BOOK REVIEW.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 77, 31 March 1928, Page 2 (Supplement)

BOOK REVIEW.

the age op the ntuits. JSZ *3?% """uUchrn" "•iriitk'^;tS;ta°Ji w de " n ; n *' u» nt "Fiv« r i ? second volume % ° fft I'Hy s.fted, and treated in that exhaus- " "'inner which we have leanit L •miopiato with the modern M l.ooi of history. The present vollime "■a .H or the growth of vast monastic and the consequent implication In! monks in worldly business. By " of tlicue large estates the monk ,l "i "early all of such unpopularity » iiU-uched to landlordism in the Middle J)r. C'oulton giants that there *'-i" a few more kindly concessions on monastic than on lay manors, but there nvhh no essential difference between

monastic and lay landlordism. The world began to drift away from the cloister. Benedict's day was waning, and the dayspring of Francis was come. Dr. Coulton's chapter on St. Francis is one of the most generally interesting in the volume. He traces much of the change that is taking place in modern thought on the question of wealth to the influence of Francis, and he notes the great revival of interest in him in the present generation. After giving many evidences of corruption in the Church the writer says: "Here, therefore, while we face the evidence of imperfections even in the of monasticism, and of decay during the thirteenth and succeeding centuries, let us not forget that these imperfections are exaggerated by contrast with a very lofty standard, and that this decay never brought the average monk so low as the average of non-monastic medieval humanity." This is apt to be forgotten by many historians of this period. Dr. Coulton has enriched his work with a very full list of authorities and 41 appendices, as well as a very complete index. It is, perhaps, more likely to be used as a book of reference than for general reading, but it is full of interest for students of medieval times, and its interest is enhanced by the numerous citations from works not generally accessible. 1

CURRENT NOTES. Mr. Bryan believes that the Japanese Christian Church promises to become as great an influence in the transformation of Japanese civilisation as Buddhism was from the sixth century onwards.

"Such things are only possible in England" is the comment of the German Socialist paper "Vorwaerts" on the discussion on the revised Prayer Book in the British Parliament.

The 140 th anniversary of the foundation of the Anglican Church of Australia was recognised in Sydney by a procession from St. Andrew's Cathedral and an open-air service at the monument in Bligh Street. Representatives from other churches were present and took part in the celebration.

It was announced at the Bath and Wells diocesan conference recently that Sir George Wills, who last year gave £5000 towards increasing the stipends ofthe clergy of the diocese, had this year made a further contribution of £20,000 towards the same object. The bishop (Dr. Wynne Willson), it was stated, had also contributed £1000 to the fund.

A Christmas play was staged in a mine compound at Johannesburg; according to the "Church Times," and so successful was the performance that it was repeated a few days later in two of the large Crown Mines compounds. Great audiences of probably one thousand black men looked on in almost complete silence, and the play clearly meant much to them.

The S.P.G. Pondoland Mission is training native leaders, and recently at a sung Eucharist, three native priests and one deacon officiated, while the white clergy sat in the chair. The principal of the native school is in charge of the choir and he is going to write native hymns and native tunes. In this, and in other ways, the European missionaries are ready to take a back seat in order to teach the native Christians to shoulder their own burdens..

It Is the opinion of Mr. J. Ingram Bryan, expressed in a new volume, " The Civilisation of Japan," of the Home University Library (as we learn from " The Times Literary Supplement") that Christianity is to-day making a most important contribution to Japan's new civilisation. There are 700,000 Christians, some of them in high positions in the State, who exercise an ethical influence out of all proportion to their numbers.

Figures which have been published for 1926 show that the American Churches are gaining members at a faster rate than the growth of the population. During the previous twenty years the increase in membership was at the rate of 46.4 per cent, while the increase in population was 36.5 per cent. The figures are not so encouraging for the so-called

w»r decade (1916-26), when the growth was approximately equal, but this slackening may be, perhaps, explained by the diversion of the Church's energies during the war.

In the course of a discussion at Lincoln diocesan conference on the difficulty of serving amalgamated parishes, the bishop said that they ought to use wireless more than they did, for by it they could be sure of obtaining suitable services. Admirable sets were now obtainable, and a set might be installed in a church so that a service could be held in the absence of the parson. Broadcast services were greatly appreciated, and wireless was the hindrance to religion that many thought it was. He believed they were on the eve of a religious revival, and that wireless would do much to bring it about. During the debate it was stated that in the diocese 150 clergy were each serving two parishes, and about a dozen serving three.

In a striking article in the "Empire ! Review" on "Some Aspects of 'Pilgrim's j Progress,'" Alice Law says: "Britain's strong right arm has done much in the past, but her virtue lies in her moral power, her public acceptance of the Christian coae, and the possession in her midst of hearts and minds such as Bunyan's. She has awed the nations by her sense of right in public matters, by her'passion for justice as between man and man—in a word, by her Christian spirit. Nor need anything be feared for that Empire, so long as she cherishes and practises the teaching of that immortal spiritual allegory which stands eternal witness to the truth that it is righteousness alone that exalteth a nation."

The erection of a modern building at Palmerston North to take the place of the present old wooden Baptist Church, which was built in the 'nineties, has become necessary owing to the increase in the Baptist congregation since the v ". -A- Crawshaw i minenced his ministry. The new building will be a commodious and handsome structure. It huilt in the Gothic style of architecture of brick, and will have a flnilvf j ro °f* The interior will be riruu a d with a dado of red nu - The floor is to le vf cost Of k mar g'»s- The total «* »' »«(««« the old about £5000 v 6 new one wiH committee ha* Uln tlie building the remainder £2050 in hand 5 tion. win provide d ° na " a mortgage of *<>onn *1000, leaving interest on £1100 already the members of the P romise<i by anticipated that the first 8 • It " ■» -4a»h wiU U WdJSSIS, th "