New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-19
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
FOLK FAITH AND CHRISTIANITY.


ARRIVALS IN CHRISTIANITY: STUDIES IN TIE
0'TjiFoJOGY OF DIVINE IMMANENCE Specia,,
lectures delivered before the Episcopal The9logle1ai
I I,mes W Mood svo. Pp, viii, 81. Macmillan
Il Co. rrss.
Mr.. Wood belongs to the younger group OF h"s,
copal cergymen In this country, VINO '"n"
singular open.mindedness and breadth OF view VIII"
,,o,c churchlv tone They hold much IL same
re,at,.n 20 the Church parties in this country "s
that held bv the Lux Mundi" school OF young CLERGY
men in England. They believe strongly !" ~.
toric and dogmatic claims OF their ShuiVh' p"' ~
hecause they do so believe they are ahA'""' "
reconcile their claims. not merely with t''c results
OF modern investigation into the past p"' VIZ" Wv
general movement of modern life. lhey are the
d,a,r of the classifer with his little eccieS'asucdl
tanr measure: for they and disagree Win all
schools OF thought. their only principe peHis !" '
ont what Is true In each OF them.
Mr. Woods lectures reveal him as an eAcepuohaiis
c,eor thinker and able writer. and, we mistake not
h. u,,l soon receive the recognition as an original
Investigator of religious problems which these lectures
.,ow him N deserve His purpose was 10 hep
earnest and honest truth-seekers 90 distinguish Dc
tween what is human and what Is divine Ill 'h'ls-
,,on theology. There are in Christianity he argues,
many survivas Of primitive folk faith whlch nave
become deeply Embedded in the Christian conscious
ness so that only very few recognize tne lac. '"''
they are alien accretions. As the artists OF the
christian catacombs felt no scrupe in using the
figure OF Hermes, Bacchus or Orpheus as syhpo'
of the Saviour, so the Church, as whole lei' ITO
scruple In making for its own use pagan
caramo,ies and ideas How deeply Christianity Is
tinctured In this way with suggestions from 'h o'
folk faiths only those can realize who have taken
the trouble 70 study the subject Concrete eA""p''
OF this may be found near at home some years
AGO an Episcopal chapel for. the Indians was ereo''"
nj YanktOn Oak. 1t named Inc HOY No""
forter," and Notwithstanding all teachings anu ca
plantations 1t was found that the common ihuh'h "'
OF the Holy Spirit that of an indefinitely ia'se
and quilt comforter.
In the church the chief survival OF stone
worship Is detected in the demand for stone n'''
duly anointed and consecraed" SO In multitude vi
other WAYS the dead past Of other ages. races anu
faiths made live again in the majestic eV'u.ioh
of Christianity. Nor is this an argument "s"'S
Christianity II these survivals did not serve uso
ful purpose as the shrine for the Divine lmmanence
they would not have been taken up. and when they
cease to fulfil any useful function they will fa on
For this reason Christian theology is ever changing
"Tbat age which can definitely plan out scheme
OF salvation, has spoken its last word There Is III
possibility Of a final theology. know that there
Is craving for cearness for positive, definite 'each
ing But for living religious teachers TINS IS
not a day for dogma. When a religious idea becomes
n dogma II is because that idea has spent It's force
II is no longer a living and growing thought ii
any one of you absolutely must have neat ana
coherent system OF theology teres aque rotnhuas an
irresistible authority an infalble guide that he cannot
mistake whether Church. Bible, Greed. Reason >acra
menfs or Pope / do not know where in this life he
can find It, The boosted infallibiy of each has, In
It's turn Welded to the stress of lifes demands.
All truth is from living, sefrevcaling God, 10
living, growing humanity"
Perhaps the lecture on the Church will most In
terest Mr.. Woods fellow churchmen. Unity he
says as not necessarily uniformity in creed, ritual
or in church government. Creeds pass, because
their language becomes obsolete; ceremonies vary ara
should vary according the temper and culture Of
the worshippersn Nor Is the ideal conception OF the
Church ever realized. What age region Will render
us a picture OF the Church holy In the blanlcless
lives Of all its members Was holiness realized In
the Robber synod. or in the brawls between the
blues and green's In the streets of orthodox Byzan-
tium, Was holiness respondent in the Miriam
monks who, with oyster shells, savagey slew the
maiden Hypatial The holiness of the Church is evil
IDENTIFY a goal rather than starting point
OF the doctrine of the Apostolic Succession. Mr.
Wood says that while 1t cannot be disproved. IL
cannot be proved. There is, he says, no statement
or assertion OF tacual succession In the articles OF
religion 1t was not held by the English reformers,
nor insisted upon by Cosin, Jewell, Andrews Hall
or Whitgf. And 10 insist that it is essential u
the being Of the Church would be to culerOd llerod
for even the Church of Rome has not always Insisted
on reordnation. :" Ii. them he concludes the
tremendous assumption Of such succession OF minis
try as shall for unbroken conduit for sub
stantia force called grace. gives sign OF itself in
gifts Of healing ard of tongues. in the immediate
evangeli7aon of the world and in the conviction u
the human heart or in any other mighty work, We
may well ask ourselves If il be necessary to hold to
tactual succession and substantial grace and If We
do, what Is the practical outcome?"
The other lectures on the idea Of God the for
civeness Of sins, tire resurrection and eternal life.
are marked in many passages by bold and bril-
liant thought. The whole volume is emineniy read
able and its appearance introduces TO the world q
thinker. who. 1t is 10 be hoped, will be heard from
again long,