THEOSOPHY.

Evening Star, Issue 13092, 27 October 1908, Page 7

THEOSOPHY.

. ':' That this ajtioil'mead of Tkeosophlcfll doctrines, amongst, Ohiiroh-;lpeoplr r :iand that tb* t'Bi«JWßaet ;' the/Diocese- be'!urged to issue a-.pastotel 1 -to % ana-laity; Cpie»rly 4eflTOftg! the attitudeVof ifchp Qhurch ttawatija'-t|»e Pantheistic oaneseption. ot Qod\. : this*•.iJtoto . trine of -the.Jleincarnation, : afld ThepMphical teachings, \vhicli ,»r«.;av:£sjianPp witJi,thq-.iOTeeds )'o£' the! ,(Dhurohsoo. 'the Thirty-nine, Articles af'tW.C|iurbb" of -Jingland.; - •'-!- -- : ' -'■'■"'-'■!!-. ' ; The ahoye-wos, a. resolution nioved; inMhe' Anglican X)ibaesaft--Synod, yesterday, afternoon by the Rev." H. Ly Snow, vicar of'St--John's, Roslyn. In speaking to! itMvSnpw. said that he 'this matter- with, the utmost 'sanity.' He did not wish tiv appear hysterjcaLahout it. ,Be re>eegT\is>d the extreme breadth of the Ohurck of .'England, whose platforni w »s broad enough lor every man to stafld upqp, and he d|d not set _ undue limits' to it. But'' these was, a limit, and he thought it was reached when they found some cult foreign to the spirit pf the Church seekipg to ©■n.jrraft-itgelf upon Church doctrine.. The doctrine of pantheism, inculcated by Theosophists, with its confusion of fgood with evil, also -the doctrine of R/erncarna'tioii, which aimed/a blow at the special providence in the incarnation of our Lord, as well as. cutting at the very root of the doctrine of-the- Atonement, must sooner or later undermine the Church's posi tion in the minds of tha people, unless their spread was phecked. He had been struck by the fact that Mr Moncrieff, recently appointed warden of St. John's College, Auckland, had tabled a motion dealing with Spiritualism,' another form of error. He had also read recently of an alarming outbreak of Spiritualism at New Plymouth. " Looking round in our own neighborhood," ; continued'Mr Snow, "I was struck by a remark ma'de by Archdeacon Gould in regard to the progress of his Sunday scbooi here. He said that he was surprised to seethat a school so centrally situated: was so poorly attended. But we found that a Sunday school for the teaching of Socialism had lately been started not very far.away. That also is another form of error. '.' ."": But the reason why I move this resolution is Ignore particularly because'the subject ha.\ , been brought home to me by the condition lof affairs amongst my own "people. It has | always been my lot to have been thrown into the vary midst of this sort of thing. It was so in Auckland. In most places I have been I have always found this particular form of error flourishing. I notice amongst my young communicants that some of them, have been greatly attracted to Theosophical teaching, and nave fallen into the hands of different schools of Theosophists, the result being that they do not know what they believe. They have mixed up Christian doctrine with Theosophical teachings in the most extraordinary manner. I would ask you to suppose.what sort of conception of the Christian religion must a communicant have who, on coming to the confession of sins, refused to say it simply because he did not believe in Sin. That is the entrance 'of Pantheism—a confusion of good with evil. And how is the error propagated? If it was done in an open fashion, if it was merely at a meeting, with Mrs Besant on the stage, no very great harm would be done. But when you find that these doctrines are very largely propagated by individuals in drawing rooms and by working in a very subtle way upon young j minds, the whole position assumes a very serious complexion. I pee all this sort o'f thing going on all round me every day. Mothers come and appeal to me, and tell me things that show that Theosophists in tins'-City make deliberate attempts to get! holdof bur' young people and inculcate these special doctrines of theirs." Mr Snow-'ttiit' eluded by saying that he did not care much for the form of his resolution. It might not be wise to ask the Synod to urge the bishop to issue n pastoral. His object had been to draw, pointed attention to the evil and the danger. The motion having beeni seconded, Canon Neild said that it was unfortunate for Mr Snow that the Theosophists followed him about and stole his congregations. He himself did not view Theosophy'with the slightest alarm. It might be very bad in Roslyn, but it was not at his end of the town, for he had not seen traces of it worth mention. There might be prigs and faddists in Dunedin, and there, probably would be to the end of the chapter. Theosophy happened to be one of the crazes of the day, but if bishops were going to issue pas-torals-on every twopenny fad, the death-rate among.bishops would rise ter.) Besides, who would read their pastorals? The best thing the Synod could do was to reject the resolution. Mr TV. Burnett: I trust the Synod will not reject the resolution. lam glad to see that there is a clergyman who mixes with his young people, and knows what is going on in his parish. I know personally that the errors he deplores do exist in tins district amongst the young people, and that there is a subtle influence at work of which he knows, and of which every clergyman should know who mixes with his young people.—(Applause.) At 5.30 p.m. the adjournment of the debate was moved by Dean Fitchett, and it will be resumed when opportunity offers.