RUSSIAN ATHEISM.

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 659, 11 October 1933, Page 2

RUSSIAN ATHEISM.

A WORLD MENACE I . DELIBER ATE \ ATTEMPT TO UPSET CHRISTIAN ' TEACHING S! 4 * SERMON AT ST. LUKES. Preaching from the text, "The Lord God Omnipoent Reigneth" (Rev. xx, 10) in St. Luke's on Sunday night, . ^Archdeacon F. W. Chatterton made a strong attack upon the atheistic prin- , ciples and propaganda which are beirig desseminated by Soviet Russia and stressed the danger which thi's organised attempt to undermine the foundation of Chfistianity meant to the civilised world. "Ganj that statement he true? say , man, when we witness such c'haos and confusion as is everywhere apparent in the world to-day?" asked the preached. "Yes, that statement can j still he true in spite of all that may . : appear to contradict it. When we ; consider ,all the yital forces that are ' ' at work in the world, of which there are more evidences" availahle to our understandings th'an at any 'previhtis period, it would he sheer want of thought to affirm that God had abandoned His world and no longer reigns, and that His creative ' energy had ceased to ' act in motilding the processes through which we are passing in order to reach something higher and more in accordance with' His purposes than we have yet seen. "And also, when we further rememiber that the follies and sins of . mankind, the consequences of which involve', for the time being, the suffering of innocent as well as guilty, are partly through those very sufferings brought to light, and by the co-opera-tion of man with God' are ultimately removed When we recognise' this, we are confirmed in our' belief that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth; But this thought compels us to give more serious attention to some of those dangers which confront us, and to see where our duty lies in counteracting them. » A Subtle Danger. "Time will only premit me to refer J to-night to one of the more suhtle of ! these dangers, which everyone ) ought to be made aware of, and to consider how far we are individually tesponsible in comhatting it. "Ihe Christian Church has often I allowed evils to go on in connection with our W:estern civilisation, with■out a sufficiently strong protest, until they have reached proportions that have made it a hundredfold more difficult to uproot. ndividuals may have protested, but corporate action has b'ee'n' often lacking. "The Church in Russia has signally failed in the past to grapple with the ' evils of ignorance and superstifclc-n amongst its people, and this has given an opening to th& militant atheism which has accompanied the policy of the Russian Revolution 'since the war, ! and which threatehs with its intensive propaganda to create in many countries an equally violent opposition to the Christian faith. Eliminate Religion. "Its social and industrdal revolution and its establishment of the economic system of communism has from' the heginning been linked with a determ'ination to eliminate all religion, whether Christian or any other f orini which stands in the way of a full rea'lisation of its ideals, so that we are now face to face with a new thing which has never appeared before in ' the history of the world, v'iz., tbe i' building up of a national life not only | without any reference to God, but. in ahsolute denial of His existence, j' and therefore of any claim that He could have upon mankind. This is ' a most serious challenge to us all, and backed as iH is by armed forch, and directed hy strong and determined men who have no fear of God before their eyes' and who will therefore stick at nothing to secure their ends, it constitutes a menace to every nation whose ideals are contrary to their own. Not Russia Alone. "It mayi he thought that this concerns Russia alone and we need not fear it. But such is far from heing the case. There are already 47 militant a.theistic organisations in Russia, which are in direet communication with similar groups iri 39 countrie's 'outside Russia, and an intensive propaganda campaign is carried on in these countries with the aid cif large sums of money set apart for the purpose. The instructions issued demand that 'atheism 'must he promoted by all possihle means; by lectures, the theatre, conferences, socials, puhlications and anti-religious education.' As they have had a hve-year-plan for i the establishment of their economic I system, so in May last year they inauigurated another five-year-plan for the more complete establishment of atheism especially amongst the young, so that hy the end of five years they hope to have completely destroyed every vestige of the Christian faith in Rlus-

sia and converted every ' church' to^ a secular use. * ' > 'Forces of Anti-Christ. > '• "To ' get' the full 'fruit^ of this gi- ! gantic effort fo,!estahlisli a kingdom of anti-Ohrist they realise that- they must1 havh 'som,e ''suppdftf from. other coiintries.othefwise they fear a f utqre attack of all Christian nations upon them, and that is why they are makiug such determined efforts at this period of "Virorld -confusion to estahlish a atheistic communism in the 39 countries -Where already they have their agents and sympathisers. Our British Commonwealth qf Nations is of course included in this.- Wlhat -is to b.e the outcome? "We know that finally anti-Ohrist and all its forces cannot succeed. But through our indifference or half■heartedness there may be caused much needless and proloniged suffering before the complete - fulfilment of - our Lord's assurancq "Be: of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Strengthen Our Forces. "By our own faithful ohedience we may all do something to reduce that period of suffering and so- strengthen the forces that stand for the Kingdom of God. "I think, if the full significance of this position were realised, we should' not have so many who, while regarding the Christian faith with sympathy Jand reverence, yet lapse irito indif- ( ference with regard to public worship, whicK is an important part of that faith, and necessary* for maintaining it as a reai force in"life. Too many have given very little serious thought 'to this- menace which we have got to face sooner or later. The stronger our own faith, the hetter we are able to meet any crisis ourselves and to help others to meet their own diffieulties. We must not doubt that there is' One hehind everything who knows the right moment to intervene, for 'The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth,' and in order to help us in the confirmation of our own faith I will' conclude'wjth a few passages 'from vari■ous parts' of the Bihle in supporfe of this great 1 truth — because God has so ordered it that no important truth should depend solely upon a parfcicu- ; lar passage of Scripture but should be 1 huttressed from many angles that we ' may rest assured it is ahsolute truth." j — . —