DYNAMIC CHRISTIANITY AND WAR

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22336, 25 February 1938, Page 10

DYNAMIC CHRISTIANITY AND WAR

TO THB EOITOB OF fHE PEES 3. Sir, —The Rev. Percy Paris, in his remarks to the Dominion conference oi the Methodist Church, strikes a timelj note of conviction, which is in tunc with progressive Christian thought oi to-day. To subscribe to the doctrine of militarism is paganism, yet to-day Christianity is powerless to command. Lloyd George once stated that if the leaders .of Christianity in 1914 had decreed

peacetime teachings in no uncer **i? manner, the task of statesmen wojuo have been made far easier, ana tne policy of the war interests so roaco more difficult. To-day the front IW® of the Christian ministry runs throiW* the heart of twentieth century civuisation, and the problem of war and P® B®® 8 ®® is being felt as belonging to the v ®?< J genius not only of the Church's so<a«“ programme, but of the Christian faith as well. For 20 years we have lied to in* Unknown Soldier, "have continued offer the impossible of attempting t® save the individual, yet leaving m*. social structure pagan: have proin l3 ®” that the rule of generals would no longer be the general rule; have realised that radical defects call for radical remedies and yet although our machinery is modern our institutions are still mediaeval. The challenge of tn® new world to our older beliefs ano institutions is making itself heard, ana, as a new civilisation overlaps the ora. we must have a clear vision of tn® direction of the haven of sane social organisation, as we trim our sails m sighting the white-capped waters ahead. What then should be the pass, the dominant and unifying id®®* of the churches? Surely the culhyation of international friendship so tnai the 60 or so sovereign nations now on this planet may ultimately hold intercourse on the basis of peace and oraoThis quest should sit like a tongue or. flame upon all branches of Christianity in a realisation that genuine Socialism is helplessly rooted in genuine religion.:—Yours, etc., c > G-D-O-February 19. 1938.