PIONEERS OF RELIGION

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 757, 2 September 1929, Page 14

PIONEERS OF RELIGION

TRIBUTE TO JEWISH RACE SERMON AT ONEHUNGA “The Jewish race has characteristics that distingush it from the rest of the world arid although it ha 3 endured untold persecutions, yet at no time has it ever shown a tendency to racial decay/' said the Rev. D. D. Scott at the Onehunga Presbyterian Church last evening. Since the year 70 A.D. the Jew had never had a country he could call his own, yet his commercial enterprise had placed him in positions of power in every country in the western world, said the preacher. Although Jewish characteristics were the same today as they were in ancient times, it was not the only race that had preserved its racial type. The Chinese, Welsh and Scottish Highlanders were also examples of continuity of human types. It was when the Jew was compared with his near kinsmen, the Assyrian, the Persian or the ancient races with whom he sojourned, that his age-long distinctiveness was apparent. Greek, Roman, Assyrian and Persian had all melted away and passed from view, but the Jew belonged to the past, and was still a living factor in the world’s affairs. He was practically the only survivor of the world of the ancients. Christians reading the Old Testament had set up a variety of theories concerning the Jew and some had endeavoured to trace the origin of the British race to the lost ten tribes. The endless flaws in the argument behind that theory did not appear to affect the credulity of those prepared to believe it. Of more importance had been the theories of the conversion and restoration of the Jews to Palestine.

Paul believed that the* Jews would eventually come into the Christian fold, but in Paul’s day the Jews were secure in their own province and the question of their restoration did not enter into his calculations. Many people today regarded their restoration to Palestine as being foretold in the Scriptures and more emphasis was laid on their restoration than on their conversion to Christianity. The mandate given to Britain and the Zionist movement were hailed as a fulfilment of prophecy, but Christianity had no part in the Zionist plan. Further, the Jews were not likely to return to Palestine from purely national or sentimental motives. They were not likely to give up their interests in other lands and a general collection of Jews in Palestine was highly improbable. As to their accepting Christianity, it was evident that their obduracy to the Gospel created a painful impression on St. Paul. He was a witness of the strange spectacle of Jewish missionary effort and Jewish persecution. Jews were the foremost advocates and the foremost adversaries of Christianity in its infancy.

It was a strange contradiction to see a small group of heroic men calling upon the pagan world to own Christ, side by side with a determined opposition to the crusade by another section of the same people. The heritage of this people pointed to special favours in the past. While other races all around them were weltering in superstition, Israel was being led to an ever advancing perception of one God and His character. No people in the ancient world had ever reached such a grand conception of the Deity. It embodied the comprehensive thought that one Purpose ruled all things; not localised, but universally manifested. This led to the most wonderful feature in Israel’s religion—Jesus Christ, the Messiah, a son of this race. He was a Jew, with Jewish features, Jewish customs and Jewish views.

“Has any race at its best ever produced such pioneers of religion?” asked the preacher. From the Jew has sprung such inspiration, that, passed on to other men, has shaken the -world. The Jewish prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial and their successors had stood out in glittering refulgence in a dark world and their moral and spiritual conceptions had their consummation in Jesus Christ. All that was great in Israel was summed up in Him, that through Him all nations of the earth might be blessed. “NO ORDINARY MAN” THE LATE REV. W. READY MEMORIAL TABLET UNVEILED In memory of the Rev. William Ready, minister of the Pitt Street Methodist Church from 1909 to 1913, and also minister in charge of the Methodist City circuit for 10 years, a brass tablet was unveiled by his son, Mr. H. Ready, in the church last evening. Mr. Ready, who was born in London in 1861, died while working as a home missionary at Palmerston North in September, 1927. “He was a man of no ordinary type,” said Mr. J. W. Shackelford, one of the oldest members, in a tribute to the late minister. “There was no other man like him in the ministry in New Zealand. He was a man who never faltered in his duty, but saw a thing through to the end. I do not think that there was a man who showed a greater sympathy.” The Rev. W. Walker, the present minister of the church, said that as in the case of the other ministers whose names were commemorated in the tablets round the walls, an epitaph had been chosen for Mr. Ready which was exceedingly appropriate. It was “Faithful unto Death.” Mr. Ready’s mother died early, and from the age of six on he lived in the streets of London. At the age of 13 he did not know one letter of the alphabet, but was then taken in charge by a missionary and made an inmate of a Bristol orphanage. After serving an apprenticeship in a trade, he entered as a candidate for the ministry in ISS4, coming to New Zealand in 1887. After three years in Christchurch, Mr. Ready went to Dunedin, where he did the finest work of his life in inaugurating the Dunedin Central Mission. Among his honours he held the position of president of conference, the highest honour the Church could give, in 1912. During the Great War Mr. Ready, although three of his sons had enlisted, offered himself as a chaplain on a hospital ship. Even after Sharland’s Egg Preservative is used by thousands of thrifty housewives. Put down eggs now. 8

his retirement, for the last IS months ! of his life, he carried on supply work, and finally died during his labours as j a missionary at Palmerston North. His ] life stood as a challenge to the youth j of today, a standing example of what could be accomplished by an indomit- I able spirit and a daring attitude to | life. NEW MINISTER’S VIEWS SERMONS AT ST. MARY’S “Every day we see fresh manifesta- j tions of man’s mastery over nature, but man has not yet learned how to master himself,” said Canon W. Fancourt during his first evening service at St. Mary’s, Parnell, yesterday, speaking on “What It Is to Be a Christian.” In the morning his subject was “True Religion.” Self control is demanded by Christianity, which has to follow as closely as possible the life of Christ. The ; spirit of egotism is spoiling a great j deal of church work, and many are j losing sight of the ideals of humility, | unselfishness, and the effort to give others happiness without expecting to receive credit for it. Large congregations at both services were impressed by Canon Fancourt’s sincerity and his ability as a speaker. SERVICES AT TABERNACLE There were good attendances at the special services in connection with the 74th anniversary of the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle yesterday. The minister, the Rev. Joseph W. Kemp, preached in the morning and again in the evening, when his subject was “The Church and World Needs.” The final celebrations of the Sunday School anniversary will be held on Wednesday evening, when a scholars’ tea will be followed by the distribution of prizes.