RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 143, 18 June 1910, Page 12

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

A SEBMOS TOE TO-DAT.

A KEASSKABIiE

{By ttttvrt F- COPE.)

Thou shalt lore the Lord thy God with »ti jisj- miad-** xli. 30. Is there any rational irav of fostering and siring expression to the religious life? question may well be answered by anoSser: Can any form of life be religions which does not arise in reason end commend itself as rational? What light have we io trust our emotions, our sentiments, or hopes, except- as tier are | endorsed aT "* sustained by the divine j faculty by which we have so far found oar way in life? Thai "church which is only an asylum for minds toat faint whenever they axe j compelled to work often lifts itself with. spiritual pride over those who humbly geek to discover truth for themselves. It derides those who rererenee the truth so deeply they dare .not trust any empty form or pretence, and who. with pain and sincerity, are seeking its path. Va-TiT persons continue to think of the Aimightv as one who endows human beinas with reason and then inflicts on "jient religion so as to make sure of a perpetual conflict in their natures- They tell us that these two are contradictory, a bat you can only become religious as tou are to deny the authority and validity-of intelligence. This is a crooked world if such a contention be valid: it means that you can onh- know that yon are right when you cease lij'"Z to know anything at aIL that the infinite hag given to man a mind wi£& which io damn Mm, but that he mar be saved by undoing or ignoring Sis Creator's work. It is jp theory, ■ liowe«er, especially favonred by those «ho seek escape from tie labour of i£ Oat. Tfee highest; fom of worship, wiihoiii doubt the most sincere and devout, is that whkl seeks by the light we have 4e find the farther light, -which, loves truth so well it will not go a step withoat her, which seeks to pierce through forms of words, and through the garments ox feadndon in which time has mapped fee word of life and discover the writing- of the infinite for themBekes. Xo man is likely to find the way cf Xfe by playing the hypocriie with his awn mind, by consenting to that as - inia which reason rejects. It were bettar to be cast out of this universe as a rebel than to find the best place in a paradise of fools knowing that -see had been recreant to trait, disloyal to our own wisdom, purchasing such, a heaven by cowardly submission to that which lit least seemed to us a lie. To be loyal to truth is the first step Jn religion, to follow the light we have the primary condition of more light. Tirades as to any conflict between reason ana revelation axe the vapouring of minds that dare not trust the truth, i&ai -fs2l not begin the labour of following the light, seMng to show their faith in God by fearing to look at his ways. Even though all forms should perish, though all onr present noooas should need revision, though all history most be rewritten, a. voice within the true man still forbids co do other than follow the troth. He ""» do no other. This is religion to Imn, as to all high souls, to be loyal at any cost to the light we have. "Thousands are perplexed right here, and for them all there is nothing to do bat just **"* ample thing—to tarn the teck on those blind guides who tell us that a bandage about the eyes is the garment f^wfr'*' l to spiritual worship, and IT™ to step out boldly, trusting %hat the light ire have will lead to fullness of Bgrrn Here is the sublime act of faith, not Kindly to awanr reason, but to believe 'that this little light, this little piece of way we can. see, so smnTl and jnsignTfipjmh after all, is the right way; it baa been given to us, and we most trust it, io know that this is a right worid where both divine and z ruih human are in perfect harmony.; . - "Xdwaere does a man. more truly worship the -stole of truth than as he clings .4o 'the .fragment that is in Trim SCo--sdiere does he trust lie infinite more saalhneiy than when he stands on this confidence that the little light he has from heaven, i≤ better than all the dim lamps that" other hands may fashion, and by that light he will -walk his way. CHTOCH HEWS AND SOTEB. sew Somas. Oa£3iolic Church at Warkworih iras opened last Sunday. ■B-aen caere were large congregations. : iTIw Bey. Father " Patterson preached xnomins and- evening', fa»irfw«r the place of tire -3 VfTnTTTJs of the Diocese, Jtigfit Eer. iloEstrnor C?flTaTi. Daring this week Father Patterson conducted a ■Bssion. - ' Gipsy Snach has concluded Ms mission in Pads, and returned to England. Notwithstanding' the fears of some, the mission has been very successful. One of the largest private haUs in the city, balding 1590 people, was engaged, and the audiences .grew from good to overflowing. Hundreds rose to be prayed for, one evening .the proportion being one in every fonr persons. The Presbyterians conduct over 100 anxszons to their brethren in the United States. A Presbyterian Cfrnrrh paper has been issued in Italian. The spread of Protestantism in Korea is considered the misaonary marvel of the age.- There are now 1000 self-sup-porting churches -with over 30,000 memlers. "As a conference of the Methodist Union for social service, held in the city of Oxford, the Eev. S." E. Keeble dealt with ' e T£e Future of Social Service-" He said that the social service of the future would sot be free lance service, tet thoroughly organised, and in this every mac. and vonaa should have definite place and iride scope. The Church «te nothing if not humanitarian, and co aid alone find the motive power for eocial service. But it would have to revalue its religions and intelieetaal conceptions, and also i«e ecclesiastical maThe Church was not an eni in K=el£. Training was necessary for the social worker. 2nd it was eisnfficant that the students of three of "our colleges bad petitioned tor such trainins, while the fourth already enjoyed thas advantage. The Methodist Church of Canada, appointed a- secretary for moral and social reform eight- yeais -aeo. A departmental secretary in Engiand"would have ptasiy of -work to "justify his appoiiKmens. King George. "V. reeenfly (-«rfj3e *? Wales) sent £500 to the Archbishops , Western Fund- The aceompanving letter stated that be realised the iiiSculcr aTTsrng from the extraordiaan lepia gtawSh. of popdaripn im

