THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20788, 23 February 1933, Page 3

THE CHURCH OF TO-DAY.

ITS POSITION IN THE MODERN WORLD. ADDRESS BY REV D. D. SCOTT. (rR£3S ASSOCIATION TELEGIUM.) WANG AX UT. February 22. ' A striking summary of the position of the Church in the modern world was given bv the Rev. D. D. Scott in iii-s I inaugural address as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New ZeaJaud at the General Assembly which opened ' at St. Panl'g Church this evening. Mr [ Scott dealt with the Church's attitude ; towards modern scientific thought, anrl he affirmed its claim to an important position in the world of to-day and of to-morrow. ; "Many are feeling that the Church is fighting for her life to-day," said Mr Scott. "Some, indeed, think that ( her fighting force is little better than a dying struggle. Certain ' influential people are not in the least concerned to come to her rescue. No doubt moro . are interested in her well-being .than might be found if a census were taken 1 on a given day of worship, but even on a favourable estimate a large percentage of the people does not regard itself as being under any obligation to support the Church by its attendance or by attachment in any other definite fashion. The connexion of many young people ceases after they have been associated with a Suiiday school and perhaps with a Bible class. If tlio Church could rotain those who have passed through her Sunday schools and Bible classes her, power would bo increased beyond anything we care to mention. "It needs no very extensive acquaintance * with the history of the Church to know that she has had io fight for her life 011 many a trying field. She has been to-the death by Imperial mandate specially framed to ensure her destruction. She has been imperilled by the surge of pagan influences that have tainted her life-blood. She has been divided. against herself until the testimony that is her distinction had almost become a mockery. At times it seemed as if the trumpets ul' science were sounding the notes of dismissal at her grave. She has been like a ship in peril down the stormy sea of Time. Christianity Threatened. "At the present moment not only is the Church threatened, but the actual religion and ethics of Christianity arc being spoken of with disdain. It is unworthy to allow ourselves to become, panic-stricken and to forgot that Christianity has won its victories by tenacious minorities that refused to surrender. An anti-Christian propaganda has been attempted from time to time in New Zealand, but the soil docs 1 toot appear to be favourable. Tll spite of platform enthusiasm, such movements arc like volcanic eruptions that rolieve tension and then subside into quiescence. Usually there is not any marked attack upon the ethics of the Christian religion, though a disposition has been shown to believe that the more negative a statement is the more transparent is its truth. "A distinction lias been drawn between Churchianity and Christianity. Those who do very little for rhe Church are inclined to welcome th'j distinction. • Churchianity may .be eyritmyinous • with extemalism in religion, which is harmful enough, but if Churchianity represents an antithesis to Christianity in the sense that we ■ would have a better Christianity without the Church, then every Churchman can point out that all the Christianity we know of has been given '0 the world by the Church. "Not a few would give their full endorsement to the idea that the Church is conservative, but they would demur vigorously to the contention that she is progressive. They consider that slu; is the homo of superstitions. She has a sacred Book, which, they allege, has been reduced to the level of folk-lore. Her Sacraments can be related ;o certain not very estimable rites of antiquity. Her holy day is the .venerable day of the Sun, which if anyone dares to suggest might bo used in other than a religious fashion will cause her to fulminate her anathemas against the offender. Her belief is God is anthropomorphic, and should give way to some form of Agnosticism or Idealism. She has been misguided by the enthusiasm of the Apostolic group into thinking that Jesus was more than an interesting teacher among the Jews of Palestine. In addition to the foregoing, she maintains views about marriage and divorce that arc a positive hindrance to the promotion of more liberal ideasFurthermore, she has a nauseating determination to carry her Gospel into lands where the people have their own beliefs and customs. Progress of Doctrine. 1 "A demand for adaptation to the intellectual and moral .needs of men is quite in order when me question of the beliefs held by the Church is ill view," continued Mr Scott, "but there should be no scornful denunciation when from the nature of the casa certain forms of expression have «. somewhat archaic schind. Even science . is not able to bring its forms of expression up to date. Compared with the Theism accepted and supported by theologians to-day, the Deism of Mm: Eighteenth Century appears to be a rather dim and distant figure. We may say without, exaggeration that the doctrine of God proclaimed by the Christian Church has outpaced tin 1 Agnosticism of Herbert Spencer and Thomas Henry Huxley. "Some of the newer views advocated by able investigators appear to be quite subversive of older beliefs. The vastness of the universe and the antiquity of man have both been pressed upon our attention from the scientific side. The Biblical doctrine of God .leaves no doubt in our minds that t"he greatness of God is a working presumption of faith, and that His greatness is not perceived merely by the aid of the dazzling blaze of Tight-years.' Wo may take leave to say that the,re is not much occasion to be perturbed about the time when man appeared at first jupon the earth. The more- important question is concerned with what man can be shown to be and with what are his possibilities. Neither lie nor the universe in which he appears is a compound of things merely, and the. universe has never been so, save only to the investigator who views it thus 10 suit his convenience. The Authority of the Bible. "To the questions presented by th».>e scientific discussions the Church can adapt her outlook without, detrimentto her heavenly reasure. Can she do so when the very Volume upon which she relies is under review'? Much debate has been. heard upon th 3 inspiration and authority of the Bible. It is impossible to return to some views that were held a hundred years ago. Criticism in its textual meaning . ha 3 given- us a more perfect Bible than men possessed a century ago. Criticism -of

