ORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1006, 24 June 1930, Page 10

ORIGINAL CHRISTIANITY

MODERN METHODS COMPARED TALK BY REV. DR. RANSTON “The majority of people think we cannot get back to the original simplicity and faith of early Christianity, that life is too complex for that,” said ; the Rev. Dr. H. Ranston, at the quarterly meeting of the Council of Christian Congregations last evening. His subject was “The Original Christianity and Today.” “Nevertheless,” he continued, “we must get beneath the original campaign methods to the original spirit which enabled them to do in the world A\*hat they did. We ought to get back to the original Christianity. It is a remarkable fact that the early Christians knew themselves to be big enough for their jobs, in spite of the fact that they were fighting tremendous foes. They dared to feel that they were capable of accomplishing the task they had in hand. “What we need today is a revival of confidence in the church, based on the sense of the all-sufficiency of God working within the churches. And w© should follow the early Christians in refusing to compromise with the secular spirit prevailing today. We should no£ seek after mere popularity; whenever we set our faces on the crowd instead of on the Cross, religion droops.” Dr. Ranston denounced any policy of defensiveness on the part of Christian churches. He said they should not merely utter a protest against the sins and vices of the community, but should engage in a daring offensive against them. Only by adopting an offensive attitude could Christianity assert itself now, as in its early days, against social and moral contaminations and their resultant misery. The warm-heartedness of the original Christians was, he concluded, another strong point in their success. People today were realising the value and the need of feeling in religion. In his recent visit to the Old Country, the doctor had noticed that although the orthodox churches might have poor attendances, the mission halls were crowded.

“Religion,” he said, “must not be taught, but caught.”