LEADERS OF THE CHURCH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22326, 28 July 1934, Page 9

LEADERS OF THE CHURCH

POINTS FROM ; SPEECHES (From Oub Own Gobbespondent.) LONDON, June 14. The Archbishop of Canterbury on “The Church and the European Crisis ” at th( Universal Christian Council for Life-anc Work:' “No one can view the situatloi in Europe and, indeed, the world with' out the deepest concern and anxiety. Tin two greatest needs of the world at the present time are security of peace anc economic recovery by international, cooperation. Until these are satisfied the world can make little progress, and the deep desires of the bulk of its people wil remain ungratified. When we consiclei the plight of the Disarmament Confer ence and the failure of the recent Worlc Conference, we realise the need for tin coming of a new spirit strong enough tx overcome the fear, distrust, and-jealousy which are now moving.among the nation: of the world. The. translation of th: Christian spirit into, a potent influence is the only way in which the present crisis can be met. There is , a force ir Europe and throughout the world, to : daj which constitutes the gravity of the crisis and is the precise negation of the On: Christian spirit which can ' bring peace and healing. It- is the. force of a'selfish nationalism within and among States. I’ is very strong, and feeds upon some oi the primary and still untamed instinct! of the human race. All nations are inter locked by economic,necessities, .and there must 1 be a compact unity of interests and of spirit. Must not the sundered seetjonf of the Church unite in the convictions they hold in common and do their utmost to make those convictions-strong in the life, of the world?” The Bishop of Durham, in Durham: “ Expenditure on religious luxuries proceeds at an accelerated pace. When the Church is embarrassed by inability tc maintain its work, when it is compelled to cut down the stipends of, its missionaries and workers, it appears to be env barking on great expenditures at home which cannot be described as other than luxurious. We have appeals before the country for three new cathedrals, and great expenditure in building, a new church house is to be undertaken. I should like to have statistics as to the amount of money spent annually on church luxuries, organs, ornaments, and the like in the parishes. I believe the result would be appalling.'’ The Dean of St. Paul’s on “Revolution ” before the 1912 Club: “ I think revolution is really an epidemic disease now become endemic, a contagious moral insanity. When it first breaks out in an epidemic form it always infects a number of superior persons, for example, the Lake Poets and some in our own day whom I will not name. Like other epidemics it increases in fury for a time, spreading from land to land and seizing all who are susceptible. Then it abates and takes milder forms, but at the same time establishes itself. It may be that in time it will lose its dcadliness, like smallpox, but the laws of physical contagion are not yet known. Historians will try to explain revolutions by expatiating on the misery of the people who make them. Historians are poor hands at predicting the future, but they have a power not claimed even by the Deity of altering the past. They side with the gods against Cato and back the winner after the race. The legend of the misery of the French peasantry is probably too deeply rooted to b« disturbed. But, in

fact, .France was the richest country , i* Europe, and prosperity was widely distributed. We are justified, in .saying tha* social misery is not the cause, of revolution. Civilisation -always throws offlargq numbers of the uncivilisable.- '.Sonje ■ ar* congenital savages—a . throwback to the man of thousands of . years ago. Other* arc degenerates. These Nature, would ex* tinguish, but civilisation keeps them alive. Then, there, are faorderliners wh» just can’t make good, an’elaborate and complex society. Every civilised country is full of savages and barbarians, ripe for revolt and ready to destroy.- And they have capable officers not of their owa sort. “These leaders are either borderline!* who, with some good abilities, Have failed from _ some bodily or mental ' twist; or the victims of social injustice, whom aom* maladjustment or individual wrongdoing has thiust down into the disinherited class; or they • are cranky • intellectuals. The last class prepares the way for revolution, supply its • catchwords and rhetorical appeals, and are it* 'firs! leaders.” ' i ■