NATIONAL UNITY AND A PEACE MEMORIAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 February 1918, Page 2

NATIONAL UNITY AND A PEACE MEMORIAL.

To the TCditor. Sir.—Will you kindly allow 1110 space in your paper to briefly reply to a few statements by the clergy at. the Church of Kngland Conference held at New Plmouth in December, not forgetting one or two statements by the vicar of St. Mary's on Anzac Day, 1!)17. It. has been suggested that .a pence-memorial should be of a nature constituting, an improvement in the organisation of ..(lie Cknreli. Seeing that this fact is well in view, t would like to suggest to all the clergy of Faranaki, irrespective of sect or creed, one that should .appeal to all men. Seeing that all are united in trying to conquer our common foe. why not allow this fact to become our governing principle? Is not unity destined to be the inheritance of all the tribes of Israel? Cannot all distinctly see 011 it tho hall-mark of the Divine Founder of the Church in large letters: "Thy will be.done on earth," etc. "Xor do I pray for them alone, but for all who believe in Me by their spoken word": Slav.'they all be one, as Thou, Father, art, in, mp and I in Thee; so may they be in Us —that the world may believe Thou hast sent Me." llow comes it that we resemble the Jews of old? I.ike them, we can discern flie face of the sky, bttt do We discern the signs of the times as vyo should? Sectarianism, which has been so vividlydepicted in the book of Revelations by St. John, may be readily recognised as the Apostate Church— the modern city of confusion, on whose walls is written her everlasting doom. In this corrupt city can be found every sort of craftsman that there is on earth. First in order comes the Romanist, the mother of 11? all. I often marvel how few there are who care to town- her as such. Then come the Mormons, Spiritualists. Socialists, Atheists, Agnostics, etc. They are like the husk that has lost its kernel, or like tho white yeasty foam, or like the ocean waves—scum of the waters of life—tliev are merely the foam. Why should not those brothers in holy orders become reconciled? Let the elder ever remember that he has been the chief transgressor in the great Gentile apostacy. Let the younger remember tho splinter in his own eye; otherwise. let brotherly love reign supreme. lT,et it not be said any more: "The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the children's teeth are set 011 edge." Father let them give to the minor dissenting bodies, as well as to the world, 011 object lesson in breaking down sectarianism. One party at least is already pleading for such unity, including men of 110 mean calling such as Llovd George and the k'te President Garfield. Certainly the time is opportune for united organisation. if ever man is to realise the glories of the Millenium. Wake up, and robe the Christian church for tJie marriage banquet! She has been placed on her trial, and the jury have found her guiltv of compromising with evil. Like' the wise virgins, she should provide new wine and new wine skins, and oil for the lamps that there be no weeping ait' gnashing of teetli when the door is shut. . Tust here is an excellent opening for ■ the Vicar of St. Mary's to get to work ' with his pruning hook. Our national Church ordinances/ceremonies, and creed, as well as our national character, need to be pruned, right down to the teaching of the Apostolic age. A new Church . will rise from the ruins of the old, after [ the vine has been liruner! of its superfluous growth, fir rather, I would say, the old will be restored. Why allow the last holy rites of the Church to be defiled by burying' the victims of intemperance in the sure and certain hope of 9 glorious hereafter? Wake up, and cleanse the inside of the cup! Let the Church become a living reality, instead nf a mere sham and an empty farce. [ Let. there be more of that unchained and | independent spirit suc-h as St. Paul manl- ; fested, and also Richard Lloyd, uncle , and foster-father of Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, of whom it is ! ivritten that for 5S years he never failed , to preach the Gospel every Sunday without money and without price, and who , worked at his trade during the week. (Refer Acts 20, 20 to 34). Let us hear no more regarding the failure of the Christian rc-e. but rather let us reverently ask: Has Christianity ever been tried? When France revolted against priestcraft, she suddenly became infidel under the influence of Voltaire and his associates, thus furnishing another instance of the fruits of a corrupt-, tree. . They said: The voice of the Church is above the voice of the Almighty: tliey said the Church was infallible; and they made their own rules, their own laws, and threw the old measuring rod out o> j the wily. There is one thing especially' that the Church stands greatly in need of. Who will' supply that need? Tt is one national translation, and one only, to be rendered entirely free from all Greek and Latin words. Here is a great opening for our Romanist friends to do something by way of compensating for tlie sins of our fathers, who took away tlie key of knowledge. Then again, the Church could become the means of the salvation of two hundred thousand human lives annually by waking up and smashing the golden calf—the brewers' monopoly, and every other thing that stands in the light of the greatest good. Or, as Mi'. Simpson puts it, are we to tread the* same old groove,' are we to perpetuate the same old mistakes, or lecognise the same facts'in time of ncaee. and all work for the common good? T candidly admit that Tlenrv VIII. was no bright and shining light as the founder of a new institution; nevertheless this admission does not detract from the fact that the Church was and had been a, corrupt institution for ages before his time. Humanlv-dcvised creeds have been the theological battleground of the centuries; but they will,have to give place to the divine. Thcv are changeable; the divinely-given creed is,unchangeable. Just here I would like to say to all my Anglican and Romanist friends: Build 110 more additions tf>. those half-wav lipases, but rather prepare the way for a closer unity by removing the stumbling block, by cleansing the inside of the env liv abolising the commandments anil ordinances of uninspired men. and restoring apostolic practice. Then all other creeds, sects adn isms will fall around rour foot, arid benme your footstool.' National unity and co-ordination arc part of the great mission of the An-glo-ffyxon race. This is tbc great, lever that is destined to roll back the mislity Prussia.!' army and become the forerunner of a deeper religious and spiritual . unity. Let ua as a people never lose sight ;jf this, .great principle, that , throughout the asses to come our English--~™*iilun? mce. inolndin:' our brethren, the Jews. <?il) be the channel through iriiinh the coveted blesisinps of peace ami troodwill will flow to all the nations of the earth. Rritnin is fast unfurling her flag in the land thnt> God gave to rnjr ftirofafliers aiifl i.hfiir children for an everlasting inheritance, which tliev have dn' ' - 1 time onlv "through siu «®r- ...j-iU; Against this rock tlie N 4£tad«£ may daah

