The WORLD of RELIGION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22166, 20 July 1935, Page 5 (Supplement)

The WORLD of RELIGION

Rabbi H. E. Enelow is one of the most brilliant preachers of the Jewish Church in America, and is known and honoured far beyond the bounds of his own communion as a scholar and leader in social welfare. He has lately been speaking about the Jewish view of Jesus and his address is referred to by Dr. Fort Newton in a recent issue of McCaH's Magazine. The words of Rabbi seem to indicate a closer approximation to the Christian view than has been common in the past, while yet falling far sliort of the faith of th<* Christian Church. He reminds his hearers that Jesus was a Jew, that no true Jew can be indifferent to the wonderful part He has taken in the re-, ligious education and direction of thn race, and, while disclaiming that his words are an expression of the " official attitude " of his Church, asserts thai the " many years of misunderstanding and estrangement " are ending and that " Jesus has an increasingly large place in Jewish thought and litera ture." The Jews, he says, do not acknowledge the deity of Jesus nor do they accept Him as their expected Messiah, but they place Him among their prophets as One who crowns a great tradition. " The love He has inspired, the good Ho has engendered, the solace He has given, the hope and joy He has kindled—all that is unequalled in human history." The Rabbi refers to the Cross. By it Jesus passed into immortality with His ideals untouched, with a faith in that Spirit of which He ever felt Himself a child, and thus He has won His ascendancy over human hearts and an imperishable place in the affections of mankind. We may welcome such large accord without making light of the profound differences that sti'l remain between the Christian and Jewish views of our Lord and His work. Baptist Theological College

In the hist number of the New Zealand Baptist special reference is made to the work of the Theological College of that church, over which the Rev. Dr. North presides as principal. There is a full quota of students in residence and in pursuance of the policy of their taking some part in active church work, in addition to the prescribed course of study, they are assisting in various ways in twenty neighbouring causes. Twenty men have passed' out into ministerial work and are in charge of churches. The college has run smoothly and efficiently for ton years, and such is the demand for ministers that there are more vacancies throughout the Dominion than can be filled by outgoing students. The aim of the principal and his staff is train men " into whose instructed minds and responsive spirits " the fire of a true evangelism may enter and who will, like Dr. Kagawa, " go all lengths for God." The principal quotes our recent visitor: " Oh, my soul, my soul, do you hear God's pain-pitched cry as He suffers because of the world's dire distress." Fourth Centenary of the Reformation

Steps are being taken to prepare for | the celebration of the fourth centenary of the Reformation in 1938. A national coiincil has been set up with the Bishop of Manchester as Chairman, Dr. Sidney Berry, Moderator of the Free Church Council, as vice-chairman, and an executive representative of all the churches taking part. t On May 31 the first meeting of the council was held in the Central Westminster, when the chief speakers were the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dr. Scott Lidgett. The Archbishop pointed out that the Reformation was no sudden passing from-darkness to light, but a long complicated, and confused movement covering a century and a-half, and that there were matters connected with it which must perforce lead to very great differences of opinion. There was general agreement among those present that the outstanding benefit of the Reformation in England was the giving of the Bible to the people in their own tongue and its freedom of circulation.

By PHILEMON

" The Bible lies a't the basis of what may be called our national religion," said the Archbishop, " and the language of the 1611 version has been wrought into the very texture of our English life." It was therefore decided by unanimous resolution " to celebrate in 1938 the fourth centenary of the publication of the Bible and of tho provision that an English Bible should be placed in every parish church." The Archbishop referred to the fact that the Bible was not now read as once was the case—" It was rather a matter of respect and remembrance than of constant use." He urged that the centenary and the preparations for it should be made an occasion of promoting a revival of daily reading of tho Scriptures Personal Notes Readers of the remarkable book* " Something Happened " will be interested to know that the authoress, Miss Mildred Cable, and her two companions, the Misses Evangeline and Franscesca French, after their two years' stay in England have arranged to leave in August on their return to Chinese Turkestan, where they will enter their former sphere of work. The requisite permission has been obtained from the Soviet Government for them to travel by the Trans-Siberian railway and to enter the country via Sergiopol. The Rev. Ira Goldhawk, after "ten years' successful work in the West London Methodist Mission, originally founded by the Rev. Hugh Prico Hughes, is seeking a change of ministry in 1936 and, it is understood, will be followed as superintendent of tho Mission by tho Rev. Donald Soper, M.A. Ph.D., whose open-air services on Tower Hill have been so successful in gathering large miscellaneous audiences to hear the Gospel. Dr. Campbell Morgan's son, the Rev. F. Crossley Morgan, is a minister of the Presbyterian Church in America. He was to supply for his father at Westminster Chapel, London,, during part of June and July. A memorial to the Rev. Dr. R. F. Horton was recently unveiled in tho Lyndhurst Road _ Congregational Church, where he was minister from 1880 to 1930. Ho was a man of brilliant scholarship, of culture and wide public influence, and of rare evangelical zeal. In early life he held his membership in the Church of England and his academic successes at Oxford opened to him a conspicuous future in the University, but hist convictions led him to enter the Nonconformist ministry. The Duke of Kent was appointed Lord High Commissioner to the recent Assembly of the Church of Scotland and was accompanied by the f)uchess. They won the hearts of the Church and the city of Edinburgh, the Duchess by her charm, and the Duke with his evident sympathy with every good work. Not the least gracious of their acts was a visit to the assembly of the Free Church (tho "Woe Frees"), the first time a royal visitor had been present at that assembly.

Captain Davey, of the Church Army, has returned to England after visiting its stations throughout the world. Speaking at a welcome homo at the headquarters of the Army, he referred to the work in New Zealand, saying that he " had been thrilled to see the work of the Church Army sisters" here, and that a college was to be established for training young New Zealanders for Church Army work. An important development in the work of the Church of England in Japan is the appointment of the Rev. Paul Shindi Sasaki as the first Japanese priest to become a bishop of the Church. His diocese, that of Mid-Japan, was organised in 1912 and its first bishop, Dr. Hamilton, retired last year. The appointment of a successor was remitted to the House of Bishops in Japan with the result mentioned. Bishop Sasaki was ordained a priest in 1913 and has since that time been a member of the staff of the Central Theological College at Tokio.