RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 95, 21 April 1923, Page 18

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

PRESENT-DAY OUTLOOK. (Contributed.) '"* TRIBUTE TO LORD CARNARVON Lor] Carnarvon's discovery of the tomb ni Tut-ankh-amen was referred to by the Lev. C. H. Grant Cowcn in a Fi-rnmn al Hi. Matthew's Church last Sunday evening. Mr. Grant Cowan said: During the 300 years the children of Israel remained captive in Egypt Phar.'.nh Tut-ankh-amen, whose tomb has recently been discovered by Lord Carnarvon, reigned for a few years, and it is quite possible that they were called upon to build the very tomb which has revealed tr, ~;•,,■ generation the wonder and life of ill."I period. Not many years after the death of Tut-ankh-amen, Moses sppci red before his successor, and _in the name of (bul demanded that he should let the children of Israel go. For over 3300 years the tomb has been undisturbed, and Tut-ankh-amen has laid there. Nations have risen and fallen, dynasties have come and gone. Now, as a vision, as a ghost, the ancient monarch comes to us to-day an.l speaks to us of p wonderful civilisation, and of a long forgotten era. Lord Carnarvon for IS years has. with the help of Mr. Hubert Carter, quietly been excavating, hoping and expecting to find in this valley of the Icings some ancient records that would reveal to us the life and condition of this far off age. The pathway of progress is strewn with thu bodies of men nnd women who have worked unselfishly in its cause. The latest life to be sacrificed upon the Altar of Progress is that of tho man whose memory we cherish to-night, and who for 18' long years patiently and faithfully worked in the causo of exploration in tho ancient valley of the kings. We revere his tracn-ory and extend to Lady Carnarvon, his daughter nnd son, our sympathy and rrayers. _ The work he has accomplished will need no earthly monument—' it speaks for itself. Centuries hence his namo will be as known and honoured as , now. AYe stand to-day side by side with! the civilisation of 3000 years ago, and! we learn afresh the lesson that a thousand years are but as yesterday, andj that time is nothing. The ages have been] bridged and things hidden for centuries brought to light. We could have wished' that Lord Carnarvon had lived to sco the consummation of his life's desire, and' to stand within the chamber where lies! the remains of Egypt's monarch, but likoj Mos»s lie stood upon the threshold of the Holy Land, and yet did not enter. AA ithin a short distance of Tut-ankh-amen's tomb, upon ground that Moses trod, he has passed into the presence of the same God who watched over the children of Israel and led them forth from Egypt. Like others which have laboured in the cause of humanity and! civilisation, ho has paid the supremel prien, but has given to the world a noble example of unselfish service, and has' uncovered the hidden secrets of a age. * RELATIVITY AND THEOLOGY. In view of the strong confirmation given to Einstein's theory of relativity by the calculations of the Lick Observatory's staff in connection with the recent eclipse of the sun, the following statement by Bishop Cvra regarding the. theological implications of the theory is of great interest:—No ' one, writes , Bishop Core, can dispute the truth of this doctrine of relativity, though whether Einstein's discoveries and theories do more than show it in a novel light I do not feel sure. Anyway, the postulates of each branch of human science are not final and necessary truths, but are relative to the particular science; and the absolute point of view, from which all must bo harmonised, is hard to come by. and may be unattainable for ever by" the finite minds of men. The mind of man is not capable of discovering absolute truth. This applies to moral truth as much as to any other department of reality. It applies also to theology. The "theologians have always emphasised this: "We see through a glass darkly" in our thought about the "ultimate things. Nevertheless this doctrine of relativity does not supply any valid ground for excluding the idea that behind the veil of creation lies the Personal God. Creation, ns Dr. Pringlo Pattisbn and Eord Haldano say, appears in "layers." Upon the merely physical or material supervenes the vital, and upon the vital the rational and the personal. And the personal is, at least, a better ime.ge of Cod than the merely vital or merely mechanical. THE ABSOLUTE RELIGION. Dr. Gore goes on to say that for those who accept revelation as a fact, in ii particular line of history, mediated throne.- ihe prophets of Israel and culminating in Christ, the doctrine of relativity is certainly not obliterated or negatived. The revelation of Cod in Christ may bo spoke,, of as establishing "tho absolute religion." in the sense that it is for this world, final and universal, but it dors not mean that "tie absolute truth" is fhere unveiled. At least Christianity has never made, any snch claim, "if has never claimed for us in our present condition the power to see Cod as lie is. But. granted this, it does none the less introduce a limiting element into the doctrine of relativity. For here, [riven through the | prophets and in Christ, we have not merely a judcrmenl of human reason or conscience liable fo all the uncertainties and relativities of such a judgment, but n renl word of God. Such a word of God is given through men nnd for men ns they now are. nnd must therefore be. n? compared to absolute truth, relative nnd imperfect. P,ut the truth which the self-disclosure of Cod enables us and requires us to pot into human words is. as compared to nil oilier human proposition" about Cod. necessarily of a higher cnalifv -.nd infinitely more trustworthy. The '•-iTf.nl of Cod" must be in such real Fen=" absolutely true, that it ls true for nil men. and the highest kind of! truth about God which man can attain, i DEATH BLOW TO K__.TEaiALISM: In discussing the bearing of the theory of relativity on the laws of nature, Mr. Herbert Dingle, BSc lecturer in Astrophysics at the Imper- j lal College of Science and states that even before tbe comin""oi relativity a strict materialism "was found to be untenable. There was never a time wb cn * t could be said to aX t ", um P ll «i- Relativity gives the death blow to whatever might remain lit fl ° ld -! orm ,° f Not pnljr does it make it impossible to re-

