NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23083, 7 July 1938, Page 12

NOTES AND COMMENTS

PREDESTINATION REJECTED The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States has voted to omit a section of its confession of faith which read: "By the decree of God, for tho manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined unto everlasting lifo and others fore-ordained to everlasting death." This doctrine, notes the Christian Science Monitor, has been a soureo of fear and discouragement to those who read it as teaching tho futility of individual effort. It is well that such a misconception should give way to a truer sense of God's lovo and justice. OLD ADAM IN INDUSTRY I am responsible for the management of a business which provides employment for about 70 people, writes a correspondent to the Spectator. I am told that I am a good employer. During tho last few years particularly I have done all I can to answer tho criticisms levelled against modern industry for I believo that it is my responsibility to provide a place of personal freedom where every man finds some moans of Self-expression in his daily work. But, having go'ho as far as I can within the framework of the present structure of industry, although I have provided every moans of material wellbeing—tho real problems aro still present if dormant; departmental friction, jealousy, laziness, irresponsibility, etc.' —symptoms of individual and personal frustration. Together my staff and I have been able to create new conditions, but I know that what is needed still, is new men, and I, as a managing-director, just as truly as the parson have to fiiul and show the way of really getting human nature changed. STRONG OPPOSITION NEEDED "Among the many factors which are necessary to make democracy function effectively, none is more important than a strong minority party," said Mr. Richard H. Sunger, of the national committee of the United States Republican Party, in a recent statement. "It is possible to traco many of the ills which have beset the United States since the World War to the fact that most of tho time since then wo have lacked such a group. As tho Republicans became more and more powerful during tho 1920'5, they became intellectually lazy; they failed to keep step with tho times. Four years passed and another party dominated America. This time the lack of a resolute minority produced a different set of evils. Freed from the balance wheel of a strong minority, the Democratic Party followed a path of impractical reform and unsound experimentation. Tho result has been worse than the contented inactivity of the Republicans. If our democracy is to function successfully, we must have a minority party, not strong enough to block the will of the majority, but sufficiently strong to keep the majority on its toes."

SUBSTITUTES IN GERMANY A German who believes strongly in his country's art of making substitutes ("Ersatz") can enjoy them from the moment he rises in the morning until he goes to bed at night—and in his bed he may find sheets made of artificial silk or imitation cotton and blankets made of cellulose, writer the Berlin correspondent of the Sunday Times. When he shaves in the morning he may use a soap made out of coal—though his temper will not be very good, because the soap does not lather so well as the old-fashioned product. The banister of the stairs in tho new German house is made of a new light metal alloy, synthetic wood or "pressed material." The pipes may bo made .of a new material that bears a certain resemblance to celluloid. It melts at comparatively low temperatures, and thus can be treated more easily and cheaply than metal. In tho "substitute" electric light bulbs the wires are made of aluminium instead of copper. And when the bulb is blown out Germans are expected to save it and have it remade. Tho wallet in which the believer in "Ersatz" carries his money can bo made of fish-skin. So can his wife's slipper and the bindings of his new books. Fish, in fact, proves one of the most useful sources of supply for the manufacturer of "Ersatz" products. Big bakeries are allowed to use synthetic white of egg made out of fish costing only a fraction of what a real egg would cost, and available all tho year round. New factories are now being built to manufacture edible fats made out of coal, and they expect to produco in considerable quantities by 1940.

RELIGIOUS CONVERSION "What was the real nature of Wesley's conversion? Its effect is written in the subsequent religious history of the English-speaking peoples. But what happened on May 24, 1738?" asked tho Bishop of Birmingham, Dr. Barnes, in a recent sermon. "Conversion has been likened to the process by which under certain circumstances crystalisation rapidly occurs in a supersaturated fluid. Before conversion doubtless some process of synthesis take place below the level of consciousness; when tho harmony, thus achieved, by some sudden uprush reaches consciousness there is a sense of unity and peace. Tho eminent American psychologist, William James, said that conversion was, to him who had had experience of it, a 'real, definite and memorable event.' Though the actual mechanism of conversion be ill-understood, it occurs, if not commonly, at any rate not rarely; and when it takes place its value and importance cannot be denied. Inquiry is often made," Dr. Barnes continued, "as to whether conversion can bo rightly regarded as 'supernatural.' I personally would decline the question. I refuso to separate things and events in the universe into tho two classes of natural and supernatural, as though there were one realm subject to God's control and another which has escaped from His direction. To mo all laws of nature are laws of God, and their regularity merely expresses His uniform action. God in tho slow process of evolution has made man; and all man's endowments, including his disposition toward conversion when it exists, result from tho Divine plan. Thus, even though a complete explanation of the mechanism of conversion could be given, 1 should still regard it as belonging to tho Divine scheme. In short, conversion is, in tho language of tho dualism which I personally reject, both natural and supernatural."