RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 300, 12 September 1908, Page 12

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

A STIRRINC ADDRESS. BE MEN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Tho Rev. J. Scott Lidgott, M.A., declared, as president of the Wesloyan Methodist Conference, that tho Weslcyan Methodists must bo " men of the twentieth century, and not of tho eighteenth. Let them bo the mouthpiece of a truly Christian optimism, not tho expositors of doubts, dangers, and drawbacks. Let them boware of damping and disappointing enthusiasm. Their business was to attract, inspire, and direct. They must rise to the. leadership to which they wero appointed, and take their place among the foremost. _ A.n unconsccrated, worldly, and unenterprising Methodism was one of the poorest things on God's earth, just as true Methodism, with its spiritual fervour and its humane sympathy, was one of tho noblest. The Duty of Leadership. "Their supieme duty was leadership. Such leadership had two points. They must lead their peoplo (1) into ceaseless endeavour after the spiritual life—whatever else they were they must be men of God; and (2) this would influence their leadership in everything else. Many matters would call for their careful attention. The administration of the great Church to which they belonged tended to become more complex every year, and this led to an ever growing division of labour. Yet, among all these complexities—there arose one supreme problem: How might the twentieth century becomo tho greatest age of tho faith the world has ever seen? They would play their part in securing it. Possibilities of ; Greatness. "That sublime endeavour could only bo secured by tho abundant gift of divine grace. That had been true in all ages, and .would bo true in theirs. They were, furthermore, conscious of the presence 1 of the abiding Spirit of Christ. Christ was the president of that conference, and every .stirring pf hope,.and every noblo resolve were the result of this direct, immediate inspiration. From all tho facts of history they were entitled to believe that Jesus Christ was preparing to Teyeal Himself in spiritual signs. " The epening of the twentieth century assured thom that the aga carried with it the possibilities of unexampled groau.css, and in whatever direction they turned tlicy found tho promise that their limitations would be set aside in ways that would surpass the most dazzling imagination. They wero ■ tho witnesses of ail amazing' growth of more intimate international relations between the peoples of the earth. The individuality of the ' dim common multitude' was being awakened as nover before. The growth of knowledge was unprecedented. Pessimism. "But the difficulties cf the.problems that confronted them'wero commensurate with their possibilities. Gigantic evils roso up and threatened to bar-the path of progress. Anyono could be a pessimist, having regard to theso admitted evils, and it was not difficult to dress up this pessimism in tho garb of Christian faith. The evils that afflicted our country were sufficiently like those that destroyed the Roman civilisation to bring about a like result, but for the combined influence of Christianity, of science, and of a democracy permeated by Christian ideals, and of these tho spiritual, influenco of Christianity was by,far tho most influential factor." CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. ' SERMON BY REV. T. H..SPROTT. i In the course of his sermon at St. Paul's Church on Sunday last tho Rev. T. H. Sprott referred to the \ controversy which has been going on in the columns of The Dominion and elsewhere ' regarding the Atonement, but ho said'.it would bo improper for him to pass judgineht on tbjjj/t that it related teethe _ internal affajfsi oX another s libdy op, Christians'."'M' They,, had/jibwever, 'seen inHbe"newspapers "recently disparaging references to "old creeds and confessions," but' it' was a mistake to confuse creeds and confessions of faith,; or to'imagine that things that wero old were necessarily cramping to the mind at tho present day. A creed and a confession of faith wero two different things. Tho creeds were statements of facts (or alleged facts), the central part having referonco to the person and life of Christ. They did not contain opinions. A confession pf faith was of the nature of an interpretation of facts. There wore only two creeds recognised by tho historic church—the Apostles' Creed or. the Nicene Creed—that which was commonly called the Athanasian Creed being strictly speaking a confession of faith. The later of tho two creeds was separated by ever a thousand years from the great confessions of tho sixteenth century, such as the Augsburg Confession, i the decrees of the Council of Trent, the .ThirtyNino Articles and the Westminster Confession. Many peoplo in New Zealand at tho present time thought : that the nearer we got to our own' times the greater was tho liberty and largeness of view in those matters, but this was not homo out, for instance, by a comparison of tho teaching as to .tho death of Christ in the, Niceno Creed and in the Thirty-Nine Articles. The creed, though a thousand years older than,tho articles, gave a much larger freedom to any man who desired simply to servo his fellows in the spirit of Christ and at- the samo time to enjoy as much intellectual liberty as possible. All that the Niceno Creed had to say. on tho subject was that "Ho' (Christ) was crucified for us" —for our this statement could be accepted by any man who believed that tho death of Christ conferred