PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVII, Issue 11189, 10 February 1897, Page 6

PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

ANNUAL SESSION. The animal session of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Now Zealand was opened in St Andrew’s Church at 7.30 p.m. yesterday. Divine service was conducted, in the presence of a numerous congregation, by the Eev William Watt, Moderator of the last General Assembly, avlio presided, and preached from Proverbs xi.,21, “ There is that scattereth and yet inoreasetli, and there is that withholdoth more than is meet, and it teudeth to poverty.” The preacher earnestly advocated the claims of foreign missions on the support of the Church. The Lord’s Supper was dispensed, and the Moderator then constituted the Assembly by prayer. ROLL OF ASSEMBLY. The roll of Assembly was made up as follows : —Presbytery of Auckland —Revs T. Norris, R. M’Kinney, G. 13. Munro, R. S. West, E. Barr, J. Mackenzie, R. Ferguson. and A. M’Lean. Presbytery of Hawke’s Bay—Revs R. M. Ryburn, AV. Raeburn, T. H. Lewis, D. Sidey and AV. H. Johnston, and A. Grant as alternates, with Messrs AV. AV. Beswick, A. Jones, J. G. AV. Aitken, J. M’Kerrow and A. Smith (elders). Presbytery of Wellington.—Revs J. Paterson, J. Symburn, R. AVoods, C. S. Ogg, with Messrs J. Keith, Halley, Arthur, Soonllar and J. Barry (elders). Presbytery of Wanganui —Revs J. Ross, D. Gordon, T. M’Donald, J. Doull, and Revs' C. M’Donald and F. Stubbs as alternates, Messrs J. F. Kilgonr and AV. M’Gill (elders). Presbytery of Nelson— Revs J. H. M’Kenzie and AV. Macara, with tho Rev J. K. Stowell and Messrs J. M. Hutchinson and J. Deans (ciders). Presbytery of Christchurch —Revs W. E. Campbell, G. B. Inglis, R. Erwin, G. Webster. J. Elmslle, AV. Scorgie, E. S. Allan, D. D. Rodger, J. Skinner, AV, J. Gow, AA r . Grant, A. M. AVright, A. H. Treadwell J. Maxwell, P. J. Riddle, E. M’Cully, J. Mackic* and B. J. AVestbrooke, with the Rev H. Adamson and Messrs D. Carr, J. Grubb, J. AVatson, J. Forrester, A. Craighead, D. B. Bowie, S. C. Farr and A. Ritchie (elders). Presbytery of Timarn —Revs A. B. Todd, J. AA r hite, J. Dickson, AA r . Gillies, H. Kelly, W. J. Comrie, G. Barclay, with Messrs J. M’Nab and S. M’Cnlly (elders). Presbytery of AVcstlaud—Revs AV. Douglas and D. A. Anderson, and Messrs R. M. G. M’Dowall and A. Scott (elders.) DEPUTIES FROM OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND. A commission was read from tho Synod of Otago and Southland, appointing tho Rev John Lothian (moderator of Synod), the Rev J. Gibson-Smith and Mr Keith Ramsay (elder) deputies to the Assembly. The Clerk, the Rev Dr Sidey, moved—- “ That the deputies he cordially welcomed, and be asked to take their seats as associated members.”

The motion was carried unanimously, ELECTION OF MODERATOR.

The retiring Moderator said that, before nominating his successor, he would speak briefly. The year of his modei’atorship had been a year of steady -work. There had been no heresy and no notable declension to trouble them, and here and there there had been times of special blessing. In the matter of the union with the Church of Otago and Southland, the committees of the two Churches, which had met in this city, had made a step in advance. They could not but be painfully reminded that one who was with them last year would he with them no more—one whom ho had met a little over twenty years ago in Wanganui, who had been convener of the Foreign Mission Committee, and with whom he had had much to do, and who had made a deep impression on him. Knowing what they did of his life and piety, his fervency and zeal, they could not doubt that for him to die was gain. The Assembly would doubtless express its sense of the loss the Church had sustained by the death of the Rev James Treadwell,,and of its appreciation of the way in which he had discharged lus duties as a pastor, a citizen and a man. He (the Moderator) had to thank them for the honour of his election, and for the way in which he had been supported during his moderatorship. He would now nominate the Rev Robert Erwin, M.A., of North Belt Church, as Moderator of the Assembly. Mr Erwin needed no commendation from • him. Although comparatively a, young man, he was widely known as a thinker—indeed his fame had gone out to the ends of the earth, for his Alma Mater had recently resolved to confer upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was also known as the successful pastor of an important city church and as an earnest evangelist. Mr Watt concluded by saying that he had no doubt the nomination would be unanimously endorsed. The nomination was agreed to by acclamation, and the Rev E. Erwin was formally inducted into. the chair by the retiring Moderator.

