POWER OF THE CHURCH.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 103, 4 May 1907, Page 6

POWER OF THE CHURCH.

Sir Oliver Lodge delivered a re markable address on " A Reformed Church as an Engine of Progress' at the National Council of the Evangelical Free Churches at Leeds. " I am glad there is a more friendly feeling towards the Church of England than there used to be,' : lie said. "J. he Church is a great institution with ancient history and traditions," but I confess I would like tc see the whole of the energyj enterprise, and enthusiasm which is now in some sense divorced from the national Church re-united with it and making it a Church of England in a much wider sense. " I would far rather see children taught Christianity with an Anglican tinge than no Christainity at all. "When we look at eternity oui little differences become very insignificant, and when we realise that there is the same Deity over a thousand million words in space, is it not likely that in those worlds there are innumerable modes of re gardingrjthe universe and the Deity, all of which, in so far as they are genuine and wed to the elevation of life and love of humanity, are acceptable to the Father of all ? "We must put far less trust in oaths, formularities, tests, and rubrics and more faith in living humanity. There must be less of the cry ' Whomsoever will be saved,' and more of the cry, ' Whomsoever can I save.' " The will of God should be done on earth, and we should seek to find our greatest happiness here. If not here, where? " Eternity extends into the future as well as the past, and to the living the present is eternity. I doubt whether in any state of existence we shall have any other conception of eternity than the present moment. " If the nation is to be regenerated it must be through the agency of the Church. Deeds far more than creeds are wanted, or, rather, creeds interpreted by deeds." An unusual scene was witnessed after the Rev. R. J. Campbell, who also addressed the meeting, sat down. A blind delegate rose in the hall and expressed the hope that all who attended the conference would believe in the Divine Sonship of Christ. Some disorder followed, and the chairman was appealed to. He declared that the delegate was in order, and then the blind speaker urged the conferencejto sing the hymn, " When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." At a later stage the chairman referred to the subject, and all the delegates rose and sang the hymn, with considerable emotion.