some benefit on mankind, if only as an heroic examplo. One of tho Thirty-Nino Articles goos much further than this. It says: "The offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for all tho sins,of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for 6in, but that alono." Now this statement raised far more questions and committed a man who assented to it to much more than tho simple assertion of the creed. Personally be believed that the view taken in the articles could be justified, but what ho wanted to point out was -that tho creed gave far more intellectual freedom than tho articles, though it was a thousand years older. Tho present ago had been flooded with new light and now interpretations of tho facts of religion wero necessary /All facts had significance, and wo could never fully understand tho simplest fact, as it did not stand alone, but had to be considered in relation to all other facts. A schoolboy standing beside Newton would havo regarded the fall of the famous applo merely as a kindly accident, but to Newton it snggostod a law that influenced the whole universe. Tho English Church was quite free to wclcomo new light and knowledge, for membership did not rest upon interpretations, but on the facts of tha creeds, and tho Church was learning to understand more -and more of tho meaning of these inexhaustible facts. THOMAS AIBECKET'S SHIRT. PRESERVED AS A RELIC. A notable event took place at Erdington Abbey on Sunday, July 20 (says the London "Catholic Times"), when over three thousand Catholics in triumphant procession escorted a great relio of St. Thomas of Canterbury, which has been brought back to England, thanks to tho generosity of Cardinal Lorcnzclli, Archbishop of Lucca, and tho Fathers of that ancient city. This relic consists in a largo picco of one of tho hair-shirts of St. Thomas of Canterbury, a relic which for many centuries formed one of the chief treasures of the Royal Abbey of St. Victor at Paris, an illustrious houso to 'which St. Thomas was deeply attached. It will bo remcmbored how tho sight of tho cruel instrument of penance, which the Saint wore under his archicpiseopnl robes, a secret most jealously guarded and only then first disclosed to public knowledge, oxcitcd tho enthusiasm of tho monks who prepared his sacrcd body for burial. St. Thomas, it wn3 found, had socrotly worn a shirt of horsehair, reaching to his knees, but so secretly that not oven his confessor had known of it. Only one faithful soul, whoso offico it was to wash or to mend tho hair-shirt, shared the secret with tho Saint. When the knights, after perpetrating their sacrilecdxius

deed, rushed from the Cathedral and began to pillage the murdered Archbishop's palace, they found a strong-box, .which they suspected would contain his principal treasures; but on breaking it open they found nothing iu it but two more hair-shirts, a discoverj that filled them with amazement and remorse. These hair-shirts of . St. Thomas were made of the roughest horsehair, woven in the form of a not, with large knots. They . were very large, and were covered externally with linen, so that they should not be discovered. It was fitting , that one of these hair-shirts should bo preserved at the Abbey of St. Victor. _ Another was kept as a groat treasure in the Cathedral at Lichfield, which- is only a few miles away from Erdington Abbey. It was saved at the change of religion, and found its way to the college at Douay. The precious relic was buried for safety at tile French Revolution, and has never been discovered since. The other hair-shirt preserved at St. Victor's probably perished at the same Revolution, but of this there is no certain information. Fortunately, however, about a century beforo that disastrous event a large part of this Paris relic had been sent to Lucca in Tuscany. It is a portion of this shirt, measuring about three inches long by two wido, which has now been .given to Erdington. CHRISTIAN UNITY. An American correspondent of the "Church' Times" writes:—Dr. Newman Smyth (Con-, gregationalist) has again addressed a body of our clergy oil " Christian [fnity," this time on the invitation of Bishop Greer, in St. Bartholomew's Parish House, New. York City. Reiterating, his belief that the "Historic Episcopate " must bo the instrument of reunion, be again urged that Anglican bishops should not ask Congregational ministers to repudiate their previous ministry in accepting a supplementary ordination. He did not ask for a recognition of presbyterial orders, but for contentment with the fact of submission to a complementary ordination. As was ; pointed out by Dr. Hall, in his address, on "The Church"Unity Movement" before the Albany Summer School, Juno 25, our ' bishops are indeed called upon not to repel such advances with inelastic dogmatism. But. they must none the less, as stewards of a "sacred deposit which is incapable, pf compromise or surrender," see to it that'those whom they ordain to the Church's ministry will carry on the stewardship. As he proceeded to show, we ought not to shrink, when the interests of unity are involved,.' from being " swamped," so to speak, in., a larger body, provided the stewardship which' Christ Himself has appointed for all_ timo is not put in jeopardy. In brief, it is impossible for . ldyal bishops to commit the priesthood. to thoso who do not in any effective 6eiise believe in it, and who would be guided by purely human considerations in the question of preserving the apostolic order iu future exigencies. A Church unity gained at the _cost of making the continuance of the ministry