PROBLEMS FACING THE CHURCH

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20988, 17 October 1933, Page 9

PROBLEMS FACING THE CHURCH

AN AGE OF ENQUIRY ADDRESS BY BISHOP 'WESTWATSON The problems lacing the Church in the world to-day were discussed by Bishop West-Watson in his opening ac-.dress to the Anglican Synod yesterday. "Speaking generally." said the bishop, "the advance of the Faith by the winning of converts is less evident than it was: 50 years ago. The researches and discoveries of science

and psychology "nave given rise to "t i.eneral questioning of what used to be most sincerely believed, even if not acted on, in the realms of religion and morality. The result has been a series of experiments in humanism and materialism, and in a search for a new morality which shall run. as men think, with the grain and not against the grain of human impulses and passions. Fifty years ago the question was generally. "With which form of Christianity should 1 align myself'.'' To-day the question with very many is rather. 'Should I acknowledge anv God or spiritual lif a at all'." Reactions Against Radicalism.

"One not unnatural reaction against this radicalism in thought is manifesting itself to-day. Many Christians are looking back to the past, feeling that they have advanced too far, and should shorten their front, ar.d go back to some fortress in which men took shelter long ago. Some are seeking safety in the middle The flag of St. Thomas Aquinas is being again raised over the fort of hi? philosophy. Others are going back for succour to Calvin. Others are trying to repair the breaches of Fundamentalism. All these tendencies seem to me to express a desire for some limitation of the field of thought and enquiry, and seeking some authoritative relief from the responsibility which is wearing them down. "I would not for a moment denv that our valuations of the past need teadjustment again and again. But T believe that the love of truth forbids us to shut our eyes to all the new learning and knowledge which . has come to us, and to run away from the future in order to hide ourselves in the past. It is not an edifying sight to watch great nations, frightened bv the liberty of what, for want of a better word, we call democracy, handing 1 themselves over to direction'and authority. We watch with apprehension the tremendous sacrifices of individuality and even of conscience and conviction which are required to produce the submissiveness of the 'economic man.' It is hard to say what will be the effect on the search for truth if the streams of research are ordered to flow in channels prescribed by national or social or economic exigencies.

"There seems to me to be an imperious call to the Church of Christ to stand fast for the sake of truth in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Christian soldiers will not advance far if they decide to turn their backs to the future and their faces to the past. We have to meet a new alignment of the world spirit : wielding new weapons, and, while wo are inspired by the triumphs of the I men of old, we shall need everv j resource which the new revelation of I God in nature and in human nature has put at our disposal, and we shall need elbow-room to use those resources in the open field.

The Point at Issue. "Bui, when all is said and done. the real point at issue is not a philosophy or a world-view, but the power of the Cross of Christ in human life, and the readiness of Christians to lose their lives that they may win them. Part of our disorder and uncertaintv arises from the feeling which had become too common that the days of persecution and suffering and loss for the followers of Christ were a thing of the past, and that the course before us was one of peaceful penetration of the world by the Christ spirit. I think uneasily of St. Paul's words io the Corinthians, 'Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us.' I venture to urge that the banners of Christ have been carried forward from age to age not by assimilation or peaceful penetration, but by • stark contrast. And. as the veneer of Christianity is being stripped off so much of modern civilisation, that contrast needs emphasising rather than modifying. "Looking out upon the tragic picture of the suffering world to-day the Church has much good advice to'givc, many earnest exhortations to deliver. | But the evil is too deep-seated for ad- ' vice and exhortation. The one reinedy which is adequate is a new revelation of the Cross as central in human j experience. If the Church is the Body of Christ it is its nature and' destiny to be willing to suffer crucifixion for the sake of winning the world to Christ, not only as a body, but through its individual members. If men are to be won back to a loving trust in God and a belief in the life of the spirit, it will not be by argument but by a 'Story of the Cross' dailyplacarded before them in the sacrificial lives of men and women whom they know, and who count all things but loss that they may follow Christ. And the question I would put to this Synod is whether from all our Churches such men and women are going out week by week to regenerate the daily life; whether our churches are power-houses where such Christians draw strength from prayer and communion with God in the Holy Spirit, whether our Sacraments mean veal incorporation with a Crucified Lord. Can wc offer a greater service to our troubled world, dare wo presume to offer a lesser than this?"

"I have been recently approached by Dr. Cunningham, of the Government Veterinary Laboratory, Wellington, about obtaining supplies of fresh-water fish for some experiments that are to be carried out by Dr. McOwan at the laboratory connected with the vitamin content of fish oils," wrote the Chief Inspector of New Zealand Fisheries (Mr A. E. Heflord) to the Wellington Acclimatisation Society. "I gathered that a fairly regular supply of freshwater fishes was desired.' I think the most convenient fish to use would be " eels, kokopu (native 'trout'), and black flounder, such as are caught at Lake Onoke. The difficulty is that these are not ordinarily commercial fishes, and I thought that supplies could possibly be obtained through your rangers.'"* Doubts as to the purpose of the experiments, and the ultimate extent of the use of the fish for such purposes, were expressed by members, who considered that if a commercial purpose were to be served the fish were not sufficiently numerous. It was decided to ask for further details.