THE ONLY WAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 117, 19 May 1936, Page 9

THE ONLY WAY.

PEACE IN OUR TIME. PRINCIPLES OF CHRIST. AN OXFORD GROUP VISITOR. .The conviction that the only solution of the complex problem of international relationships in Europe is to be found in the acceptance by all people of the principles laid down by Christ, was expressed by Mr. A. W. Platts, M.A. (Oxon.), who arrived at Wellington on Saturday in the course of a world tour with his mother. They reached New 1 Zealand a few days ago from Australia, i and have visited parts of Westland, including the Franz Josef Glacier. In an interview with "The Dominion," Mr. Platts, who is a solicitor, of Bingley, Yorkshire, and a member of the Oxford Group, said he left England in February, when the Franco-Soviet pact was about to be ratified by France. Tension was growing daily more acute. This, with the apparent ineffectiveness of the League of Nations to settle the ItaloAbyssinian question, was producing a sense of deep anxiety in Britain, as in Europe generally. An atmosphere of impending disaster was in the air. The only solution was a Christian revolution. Lord Salisbury, speaking in the House of Lords on March 20, said: "The cause of the world's ills is not economic, but moral. In the words used by a great movement in this country, (the Oxford Group), what is needed here is Godguided personalities to make Godguided nationalities and a new world. At the invitation of President Roosevelt, Dr. Frank Buchman, one of the pioneers of the Oxford Group, visited Washington a few months ago with a team of the movement. The President invited their advice on the world situation. It was a significant recognition of the fact that men wei* turning more and more to the teachings of Christ as the only permanent solution of the world's disorder. It was apparent today that the so-called privileged classes were coming to a closer understanding of their responsibilities for and in the present economic situation. i

Asked how he came into the Oxford Group, Mr. Platts said he was challenged to face up to realities and to change over from being a nominal and ineffective Christian to a sincere and active one. "There are no half-measures about the group," he said. "You enlist for the duration of the war, if I can put it that way." He emphasised that the idea that the worla was progressing automatically toward a more equitable social order and international peace was belied by the present crisis in human affairs. We were thrown back to the inescapable fact that only if men and women responded to tlie challenge of Christ to live out the principles of the Sermon on the Mount, would there be progress socially and economically and lasting peace on earth and good will among men.