechanism of conversion, and the fruits of conversion are dealt with in detail. 'The important aspect of conversion during revivals is also included. Summarising his evidence, Dr Underwood claims that ample proof has been given to show that conversion is a permanent possibility of man’s nature as man, and that it may. therefore, occur in any religion. He concludes:— Thus in our search for the highest form of conversion we are led to Christianity. With justice it claims to possess the promise and potency of the highest type of conversion, because Christian conversion is a reaction in which Christ is

central. The history of religions reveals no other person, historical or legendary who cap bo placed beside Him as so entirely worthy an object of tho soul’s surrender, and who presents the same guarantees of the kind of conduct and character that such surrender will produce. In His moral perfection He stands alone, unique and peerless, the Master of every man’s conscience and the Judge of all. And, further in the ideal He embodies there are no provincialisms. Buddha, Krishna, end Rama cannot bo other than India; Mohammad other than Arabian; Confucius other than Chinese. But the character of Jesus has no racial peculiarities and limitations. He is a Son of Man, the ideal of all human conduct and the crown of all human strivings after the good and true. Both East and West may find‘in Him the highest mid fullest of their characteristic virtues. Ho thus possesses a universality of appeal which is the promise of His sway over men of every race and. land. But He is much more than the ideal pf all human conduct. Men confront in Him tho redemptive grace and energy off God in a dogro© that transcends ail their hopes and prayers. lI.—CHRISTIAN FSTCHOLOGY. For wen! or woe, psychology has come to stay, and its modern applications and implications call for a recasting of the ideas and practices of the Christian Church. For these reasons Mr T. W. Byin’s “More Psychology and the Christian Life,” being a sequel to his previous hook On “Psychology anil the Christian Life,” merits careful'attention. Mr Pym, who is diocesan missioner in Southwark, is also a King’s Chaplain, and he has written in the hope of helping people “in the difficult art of daily life.” f ile discusses the relation of {he imagination to belief, in which connection he declares that “Faith becomes dupe” when it ceases to be an inspiration ■ind becomes only a refuge. He declares

•(1) “Conversion: Christian and Non-Christian. A comparative and psychological study,” by Alfred Clair Underwood. London: George Allen and Unwin (10a 6d net.). (21 “More X’sychology and the Christian Life,” by T. W. Pym, D. 5.0., M.A. London: Student Christian Movement (4s and 2a 6d net.). (3) “Christian Social Duty: An Analysis,” by John Lee. With an Introduction by the Bishop of Southwark. London: Student Christian Movement tas net.). (I) “The World Task of the Christian Church: Being addresses delivered at a Conference on International and Missionary Questions.” Manchester: December 31, 1924 to January 6, 1925. London: Student Christian Movement (2s 6d net.). (5) “Foundations oi Faith; II Christological,” hy Rev. W. E. Orchard, D.D. London: George Allen and Unwin (5s net.). (S) “The Person of Jesus Christ,” by Bev. 11. Jl, Mackintosh, D-D. (fourth edition. London: Student Christian Movement (2s net.). (7) “The Ascending Life: Studios in the last days of our Lord's earthly life, by. Richard Roberts, D.D. London: Student Christian Movement- (2a 6d net,). (8) “Chapter from a Christian Directory, or a Sum of Practical Theology and Cases of Conscience,” bv Richard Baxter.” Selected by Jeannette Tawney. With a prelaoe by the Sight Rev. Charles Gore, D.D. London: G. Bell and Sons (Gs not.). (9) ‘-Dramatic Illustrations of Passages from tho Second Part of the Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunvan.” Arranged in the year 1877, by ill's George MacDonald. ‘ Oxford: University Press. London: Humphrey Milford (2s net.). (10) “Cardinal Newman: A Biographical and Literary Study.” hy Bertram Newman. Loudon; G. Bell and Son (Ss Gd net.). (II) “The Church of England,” by the Right Rev. Arthur C. Headlaai, C.H., D.D., Bishop of Gloucester. With an appendex by the Rev. H. Maynard Smith, D.D., Canon ol Gloucester. London: John Murray (12e neb).