duce Nature to matter and motion: it makes the description of the courst of nature in these terms an uncomplete, and therefore a false, one. What has hitherto been called a law of Natun becomes a law of our particular aspect of Nature, which is only one of au infinite number of aspects. We must not imagine that the theory of relativity is complete and self-suflicient. Rather is it the beginning of a new chapter in science. CURRENT NOTES. The Marist Fathers started a mission at the Church of tho Good Shepherd Dominion Road, last Sunday. It will conclude on Sunday, April 29th. Dr. Cleary, Roman Catholic Bishop oi Auckland, was expected to leave Naples on April Sth. He will spend a little time with friends in Australia, and should reach Auckland early next June. The ninth convention of the World's Sunday School Association will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, next year. Over 4000 delegates nro expected to attend the convention in St. Andrew's Hall in June, 1924. A Sikh doctor, when asked why be desired to have a Christian doctor attached to the hospital at Rawal, said: 'The Christian mission hospitals are so much more cheerful—there is more love in the treatment." The "Jewish Tribune"' states that the Hebrew population of New York has doubled in the last 20 years. The Catholic population is given as 1,943,730 or 34.89 per cent, the Protestants number 34,55 per cent, and Jews 29.23 per cent. In denouncing the practice of the formal consecration of Church buildings, Dr. Percy Stickney Ghent, rector of tho l'rotestant Episcopal Church of the Ascension, New York, said it was inherited from the agte of witchcraft, magic and taboo. Dr. Charlep Brown, preaching at Ferme Park Church. London, recently said he was not afraid of modern thought, but was afraid of modern thoughtlessness. He also said repentance was not simply a matter of emotions, but of the mind. The world figures of the Baptist Church show that there are in tho United States 7,9GG,537 belonging to that body, and also 4,381,041 Sunday school scholars. The increase during 1922 was 162,388 members, and 578,0571 scholars. [ The big debate in the recent Methodist' Conference was on the question of amalgamating the two offices of Home Mission Secretary and Maori Mission' Superintendent. The amalgamation was agreed to by 129 votes to 45. Tho Rev.| A. J. Seamer was appointed to the office! for 1924. The Rev. AA 7 . H. Howes, statistician of the Presbyterian Church, calculates that in New Zealand, there are approximately 22,000 boys and girls between the. ages of four and thirteen years, children of, Presbyterian parents, who are growing up apart from tho teaching and atmosphere of the Sunday school. After several -weeks* Church work in the South, the vice-president of tho! Mothodist Conference, Mr. Henry Field, has returned to Auckland. His tour included services or meetings in Dunedin' Timaru, Ashbtirton, Christchurch, AVel-l lington and Palmerston North. Ho' reports good audiences and quickened : interest. The only new Methodist Ministers coming to Auckland circuits this year are Revs. Reader (Kingsland). Liversedge (Mount Albert), and Cook (Onehunga.) Xo change of any kind is made in the Auckland AVest, Auckland' East, Devonport, and Takapuna circuits.' The Methodist Mission will be worked! under tho direction of the district chair-' man, Rev. P. X. Knight, B.A. All the chief officers of the Methodist Conference are resident in the North Island. The president. Rev. B. F. Roth-' well, is superintentent of tho Master-| ton circuit. Mr. Rothwell entered the! work in 18S5, and has therefore been! 38 years in the ministry. The vice-i president, Mr. 11. Field, of Auckland, hadl the honour of election without opposition. And the conference secretary,' Key. A. Ashcroft, Thames, will become- 1 president in 1924. | The Bishop of Shanghai describes General Feng Yu-haiang as being a sincere Christian. He shares the hardships of his men, and has left a fine record behind, wherever his troops have been. He was relieved, 11 years ago, from an incurable disease by the ministrations of a Christian medical missionaiy, and he has been a consistent Christian from that time. It is on! General Feng that the hopes of the i Chinese nation now very largolv depend. On May 2.5, 1923, the first New Zea-j land Church Congress is to open at Christchurch, and will conclude on the 23th. The president is the Archbishop' of New Zealand, and the vice-presidents j the Bishops of the various provinces/ the Rev. F. Dunnage, of Woolston,! Christchurch. Amongst the attractions ! at the Congress will be a "bird's eye : view" of the past history and present! efforts of the Anglican Church in New l Zealand in a splendid loan exhibition,! the first of its kind to be broucht to-' gether in this country. The circular' po.nts out that by attending the Con-' gresai—'-io,, ( . an gjvc a denjal dea that Anglicans as a body, are halfhearted, and lacking in enthusiasm." i t n . A "S' ican Church Congress will be held in Christchurch from May 22 to' May 25. Archbishop Julius will preside and give the opening nddress. The diocese of Auckland will be represented by several speakers. The Rev. E. H. Strong will speak on "The Gospel Message," Canon James on "The Christian Moral Standard," Canon Tisdall on "The Authority and Use of Holy Scripture," the Rev. G. Gordon Bell on "The Worship! of the Church." the Rev. A. J. Greenwood on "Spiritual Healing," the Bishop of Auckland (Dr. Averill) on "Christ and the New Age." Dr. Bickersteth, of Canterbury (England), and the Bishops of Goulburn, AA'illochra, Dornakal, Dunedin, Wellington, and Nelson will also take part in the proceedings.

i j Lord Inchcape, the shipping magnate/ A "»A. I