RELIGIOUS WORLD.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 22, 26 January 1924, Page 18

RELIGIOUS WORLD.

PRESENT DAY OUTLOOK. (Contributed.) MODERNIST CONTROVERSY. In fairness to the Modernists it ought to be made quite clear that the statement published last week in this column contrasting the views of Fundamentalists and Modernists was drawn up by Fundamentalists. The Modernists are not allowed to speak for themselves, and the majority of them would emphatically repudiate the confession of faith put into their mouths by their opponents with the obvious purpose of discrediting them. This is a wellknown form of controversial strategy, and the Americans are experts at the game. The American Fundamentalists assert, for instance, that Modernists hold that "Jesus Christ is a son of God in the sense that all men are." This ithe very heart of the controversy. Deal Rnshdall, one of the most advanced oi modern churchmen, has denied in the most emphatic way the assertion that he did not believe in the divinity of Christ, ne described as a "malicious libel" the report that he had said that Christ was "man and not God." He accepts the great Catholic formula that Christ was "perfect God and perfect man." To take another example, the Fundamentalists declare that Modernists deny the Virgin Birth. It would be truer to say that the Modernists contend that belief in the Virgin Birth should not be regarded as essential to the Christian faith; but many of them would agree -with the opinion of Professor H. R. Mackintosh "that the story has an exquisite natural fitness, and its vogue is nearly impossible to explain save by the hypothesis of it 3 truth." It is quite true that Modernists believe that man is the product of evolution; but they also believe that evolution is the process by which the divine purpose is working itself out, and that this God-directed process reaches its completion in man so far ns this present temporal order is concerned. It is probably correct to say that the tendency of Modernism is to lay stress on the "exemplary" aspect of the death of Christ; but it should be remembered that there are many theories of the Atonement, and that none of them can claim to be orthodox to the exclusion of all others. The views which the Fundamentalists attribute to the Modernists regarding sin and justification (implying that the grace of God counts for nothing) would be repudiated by almost every Modernist, and probably by most Unitarians. For using the term Modernist we have in mind that school of modern theologians and critics represented by such scholars as the Bishop of Durham (Dr. Henson), the Bishop of Gloucester (Dr. Headlam ), Dean Inge, Dean Rashdall, Canon Barnes, Dr. G. A. Smith (Principal of Aberdeen University), Professor McFadyen (Glasgow),* Professor George Jackson (Dibsbury College, Manchester), Professor Peake (Manchester), nnd Dr. W. H. Bennett (Principal of Lancashire Independent College). There are many distinguished representatives of this school in the United States. People who derive their information concerning Modernism from the Fundamentalists will get very queer ideas about it. The rational procedure is to allow each side to state its own case. The battle between the American Fundamentalists and Modernists must not be confused with the controversy in the Protestant Episcopal Church regarding the Virgin Birth. The platform of the Fundamentalists is belief in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and disbelief in the theory of evolution. There are not many Fundamentalists in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and if the Fundamentalist platform is to be the test of orthodoxy, almost every Anglican Bishop in England, and probably the majority of the Presbyterian and nonconformist ministers are tainted with heresy. PROGRESS OF CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN INDIA. The following letter was published in the "British Weekly" of November 15:— Sir,—Attention has already been called to the great increase of Christians in India, as revealed by the Census of 1921. In 1911 there were 3,876,203, an increase of 952,062 over the census of 1901. In 1921 the increase in ten years was 877,876, -which meant a total Christian population of 4,754,079. To put it in another way, while the -whole population of India has increased by 1.2 per cent, the Christian population has grown by 22.64 per cent. When we consider some of the provinces the figures are still more remarkable. This is peculiarly noticeable in the case of the Punjab, whose figures have just been published. In ISBI the Christian population of the Punjab was 3796. In 1901 it was 37,980. In 1921 it was 315,031. But even these figures are eclipsed by the progress in certain parts of Assam. In one district, with a population of somewhat less than 100,000 people, .here are 27,000 Christians where ten years ago there were less than 2000. In the Khasi and Jaintia hills one-sixth of the (population is now Christian; in the Lufihai hills one-fourth. The census superintendent in his report says that he was afraid that some zealous Christian enumerators _ad made entries in accordance with their own wishes rather than with the facts. But he tested many entries himself, and givee a3 a proof of the rigorous methods employed the arousing 6-tatement that he found that a five-year-old child of a Christian had been put down as an animist because "the young scoundrel was so "reedy that he failed to say grace before meals." As there is a tendency in some quarters to speak of Indian missions as having failed to produce many tangible results, it is worth while recording these facts. To increase from 1A millions to 4} millions in forty years is" no small achievement, —I am, etc, J. M. Macfib. Eajputana, India. BRAVE FRENCH MISSIONARIES. A fine tribute to missionaries is paid by Professor J. M. Gregory, in his book entitled "To the Alps of Chinese Tibet." He says:— French missionaries are doing heroic work in northern Yunnan. The author of this book visited some of their lonely stations. "There is no one here to protect .he exiles in the land of mist and snow. . . . The French Government has even disowned them at Peking. Few parts of the world can be more isolated, for the journey from Burma takes six weeks, and two dozen Europeans cannot be met in that time. . p or several months in the year the p 'a_ Beß to tie east are under dee. s_,_4 _Va by man, du_ng P XT _£

