The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1880-11-11
age must clothe itself in the language

age must clothe itself in the language
and breathe in the atmosphere of the
hour. Hardly have the echoes of
Presbyterian hallelujahs died away up
on the air, when the voice of Canon
Barry is lifted high above the pipings
of the Leicester church congress to the
| fact that, while there is great restless
ness as to the religious belief, there is a
corresponding intensity of religious
conviction on the part Of those who be-
lieve. He detects grasp of truth, a
vigor of work, the upspringing of en-
thusiastic life in the believing circles in
England which was unknown CEN
fury ago, and has grown up side by
side With state Of things wherein
Christianity seems at times to have lost
its Roadway amid shipwrecks and
storms Hardly less significant is a
series of remarkable lectures ON ''The
Proposed Readjustment of Christianity
to the Social and Moral Condition of
Our Time" delivered by the Rev. DR..
Morgan Dix last Lent, whose publica-
ton is completed in the October Church
Eclectic, in which, while stating with
characteristic force and clearness what
he terms the Catholic position, he ar
raigns the vagaries of present religious
belief at the bar of faith of all ages, and
wins an easy victory. These lectures,
however, good as they are, it may be
said in passing, do not meet the case
with the broad insight and catholic
temper which is manifested in the ut
terances previously named. There
are men who believe so intensely
that they do not believe enough
their position may be impregnable,
| but they are so intent upon making
the fortress bomb-proof that they
fail to put out the encouragement by
which men venture within the inclos-
ure where safety lies. DR.. Dix seems
| to belong to this intense class; he
shares the fault of the school to which
he confessedly belongs. The Joy of be-
ing right is one thing; the sympathy
which communicates that JOY by
manifold interpretations to the world is
quite another.
Taken as whole, it is notable that
the recent utterances Of the religious
leaders, manifest the largest charity
and the most intense sympathy for
the different forms of modern doubt.
The attitude is significant, and shows
the Christian church, in the person of
its foremost men, to be thoroughly
alive to the questions which in these
days concern men more deely, and are,
perhaps, more thought about than any
other. The present religious drift has
seemed to be all one way, out to sea,
and yet, looked at from the point Of
view of recent utterances, it seems as
if vessels ofrescue, ironclad, equipped
with steam, wanting nothing in lie d.
ers or crew, had gone out in quest Of
those who were tossed up and down in
cockle-shells Of their own devising.
| The present religious drift, as seen
from the point of view Of an awakened
| church, has the tone and temper of
men who lived in the great ages of be-
lief The readjustm ent of Christianity,
as DR.. Dix has stated the problem, is
not the point sought for, so far as we
know, by any parties; it is the state
ment Of truth in terms of though
which carry weight at the present hour;
it is Christianity understood in the
language which expresses or present
convictions; it is Christian common
sense addressed to the natural reasons
ofmen that is sought for; and when
this position has been won, superb
statements of Christian belief, like
those in DR.. Dix's lectures, are proper
ly in order. In the quarters Of Chris
tendon where these is least divorce in
religion between the head and the
heart, it is something to be Thankful for
that the peculiar religious problems of
our age are at last being approached
by leaders who understand by SYM
pathy the reasons of unbelief.