CHURCH AND LEAGUE
'» — •■ PARTICIPATION IN WAR The Wellington Presbytery last night considered the General Assembly's recent resolution regarding ;,war ; which was worded as; follows:."The .time, has come to make an urgent call ;to the nations of the world to' stand by'their solemn obligations as defined by the League of Nations and the Pact of Paris; and the assembly' further appeals to the constituted authorities of the various Churches of Christendom to urge their members to refuse to participate in any war unless endorsed by the League of Nations." The public questions committee recommended endorsement of the resolution down to the word "Paris," with the following: addition: "That other Presbyterian Churches such as those of Australia and Canada be asked to urge the Church of Scotland to seek the cooperation of the Church of England, the Church of Rome, and all, other Churches to give world-wide effect to the resolution." , ■■'. r'.,"■■'..' '. The motion was carried.""'.■; In regard to the second part, the committee recommended its rejection, and moved the following: "While; we. appreciate the: intention-of the second part of the resolution to challenge theright of sovereign States to .make war at their own discretion, we are of opinioiv that to transfer the right of endorsing war to the League of Nations would imperil the League as an arbiter, and further, that it would tend to commit the Church beforehand to the decisions of a secular power. We therefore disapprove of the second part of the resolution." The Rev. J. T. Mackie said the.resolution as it stood would commit, the Church to the decisions of the League and the Church's conscience could not be bound by such a body's decisions. The motion implied that if the League of Nations declined the endorsement of a war Christian people ■ would be bound to support it, whether the League of Nations was right or not. The Church could not hand over its conscience to any secular power. The motion was carried.
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Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 9, 10 July 1935, Page 6
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326CHURCH AND LEAGUE Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 9, 10 July 1935, Page 6
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