RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY IN THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND.

Southland Times, Issue 1138, 9 April 1869, Page 3

RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY IN THE CHURCH OP ENGLAND.

A SHOBT REVIEW BY THE BBV. W. P. TAtfNBR.

(PBB FAVOB O* THE BOTTTHLAKD TIMES.) The past history of the Church is full of ft conflict of opinions that has been always going on, and which after all has had little to do with the vitality of religion. It frequently happens that words are used in different senses by the contending parties, and that if there is really an error in the question the one side is just as much guilty of it as the other, only they each put it into a diffe- ; rent form. Now this seems to be the j case with the controversy that is now carried on by the two parties who may J be called the high and the low ritualists. There is something to be said for both, and a looker-on can make nothing more of this controversy as it is fought by the extremes on both sides than that they both misunderstand the meaning of the term worship, for the one side seems to say that by highly elaborated ceremonies there is offered the most acceptable worship, and the other that plain and simple services are the most pleasing to the Spirit, so on both sides it seems equally forgotten by those who will hold extreme views, that worship means simply the offering of love and obedience to the Spirit that gives us love and protection, and that this true worship is not necessarily connected with low or with high ritual, or with any ritual at all. Now we come to the question what is ritual ? It is the organised form of public worship, it is essentially artificial ; plain ritual is the work of simple art ; elaborate ritual is the work of scholastic art, where the collected tastes of the men of different ages have been gathered up to form something like a Catholic standard. It is therefore distinctly a vice in religion, to think that true worship is necessarily connected with either high or low ritual. This is in the present day just the same sort of error as that which formerly prevailed, that a sermon is not so good when preached in a white gown, as when delivered in a black one. But no fight can be long kept up by extremes, they would soon be exhausted by the impossibility of union. The moderate men on both sides must have some fear, or else they would never leave the antagonists to carry on their desperate fighting. The fears of the low ritualists seem to be these. If worship is thought to be most acceptably offered through high ritual, it is a hard thing for the world that a man should only be considered a good Christian if he is a good scholar. It would be depressing to a man's spiritual efforts if he were to think that one religious service cannot be made just as good as another to him, or that .he need be any the worse for bemg separated for years from the congregation. Then there is this great fear , the emotions may be cultivated at the expense of the spirit. An elaborate and solemn service can create in a worldly man such a deep feeling of awe and reverence that he may believe himself to be a worshipper while he is not making the slightest offering of love and obedience, and has not gained strength enough to conquer any of his temptations, and for the same reason the truly religious man may be led to forget that the sensation of reverence only will not regenerate the world. These are the fears of the high ritualist. Time is being lost. For generations the churches have been protesting against each other's views, andthose whohaveprotested most have sometimes done least. Those who are cpntented with low ritual seem to forget that their method of offering worship has been proved to be quite unable to overcome the mass of ignorance and spiritual disease around them ; they are so satisfied with their own simple and rational way of showing their devotion that they only despise the ignorance of the unimpressed mass around them, and they forget that it is their duty to help the weak, and that if one way does not succeed they should try another. Again the same objection may be made to the low ritual as is brought against the high, lowness of vitality may be caused by coldness of emotion, just as it is by the fever of excitement. Thus, if the fears on both sides are weighed equally, they will be found to be fairly balanced. Now why cannot the moderate men who have good sense enough to fear one kind of evil also fear another ? They can never reconcile the extremes, because the greater the sameness of their error the more obstinately will they be opposed, but the action of both may be helped, and they may be prevented from fighting. There will always be religious pugilists Ignorance or vanity combined with action will cause that these shall never be wanting. But why should the work of regenerating the world be kept at a stand still, while those who are moderate look idly on at these never ending conflicts. A great deal is said in the present day about liberty of conscience, or as it might be more correctly termed, liberty of judgment. This is one of the greatest fallacies of the times, and it is especially untrue in the mouths of many who most assert it. The present position of all the sections of the so-called Protestant community is a distinct denial of the truth of this assertion, for the constant boast of superiority will not admit of it. Can we not try to gain then what we have so constantly claimed for the world? The question is, are there moderate men on both sides? and then cannot they cease to fight amongst themselves, and combine their armies for the one .great battle ?.. Can we not, without even asserting our own superiority of taste, allow each party to have what ceremonial it likes, so that there is

sufficient order maintained for united action. We should like to see both parties on a fair field before the common enemy, and to know that they are separated by nothing more than a wholesome emulation as to which should gam most for the brethren, and if the same rules of judgment were followed in the ecclesiastical world as have long been prevailing in matters of science, none would be afraid of the development of high ritual where it appears to be wanted, for it is impossible to see how it can make men worse than they are, and there is much reason to hope that it will make them better. There are many in the Church of England who wish that she should make use of her peculiar opportunities of extending her' limits. One unbroken sameness of ritual and doctrine does not contribute to the vitality of any church, we only want such rules as shall secure our liberty by retaining ! those who would be too eccentric within I moderate bounds. I What is wanted is that evil should be checked in the world and righteousness encouraged, therefore so that a man makes the effort it does not matter in what form he offers his prayer any more than in what language. How it must confound the religious sense of observers to see that the churches fight most earnestly about their own peculiar methods, and that they care comparatively little for holiness of life unless* it is carried out with their own system of be--1 lief and ritual. Such intense selfishness or blindness in the churches leaves much of the civilised world unevangelised, and is the reason why many are trying to lead the life of the Christian religion without its associations and sacraments. Why cannot the moderate men distinguish between their real and their accidental work, are they not numerous enough to accept good service from any side that may offer it, and are they not wise enough to see that partisanship always leads to hypocrisy. We hope that something may be done in our day to put an end to these contests. But those who are skilled in fighting, can rapidly change their ground, and so there are some who say, it is not of any mere matter of ritual that we complain, but of the dangerous doctrines which are underlying. Whether these extremes of doctrine are nob also equally faulty we shall presently see.

(TO THB BDITOB OV THB BOTTTHIiAHD TIMES.) Sib — As it is not probable that all the churchmen of the province see the ' Daily Times ' may I request you to publish the following extract from its columns. -Tour's &c, D. Macbobze. Invercargill, Bth April, 1869.