the historical kind has affected former ideas about the date and authorship of. certain books in . the Old' and New Testaments. "The Church has been'greatly helped in her understanding of Divine revelation by the place now assigned to the Prophets in the Old Testament:. Artificial interpretations are dropping out of sight- The New Testament has been vindicated as a substantially Apostolic statement. Convincing clues to the interpretation of books like. Daniel and Revelation have been offered by critics in our own day. New and momentous, issues have been placed before the Church. Her keenest eyes have seen the problems, higher mind of the Church has been neither blind nor deaf. The task of adjustment has been proceeding steadily r.nd surely. ' Bu.t the Church is more than a group of scientific experts. She is m.de up of men, women, and children, of all degrees of culture. She has to evangelise and to teach; she has to teach and to evangelise. She is the spiritual home of people very diverse from each other in everything but their humanity and their need of God. Family Life. "An endeavour, brief and imperfect as it is, has been made to suggest, at least, that it is possible for tho Church

to adjust herself to the requirements of the newer knowledge, and. it has boon , asserted too, that the Church has made ] a strenuous effort to do so. Another problem is being voiced by' scientific and literary men and women that is a direct challenge to the ethics of Christianity. The problem is that discussed by G. E. Newsom, the Master of Selwyn College, Cambridge, in his book, The New Morality. This book opposes the extremely radical alterations'that are contended for with regard to marriage and family life. Bertrand Russell may be mentioned as one of the keenest representatives of the New Morality but he is by no means a voice crying in the wilderness. "The ideal of marriage upheld by tho Church is supposed to have /broken down. A time is looked for; when marriage as it is now known will have ceased altogether. Home life will be a memory and a superstition. Children will be brought up in Government nurseries. We may freety grant that some children might have a better chance elsewhere than they have in their homes. We need not be unduly alarmed by a direct challenge to Christian v ethics, because there have been for a very long time features in our civilisation that are in conflict with the ethics of the Christian religion. But the Church can only wage a ■ i

ti.ueeless war against all that .imperils monogamy and the consequent home . life. If home life has broken clown for many, there is all the greater need for upholding the Christian ideals of purity and of family life. " The need for readjustment appears whenever we think of the denominational divisions of Christianity. Only an unsympathetic observer will speak with unreserved disdain, concerning the divisions that separate section from section. Some divisions are - by no means to .the discredit of the. Church. Certain denominations are drawing nearer to each other as the years go by. Others are separated by only a thin partition. "Probably the greatest obstacle to reunion is seen in. the question > of • Ordination. A simple solution is for the non-episcopal Churches to accept the episcopate. But the matter is not so simple as this implies. On the nonepiscopal side there is.more flexibility, than on the other. It is felt, too, that the main truth -in the idea of .the Apostolical Succession is within the priesthood of The living ' Whole in which the Spirit of' G6d > dwells is the Body of Christ. , This i living Whole includes all ■who'call'upon t the. name of the. Lord. Much discussion . must, ensue before .the great "donomnji ations eomeV together, and all , parties

will require to handle each otter's views very graciously, while'' up one should,.' be too eager to claim an artificial ~ infallibility for all that bolongs to the Commjunion in which he has found his spiritual home, "The Christian life within the Church is ; of more consequence than > any question about the validity of Ordination," Mr Scott concluded. "Men of the highest Christian standing view such matters in different ways, and we " must' patiently hope jEor the happy ' > results of a more .intimate fellowship within the whole-Church.'" > , I.' i