THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18766, 20 January 1923, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME. IMMANUEL: GOD WITH US. The day is long and the day is hard, We aie tired of the march and of keeping guard; Tired of the sense of a fight to be won, Of days to live through and of work to bo done. Tired of ourselves and of being alone: J« t all the while, did we only see, *■.*> walk in the Lord’s own company; We fight, but ’tis He who nerves our arm; He turns the arrow that, else might harm, And out of the storm Ho brings a calm; And the work that wo count so hard to do, He makes it easy, for He works too; And the davs that seem long to live are His, A bit of His bright eternities; And close to our need His helping is. —ftittsan Coolidge. PRAYER. O Lord, grant to any of tis that are in trouble, sad, solitary,' or perplexed, the light of Thy presence and the peace that passes understanding, and when outward things are perishing may we see through the paps the calm heavens above that cannot pass. We commend to Thee our country in all its interest and concerns. Through Jesus Christ cur Lord. Amen. THE NEGLECT OF THE BIBLE. Preaching at Hampstead Garden Suburb Free Church on Sunday morning, the Rev. W. Major Scott referred in appreciative terms to a recent article in the British Weekly on the Reading of the Bible, and suggested that a selection, carefully made from the Old and New Testaments and attractively printed and produced, would meet a widely spread need and serve the very highest ends. Mr Scott dealt with the influence of the Bible on language, law, art, and conduct. It was the most influential book of the world, the preacher affirmed, but deplored its modern neglect as the devotional book of every Christian. Thera had been, he said, a serious decline in the religious use of it as ft source of consolation, inspiration, and strength. Ihe preacher urged that the Church should rediscover her teaching function, and, with all due reverence, fearlessly reveal the peerless and eternal significance of Holy Scripture which modern investigation and scholarship reveal. The Bible, said Mr Scott, dis- ■ closes to all patient and humble students its inward n-nd spiritual significance when it is freed from a material notion of sacredness. It is grossly’ niisued 'when it is approached in a spirit of consulting an oracle. Dipping into the Bible t and inserting a finger between its pages is nothing but a gross superstition. Not thus are the Holy Scriptures able to make “wise unto salvation.” Inspiration applies to men, and the sacred writers were something other than merely bands and pens of the Holy Spirit. To understand that revelation underwent an historical development would enable many perplexed minds to discover the Bible anew as the supreme religious guide-book and the inexhaustible fountain of spiritual life. CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. / THEOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES. Supporters of other missionary organisations have watched with deep sympathy the troubles into which the Church Missionary Society has been cast by the exuberant zeai of some old-fashioned evangelicals in pro moling a heresy bunt against some of the society’s missionaries and their leaders. They have insisted that everyone should toe their theological line regardless of scholarship, research, accuracy, and everything else that was pertinent to the matter. Even though the controversy had not reached a final stage, and while a sub-com-mittee consisting of several of the best-known evangelical bishops and leaders was engaged in preparing further recommendations, this minority pushed forward a rival organisation known as the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society. To such an extent has the controversy been carried that one of the most distinguished officials of the C.M.S. declared that he had just thrown into his waste-paper basket three or four abusive letters on the subject. It is gratifying to note, however, that when the General Committee of the C.M.S. met in the Memorial Hall, London, for the consideration of the sub-committee’s report —and the sitting was prolonged from 11 to nearly 6—there existed an evident desire to find a settlement of the disastrous discus sions, and, as far os possible, to herd divisions. The Bishop of Liverpool presented the recommendations of the sub-committee in an able speech that carried conviction to the majority of those present. Their appreciation of Ids services was expressed most demonstratively. It is reported that the Bub-committee went into retreat for three days and endeavoured to frame a theological statement that could be accepted by ah evangelicals, whether of the older or newer schools. Even so it had to meet several amendments. The new Solicitor-general (Mr T W. H. Inskip, K.C., M.P.) seconded the first, hut only 130 voted for it, and there were 210 against. After the luncheon hour Bishop Ingham, Archdeacon Joynt, and the Dean of Canterbury spoke in favour of another amendment. The most important point in this proposition contained an addition of the following words: “And we believe that His teaching, as recorded in the New Testament ,is free from all error, and that His authority is final.” Here a compromise was suggested, and eventually the Bisnop of Liverpool, Bishop Knox, Bishop Ingham, the Dean of Canterbury. and Mr S. 11. Gladstone (who resigned from the treosureship of the C.M.S.) consulted together in the hope of agreeing upon a suitable form of words. During tflje interval, which lasted for half an hour, tlie Bishop of Chelmsford conducted an earnest prayer meeting, and the “ v eni Creator” was sung kneeling. Even when the consultants returned with their suggestions a verlvd alteration was proposed. Again a compromise was agreed upon in the interests of peace, and eventually the paragraph was accepted ns follows; - “Wo fervently acknowledge our Lord Jesus Christ to be our Lord and our God. the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Who spake as never Alan spake, and Who made upon the Cross (by His one oblation of Himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and wo believe in the absolute truth of His teaching, and that His authority is final.”

NEWS ITEMS. General Bramwell Booth has left Eondon for his first visit to Indie. Ho will inspect the work of the Salvation Army in that country, where it now ranks as one of vhe largest and most successful missionary societies. Miss Maude Borden was to pay another' visit to the T’nitcd States, loaviii" England in the first, week of the Xrw Year. ‘Re/ Maude Royden," as a. daily newspaper described her recently, continues to attract one of the most cosmopolitan congregations in Eondon. Her audience at the Eccleston Ouildhouse on a recent Sunday evening included a, seat-full of Japanese, beside# B ussian.*, Czerho-Slovakians, and other foreicrTTor?.

Amidst all (ho alarums and excursions of (ho past few weeks in Constantinople a remarkable new venture (hero has been finding its feet This is the School of Religion founded eight weeks ago by the American Board and Robert College. It has opened with 17 students Armenians, Russians, Bulgarians, and rum Creek —all of whom are being trained for religious and .serial work in the Near East. Fifteen are men and two are women, and side by side they are taking a year's course in theology, education, and sociology. Dr Rondel Harris has been lecturing there during his three weeks’ stay in Constantinople, and Mr H. G. Wood. Director of Studies at Woodbrooke Settlement, •who is accompanying him, has also been giving a course. The president of the school is Dr F. F. Goodsell, a well-known American. He is being assisted by Dr Arthur Pyo and Mr J.-ootfv Devonian, a cultured Armenian who was for some time a student at Woodbrooke.

America is getting into the region of tercentenaries. Following upon the celebration of the recent Pilgrim tercentenary, the organisation has already begun of a similar Huguenot-Walloon tercentenary. The rein bratior. (which has been initiated by the American Wuertd Council of Churches) is planned to take place in May, 1924. beiiv. the three hundredth anniversary of the date when the Hugueiiot-Wallonn colony, sailing under the auspices c«f the Dutch West India Company, reached New York. The event, which will be international in character, is being enthusiastically taken up in Holland, Belgium, and France. For the Churches in America its importance is great. It is proposed to make the eelebratjon general, so as to include the various Hncuonol. settlements in America, and thus call attention to the splendid contribution that the Hnguo riots gave to the making of the American commonwealth.