CHRISTIAN FAITH.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20087, 17 November 1930, Page 13

CHRISTIAN FAITH.

! IGNORANCE OF CHILDREN. i j ! PLEA FOK SPIRITUAL TEACHING. A .plea that a 'great"dealmore attention. should be paid to the spiritual : teaching of t-lie younger generation was made by Archbishop Julius in a sermon at the Christchurch Cathedral yesterday morning. He stated that, amongst - the great mass of the New Zealand Children of to-day there was u crass ignorance of the faith of Christ. He spoke deprecatingly of the languid interest in this all-important matter on the part of parents. Archbishop Julius took for his text the 12tli verse of the 12th chapter of Matthew, "How much . then is a man better than a sheep V' Repeating the verse he added, "I wonder! Is he any better; is he as good? Most of you,'no doubt, spent a pleasant day at the Show Grounds on Friday amongst the masses of the people, and doubtless you looked at the sheep. They are the silliest of God's creatures,-and man is the-wisest, and yet to what, end is his greatness unless he gives some lieed to spiritual things? Warnings to CivUisation.. "Are the dark clouds that hover over us to-day warnings that our civilisation will crumble just as others have in the past?" asked Archbishop Julius."After all the sheep are content and man can never be satisfied at all. There is sorrow and disappointment and at: last conies death and we pass away as a shadow, worth nothing when we are dead, in contrast with the sheep that ii worth something. Ido not like to think of man as merely one of } a crowd. Rather do I prefer ito study him as an individual ! upon whom the influence of the [ greatest, grandest, and noblest of. men can be brought to bear in order to lift him nearer to God. God judges a man not by what he is but by what he can do by the grace of God. Therefore, there is no doubt that man is better than a. sheep." The earth was as a grain of sand compared with the mighty orbs of the heavens, said the Archbishop, and yet if man would strive he could be akin to Him Who made him. The Parents' Part. "At the Show there were many wonderful products of man's skill, but are we giving the same care and attention to the welfare of the younger generation as we give to .animals? The mass, of the children of New Zealand to-day don't really know the faith of Christ. All through the various classes of society there is a crass ignorance of the faith. What are the pafents doing? It is the children of the better classes who are the most ignorant of ail the .community, and yet . how often does a parent take the trouble to teach, iis child? Men talk about the great .value of sheep and yet they do not realise the value of right training for children. "We have been talking of closing two of our schools on account of the expense, yet consider for a moment the money spent on sheep. I wondered as I looked at the crowd on Show Day whether we have really cast religion out and settled down to a languid interest in the welfare of the greatest part of the human race. Pray God that it is not so. Let us give strong heed to this matter and see to it that we play our parts as they should be played."