The record-union., 1898-10-16
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.

1T would seem,' says the Church
Standard" P. Ed of Philadelphia,
that while more than two-thirds of the
clergy of the church would object te
the passage of a penal canon forbid
ding them to solemnize the marriage
of person who had obtained. a divorce
for sufficient cause, the whole clerical
order, with virtual unanimity, might
be expected to approve the insertion Qn
the Form of Solemnization of Matri-
mony) of a rubric, somewhat resem-
bling the first rubric in the Order of
the Burial of the Dead, and substanti-
ally in this form: Here is to be noted
that this form is not to be used in the
sOlemniZation of any marriage If eth
er Of the parties has been divorced
from a husband or Wife who is still
living. If some such rubric were
adopted, a clergyman who doubted the
lawfulness Of the marriage of any di-
vorced person would be at liberty to
refuse to solemnize it on the ground
that he was forbidden to use the SER
vice of the church in such a case. A
clergyman on the contrary, who held
the marriage to be lawful, would be at
liberty to solemnize it in such manner
as he should see fit, just as clergymen
of all schools in the church, though
they are forbidden to use the Order for
the Burial of the Dead in the case of
persons who die eXcommunicate or
who have committed suicide, make no
scruple of using some other appropri-
ate service upon such occasions. Such
rubric would be entirely proper from
the liturgical point of view; and yet it
would have nothing of the penal char
acter of disciplinary canon"
What is the cause" asks the Civ
ing Church" (P. Ed of Chicago, "of the
vast amount of misery and cruelty in
family life to which the records of our
courts testify, and of the still more in
dubitable misery which follows the
breaking up of thousands of homes?
The answer is that our laws have fos-
tered discomfort and encouraged vic
ious passion, and thus have themselves
created the evils which they profess to
cure. Public sentiment is becoming
debauched in this matter, and people
may do, without serious detriment to
their social position, what would have
been viewed with adherence a gener-
alton ago. This is the condition which
confronts us, and with which the
church has to deal The difficulty of
effective action is enhanced by the fact
that some of the leading religious sects
have given UP any attempt to stem the
tide. Some of the principal organs of
denominational and of unsectarian re-
ligion even scout the idea of any at
tempt to preserve the ancient strin-
gency Of the marriage tie. 1t is nat
ural enough that they should do so,
since in Protestant circles the sacra-
mental character Of marriage is ex
plicitly repudiated. Where this is the
case, the traditional sanctity of welded
life, while its effects may linger for a
long time, cannot stand against a
strong adverse tendency. There is
enough Of this Protestant atmosphere
among themselves to render an attempt
at definite legislation and the enforce
ment of an uncompromising rule con-
stantly more difficult"
1T is significant" says the New York
"Churchman" P Ed that the center
Of discussion in England is just now
changing from the question of ritual
obedience to the question of confession.
Canon Gore has admira bly, stated his
pOSltIOu upon tIIIS SuDJSCl III d recent
notable letter to the Times" He be-
lieves that confession is to a vast
number of men and women of extraor-
binary value at crisis of their lives;
and that it is useful as a more or less
regular discipline for persons liable to
morbidness and undue introspection.
He holds also that the clergy have Of
ten erred in failing to make plain to
the people this means of guidance,
comfort. and strength But he de-
clares as plainly that the Church of
England does not make it obligatory
nor even recommend it, but allows It.
It leaves an open door, And he ad-
vises that Bishops be vigorous in sup
pressing any tendency to make con-
fession obligatory or to press it strong
ly on those whose consciences do not
feel the need of it, or to treat those
who go to confession as in a higher
spiritual class than those who do not
And he questions the wisdom of al
lowing young ministers to hear any
confessions at all. Canon Cores
words are especially useful because he
understands the men who are insisting
upon confession and is in fraternal
sympathy with them. He is thus able