MEN AND CHURCH

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21117, 19 March 1934, Page 12

MEN AND CHURCH

; REASONS FOR FAILURE | ! TO ATTEND j : DISCISSION AT ST. I.l.'KK's j The reasons for the ordinary layman's failure to attend church was the subject of discussion by men . : parishioners of St. Luke's Church i and ethers alter the evening service:' yesterday. The conference was tlie : iii'th in a scries inaugurated to discuss the relation between the church and the ordinary man. The Rev. K. Schol- ■ !ar presided over an attendance of

Dr. T. A. Mac Gibbon said that one . of lite reasons generally advanced for ! Momattendar.ee at church was because | of the attitude of the men inside the' church —this was merely a most conu.n'j'ibie excuse of those uho were ] ashamed of being regarded a, pious; : the average churchgoer was too con- : ; c,i.t;; oi his- shortcomings n> be hypo- i critical. The claim that men could learn moro lronr the beauty of nature , was merely an excuse for scli-maul-ee:ice. A vs>. v notent cause was. the j taking bv the" State of responsibility j from the individual, who was forgot-; ten Science was another powcrlul , imiucnce. Scicntihe men propounded i mat man simph' evolved from matter ■ --where the beginning was they knew' no' the Maker they would not ae-I knowledge. Many apparently good j umi behoved this. ~ ! 'v/'mlo ho bcheWd in evolution it : was o'tlv m the extent that man was the <'nai product, implanted m whom ; was the soul, which was the linage, 01 God and could only be awakened, and onlv proved by experience, me; -■Di-i-uai could not be brought down i ".,", '-h- intellectual, and the man m, •'he'-'fcer could not understand oe-j c-njee 'the smnt had not been awak- < rncd'm imn The mam duty ot the j t^^o^.;^r i e::^^^\le'us V Cnr,st! wa"'theLmd and Master ot ah: .1.e.; men would so '... church withom a, doubt.

litiior.uue a Factor M- J. N. B Pope said that 'he; creates: cause of people staying away; irom church was ignorance o. . the purpose ol lile Sir Jam - Jems sud m one of his books ,h->T the whole of phenomena 'was the result ol some master mathc--■>apcal calculation, which was lanla- j mount to saving that there must be! one grand Creator. Unless men had, a knowledge of their own natures they ■ could not apply ethical principles to , their lives—and anyone who lived the j Sermon on the Mount would only be j bringing into practice ethical prm- i tuples which would lead on to the spiritual life. ! Another speaker said that man at- f tended church to have his spiritual ; wants filled, but if his physical needs j were not being Idled he would con- > sider these foremost. A further rea- j son was that while the church ad- . mined the iniquity of war it would not take a stand against it. The next speaker said that while ho acknowledged the exister/e of a > oersonal god and the implication ol fellowship of mankind, lie did not consider the Church essential to christian-: itv — if the Church as an organisation went out of existence the spirit of ■ Christianity would still prevail. The I test was in what people actually did. ; It was most important of ;;H that there should be a spirit of bn/nerhood and ; tolerance between those who attended ■, church and those who did not. I The two reasons given to him neces- | sitating acceptance of christian doc- ; trines were: «1 * because of fear ol j punishment if he did not; <:'.< j because "if he was a good boy" he < would inherit eternal life, said the next j speaker. These reasons had not ap- ; pealed, because he thought that no:- j ther persuasion of fear, nor the pro- j mise of reward for good deeds was j a moral way of bringing up young people. This was the attitude of the majority of young people. ; Speaking to the statements that fear, of hell imnelled the people to attend | church. the Ven. Archdeacon F. I X. Taylor said that hymns and the lives and teachings of the saints clearly ; showed that love of God and not fear was a dominating factor. An analy- | sis of history would reveal that most ; of the beneficial freedoms and social '. reforms were inspired by the Church. If only those outside the Church who were so anxious for social reforms would join in and help, they would soon overcome the ills complained of. "Why Do Men Go to Church'.'" was chosen as the subject for next Sunday's discussion, which will be the last of the series.