THE CHURCHES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 16272, 21 June 1913, Page 5

THE CHURCHES.

MR PIERPONT MORGAN’S FAITH. A-MAN OF DEEP RELIGIOUS FEELING. The world knew of Mr Pierpont Morgan as the American millionaire; his associates saw him as tho great constructive, force in American finance, building* up shattered schemes and establishing the national credit. The two views do not embrace the whole man. One who knew him well said: “The quality in him which has most impressed me was the real moral fibre of his being. He was a man of faith, not only a deep religious faith, but the faith which displays itself _in 1 great deeds—faith in tho universe, in humanity, in his country, in his associates, and in the highest standards of honour in both his public and his private life • . . and ho lived faithfully in accordance with those standards. . • He never used his position to get undue 1 advantage and everyone, even thoso who caviled at him, had perfect confidence in his integrity.’’ Ho was regarded by his intimate friends as a man of deep religious feelings, and tho Rev K. Reiland, rector of St George’s Church, New York — where he had been an office-bearer since 1868 and a churchwarden since 1885— writing in the “ Outlook,” reveals something of the inner life of the man. In the sessions of the Diocesan Conference he would frequently express his impatience at the long-drawn-out discussion of irrelevant matters, urging attention to moro important affairs, and tho value of time. He felt keenly that the Church should take a firm stand for Christian unity and the uplift and betterment of the masses. His part in the Church is thus described by tho rector: — “Ho came early to the church, eagerly mounting the steps, specially animated with a kind of youthful joy when surrounded by the members of liis family. After putting aside hat and coat, lie would walk up and down the broad aisle, greoting everyone who cared to speak to him, rich and poor alike, or would take liis stand with the parish clergy near tho entrance to welcome tlio gathering worshippers. Mr Morgan has frequently said that, next to his immediate family, nothing on earth was so dear to his heart as St George’s Church. His warmhearted personality, his cordial hand-clasp, will be missed, as greatly as they were eagerly looked for, by hundreds to whom they meant no less than encouragement in a common faith and the blesfcing of a friend. Ho was a deeply religious man, and, as is not generally known, was a great lover of music. Ho was enthusiastic for congregational singing, urging that all music, and especially the hymns, should be selected to that end.”

“Mr Morgan,’' the rector adds, “lias been called a “broad churchman,” and so he was, very broad and deep. His was not the breadth of extended thinness, but breadth with depth. Frequently ho urged his acquaintances to attend services. Public worship with him was the outward visible sign of an inward religious conviction. His religion was no Sunday affair. Ho worshipped in spirit and in truth. Ho one who was presont on his last Sunday in New York will ever forget how he stood out, almost in tlio aisle; beating timo with his book, singing with strong voice and moist eyes his favourite hymn—‘Blest bo the Tie that Binds.’,” WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE CHURCHES. 'A SYDNEY MISSIONER’S REPLY. What as wrong with the churches? asks a Sydney newspaper. This is a favourite question nowadays with the man in the street. Does he use it to excuse himself for not attending and supporting the places of worship, or has he a legitimate “grievance”? The Rev. S. D. Yarrington, of Sydney, whose work in the Underworld has placed him in a position to speak with authority on how religion is regarded by the lower classes, gives an interesting reply:— “ Nothing is >■ wrong with the churches,” ho said. “ I venture to say that the Church has novcr been in the whole of its existence, in such a strong position as that of to-day. On more than one occasion the cry has been raised that the Church is losing its grip upon the people, it is not so, though I will admit that the Church does not appear to bo popular among the youth of Australia. The only cause to which I can ascribe this is that sin appears to the youthful mind more enticing than the Church: at least, for the- time being. “ Perhaps the strongest argument in favour of the Church is to be found in the slums—those unfortunately situated localities where religion would be tho last thing one would expect to find. During the whole of my connection with the Uuderworld I have never found one man or woman, who, on his or her death-bed, flatly refused to receive the Gospel. " Though it may be said the' great majority of the people do not attend Church, every man and every woman of that same body loves, and fear God from „ the bottom of their hearts. Appearances, and even actions, are often deceptive, and nowhere but in religious circles is this more manifest.

“Take the battlefield, for instance. As soon as the call tft arms is sounded volunteers are forthcoming. It is the same with the Church. If, at any time matters camo to a crisis with the Church, you would find thousands of those who are not in the habit of following up religious life Hocking to the Church’s assistance, so 1 deeply ingrained is their love and respect for the°v. r ord of God. “ Another fallacious idea that obtrudes itself from time to time and creates much controversy is that the Church caters only for the rich. Cnee more do I give an emphatic denial to this statement. As a matter of fact, ministers of tile Church are spending far more time among the poor than in the circles of the Upper Ten. Tho Church has set its ideals; and her destiny by them. “ In a parish, say of 20,000, there are often to be found eight denominations, including tho Salvation Army. Allowing an equal division each Church lias 2500 adherents. Out of that number :b would be an exaggeration to say that 800 attend Church regularly; and then there is the Sunday-school so that after all it is a good percentage.” NATURAL CHRISTIANITY. A MODERN WEAKNESS. The Rev Dr Radford, in a lecture delivered last week in Melbourne, says the Melbourne “Argus,” dealt with ono of tho most significant phases in modern Christianity, in which it is assorted that men can attain salva- j tion by their own determination to live ! better, and which reduces tho work j of Christ to tho mere inspiring influence of a perfect human example. i This, he said, was no new heresy in I tho history of tho Christian Church, ! but, under the name of Pelngianism in . tho fifth century A.D., bad been a ! great rival to orthodox Christianity. It derived its name from- a British monk, Pelagias, who, at Rome, began by insisting that Christians could be 'better Christians if they tried harder, and onded by insisting that man needed no special supernatural j grace becauso ho had no special moral

