THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2251, 22 April 1897, Page 36

THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON.

An interesting "interview" with the new Bishop of London is reported in the February number of "Great Thoughtß." Me Raymond Blathwayt, the interviewer, thus describes Bishop Creighton : — "A ball, slighb man, wearing glasses, of dignified mien and pleasant, cordial manners, with a delighful promptitude of reply, and with a power of keen and vivid phraseology, Dr Creighbon is an idaal subject for the interviewer. The conversation fir^t turned upon the youogcr clergy. The Bishop gave it as his opinion thab they are far betfcsr educated than war formerly the case. •♦Asked in what direction, he replied : — ♦•Well, they aie anxious, the cleverer ot them ab all events, to accept all modern thought whioh is in accordance with the i'uudamental truths of tho Christian religion. Their reading is of a much more varied nature thau was tbe case some 15 or 20 years ago. Kidd's celebrated book, for instance, is very popular amongst them ; ' Lux Mundi ' iB thoroughly known to them. They are more human, if I may so express myself, in their, ideas of theology. That is greatly owing to their very keen realisation of the lucarnation, although I frankly confess that the tendency nowadays ie to make that doctrine &o primary as to bhrow into the shade that other doctrine of the Atonement, upon which Hie Evangelicals laid so much stress, aud which led, on bhfcir part, to what I might term, for lack of a bitter word, an «)ihuma.n view of life, bub which doctrine is nevertheless one oj the keystones of the whole fabric of Christianity. The clergy of the present day, as you know, are keenly alive to the human side of religion, and thab is where the hope of the Church in the iuture lies. I ana stroDgly of opinion thab the truths of our religion must be set forward as the basis, nob only of individual, bub of social, commercial, natural, aud even international life."

The Bishop owned that in all this there was the danger of the clergy wandering into paths which are not strictly bheirs, and underbaking duties -which belong rabher to the county councillor, the politician, the professional philanbhropiat and agitator. " But," he proceeded to aay, "the truth is that we have large arrears to make np in getting into touch with the people. The growth of town life has outsped the supply ot civilising, moralibing, and spiritualising agencies, and our present difficulties arise because we are trying to oatch thsm up. We hardly take into consideration how great is our legacy of paab neglect. Men cay that the Church fails to touch the masses. I ask in reply what has touched them more? Has Goverament been more successful with them ? H<we the police ? Doss the board Echool reach them, or when it doe*, does ib improve them an fond ? The church reaches the mitoses better than anything else I know. Some time ago the working mau was said to be pining for secular education. We had no proof that such was the case, nor can we believe that without religion it would bave resulted in permanent benefit;. All philanthropic endeavours have failed in comparison with the Church. Bub I don't claim that ever she has succeeded as she might have succeeded, na she ought to succeed, and as she will succeed. The truth of the matter is thab the masses are largely materialised by our industrial civilisation, and, as a matter o? fact, they care but litble for what is outside their own individual good. The condition of life for them is bhat of perpebual sbruggle for exisbence, and they have no time or thouchb for education, art, patriotism, or religion. Religion requires time, and they have no time. .That iB the plain truth of the matter, and our defecb was that masses of the population were allowed to grow up by themselves, outside the influence of our civilisation in its higher aspects." Asked whether ho would not advise some special traiuiDg in economics and social subjects generally in trie preparation of man for holy erders, the Bishop replied that hn thought that on many practical points — c r/ , sanitary legislation, principles of almsgiving, the poor law, and such-like, occasional lectures should bB given at theological colleges and at the universities.

The interview now took a fresh turn, and touched upon the training of thn clergy, reference being mide to theological colleges and training in seminaries. Tun Bishop s?.id : " A church, to be truly national and in full touch with the people, must be ministered to by men who, by their training, are brought into sympathy with the masses around them, and this can never be effected by the eeminarial training of Rome. As I have said already, a rigid system of external discipliue or of theology not applied to the general life will nob do the work which we have to do. Ib is nob thus thai we shall reach the masses."

" And yet, my lord, the attempts to reach them by the popularisation of religion have to far failed with both Nonconformists and churchpeople. Are pleasant Sunday afternoon?, smoking parsons in their shirtsleeves, and limelight entertainments in church really calculated to have anything but the briefest effect ? "

The Bishop shook hi* head. "No; but religion can be made attractive without resort to such outside devices as those you have named, and I am struck by the real religion that still exists in ths hearts of the people, which I consider is owiDg in great part to the gober, and not to the sensational, teaching of our clergy. When I compare Eagland with other countries I realise how much greater is our people's knowledge of the Bible — a knowledge which comes largely from the preaching of the clergy. Fine preachers are not wha 1 } the people want, for the fine preacher ia nob the effective person nowadays, A man's preaching power on Sundays is greatly estimated by his working power in the week. An artisan once said to-me when I remarked that his vicar was nob a great preacher, ' No, sir ; but when our parson, says God it good, there's is a smile on his face makes us believe it, even though h« mayn't be a'good preacher.' And all the testimony I have ever received as to the power of preaching depends entirely upon the personality of the man himself. Preaching can be overrated, and that is one reason why bodies outside tbe Church fail as a whole to reach the masses. Fine preachiug frequently teuds to the glorification of the preacher rathsr than to the glory of God or to the edification of the peopled"

Asked what was his opinion of bhe prospects, or the desirability, of union with bhe Nonconformists, Dr Creighton replied with a smile, " I should like to see them become churchpeople — that is the only hope of real union. At the same time the differences between us are weariDg very thin." • "What, my lord, with the church becoming more sacerdotal every day, and the Congregationalists, to mention only one body of Nonconformists, becaming more Unitarian and more absolutely secular than ever they have beeu before ? "

"Ah," replied the Bishop, "quite so, bub I speak of them so far as they remain orbhodox Christians. Take Spurgeon, for insbance ; a?, the resb grew broader he grew stauncher^ and there ar« still many like bJm. But there is no Eope of real union except in bheir joining the National Church, and of bhat church and its success in dealing with the problems of bhe day I have the greatest hope." " Ab I walked slowly away," the interviewer concludes, " 1 thought of what the late Mr J. A. Froude once gaid to me : • The Church of England, with her painted windows, her old women, and her younu curates, is fast crumbling into the dust.' Which of these two men is in the right ? "