instituted by Christ an open question in the future will not bo tho unity for whioh Christ prayed, nor can it satisfy the Catholic world under any possible development of conditions. Wo are ready to strain every point-, ovor which wo havo lawful control, in order • to meet such noble spirits as that of Dr. ;; Smyth as they should be met. But the_ Episcopate is of the essence of the Church in her organised capacity, and its permanent continuance must be adequately safeguarded in any scheme of reunion which we have a right to accept. INTERCHANGE OF PASTORATES. The "Quarterly Register" for August, edited by the Rev. Dr. G. D. Mathews, has some interesting notes on tho meetings of the recent Supreme Courts of ' tho British Presbyterian Churches. Clearly, : Dr. Mathews has very, little sympathy with the .' proposals which are being made for an "In-" terchange of Pastorates." . Having affirmed that tho temporary ministry of three years in tho Methodist Church was adopted by John Wesley, "for. the relief of his preachers, many .of -whom were utterly continue in the pastorate .of a congregation for more than twelve months," he goes on to remark:— I "The I '-seeming 1 ' advantages qf . this system of, change have attracted 'spmfimi.j ministerfrin ,th<si ..Presbyterian ~phurch -whpit desire a hew' field, but are unable by personal effort to obtain one; and hence in mora than one British Church the preposal for- an ~ ' interchange of pastorates.' The proposal is plainly a great departure from' tho. universal custom of Presbyterian Churches; and the committee in charge of tho business, year after year, have as yot been unable to devisa any method by which this innovation can effected. A somewhat undesirable situation might bo produced, if congregations, while approving of this proposal, should say—Now, if ministers after a; seven years' pastorate are to bo gratified with facilities for a change, just grant us similar facilities for a ohaugc, sinco sometimes we are as much disappointed in our ministers as they may be with us. It may be well, therefore, to bear this possibility in mind, by those interesting themselves in promoting this system of socalled exchange, which, after all, is not an interchange, but simpl.v the providing of facilities for assisting ministers who do not easily obtain a call to another charge, to do so." Evidently (says the "British Weekly") Dr. Mathews forgets that the proposal is made in the interests of congregations as much as in tho interests of ministers, and that relief for the one means of necessity, relief for the other. , . , JOTTINCS. The Rev. John Sharp has finally laid down his charge as editorial superintendent- and consulting secretary of tho British and Foreign Bible Society, and has retired from the Bible' House, after twenty-eight' years of such servico as few men have been privileged to render to that organisation. For many months past he has continued to hold office at the special request of the committee. • ,' His Grace tho Most Rev. D. Kelly, Coad-. jutor Archbishop of S.vdnoy, in the course of an interview at New Ross, said lie was happy to state that tho Catholic Church is flourish-, ing in Australia. That country and tho isles (says the "Catholic Times") which had not a thousand Catholics sixty years ago, iipw numbor within thoir borders over a million Catholics. His Grace complained of the Australian State school system, which, through tho agency of irreligious, politicians, stig- ~ matises and penalises the Catholic schools. The only religion flourishing in Australia was tho Catholic religion. The spread of divorce and the decline of tho birth-rato amongst the Protestant sects, his Grace described as lamentable. , There is only 0110 bishop living who attended, tho first Lambeth Conference in 1867 ■ —viz., Bishop C. M. Williams, consecrated Missionary Bishop of China and Japan in 18GG, and later, first .Bishop of Yedo (Tokyo)* Bishop Williams resigned in . 1889, but continued to work as a missionary in Japan until a month or so ago, when ho returned to America. Tho centenary of tho Roman Catholic College of Ushaw, in Durham, England, has just been celebrated 'with imposing ceremonies. The Pope, in sending _ his congratulations, wrote: —"It is even with special joy that wo obsorvo that this your centenary celebration occurs at the very time of our own Sacerdotal Jubilee. Right down from the troubled times in which the college began its life to our own day tho character of the alumni from this homo of learning bus been such that their talents, their piety, their energy havo been a support to the Church iu tho missionary life, iu episcopal labours, and in tho very College of the Cardinals itself, und to the State a tower of strength in every walk of life." According to tho " Electrician" of July 24, a correspondent of the Paris "Ednir" states that n group of French Catholic; offcrod to instal in tho Vatican :i wirelesi telegraph station, enabling the Holy See tc communicate with Catholics all over the world without using the Italian stations. Tho Pope, although delighted with tho offer, has been obliged to refuse, as a single wireless telegraph station would not suffice. Con responding stations would be necessary, and, as tho Marconi Company cannot guarantee complote secrecy,of communication, special stations would havo to bo established for tha Holy Seo. An appeal is being niade\ by the Board of Missions of tho Methodist Church of Australasia for £2000, to provide two auxiliary Teasels, of 25 and 20 tons respectively, for mission work in New Guinea and in tho Solomon , Islands.