disability, no inborn disease of sin. This was condemned by the Western Church, mainly through the arguments and influence of Augustine, 'who insisted that man needed the grace of God from the very beginning of his Christian life. Pelagianism insisted that man was free to choose every timo botween good and evil, but it ignored the forces of heredity and habit. It watered down the idea of grace to mean any and overy good influence and made it little more than a natural moral endowment, and it quite con- ’ sistently reduced tho work of Christ * for man to the influence of his teaching and example, and ultimately allied itself with the view that Christ was but a human person. ’ It was still a tendency powerful in modern life. It was visible in all the j views which minimised the hold of sin , upon human nature, and magnified man’s ability to live without supernatural, spiritual assistance. Sir Oliver Lodge had said, “ Men are taking no thought of sin, but ore nil for up and doing.” Tho pulpit somefTmos slipped into Pelagianism by appealing to tho moral effort of the will without adequate recognition of the need of union with Christ; and here tho Prayer Book and the Sacraments were a valuable safeguard against the idea of a self-sufficient Christianity. The ordinary man was often a Pelagian without knowing it. The revul- • sion from crude exaggerations of j Calvinist doctrine, the confusion be- ! tween Christiapity and civilisation, tho scepticism of practical temperaments as to the reality or need or mystical experience in religion, the philosophical criticism of tho traditional doctrines of sin. tended to make men think too lightly of tho fact and power of sin, and of their need of Christ’s personal work in their lives.- Pelagian individualism, convinced that it could “ make good on its own ” in the religious life, was one of the besetting sins of tho Anglo-Saxon race. The race had done such wonders in the way of national conquest and nation-building that it found it hard to recognise its own spiritual weakness. The best antidote to this false, conception of Christianity was a Christian man strong in those things in which a man was expected to bo strong,, but drawing his strength from tho inner sanctuary of tho soul. The most convincing answer to . Pelagianism was a faithful communicant drawing his strength from Christ. THE UNITED METHODIST MISSION. The Rev Vallance and Mrs Cook will commence a United Methodist mission at the Durham Street Church tomorrow,. The missioners have just concluded a visit -to Timaru, from which town good results have been reported. Mr Cook has achieved much distinction in Britain as a connexioiial evangelist. He was born in Middles-borough-on-Tees, Yorkshire, and after leaving school had ten years’ commercial experience, and was subsequently trained for tho ministry at Headingley College. On graduating, he was assistant minister tor one year at the Leeds Central Mission, and afterwards held appointments at Hastings, Rochester, London and Huddersfield. Ho is generally considered to be an evangelist of the best type, and for twenty-five years crowds have flocked to hear him and thousands have professed conversion under his preaching. Mrs Cook, who accompanies her husband, is a cultured and earnest woman, and is said to have-a sweet i voice, and to he an excellent speaker. Her father, who was Lord Mayor of Bristol, was a descendant of John Wesley, and she was one of the first women elected as a delegate to the British Methodist Conference.

