THE CHURCHES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 278, 17 August 1908, Page 10

THE CHURCHES.

the rev. t. h. sprott and,rebirth. Last night at tlio St. Paul's Anglican Church, the Rev. T. H. Sprott spoke; oil Christ's reply to His disciples who asked a question concerning the man who was bom blind and inquired whether ho had" sinned, ill this life or another, or whether' his parents had sinucd. It was clear, ho commenced, that the sin. could not liavo been committed in this lifo, but it was a Jewish belief that a person suffered for tho sins of his father. The theory of rebirth was brought forward as a hypothesis although it was none the worse for that,,as 'present-day scientific beliefs werei hypotheses at ono time. The question was, did the hypothesis of rebirth explain the suffering in tlio world? Tho existence of moral evil was not explained by putting it back to a remote period and the theory simply made things worse. Tlio problem of evil f was only made larger and older .than it had: been supposed, but it was not solved. Christ ~ did not answer the'disciples' question as to why the man was born blind. He. put the question aside refused to say what was tko originating cause .of evil. Christ ■ never went into . speculative teaching and the problem of evil was insolvbio by finite human mind. If ,it was said that sin was inherent, the direct' responsibility was thrown upon God., If it was said that man was made good and'fell'' through temptation, how could anything evil appeal to something good? Moreover, if there was a temptation, evil must have beet created. 1 If man was created good and evil, ' it remained to be explained how one" pre-. dominated and the question arose: where did the malign influence como from? If the lower ■ nature tempted the higher, why did. the ; higher nature givo way? )It might- bo said " that evil was necessary, but this went against the moral conscience. The healthy moral conscience condemned and punished evil. Christ held that evil was present and it could ■ be alleviated and destroyed; this was one of tho most divine works one. could be engaged upon and the obligation/rested upon all. Christ did not explain its 'existence, but He. showed what was more'important that it was remediable. Before He came, men were hopeless in this respect,-not knowing that a bad man could bo mado good. Aristotle and Plato were equally hopeless. "Christ," concluded the preacher"gave no origin of evil,, but He lived and died that it might be remedied." . :!■ ■'