THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18032, 4 September 1920, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME. AT THE FEET OF JESUS. At the foot of Jesus, Sweet and holy place, Mary JUl( j listened .4° -His words of grace,; I*ist-oning f and hiding Tho mtisio in hor heart-. oo the loving, lovod one Chose the better part. At tho feet of Jesus Mary oast hoi- grief, Finding there tho healing, Comfort and relief; l'or those feet had journeyed JUuny weary miles, Just to soothe her sorrow, -turn her tears to smiles. O'er tlio fcot of Jesus Lavishly she poured All her fragrant spikenard, mi Ve ' s most precious hoard ; I was her sweet embalming. Ere tile nails wore driven, And tlioso feet so sacred, With her heart, were riven. At lliy feet, O Jesus, I would linger still, From r J hy own lips learning 1 How to do Thy will; Rising then to offer, Like the spikenard sweet, n }\ ''f° surrendered, Sacrifice complete. Dr Henry Burton. PRAYER. O Lord, our gracious God, Thou art ever lound of them that seek Thee. Thou art ever finding them that seek Thee not. We would como to Thee and pray that for each of us this may be a time wherein Thou art round. Our hearts have wandered often lii 7-r WO -,lV avt ? {of & o tten Thee in the wor dly hf o We have lived Godless in tho world. Much of our doings has been unhallowed ,y thoughts of Thee. Wo have cherished our own desire?, negligent of Thy will. We have thought our own thoughts: w u v e not t* 2o ? as Thy thoughts. I We have pursued, having made our own I ways, and they have' not been as Thy ways. We pray Ihee to help us to turn our feet into the way of peace to strengthen our minds and hearts that all their workings may accord with Thine. Through Jesus wurist our Lord. Amen. WHAT IS THE SOCIAL GOSPEL? What is the Social Gospel? Its permanent truths may bo expressed in such phrases as social justice, the brotherhood ol man, universal peace, and the like. But every age calls for its own emphasis, and we may say that the nations are faced with two problems which the Church must help to solve. Both are problems of reconciliation and the first is-how can Capital and Labour be reconciled? How ear. a working agreement between thehi be reached. It is becoming more and more aS r A S ; lys 8° ly y that this is tho problem of the future; all others pale into insignificance beside it. In so far as it » an economic question I do not see that tho Church can interfere with any advantage. Ministers of rehgion are not experts 0 n questions of wages and production, and Church Councils are not qualified to take to themselves the functions of Arbitration ■Boards. But economic problems have moral and spiritual aspects, and the Church may play a powerful though indirect part in inmnng about a reconciliation between capitalists and working men. For instance, we may well stand for such principles of justice between employer .and workmanjustice for the worker in a wage that has a , T , f ?" " nd . falr relationship to the profits oi the business; security against unemployment and an adequate pension when old age comes; a decent house to live in- a reasonable amount of leisure, and such facilities as will enable him to enjoy that leisure. In return, the workman must realise his moral obligation to give a fair days work, and must understand that under-production is heading for bankruptcy and ruin, not only for himself and his employer, but for the whole of society. My experience as a chapmin taught mo that the paramount need in the industrial worid to-day is goodwill, and the Church m which all classes mingle and ought to mingle has a great opportunity in cultivating that spirit—John A. Patton, M.A. DR J. D. JONES'S BOSTON SERMON. SUPREMACY OF THE HISTORIC CHRIST. A strong and balanced re-affirmation of the doctrine of development was the subject matter of Dr J. D. Jones's sermon to the International Congregational Council at Boston on June 30. The text, '"He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine and declare it unto you," Dr Jones described as Christ s promise to the Church that the Spirit would carry on His teaching. Jt clearly contemplates and foretells a certain growth and development in tho understanding of Christian truth. That is why Coiigregationalists have constantly refused to bind themselves down to any written formulary or creed. Development however, had its hmits. Tho Spirit onlv revealed the things of Christ, and there was the test of all new doctrine. "Take any of the more recent developments, and aoes not each of them illustrate this point' Our new conception of God as Fatherwas not that a read- 'in Christ'; was not that indeed, the truth about God which ±le camo specially to declare? Our new conception of the Kingdom, our new sense of social obligation; was not that truth also in Christ? It becomes a test of the truth of any new- revelation that claims our allegiance—where does it place Christ? What is it to do with Christ? Does it exalt Him and enhance His glory? No svstem that lessens or impairs the dignity of our Lord conmiend.s itself to me as a genuine Christian development, for the effect of all tho Spirits illumination and glorification is to glorify Christ. It is those who, led by the onirit, have come to know Hi m best who TZI An r d that is question L ask myself with reference to everv new development. Where does it place Christ? what position does it give to Him? Nothing; is Christianity which has not Him tor foundation and» centre. And that is my one concern about these Churches of ours. In their unfettered freedom, which allows them i,o follow the loadings of the bpn-lt, in their openness of mind, which makes them hospitable to new truth I glory But you will let me add this word: it will be woe to us if, in our eagerness t° no IX hg wo nmii mise the placc of Christ. Our lihcrty -will be our doom if we only use it to let go the Head An emasculated Christology means an impoverished gospel and an impoverished gospel means blight and decay. So let us, in these tremendous davs, 'hold fast the Head And let our Churches be known as Churches which, though free, exalt and glorify and magnify Christ."

A CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY. A sp HßlSnop THE LIFE-FORCE ™°vJ rP + r sh T, of Arma sh (Da- D'Arcy) preached.the jubilee sermon of the Chrisdenc® . s ? Cl ? t v at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. Materialist philisophies were exploded, said the Archbishop, and tie greatest of modern philosophers-Henri Bergson—taught that the greatest force in the world was "the life-force." This element of life thrustin-r out into the material world, reached its highest development in man. to grasp the Process of your own spirit within, the feeling, thought, and will which constitute your inner life • that is the inner nature of that life force. Surelv when we begin to think, that out we can see that we have gained a new view of the world that is not out of harmony with our Christian. faitn. We find in our Lord the very perfection of human character. I want to toke you a little deeper. Jesus Christ teaches ua that God in His Person is gouijr down into human life and entering into human sorrow. Wo look back on the awful time of the war when people began to say Can God be good?' Surely the thought of God required is the thought of God in Jeans Christ, who comes to help m. to sharo our sorrows, to go down into death for us." NEWS ITEMS. Rev. Paul M Kanamori, the Japanese evangelist, called the "Moodv of Japan - has only one sermon, "The plan of iSalvation," which it takes him three hours to preach. At a dinner given by tho Edinburgh University to its honorary .graduates, Mr Rudyard Kipling, who had just received th<> JaUD., spoke. He gavo pleasure bv pis fine panegyric of John Knox. 11 0 B ai d that the domination of tho Scots was derived in essence from the strict and unbreakable spirit of that great educationist who whatever he might have suid about the regiment of women, neither flattered or fear any flesh for it >ra s John Knox who by life-hazard threw down and maintained the canon that it should be lawful to men so to use themselves in matters of religion and conscience as they should answer to their Maker. Was it too much to say, after all these years, that on this triple foundation of lroodom, authority, and responsibility the moral fabric of their university was reared?