RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 67, 18 March 1916, Page 17

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

I EXIT THE CHURCHES!

/.V-MK. HAROLD BEGBIE ON THE | . FUTURE OF RELIGION. >•;. ' "Mr. Harold Begbie, whose book on the •: angels at Mons has given a new note to ;: lis contributions to religious thought, » lias been telling the American public his V-ideas on the future of Christianity iv - "Great Britain as affected by the war. ■,••"" "I am inclined to think that the -'■' Churches as we now know them will - cease to exist," he says. "No form of « ritual knowu at present will satisfy the '■'• future realistic religions feelings of'manr ' kind. Humanity is being born again, • and the Churches also will have to be »■ ieborn. In that re-birth many noble : ministers of religion will assist. "My view is that the churches, which Bg were already complaining of declining ; congregations, will become less and less I attendi 1. There will naturally always IgNie societies of Christians, brought to- . gether by identity of taste or circum- - stance, but the day of formalism—the day of great national Churches with tremendous machinery—is almost over. "The average parson, the average '.[ priest, has nothing to tell the world "'.from his own experience. If a man 5 arose like St. Paul, or Francis of Assisi, 3 'or Wesley, or William Booth even, who • had experienced something different from ;' what the ordinary man experiences, but f" something felt by the ordinary man to be *\ true, great crowds would gather to hear ' that man, and he might inspire wonder- .. fui action, wonderful service. But as it is, few men feel any the better for going ':.'. to church. That explains the Church's ~ failure." Mr. Begbie does not, of course, mean V". that the Churches will immediately be- "'"• come obsolete. On the contrary, he >~• foresees after the war a sort of revival 3 among them. But tbe change will be , v but transitory. \" "The religious leaders are not neces- .'.. sarily Christian," says Mr. Begbie, touch- '■ ing on the reconciliation of the leaders '.. of religion in the belligerent countries. . "Religious evolution has been extra- ..." ordinarily slow. There has been little .). more than an evolution of respectability, 5 „ very little evolution of spirituality. The • way in which a truly Christian man, : when he does appear, is treated by the ,- professed leaders of religion is clear proof that organised religion has been ■.: perverted by the powers of evil. The religious leaders are merely the leaders of respectability and of a respectability sr that is purely local. "Take all the talk about tbe night clubs, in which the bishops and the archbishops, as well as the "Press and the moralists, have been taking so prominent "i a part. Who ever suggested that the night clubs should be closed for the protection of the weak, neurotic youths and the poor, deluded girls who frequent /•• them? It is only when the military efficiency of the nation, not alone its moral welfare, is threatened, that the outcry is raised. That is a good example ■ of the blindness of the religious leaders." CHURCH HEWS AMD NOTES. The Rev. William Barnes, of Ashville, ';■'- North Carolina (United States), died re- ' cently, at the age of 103 years*. ~ The Rev. Father Ainsworth, who has been transferred from the south to Napier, commenced his duties last Sun- '■ day. Sixteen years ago he conducted a -j successful mission at Napier. The Rangiora Presbyterian Church has decided to call the Rev. W. H. Howes, of Manaia. The Rev. T. Millar joes to Feilding. The I*v. G. Menzies, late of the Baptist Church at Newtown, Sydney, has arrived to take charge of the church at Napier for three months. Tbe announcement was recently made that the Bishop of South-wark had presented the Rev. C. C. Harper, formerly of St. Peter's, Wellington, to the rectory of Newington. The Bristol "Times" statues that Newrngton, is one of the richest benefices in the south of England, the net stipend being about £1,200 a year, with a fine residence. Mr. Albert Stanley. Labour M.P. for North-West Staffordshire, who died recently at Northampton, w@s the son of a miner, and worked in the coal mines himself before 'he was ten years of age. By borrowing books and buying a few , that he could afford, mostly second-hand, lie improved his knowledge quickly, with some help obtained at Sunday school, and at the age of 14 he had won some ifa,me as a "boy preacher." He could not afford to train for the ministry, but he va6 soon on the lull "plan" of the (Primitive Methodist Church as a local -■ preacher, and used to stand on a stool in the pulpit. Dr. Henslow Henson, Dean of Durham, speaking at an intercessory service in tbe cathedral of that-, city, 6aid: ■ #>When the novel and gigantic require_ents of the struggle compelled in such a society as our own (a society organised for peace and habituated to it) drastic -changes of system and great surrenders of tradition, it needed no argument to show that the successful achievement of the indispensable changes must depend on the patriotic spirit of the citizens, on their sense of proportion, Xjji their ' will—gnese to subordinate personal preferences to the public good, on their capacity to rise above prejudice and faction, and to look singly and solely to ' v the welfare of tlie country." \ Writing with regard to the Unfc denominational Evangelical Mission .to India, Mt. C. V. Taylor, hon. - sec, Tangiteroria, states: —"I feel constrained through the pages of • your valuable paper to make known as touch as possible the aims and objects of the above mission. A few months ago it entered the hearts of a number of Christians to send a representative to India to help in some way to dispel the spiritual darkness and superstition which abounds among its hundreds of ;'• ""aiUions of inhabitants. Tlie representatives chosen to carry out this mission ' arc Mr. and Mrs. Roxbrough, at that time working as Baptist mL-sioners in the Maungatapere district. Both have - had previous experience as missionaries in India, and have lons waited for an opportunity to return "to tlie work so " Jorcd by them. Mr. Roxbrough is at present touring the North before setting "it on his life work. His ability as a preacher and his earnestness gain for Wai an open door to all evangelical churches, and being purely undenomi- . national his services are greatly appreciated by all. The needs of the mission are gTeat, and we would ask all Christian workers to join with us daily In pray- , ln S for the success of this mission among the Mara thi speaking people of i"c Bombay Presidency. Tlie means we Jave adopted to support our representative is by eacjj j n< ij v jdual taking one or «norc shares, one share representing sixPeace or by monthly or quarterly contributions. We would again *« k all Christians to help with their -Havens and substance such a noble I Wori." .. ' 'V '