themselves ill vain, flow necessary it becomes Unit our pkns should JjfcVpe'ri'oct;. cd for real active service, "iTirit'~our ranks |)reseint one-unbroken front,-both-in doctrine, in theory, and in practice —like the rider seen in the vision, be ready to go forward, conquering and to conquer; rpfldv to crush the serpent's head by unsheathing the sword ol' I lie naked truth. Mood sound doctrine in every respect will be urgently needed for solving social problems, and turning the world upside down. T.et us see'that we don't make the mistake of placing the cart before horse in seeking wavirnml means for the improvement of our present 'education .system. I believe that some prominence with regard to the etliics of (he (!ood Old Book is more or less needed, ft is the good sound moral and religions training that is going to tell in tincoming man of this twentieth century. Therefore, let us resent the likes of'the Latin tongue being converted into a useless hurdle for the purposes of promoting a high-class education at the ' expense of one good practical system that will enable those that have the intelligence, grit, and ambition, to soar as high as they choose. Let us look for a iroment at the "history of those four great universal Empires), to say' -nothihS 'of the dews, who have risen-(Cnd--fallen into oblivion, whose wk'kip.dik'ss vvas great and who failed to rcfainTfigrd- in their national and social alfturtt, - -Kveii the Kaiser has boasted that he in.-tli" scourge of the Almighty, sent to punish a. corrupt people, and Jlr. l.toyd lioprge infers the same trend of thought Sir'his .remarks, when lie. said it has. been ordained that the way to peace is.-,paved ~\\hh gold cemented with blood. ManHssab, the.elder brother,,'.is coining to the help of Kphraim with, his mighty air armada—the seventh angel has ■'begun to sound, and verv shortly his bowl will be freely emptied into the.air —or, as the song has it, the English-speaking race against the /world will tell when L'ncle Sam marries Dolly Orey. Yor the destiny of our race let 'the reader refer to K/.r-kiel 37, 15 to 2S. and With reference to the final phases of the present world struggle, Haggai 2, fi to 7: "Yt once a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth and the sea. find the dry land; and T will : sha'-ke alt nations, and the desire of all'nations shall come.''—a lasting peace !■ Therefore, let sectarianism and all spurious claims to Apostolic succession, like a:, great boulder, sink into the obscurity of darkness, never more to emerge.—l am, et., A NONCONFORMIST. New Plymouth, February 0, 1918.