moderator's address. The newly-elected Moderator, after thanking the Assembly and asking the kindly consideration of members during his term of office, said that every thoughtful person recognised that the work of the Church was beset with special difficulties in these times. One of these was the unrest in people’s minds, within the Church, concerning religion. He thought, however, that the open and hostile attitude towards Christianity, which was such a marked feature of the past generation of working men, was decidedly on the wane. He quoted from Dr Horton, of Loudon, to show that this was markedly so in England, and said that indications were that in this colony wc were travelling in the same direction According to the last census returns there was a decrease of fi'o-1 per cent in the, number of those who returned themselves as freethinkers or agnostics. Hut in the churches there wore many who remained silent, and yet believed very little. Dealing with the causes of this lie referred to the popular literature of the day as being more serious than that of any past generation; but said that many authors, like that of “ Robert Elsmere,”' whoso ability could not bo denied, could not bo considered well informed on religious subjects, and sometimes misrepresented the evangelical faith. In this colony the faith was suffering from a cause which had very largely spent itself in older countries —the apprehension in the minds of the people ns to the effect of the higher criticism. In dealing with this unrest, the preacher should, constantly endeavour to enlist the aid of conscience on the side of the truth he proclaimed. The doctrines of the faith should in a measure bo stripped of their theological dress, and their ethical bearing more persistently dwelt upon. Preaching should be popularised in so far as was consistent with loyalty to truth. Another difficulty that confronted them in applying truth to the minds of their hearers was the comparatively limited knowledge that v many of the younger people had of the Scriptures. There was considerable difficulty in getting the young people of the colony to attend classes for systematic biblical instruction. These difficulties might necessitate a departure from the form of preaching with a single text-as a theme, and the adopting something like the old lecture system, in which a section of Scripture was expounded, and its practical bearing applied to the life of the day. Another problem demanding earnest consideration was the alicnationfrom the Church of largo sections of all classes of society, but chiefly of the working classes ; but it was matter for thankfulness that the alienation was neither growing in intensity nor in breadth. An informal census of churchgoing, taken over as wide an area as possible in the old lands, showed that the Church was holding its own and, m some places, gaining ground. The recent Government census in this colony showed that in five years the attendance at Sunday schools had increased by 12,750 children, or by 13‘83 per cent, a greater increase than that in the total population, which was 12 - 21 per cent. The attendance at public worship showed an increase from 177,055 to 203,731, or 18"46 per cent. Ho thought that people were not so much alienated from religion, or hostile to Christ, as simply alienated from the Church as the representative of religion. Professor Pah-bairn biid said: — “We f may find the primary cause in the belief that the churches are not religious realities, not bodies organised for the teaching of righteousness, but for the maintenance of vested interests and conventional respectabilities.” If this were a true statement of the case, it must point to something which had been present in the Church when the .alienation began, and might be present still, and was calculated to produce such an ipipression on people’s minds. If non - church - going people were to be won there must be an earnest effort to remove any such thing from tiiQ Church. Evangelism .had failed to remove the impression. Evangelism almost exclusively contemplated men and women as souls, and only in the most casual way, and often not at all, concerned itself with the bodily and material welfare of the people. The success of -the Salvation .Army was very largely due to the fact that it presented to people a God who cared for them as men and women, and interested not only to bring them to heaven, but that their present wants should bo satisfied. The speaker referred to various efforts among the poor as being full of hope, but said that it was chiefly in relation to bringing the respectable working classes into closer touch and sympathy with the church that the problem must be considered. Any custom winch tended to place them under disabilities in attending Churches, or which had tended to give the comfortable classes the appearance of having a monopoly of the churches’ ministrations, must be given up. So far as possible there must be no class distinctions in the Church ; it was of necessity that the members moved in the circle which corresponded to their social position and which had most in common with their tastes, but within the Church itself it must be apparent that character and spiritual perfection were regarded as the marks of time nobility. Then there must bo faithful exercise of discipline.' which was possibly more difficult for the Church to perform than anything else devolving upon it. One of the most perplexing questions was that of the right attitude of the Church towards the political questions' of the day. While the Church ought to know no class as such, and ought' to be as free as possible from party politics, her influence should be exerted and her power put forth in helping forward the measures, political or social, which tended to the amelioration of the lot of the masses. Another problem which preachers must face was the relation of the pulpit to the higher criticism. During almost one hundred years the Hew Testament had formerly been subjected to an examination similar to that which' the Old Testament was

undergoing, with the result that the Gospels had been demonstrated to be authentic and reliable narratives, and the. genuineness of all the more important epistles established ; so Christians might confidently await the result of the present investigations. One of the most pressing duties of preachers was that ofinstructing their people in the-nature of revelation. Tim popular view was the fallacious one winch identified the revelation of God with the Bible. Let their people be plainly and clearly taught that God had not. revealed Himself in a book, but in history and in the lives of men. and especially in Jesus Christ; and that the Bible was the record and interpretation of that revelation, by men inspired of God for that purpose, and it -would at once be apparent to them that it -was possible for something to have crept into the record which should not have been there without tho revelation itself being vitally affected or at all discredited ( hereby. He thought their people should be made conversant with the history of tho canons, time they should have some idea oi what was merely traditional as to, tho authority and authorship of the several books of tho Bible, and this would help them to discriminate whether the questions raised by criticism touched what was traditional, or touched the real authenti-. city and divine authority of the book. After rolorring to the higher criticism of the boots of Isaiah and Daniel, Mr Erwin said it might bo shown with regard to other and broader issues of criticism that even supposing them to be proved they need not necessarily disturb our faith in revelation or in the Bible as tho record of God’s revelation of Himself. He concluded by saying tbat it was plain to most Christian teachers' that criticism was proving itself a time handmaid to the better understanding- of the v\ord ot God, and it was a duty incumbent upon them to make this apparent to the people, and to make them acquainted with the best established results of it.

MISCELLANEOUS. Committees were appointed on Bills and Business (Rev J. H. M’Kenzie, convener), on Commissions'and Records (Rev R; Ferguson, convene)'), and on Standing Committees (Rev W. Gillies, convener). The Rev Gordon Webster reported that the Arrangements Committee had agreed that the hours of sitting should he from 10 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on Friday evening a popular meeting would he held in St Paul’s Church, where addresses would he given by the Rev Dr Paton, the well-known' missionary, and others. It had been arranged to have a breakfast in the Art Gallery on Saturday morning, and Mr and Mi-s J. Deans had invited the members of the Assembly and their friends to a garden party at Biccarton on Saturday afternoon. | The Assembly then adjourned to 10 a.m. f to-dav.