The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-05-21
THE ANGLICAN PETITION FOR
FREEDOM.

AZ The EDITOR OF lHE SUS-oH' hoNo
to thank you for putting me in RI ght light
and pointing out that my object is not to
aid In destruction, but rather TO ascertain
the real limits Of the destructive process,
and especially to challenge what appeared
70 me to be the extreme assumptions OF the
Materialist school. We seek, amid these
troubled waters, to find, II possible, some
anchorage for reasonable faith
The inquiry is partly historical, and as suoh
comes within the province Of student OF
history. The part which is strictly theologt-
cal would more properly belong to our theo-
| logical guides II only their thought and utter
ance were free.
A number Of Anglican divines; including
some OF rank and reputation. plead for
liberty to deal honestly with the New Testa-
ment In the light Of critical investigation.
BY the heads Of the Canadian Church At
Montreal they are pointed to the door and
told that in that way they may save their
honor; as though honor were separable
from loyalty to truth This awakens us TO
the disadvantage under which this vital
inquiry Is being pursued. The clergy OF
all denominations, the men by vocation set
apart, by their training specially equipped,
by their personal aspirations dedicated to
the service of spiritual life. are by their ordi-
nation vows debarred from conscientious
inquiry. They are fettered by doctI1nal
chains forged in days Of imperfect knowl-
edge and sectarian strife, In some cases
FULLY as much by the hand Of political power
as by that Of theological conviction. Isit not
our interest that they should be set free9
To take the case Of the present remon-
strants. happened some yean ago to
be the guest of my revered and beloved
friend Archbishop TAFT when he was called
upon to decide question Of ritual. Being
occupied at the time, he turned me into
bis library to look up the historical point
for him. In doing 80 could not help being
struck with the fact that the code Of belief
and worship by which all the clergy Of
the Church Of England were to be unalter-
ably bound was the motley and ambiguous
all OF which were the immediate work,
not OF spiritual authority or conviction,
but Of political power, and Of political
power In far from spiritual hands. The
first two revolutions conducted by Thomas
Cromwell and the reaction which after
ward followed the change Of asoendency
in the Kings council, were the work of
Henry VIII. The third was the work Of
the intriguing politicians who formed the
Council Of Edward vi. The last, and that
which has left the deepest trace. was the
work Of Elizabeth, for whose character
unspiritual Is the nildest term, and of
the worldly wise statesmen OF her reign.
Through all the stages OF the transition the
secular power can be proved to have been
supreme, The ecclesiastical Convooation
was set at naught. The statesmen of
Elizabeth's reign were paragons OF worldly
sagacity. The Anglican compromise be-
tween the old and the new faith which
they produced did prove in a remark
able degree suitable to the temper of the
people, and has been carried by the race
into all countries over which its migra-
tons have extended, though it has not
proved suitable to other races. notably to
the Irish and Welsh. But interest, not
conviction, is the region of compromise,
and the history Of the Anglican Church
has been an intermittent wrestle between
the Catholic and Protestant ideals, closely
connected with political party, which under
Charles l. broke out in political revolution.
This may be said without Withholding from
Anglican piety its due or failing to recognize
the service done by it to Christendom
We now see the two elements contend
ing for the possession OF the Church under
the supremacy of Parliament for which
Anglican belief is no longer a qualifica-
ton and in which religious interests Of any
kind can hardly be said to prevail. High
Churchmen are desperately contending for
the liberty of interpreting the Protestant
Articles by the light of the semi Catholic
Liturgy. The Articles were framed after
the Liturgy and are dogmatio and original
manifesto, which the Liturgy is not. Rich
though such an institution may be in per-
formularies be. as the Montreal Episcopate
seems to think that they are, final deter
mination OF religious belief
What is said Of the Anglican Church
may be said of all other Churches the clergy
Of which are bound by stereotyped creeds,
products Of antiquated controversy or
enthusiasm now extinct, and by ordina-
ton vows Little, it would seem. can be
done by revising the XXXIX. Articles, the
Westminster Confession, or any other
standard OF belief. To prove all things
and hold fast that which is good is surely
the only ordination VOW fit to be imposed
at the present time upon keeper and
teacher OF religious truth. II amid these
doubts and difficulties We look to the clergy
for guidance, ought we not to begin by
setting them free? Freedom would entail
no secession, no renuEciation. no change
OF conviction other than such as conscience
might require.
While l write. Presbyterian clergyman
Is praying for complete emancipation from
the shachles OF the Westminster Confess
sion. GOODWIN SMITH
Peculiar Arrangement Of the Starry Field.
From the Ner London Globe.