GOOD FRIDAY.

Southland Times, Issue 1720, 28 March 1873, Page 2

GOOD FRIDAY.

[communicated.] From time to time we have to consider how to accommodate old manners to new circumstances, and bo year by year the question comes more prominently before us, how we are to observe Good Friday. In Scotland the day is not observed at all, and it is not recognised by name ; however we are not in Scotland, but in Otago, where the Presbyterian Church has this peculiar position that it is the church of the majority, and is therefore largely responsible for the influence that it has on the other portions of the Christian community. The elders of that Church then are clearly called upon to deal with these three facts : — First, Good Friday is an historical anniversary. It is not a day appointed by any private ecclesiastical arrangement, but its observance ha3 been for agea the custom of universal Christendom ; second, the State has set it apart as a holiday because its religious observance, like that of the Lord's Day, has become by catholic consent a marked feature of our Christian nature; third, the members of the Presbyterian Church are well aware that it is the State that gives them the holiday, and that the day haa been called Good Friday on account of the events that are commemorated on it. I think that the only conclusion from these facts is that the day ought to be kept religiously or not at all. Yet thera may be many who will be inclined to observe the day without any religious services on account of their not understanding the full meaning of new associations, bo it may be desirable to bring the following considerations before them, for each Church is answerable for the result that is produced by its outward actions. "We ought, when opposing superstition, to be especially on our guard against the sceptical tendencies of modern Protestantism. These are some of the dangers we fear. A man may say that it is unnecessary to commemorate on any particular day the facts that he endeavors to keep in memory ©very day of his life, but this exalted state of mind would also make the observance of the Lord's day completely unnecessary, for if the vessel is full why should we add anything more ? Another man may argue, it is my duty to bear witness against superstition. But let him take care lest in cutting down superstition he should also weaken the foundation of faith, and lead others to believe that he rather looks upon the Gospel story as an elaborate parable than as a narrative of facts. There is a wholesome and growing desire in the present day for Christian unity. We do net expect uniformity, but we wish for sympathy in all common Christian sentiments. This is^ot a question of doctrine ; we are free to think and teach what we like about the mystical nature of the atonement, but now as a community we must decide whether we will unitedly express our belief in the fact by a commemoration of the chief events that aurround it. We cannot for ever keep up old protests. We ought to enter into the realities of modern life. We do not think that there is any action that would more clearly show that, notwithstanding our present differences, we have a common religion, than that according to ancient custom we should all of us in our several congregations celebrate Good * Friday.