THE CHURCH'S DUTY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 173, 20 January 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE CHURCH'S DUTY.

THE CHRISTIAN STANDARD, D^ n °f St. Paul's (Dr.;inge) gave ± p, r , and last 9f his lectures on The Church and the Spirit of the Age" ' at Sion College, London, on December 1, when Mrs. Creighton presided over a large meeting of the Women's Diocesan Association. A ■Church, the Dean said, in aspiring to influence the world, was prone to make three blunders, symbolised by the three temptations of our Lord; First, she was tempted to try men's souls through their stomachs, bidding for popular favor with material advantages. The younger clergy were tumbling over each other in their eagerness. to be appointed Court chapains to Kim, Demos. The present distubution of wealth was absurd- but there were fundamental differences between the views of life taken by Christianity and by Social Democracy * Social ism assumed that the stye made the pigs; Christianity declared that the pig made the stye. The consistent Socialist hated eugenics as he hate<j Christianity, because that science held nature to be more important than nurture. He must define the difference between the atti- ™ : Sopial Democracy and that of Christianity, because their beloved Bishop had''lately' taken' the line of trying' to claim the Labor movement as essentially Christian. Christianity proved triumphantly that the highest life might be led > in extreme ,poverty., ; ,We- might infer from Christ s teaching that He regarded ' a simply sufficiency as the most favorable condition; but He certainly set a very low value, on the apparatus, and accessories of life. The revolutionary party's view, as expressed, by Maj*, was. that. the idea of God should be destroyed, the working man, however, would soon find out that 1 his misleaders, promising him an earthly paradise at the end of a flowery path were leading him to . a premature hell through a way of blood. Then he would . turn to the Leader who alone could helm • But it was treason to Christ and to the laboring classes,themselves if the Church '' secularised its message, it was only other-wordhness"t which had transformuld transform 1 this world. Winning the masses" was u phrase for politicians, not for evangelists. If they allied themselves with mankind "in the allied themselves with manikiha at its worst. • The second, temptation was to relV on miracles, or on cuttiiig knots which should be united. There were no short cuts to the Kingdom of God, though the Bystems of religious magic, demanding the sacrifice of the intellect, promised ' admission by, private ticket. The third teinptation'was*'to 'i4e violence or fraud in the service of God's Kingdom. A colossal amount, of evil had been wrought by unscrupulous'diplomacy in a good cause. ,The Oliiftch < must never "get hold of: pfeople" exwjpt ' pn their best side. , ( , of church people was to hold up the Christian standard of vaues and to live by it themselves, Christ laid unique stress on love and sympathybroke down all, barriers, sacred ahd .profane between men; taught the duty of hopefulness and' trust; advocated plain living without asceticism; drew the sting of death by making it the gate of life, and showed how'we must die daily to' sin and be borne unto righteousness. We : ■might do great gdod by • refusing l respect to successful rascality. We could set an example of simplicity in our way of living; set our face against successful rascality; set our face against immoral, extravagant or foolish fashions; try'to save what might yet be saved of the old English Sunday; protest vigorously against betting and' gambling, including ' all card-playing for money; and in many other ways show that the Church conscience was as real as that rather tortuous and greasy instrument of party politics, the Nonconformist conscience. The breaking down of class barriers was surely a good thing. The gardener or bricklayer or shop assistant ihight be as good a gentleman as the squire or banker or clergyman, if raised above -pinching poverty It was a snobbish idea that the nobility of our work depended on its kind and not in the way it was done, ihe aristocratic ideal, to which he attached immense importance, was distorted and ruined by class distinctions. \\hen once it was realised that the only claims to respect were intellect and character (or should he add beauty?), and that it did not matter a pin what a mans trade was, a more healthy tone about education would result. The Church could support the movement for the proper care of the feeble-minded; who, being more prolific than the sane were swelling the ranks of vice and crime. We, were breeding chiefly from OUI worst stock, and some form of ra v uonal selection was absolutely necessary. The Church had a right to say that luxury was always Tuinous. A high standaid of comfort was leading to race suicule. Nothing failed like success. As a class became prosperous and rich it began to decay. Mrs. Creighton, in moving a Warm vote of thanks to the lecturer, said that the subject liad been chosen not by him but by the Association. She pointed out that the English Socialism of such men as Mr. Ramsay AlacDonald was not in , any sense opposed to religion.