The record-union., 1899-04-16
IN RELIGIONS REALM.
EXPRESSIONS FROM VARIOUS
RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPERS.
The Religious Thought of the Day
as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.


as Expressed in the Sec
tartan Press.
1.-THE duty of the parish priest to near
voluntary confessions OF those uhuei
his spiritual charge and to quiet trou-
bled consciences by assurance OF Oh
vine forgiveness under well-understooo
spiritual conditions is asserted IN the
English Prayer Book aus we'll as IN our
own says the New York Church
man" (P. Ed Indeed, it needs no ar
gument, for it simply extends to the
church the analogy of the family, Where
every child and parent knows the COM
fort of confession. But it's value, Whe-
Their in the family or in the churcn'
rests wholly on its spontaneity. If the
parent were to demand of the child a
daily detail of petty errors. such nm
gering of the spiritual muscles, percus-
sion of the Christian lungs, ana auscul-
tation of the moral heart as was the
daily practice of the old monastlc NE,
the result would be either to make the
child a, vicious hypocrite or an anaenle
prig. No wisdom of counsel on the
fathers part could repair the injury &c
the moral virility of the child involved
in the process; and there is just the
same danger in the church when the
right to ask counsel is prevented into
the right to demand the unspontaineouS
habitual and systematic practice OF
moral auto-vivisection.
1.-THE church has learned" says the
New York "Evangelist" (Pres.), "Wha
SO many other generations have
Learned, that ecclesiastical censure does
not stop the spread of opinions. Ever
false opinions are held more tena
ciously when they are violently assailet
and true opinions flourish and spreae
under attack. The literary criticism O.
the Bible has not been abandoned, mol
it's results discredited, by official con
demnation. The church has driven ou
two distinguished scholars who make
use of it, and strengthen the truth by
that use. and has enriched other com
munions thereby to its own impoverish-
ment But the opinions publicly con
Idemned have not been driven out. They
are becoming a commonplace-not ye
of the ministry, for the ministry a
large are not as yet abreast OF the peo'
pie in this but of the educated, reading
Presbyterian public. This Statement
would doubtless be vehemently denlec
in some regions, but not many years
more will be needed to demonstrate its
truth before the eyes of all men. Dis
cussion is good thing in theology as
in politics and civics. Freedom of de-
bate brings out the truth. Courts can
not determine it, and punishments can
not crush it, The church is more anc
more inclined to trust the Holy Spirit
of God to lead it into the truth"
seThe Supreme Court of Michigan has
decided that reading without comment
in the public schools from a book en-
titled Readings from the Bible which
is made up almost entirely of selections
| from the Bible, is clearly constitutional
especially where the pupils are not re-
quired to listen. Such is a dispatch
sent out from Lansing, the Capital Of
| Michigan, on the date on which tbs
opinion was filed. If the especially is
part of the language of the decision
it is Bunsby-like utterance," says the
New York Christian Advocate
|
frequently very delusive. No child is
required to act as if he were listening
as part of order and may be punished
for not learning what he is expected to
recite And no small child can listen
unless what is said commands his at
tention. Comparatively few adults are
disciplined to- a point where they can
listen to a wholly uninteresting reading
from a person that they care nothing
about. 1t can hardly be expected that
the Supreme Court will allow the chill
| dren to make visible efforts not to
listen. We await the full text of that
decision, and it may prove that they
meant that the children need not come
to the school until after the reading"
| s'Side by side with the demand for
preaching is rising a demand for faith
full and intelligent pastoral work." says
the Christian Register Unity of Bos-
| ton. There is no question. for instance
| that the rapid advance of the ritualist
branch of the Anglican Church is due
not to eloquent preaching by any means
| but to parochial organization and de-
voted labor among the poor, along with
| the reverent and impressive conduct
| of public worship. 1t is we'll known
| that in England the non-conformist
bodies have been dropping behind the
Establishment in numbers and in influ-
ence during the past decade. There
are many reasons for this but among
them is surely the greater effectiveness
| of the latter among the lower classes
while. as is we'll known, the trend OF
the rich is decidedly in the same direc-
ton The fact is that everywhere two
| ideals of the church are facing each
other, and have been since the Refor-
nation. One is the church of thought
the other the church of worship and
work. The church of thought is intel
| lectual in its cast. inquiring, critical
and progressive The chief part of its
public exercise is the sermon, and its
| demand upon its minister is for mental
power. more especially mental tact and
skill for adapting truth to the wants
| or condition of his hearers. If this de-
mand brings an adequate supply. this
kind of church will succeed. If it does
not-and it certainly has not generally
succeeded so far-its pulpit will be. as
| a. whole. below the standard set by the
pews There will be great competition
frrs h a n1, Q.I1-