that reality in religion is in demand by those who are interested in religion, and adds: “Unreal language in sermons or services, unreal dogmas, ecclesiastical preoccupations which seem to ignore the practical needs of daily life, all these arc dilliculties in the path of those who feel the need of religion and are otherwise not unsympathetic towards Christianity.” In a chapter headed “Faith and Suggestion,” Mr Pym, referring to Coueism, says: “The Christian Church cannot afford to lose again the truths of which it was.the reminder, nor the lessons which it brought.” Ho stresses the value of religious autosuggestion when applied not to a symptom but to the root cause. There are useful chapters on “The Will and the Imagination,” “Instinct and Imagination,” ami •‘Psychology in 'the Bible,” and in a concluding chapter Mr Pym denounces the exploitation of emotion which followed the war, and which reveals itself in so many popular forms of amusement and sport. The aim of the book is to show how greatly religious phychology, properly used, will diagnose the evils of the present day, and will also reveal not only the remedy hut how the remedy should be applied to make it efficacious. lII.—CHRISTIAN SOCIOLOGY. In “Christian Social Duty” Mr John Lee, the managing head of a great Government department, has written a book, which in the testimony of the Bishop of Southwark,” shows from the first page to tho last that its author has a profound conviction that in Christianity alone is to he found the power which will remove social abuses and create true fellowship between individuals and classes.” The chapters comprise tho text of a number of lectures and addresses delivered in various Church Congresses in England during 1923 and 1924, and in particular in connection with the Anglo-Catholic movement. Mr Lee utters a warning against a mechanical and unreflecting trust in the legislation of the past 40 years as a panacea against social evils. On the other hand, he enters an eloquent plea for a far greater recognition of tho moral and spiritual contribution which Christianity should make towards tho transformation of all social life. Tho book is an arresting one, and its most striking chapter is headed “The Catholic Social Heritage,” in which the author goes hack to the Middle Ages for an example and a lesson. He makes'a reunited Christianity (ho basis of a new economic and social life, and he holds that it is “a counsel of despair” to seek to remove moral pro- 1 blems by destroying personal ownership. In an eloquent passage Mr Leo exclaims; — Hero is no now economic theory. I am trying to go back to the religious economic thought of undivided Christianity, ' not because it is to bo found in the past, but because it is tho underlying spirit of the Christian Fellowship. It is the search for this underling spirit which is the passion of our ago. Wo have learned it in two hundred years of various economic theories. Wo know intuitively that in the; weaving of the cords of true , progress there must bo the golden strand of tho religious bond i between man and man and God. Wo want to jjo back to pick up this golden strand. Wo seek that summary of economic and social and political life which will have consecrated regard for the just price, which will never take material advantage for personal ends of knowledge, or of power, or of good fortune, or of personal gifts. Such a conception of spiritual responsibility to others will be needed in any organisation of society, individualistic or socialistic or the curiously fluid compound in which wo live to-day and seem to be likely to live. , . . It is thus wo shall apply .that profound Christian principle which is a dim whisper in all our hearts that in the sanctification of lives thoro is tho corporate sanctification of life and of all the instruments of use and beauty which life needs. IV.—A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF THE RACE PROBLEM. What is popularly called the Menace of Colour is perhaps this most pressing problem of tho century. It is certainly the most far-reaching, since it takes in the entire world. And-it is, par excellence, the problem which a Christianised Church is called upon to solve. In a volume entitled “The World Task of tho Christian Church,” there have boon collected tho addresses delivered at a conference convened in Manchester at the end of lost year by the British Student Christian Movement to discuss international and missionary questions—questions which naturally involved consideration of tho attitude of Christianity towards the race problem. Before that problem can be adequately dealt with it must, first of all, bo understood, and to reach that understanding was tho purpose of the conference. The situation, as it presented itsolf to the minds of tho delegates, is sketched as follows: The vast land of Africa, with, its bewildering complexity of needs; now China struggling to tile birth through travail pains of civil war and cruel industrialism; India beset with suspicion and grievous misunderstanding; Europe in the toils of international jealousies, laying tho train for future wars; and, perhaps most sinister of all, “the groat problem of tho corning time,” the rumblings of a threatened storm of race conflict; hero were tasks of stupendous magnitude. . . . While tho conference was not primarily concerned with our home problems, they were never far from our minds, and again and again tho speakers made reference to them—soul-destroying burdens of unemployment, intolerable housing conditions the conflict of Capital and Labour. Many of the’ most acute minds in the Homeland addressed themselves to these prob.enis while tho conference was sitting, and the reports of the addresses collected in this book are matters to ponder deeply. In tho ultimate, tho solution was fined down to the point of personal responsibility. In tho closing address Dr Alex Wood suggested two practical decisions as the outcome of tho conference: First, ‘That in tho choice of a career or in the subsequent modification of a career to which we may fairly be committed we should honestly, fairly, and fully put the Kingdom first.” ‘ The second decision is that we should definitely link ourselves up to the company of those who desire, to make the same venture and are already engaged in it.” V.