Religious Life

Southland Times, Issue 24680, 27 February 1942, Page 6

Religious Life

By

ICHTHUS

Church Of Scotland Moderator’s Pastoi'al Letter

A pastoral letter, issued to his church by the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, has just come into my hands. It will be remembered that the Church of Scotland is now one and united. The moderator at the moment is the Right Rev. Dr J. Hutchison Cockburn and the subject of his letter is the universal upheaval of these present times, and the challenge that is in them for the church, and for all people everywhere. As the subject is of vital importance, and as there are very many people in Southland to whom what the official head of the Church of Scotland says is “News,” I have thought it worth while to give the pastoral the publicity of this column

THE UPHEAVAL OF THESE TIMES

“In the upheaval of these times, when every thought and device of man is being tested and his institutions shaken, it behoves the Christian Church and every member of it to learn the truths which God by His judgments is seeking to teach. In many countries the Church of Christ is suffering grievously, and in all, even in this land of Scotland, it is being challenged to prove its claim to have the truth of God for the times in which we live.

“The fabric of our social life is breaking down; the foundations on which our civilization rested no longer hold in the mind and heart of multitudes; disaster has overtaken our imperfect international relationships; and mankind, great and marvellous as its achievements are, is threatened with abysmal darkness and disaster. “Many causes have contributed to this perilous condition, and the Church is not without blame, neither is any nation guiltless. The sum of the matter is that in our scientific and economic progress we have not exercised ourselves to make a parallel advance in those spiritual truths which govern our use of the new powers and discoveries which have been given to us. We have largely gained the whole world and have largely neglected the soul, by which alone the world can be controlled for man’s welfare and God’s glory.

“It would be disastrous for the future if the Church of Scotland and other Churches of the Body of Christ were to emerge from the distress of oui’ day without a radical change of outlook and an intense devotion to God and His ways. If anything can awaken the members of the Church to ultimate values, and to the need for a new consecration of life and a new willingness to service of the world, it is surely the cataclysm of these days, when God is' calling the members of His Church to turn again to Him.

“We cannot go on in hope of a living Church without our awakening to the demands of the Gospel for service and sacrifice; without these, not only will the world go from one confusion to another till it blunders into utter chaos, but the Church of the living Christ, unfaithful to His demands and neglectful of His promises, will enter on a period of weakness, from which it will only emerge through suffering and the grace of God. “If the world is to be saved from destruction and the Church from visible decay, it will only be by Christians realizing with a new clarity the very reason for their faith, and beginning with judging themselves, by their setting out with a new determination to find the will of God and to manifest their willingness to serve Him, whatever be the cost, and whatever the changes involved. God is speaking; are we ready to hear and to obey His word?”