THE THEOSOPHICAL DOCTRINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14355, 27 October 1908, Page 5

THE THEOSOPHICAL DOCTRINE

—- —♦_— IS IT GAINING ground? DISCUSSION BYTUB ANGLICAN SYNOD. At yesterday's meeting of the session of he Anglican Synod tho Rev. H. L Snow (Koelyii) moved-" That this Synod' views with alarm the spread of Thccsophical doctrines amongst, church people, and that, tho Bishop of tho diocese bo urged 1o issue a. pastoral to the clergy ami laity dearly defining tho attitude of the Church towards the pantheistic conception of God, the doctrine of tho reincarnation, and other Theosophical teachings which ar o at variance with the creeds of the Church and th P 11 articles of the Church of England." Mr Snow said, he had given the matter very careful ami earnest consideration, and approaclied the subject with the utmost sincerity. He did not want to grow Hysterical about it. He had always recognised that tlw Church of England afforded a platform broad enough for almost any men, and ho had no wish lo attempt to impose limits to that platform. But there was a limit, and lie thought that that limit was reached) when they found some creed . that weforejgn to the spirit of the Catholic Church 1 seeking to engraft itself upon the doctrhi o of tho Church. He did not think it was tho time then to deal witJi the tenets of Theosophy, but ho would -"-ofer to the doctrine of pantheism, which was inculcated by theThcosophists, confusing, as it did, good! and evil, and the factor of reincarnation, which aimed a blow at tho belief of a special Providence in the incarnation of our Lord, and cut away the very root of the doctrine of the Atonement, and he had no 'hesitation in saying that such doctrines must sooner or late» undermine the whote position of the Church in the minds of tho people. They all had a general idea of tho Theosophical doctrine. IE a philosophy of that kind could be engraved upon the. Catholic Church they might say farewell! to the ieachitige of the Bible and tho writings of the Ajwstlo Paul. He had recently been struck by the fact, that Mr Scott Mon. crieff, warden of St. John's College in Auckland, had made a .remarkable move in conneotion with spiritualism, and, just when making inquiries nnont that, ho learned of an alarming outbreak of spiritualism in Now Plymouth. This, ho believed, had a direct connection with Mt Aloncrieff's statement. Then the Archdeacon of Oama-ru had been remarking' orj a serious falling away in the attendance at his Sunday schools, and in the same paper in which this was stated thero appeared, a, day or two later, an announcement to tbe effect tliat there was a Socialist Sunday school in opcrlion/'That was another effect of a general movement. He would refer to tho condition of affairs as lie found them among his own people. He had always seemed to come into contact with that sort of thing, which flourished in most of the parishes in which he had been. Ho noticed that many of the young people hi) his own congregation had been greatly attracted towards Theosophical teachings Some of them had fallen into the hands of metaphysicians belonging to the various schools, with the result that they mixed up • the Christian doctrine in a most oxtraodmary manner with Theosophical • teaching. What sort of conception; of the Christian religion must a communicant have who, when asked to make confession refused to repeat 'the form simply becauso he did not believe in sin V That was simply a confession of the pantheistic belief—a confession of good and • evil. If it was only a question of Mrs Besant touring the world and promulgating her doctrine, no groat harm would bo •"one. But when one found that those doctrines were very largely subscribed to by individuals in drawing-rooms, the position became more serious, for, such teachings were having an impression on young minds that, under the circumstances, could not be immediately combated. He saw the of Theosophical and other teachings gaining ground every dav. Mothers came to him repeatedly with appeals on behalf of their children, 'which showed that the Thcosophists in this city were making a vory deliberate attempt to get hold ot young people and inculcate these doctrines. Looking at the resolution, lie was not quite satisfied with the terms in which it was couched. It might be regarded as assumption that they should asi; the Bishop to issue a pastoral, and it was likely that some other way might bo suggested of dealing with tho matter. However, the matter lay with them. A mero expression of opinion might be quite sufficient to meet the case. He would be quite satisfied if he succeeded in bringing the matter under the notice of the Synod, and giving that body an opportunity of saying something definite and snowing forth to the people of the Church what its opinion was with regard to the possibility . of Theosophy being engrafted on the . ', Christian doctrine. Ho formally moved \ the resolution. The motion was seconded by MrFleming. The Ven. Archdeacon Neild did not approve of the motion, and spoke briefly . regarding it in a highly sarcastic vein, Ho extended to the Rev. Mr Snow his ' sincere sympathy, for apparently wherever that gentleman went the Thcosophists followed him about and stole his congregation. Evidently the motion was to be taken seriously. He was surprised. When ho saw it On the order paper ho did not think it portended- a- serious discussion. He thought they would have a talk about Mahatmas and astral bodies and such things. He personally did not view Theosophy without tho slightest alarm. It might be very bad in Itoslyn,' but it was not in his end of tho town. There were prig 6 and faddists in the world, and there would be prigs and faddists in Duncdin until tl)e end of the chapter. Theosophy was simply one of the crazes of the day, but he noticed that Mr Snow had mixed if up with Spiritualism and Socialism, and other " isms." Ho believed that hi 6 Lordship the Primate would object to issue a pastoral under such conditions. If ho did, he would be obliged to issue a pastoral so often that ho would cau6o a very high death rate in the Church. The motion was quite unnecessary, and he hoped tho Synod would reject it. Mr W. Burnett: I hope the Synod will not reject this motion. Ho thought that Mr Snow should be thankxxl for what he had done, for it was good to find a clergyman taking so much interest in the younger ■ members of his congregation. Personally, he knew that the doctrines referred to by Mr Snow were gaining ground in the community, and that great errors of judgment were talcing place in connection, therewith. He knew, too, that the influences of such doctrines were having a great effect on the minds of our young people. Ho sincerely hoped they would not reject tho resolution. At this stage tho adjournment of tho Synod was moved, and this was agreed to. The discussion will bo continued to-day.. —Dr Ryle, the Bishop of Winchester, who celebrated his. silver wedding recently, is one of tho most ardent disciples of motoring among the clergy. ,A short time ago his lordship was presented with a cheque, contributed from all parts of his diocese, for the purposo of providing him with a motor, ear as a convenience, and help in his work. In spite of the fact that Dr Kyle's chauffeur has been fined for reckless driving, the bishop himself is no lover of the modern craze for 6peed, for in his letter of thanks for tho abovementioned gift he stated that he was ordering a rar "especially trustworthy in hill climbing and silent, without being conspicuously swift in movement." All his life Dr Kyle has been a great lover of outdoor sports, and oven now, although ho i 8 over 50, he goes in a good deal for long walks and lawn tennis, and his enthusiasm for cricket is as keen now as it was in his Eton days. Dr Ryle's chief hobby, however, is a unique one:, it is tho collecting of portraits of Erasmus, and there is probably no one else in the world who has so many likenesses of that famous man. as ■ his lordship possesses.