BIBLE REVISION. The question of Biblo revision is discussed by Canon Glazebrook in the “ Contemporary Review.” He points out tho strong reasons for delaying for some years any attempt at an official and definite revision. Tho Old Testament revises of a' generation ago made no attempt to obtain a critical Hebrew text. The traditional text Is notoriouslv faulty and corrupt; the ancieut fashion of writing Hebrew words with consonants only and without vowels, for instance, has been one source of error. Scholars aro busy carefully attempting to amend the text, but until this has been thoroughly done, in the light of modern knowledge, it is impossible to get a satisfactory new translation. The New Testament revisers 6et themselves to face the problem of. textual revision, and their revised version is based upofl such critical apparatus as was available in their time. But. says the London “Christian World” scholarship has marched on. since then, and the discovery in Egypt and elsewhere of a great mass of Greek manuscripts and inscriptions of the Hellenistic Ago (300 B.C. to 600 A.D.) has revolutionised our ideas of tho Greek language as spoken in the days of the early Church. Many of the, corrections of the New Testament Revisers are now known to be added mistakes. NOTES. Miss Patteson, sister of the martyred first Bishop of Melanesia, died recently at the age of eighty-three. She had lived for many years in Rome, and'had naturally continued to take a very lively interest in the Melanesian mission. . , • The Bishop of Salisbury, says the “ Guardian,” has done a graceful act in conferring the prebendal stall in Salisbury Cathedral, vacant by the death of the late Canon G. C. Bell, upon tho Right Rev Frederic Wallis, D.D., lato Bishop of Wellii)gton k New Zealand. Dr Wallis is a brother-in-law of the lato Bishop of Salisbury, and on his retirement from bis bishopric in 1911, Dr Wordsworth made him Archdeacon of Wilts. The state of his health’, however, compelled him to resign this position, but his connection with tho diocese will now be maintained. An American paper mentions that fully a thousand people Fanny Crosby, tho blind hymn-writer, on Easter evening, at First Church, Bridgeport, Conn. It was the eve of Miss "Crosby’s ninety-third birthday, and she was able to acknowledge the greetings of her friends in a charming address, clearly and distinctly spoken. Miss Crosby spoke of her recent illness, and added: “ During my illness that faith was as clear and as bright as tho midday sun. I want to livo just as long as tho dear Lord wants me to, and I want to do just what He has sent- me to do.” One of tho most interesting events of the year will be the assembling of the Congress of Union of Churches in Melbourne on August 31. The declared object of the congress is to find a pathway -along which the various branches of Christ’s Church may travel and emerge, without overriding denominational differences. ' The council comprises 169 members in all. representing Anglicans, Baptists, Brethren, Church of Christ, 'Congregationalists, - .Methodists, Presbyterians, and Society of Frieuds. The Rev' A. M’Callum has been chosen president, and tlio following aro vice-prosidents: the Rev F. C. Spun-, Principal Main, the Rev Leyton. Richards, and tho Rev P. J. Murdoch. During Dr Wilbur Chapman’s first mission in Sydney in 1909, one of tlio converts was a well-known pickpocket and gambler. Dr Chapman became very much interested in bis ense and gave him every encouragement. .‘Voting cm the doctor’s advice, lie went to New York, where lie studied in a theological I seminary, and during the past- year he was in cliargo of a church in that city. Dr Chapman speaks highly of his work there, one of his appearances being as lecturer to University students. He lias just returned to Sydney, and will preach and lecture during his stay. Writing in the Sydney “ Diocesan ( Magazine,” Archbishop Wright- makes

reference to a couple of important Church events. “English Church life,” ho states, “is much as it was four years ago. The secession to the Roman Church of the clergymen who had established a community at Caldey Island has given much food for thought. Their departure’followed the refusal of the Bishop of Oxford to allow them to alter tho Prayer-book, so far as I can hear. The other prominent event outstanding lately -is the publication of an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the Bishop of Manchester, one of the leading historical scholars of the Church, pointing out that,\ as ho reads the documents, the Ornaments Rubric prescribes the surplice and not, as some have thought, tho vestments.” Mr Dan Crawford, who has spimt twonty-two years without a break in Central Africa, paid a visit to London in April. In the course of an .interview* Mr Crawford was asked if he missed reading the books produced in the 'world for the last twenty years. Ho astonished his interviewer by declaring that it was delightful to be cut off from the world’s literature. “ I am free to confess,” he. said, “ that only then did my Bible get a chance. I accuse you English people, including the bishops, of not reading the Bible. Out in the wilds I see a little native boy who goes to sleep at night on his little mat, with a copy of the Gospel under his head, and his first thought when he wakes is to see that it is still there and that the print has not disappeared. With tho first blush of dawn he leaps into his library—-the -forest—and he roams there all day among those books that God has written, reading them so intently because he does not know that they are books.” Just a hundred years ago the first, Sunday school was opened in tho parish of St John’s, Parramatta. It was the Rev Thomas Massal, then a layman, who opened the first Sunday school in Australia. The story goes, says an exchange, that “on one hot Sunday afternoon he was resting, and a fly persisted in trying to settle on his face; ho continued to drive, away the intruder until it became too much for him. Sleep was driven away, if not the fly, and with a little warmth of temper he walked outside the house. Here he saw some children at play. It then occurred to him that he ought to find somo better way of spending his Sunday afternoon. He took the children indoors and told them Bible stories, and there he thought the matter ended. The next Sunday afternoon they, with their, companions, returned and asked him to tell them more pretty stories. The numbers increased, and Sunday schools in Australia became a reality.” The election of the Rev Dr George Brown as president of the Australasian Methodist Conference is a well-deserved honour after a strenuous ministry of forty-three years. Perhaps no other man has left a greater impression on the people of the South Seas than Dr Brown. Ordained in Now Zealand in 1860, he went to Samoa as a missionary, remaining there until 1873. when lie came to Sydney on furlough. In the following year ho established a mission in New/ Britain, and continued in charge for six years. From 1887 till 1908 he was general secretary for foreign missions, and since then has been honorary secretary. He is in his seventy-eighth year, and the story of his life, written by himself and published a few veara af*o, is not only the story of a great missionary career, but is also a history of the South Seas during the period from 1860 to 1907. He was president of the New South Wales Conference in 1891.