the Upper Salween is cut off from the rest ot the world. To the west and north lies Inner Tibet, with its jealously guarded frontier and its hostile priestsTo the east is the snowclad rock-wall, which we had found troublesome to scale even at mid-summer. To the south is the land of the Black Lisu. . . Of the many magnificent sights we saw, none 'has left a deeper impression than the devotion and success of the Krencn Fathers of north-western Yunnan." SCARCITY OF CLERGY. In England there is such a scarcity oi curates that it is almost impossible to get assistance for the work of some of the larger parishes. Canon Briggs says that he advertised for three weeks in succession in all the leading Church papers for a curate and did not receive a single reply. His experience is not singular. Many parishes which used to have thrco or four curates are now reduced to a single assistant, and in other instances, in parishes equally large, the whole of the work has to be done by tho incum- ••-<!'' Bui it is not only in the r ,„..„- nt r,btai"ii" eurale« that difliculty is being experienced. Almost equal u___,..ia ue-iig experienced in obtaining ... es .via 1-ailOll .bilges says that the shortage of ordination candidates is 60 acute that for many years to come it will be exceedingly difficult to man some of the districts. The canon attributes this in large measure to the reluctance of young men to enter the Church, owing to the widespread complaints of the poverty of the clergy and the inadequate salaries paid. There is doubtless some truth in this contention. Many stipends are actually lower owing to decreased revenues, and, added to this, there is the very heavy taxation to be taken into account, as well as the fact that the purchasing value of the sovereign in Britain is very little more than half what it was before the war. Such provision as is made for pensions is wholly inadequale, and in many cases there is no provision at all. There have been not a few instances of clergy having to take jobs as gardeners and manual labourers to eke out .their stipends. Some have not been fortunate enough to obtain even such jobs as these, and they have been compelled to face slow starvation. But the economic difficulty is not the only reason for the shortage of candidates. Many of the more intellectual students from the universities find an increasing difficulty in reconciling the official doctrines of the Church with the trend of modern thought. The theology | of the Sixteenth Century is not altogether the theology of to-day, and though only general assent is required to certain formularies, yet many feel that assent with implied reservations is not the best way of meeting the difficulty. Many of these difficulties might be met by a revised edition of the Articles, setting forth what is faith in certain debatable matters, and a revised Prayer Book might remove others. The shortage of ordination candidates is undeniable. It is met with in all denominations. The reasons for this shortage are manifold, and it is not easy to assign the chief place to any one of them. Undoubtedly is a matter for churchmen themselves to economic causes play their part, and this remedy. A great deal of sheer twaddle is talked about the sacrifices that ought to be faced by ministers of religion. Many wealthy parishioners in England are quite content that their vicars should eke ' out an existence on a wage considerably i less than the unemployment dole. They look for a university eraduate with an education at Eton or Harrow thrown in. If sacrifice is demanded there is no reason why it should be demanded of the clergy alone. That most clergy do make great sacrifices when they enter the ; work of the ministry cannot be gainsaid. \ and it is sacrifice willingly made. But that this willing-ness should be used as an excuse for miserly giving on the part of wealthy members of the Church is not altogether creditable to those who profess themselves members of any Church communion.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The Anglican church at Rippingale, j England, has had only three incumbents in 100 years. j The ancient Norman tower of St. Mary's Church, Shrewsbury, is to be re- I paired, at an estimated cost of £5000. The spire of this church fell in 1894, and I was repaired at a cost of £7000. ] The Scottish missionary Rev. Dr. D. W. Torraine, of Tibcreas, who died re- ! cently, was called the best loved man in \ Palestine. Ke was a missionary for 40 ' years, and his skill as a surgeon spread j his fame far and wide, patients at times ! doing a month's journey across the desert j to avail themselves of his services. , The Bishop of Exeter, writing to his I diocese from France anent the comments j on English political motives appearing in , French papers, has the following statement:—"Exaggerated nationalism is the foe of mankind and prevents co-operation in the work of civilisation. The League ' of Nations shines as a bright light, but ' its light has not yet penetrated m many dark places." The little congregation of Waldo- j nesian Protestants, at the island of | Capera, is mourning the death of Fran- i cesca Garibaldi, widow of the famous soldier patriot. She was a peasant girl, whom Caribaldi married in 1880, two years before his death. A Catholic herself, France6ca Garibaldi never joined the congregation, but she welcomed to her home the successive pastors, and annually enriched its Christmas tree. The Auckland East Circuit of the Methodist Church continues to hold the premier place among the New Zealand circuits for its contributions to foreign missions. The total for 1023 is a re- i cord one, viz., £603. Of this amount the ' two chief churches, Mount Eden and Epsom, raised £200 and £230 respectively. In four years' time the circuit has more than doubled its contribution, a large share of the credit for which is due to , the local secretary, Mr. W. S. Uackay. ' There are some good givers amongst ; the Methodists in England. This is shown by the fact that it is hoped to ; open the new central hall at Blackburn , free of debt, although the total cost is set down as £42,000. A grant of £5000 was made by the Chapel Committee, an , anonymous donor gave £10,000, while | another anonymous contributor has ' given a £ for £ subsidy for every addi- , tional sum raised up to £7000. The annual meeting of the Methodist : Foreign Mission Board will be held in the parlour of the Pitt Street Church on February 6 and 7. The dates are later than usual, because of delay in getting important particulars from the Solomon Islanads. But the late date will enable the chairman of the mission, Rev. J. F. Goldie to be present, and this will be Mr. Goldie's first attendance at the annual meeting. Representative ministers and laymen will be present from other parts of the Dominion also.