Dr. Charles Sheldon, author of "In -His Steps," refused permission to put Jri** book on the stage. The fact that big money was offered was immaterial. Dr. Sheldon states: "I am not one of the kind called narrow and. sometimes Puritanical in the matter of theatrical bat when 1 -find that the results of constant theatre-going are not helpful, but generally harmful to spiritual exaltation, and harmful <to concrete righteousness, nibbing off the bloom of youth and filling the mind with artificial dreams of life, I think my quarrel ■with the institution is well taken." 3lr. Evan Roberts i 3 planning a new revival campaign in Wales. Although the following church notice Iβ copied from a Home parish magazine, it contains much that -would fit in with church services in Auckland:— "The service in thie church on Sunday morning i≤ ait 11 ajn. The suppoai-' tion that it is ten minutes later ie a mistake. Young men are not excluded from the week-night service. The seats in the front portion of ihe church have been carefully examined. They are quite sound, and may be trusted not to give way. It is quite legitimate to join in the" singing. The object of the choir ie to encourage, not to discourage, the congregataon. The hassocks are intended for kneeling upon."

Tie Eev. J. J. Lewis, of Jfew Zealand, preached at the memorial service to King Edward in the Lyceum Hall, Sydney, when about 6000 were present.

-In the early j>art of the year 1911 another new Methodist Hymnal will be iseacd to the public. It is epeciaJly intended for use in Sunday-schools, and 5 will contain 620 hymns, besides 12 responsive services, such as are used in largo American schools. The committee \rhiei tas had the master in "Hand was folly representative of Sunday-school workers, and to avoid favouritism, every hymn "was submitted - anonymously, ilanv thonsands of hymns have been examined, and it is confidently believed that the book will be second to none for Sunday-school use.

The Soman Catholics of Sew York last year donated more to foreign missions than has been given in the 102 years of the history of the arch-dioeeae. !New York was second in all the diocese* of the world last year in its donations to missions, Lyons, in France, being first. The sixth annual repoiifc of the Society for the" Propagation of the Faith gives the total amount contributed as 7,755,379 dollars, ■which is an increase of 7969 on the previous year.

June 24th is the tercentennial anniversary of the first baptism of a Miemas Tnflirm This wa3 a chief named Menbarton, who, in 1610, at the age of 100, was baptised into the Boman Catholic Church. The tercentenary is to be celebrated at 'Bestigeuehie, "SJB., and wfll be attended by representatives from each of the principal orders of the Catholic Church.

The Rev. Charles Waters, of Tapping, Eyde circuit (K.S.W.), who died recently at the advanced age of 83 'years, was originally a Primitive Methodist, having entered fh* Tnir.Ki i y of that Church in 1851.

In the ATiTiiial federation report of the English Free Church Council is told the story of Gipsy Smith's mission in America. At Chicago, he"says: "I "was invited to luncheon with three hundred millionaires, bankers, judges, merchants, and after luncheon, when I was expected to make an after-dinner speech, I gave tiem fifteen minutes of the Gospel. One after another of these men got up and said that they h3d heard many things in that room, but never anything like that, and I was the first man who thought they had got souls, and they thanked mc for my words. These rich men were hungering for the story of the Saviour's love. I had the joy of preaching Christ to these men who hungered at heart as the poorest man and woman."