RITUALISM

New Zealand Mail, 11 August 1898, Page 30

RITUALISM

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, Your correspondent, "AntiRitualist," in the letter which appears in your issue of last week, has not given the real reason why young clergymen are being imported from Home, instead of employment being given to clergy who have been in the colony for years. Most of the older colonial clergy have had an evangelical training, and are not prepared to join ( the >' Ritualistic " conspiracy." Most' of the young clergy at Home have Had a Ritualistio training. Bishops appear to give a preference to Ritualistic clergy. ->,The work of Ritualists is thus truly described in •' Essays on the Re-union of Christendom" (p. 180). I "We are teaching ;> men to believe that Grod is to.be worshipped under the form of bread, and they'are learning the lesson from us whioh' they have refused to learn from the who have been among us for the last 300 years. We i are teaohing men to; endure willingly the pain of confession, which;is an intense trial ' to the reserved Anglo-Saxon nature, and, to believe that a man's * I absolve thee' is the voice of God." The following verses from Ritualistic hymns embody the above teaohing :- " I worship Thee, Lord J«;.us, Who in Thy love divide Art hiding here Thy Godiwad In forms of bread and wine. , (From " Children at the Altar." p 41.) " How shall. I get my sips forgiven ? How oleanSed from evory stain— Baptismal purity brought, back— My soul restored agei i ? " First to confession I must go, And tell out all my phame ; My list of sins, all-one by one, In panitenoe must narc». " And Jesus, acting through His vrie-jt. Absolves and makes ns ■ free ; For He hath s*id they ar» forcivaa Whose sins thou dost forfiv.i. (From a hymn etmg in a Y>rk*hiro villape church sohooW I am, &c, A Lay Member or the "Wellington Diocesan Synod. August Ist, 1898. TO THE EDITOIi. Sik, —Theolojgioal controversies are iuvariably disappointing, but L should fool obliged if you will allow me. to refer to the lotier "' Anti-Ritualis.t," which appeared in ;, our issue of last week. It us apparent from the tenor of the epistle that a Ritualist or a Romanist is a~ foul aa tho Te Arc Dsstractor -iti.-the nostrils or 2'cuc correspondent, and I' should fancy from hia eld-fAshiono.'i -prejujiioos that ho haa ir.Kfj hs-A a severe oi jaundice..

that Ritualists and Romanists are the same reminds me Of the African negro who lumped all white men together, and thought tiiey belonged to the same nation, and it is quite evident that " Anti-Ritualist " is deficient in the power of discrimination. : A similarity exists between all Christian creeds and ceremonies which differentiates them from non-Christians, but to argue that Anglican Catholics are Roman Catho lies because both happen to use similar emblems is nonsensical in the extreme. The introduction of a more ornate ritual in saying matins and evensong is but a revival of some of the ceromonies that were carried out in the English Church in its infancy, generations bai'oro. St. Augustine landed in England, and consequently the "innovations " that are worrying your correspondent are not copied from the ritual of the L^tin"Church, neither are they inconsistent with the Book of Common Prayer. But I venture to assert that English churchmen generally would be doing a good work if they imitated Roman Catholics in their self-sacrificing efforts to give their children a religious education, instead of postponing the question indefinitely, because it is one that touches their pockets. It is to be hoped that the signs of a requickened devotion /to the Founder of Christianity which are becoming manifest among some'thoughtful church people will be supplemented by the- introduction of guilds, sisterhoods and other organisations, to revive a living faith in the thousands who have adopted the creed of indifference, but judging by past results I do not think the worthy old clergy referred to by " Anti-Ritualist " could successfully undertake, a crusade of this kind. They have their wives and families to look after/ambitious sons to educate, and charming daughters to launch into society, and, therefore, it would be asking too much to require them to devote the whole of their time to any outside flock entrusted to them. In conclusion, I may observe that although I am fairly regular in attending the services of the Church of New Zealand, and have been so for over 30 years, " the wily parson has never tickled my fancy with any new or strange device," nor have I ever seen an Anglican priest " wandering about his church in a Popish garb," and in spite of his protest to the contrary, " AntiRitualist" must surely be trying to excite the risible faculties of your readers.—l am, &c, St. Michael. George Ptreet, Thorndon, 2nd August.