—JESUS CHRIST Contemplating the tremendous task involved in Christianising tho Church one’s thoughts naturally turn to the person of Jesus Christ and the correct conception of His personality. There are throe recent books which may help towards that correct conception. Thu first of tno three is by Dr W. E. Orchard, one of the outstanding preachers in London • to-day. Dr Orchard has iplanned a trilogy dealing with “Foundations of Faith,” tho first volume dealing with the theological aspect of tho subject, and the second volume with the “Christoiogical” aspect. It is this second volume which now engages attention; its special value being that it presents tho points which modern criticism levels against the person and character of Jesus Christ, and in the faco of that' criticism endeavours to deal with the difficulties created in the mind of tho average man. This is especially the case in " such controverted matters as the Resurrection, and the Virgin Birth and the credibility of the Gospels. Dr Orchard’s method may bo illustrated in his manner of dealing with the “Christ-Myth” theory:— Although tho theory that Christ is a myth has failed to secure even consideration from recognised experts in New Testament criticism and history, a few worthless and pretentious books have gained a certain currency amongst uncritical readers, and if the presentation of Christianity is to obtain a hearing from everyone and to proceed along a sure road, wo must remove the last possibility of any suspicion that the Gospel story is without historical basis. Tho exponents of tho myth hypothesis appeal first of ail to the silence of contemporary history concerning Jesus, though there is nothing remarkable in the actual facts. Christianity begins to be mentioned in pagan history just when that might be expected—namely, in tho “Annals of Tacitus” writen about the year A.D. 100. The silence of Josephus, the Jewish historian, writing about ten years earlier, constitutes an apparent difficulty; but even if the one longer passage which refers to Christ is a forgery, the sentence referring to “the brother of Jesus, the so-called Christ, whoso name was James,” cannot bo questioned; and even the longer passage is now defended by competent scholars. The characteristic of Dr Orchard’s writing is that lie docs not attempt to burk criticism, no matter how extreme tho standpoint of the critic. Ho boldly meets it and enters the best possible defence. Thus his volume makes a good introduction to tho second of the three books, “The Person of Jesus Christ,” by Professor 11. R. Mackintosh, D.U., of New College, Edinburgh. This bock, originally published in 1912. | and now in its fourth edition, deals respectively with “Tho Jesus of History,” “The Christ of Experienca, ” and “Jesus Christ

and God.” It is theological in its treatment, and (ho author sets himself to answer what he regards as tho most urgent religious question of tho time, “Who was Jesus Christ, and what can bo definitely ascertained as to tho purpose of His Life?” Tho third book in this section, “Tho Ascending Life,” by Richard Roberts, D.D., is described as “Studies in the last days of our Lord’s early life,” and it follows naturally on tho other two. It comprises a series of five addresses delivered in America a year ago. They are devotional, rather than critical. They reveal, however, a distinct conception of the character of Jesus Christ as interpreted through the mind of a scholar and a poet. VI. —SOME CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES. Among tho disciples who followed Christ from afar must lie reckoned Richard Baxter and John Banyan. Mrs Jeannette Tawney has selected same chapters from Richard Baxter’s “Christian Directory,’’ published in 1675, and these are issued with a preface by Bishop Gore. Tho chapters have been chosen “with a view to showing tho doctrines with regard to economic ethics which commended themselves to a Puritan divine in tho latter part of tho seventeenth century,” and as such they have practical application to present-day conditions. Bishop Gore admits that “there has been in recent times no adequate attempt to provide a systematic casuitry for ordinary Christians who want to know and to do their duty.” In default of a modern “Manual of Applied Christianity,” it is profitable to turn to Richard Baxter. In tho good old days the Church and tho theatre were allied, and there are those who look hopefully to a coming reunion. Dramatic presentations of Christian truth have many advocates, and prominent amongst them was George MacDonald, tho centenary of whoso birth was celebrated at the end of last year. In tho year 1877 Mrs George MacDonald arranged a series of “Dramatic Illustrations,” from the second part of Banyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” and those were played by her family many times during the decade 1877-1887, but wore never published. They have now been made available by Mrs MacDonald’s daughter, Mrs Winifred Troup, who explains that the scones can bo acted simply and with little scenery or accessories. Banyan's conceptions are essentially dramatic in tone, and these “Illtisl rations” are likely to bo largely utilised as a moans of spreading Christian truth. Another disciple of later date and quite different calibre is Cardinal Newman, of whom a biographical and literary study has just been made fry Mr Bertram Newman, who, despite tho similarity in name, disclaims any relationship to his subject. The volume deals for the most part with Cardinal Npwman’s writings, and dwells upon their literary significance, which was considerable. But tho writings also reveal the man and illustrate his spiritual struggles in his desire to reach tho goal. The book enforces tho moral that sincere discipleship involves struggle and surrender, and the religious controversies in which Cardinal Newman engaged stress the enormous difficulties which oppose the Christinnisation of tho Church. Approached either from a literary or a religious point, of view, this study of Newman has a rare fascination, and it is bound to bo widely read. VII—THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. A* fitting appendix to all that has gone before comes tho Right R-ev, Arthur C. He ad lam’s (Bishop of Gloucester) book on ‘‘The Church of England,”, a book which goes right to tho heart of tho subject under discussion. Following ■ a summary of the doctrine of the Anglican Church comes an account of how the Lhureh came into being. Tho worship and organisation of the* Church have adequate treatment, and tho revision of tho Prayer Book is referred to. There are chapters on tho Church and Education and a full discussion of tho relation of tho Anglican Church to the other Churches, and especially to. the Church of Romo. The book is a mine of information, on a subject but- imperfectly apprehended in tho dominion; it is clearly stated and authoritatively approached, and as a work of reference it should prove invaluable.