THE FIRST STATE CHURCH

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 249, 17 July 1937, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE FIRST STATE CHURCH

Some Advantages of Establishment The death of Constantine the Great, which took place some 1600 years ago, was perhaps not of great importance to the world; but the same, cannot be said of his baptism, which happened a few minutes earlier, said tile Very Rev. C. A. AHngton, Dean of Durham, in the London “Daily Telegraph.’’ By his postponement of the rite he showed that his conversion was hardly a personal one; by his acceptance of it he definitely made Christianity into the established religion of the Empire.

The consequences ami evil of that act were immense: it is well known that Dante in the “Purgatorio” apostrophises Coustautine as the author of much ill. but his denunciation was based not on the fact that lie "established” Christianity but on the fiction that by the so-called “Donation of Constantine” he gave the Pope ‘‘the patrimony of St. Peter”—interpreted later as meaning the whole of Italy—and thereby started the Papacy on that quest for temporal power which bad such lamentable results.

Dante’s view was right, though the particular fact ou which he based his charge was wrong: no impartial critic can deny that the desire for temporal power was the curse of the Church of the Middle Ages. _ There are some who would carry his principles farther aud maintain that the mere fact of a religiou being ‘‘established” inevitably weakens its spiritual power, and exposes it to attacks from without and temptation ' from within. They would echo his cry:— Ah ! Constantine! Of how much ill was mother Not your conversion but the gift you gave!

In England, as is well known, there is a strong party within the Church which wishes for disestablishment, and it has strong arguments on its side. From the point of view of theory, it is impossible to defend the appointment of bishops by a Prime Minister who may not be a churchman, or the possible rejection by Parliament, in which churchmen need not be a majority, of measures which the leaders of the Church deem necessary for its welfare.

On the other hand, it may fairly be urged that the practical disadvantages --a far less than might be expected. Prime Ministers, of whatever religious belief, do in fact take great trouble over their appointments, and Parliament is far from anxious to exercise the powers it possesses in religious affairs. Disestablished churches are not conspicuously more spiritual or more efficient than the Ohui-ch of England; and its privileged position, now more wisely used, no longer excites passionate hostility. It is a commonplace that disestablishment would involve a measure of diseudowment, but while iu IS3I the “Extraordinary Black Book” could tell a terrible story of non-residence, plurs' ism and excessive revenues, scandals of that kind are negligible to-day, and few people cun honestly hold that any large diversion of wealth from the Church would benefit the moral or social condition of the country. Its more probable result would be a decrease in the numbers of those who, with all their limitations, are whole-heartedly working for those causes.

The English tradition is to put practice above theory, or rather to make no changes) until their value fe assured. It will tulle more evidence than haa yet been produced to make them anxious to overthrow a system by which, however illogipally; Christianity is definitely proclaimed as the religion of the country, and by which, since the days of Theodore of Tarsus, there has been provided in every parish a parson (persona, or representative) charged with the spiritual responsibility for those within his care.