Krritir of hrrieirt, lOli/OH. 



Topics of the Month. 



369 



Richardu and (.tr.j [Ptmtv. 



The Rt. Rev. 01" Cairns. 



the religion ot Love, 

 without fear or fav- 

 our?" 



But what, you 

 may ask, about the 

 Labour Movement, 

 the Land Question, 

 the Drink Problem, 

 Socialism, etc. ? 



I think that it is 

 the duty of all re- 

 ligious teachers to 

 ilucate the people 

 <n these great ques- 

 tions, to show them 

 tliese questions in 

 the light of moral 

 .md religious princi- 

 ple. I think it is 

 ihe duty of Chris- 

 tian people to edu- 

 cate themselves, and 

 keeping in view the 

 great fundamental 

 principle, Alan first 

 to throw all their weight into the scale of 

 what they feel is in the best interests of men, 

 women and children, even though this may mean 

 some sacrifice. Room must be left for healthy 

 difiference of opinion ; but magna est Veritas. 



Personally I do not see how the programme of a 

 genuine (Christianity is to be carried out without 

 great radical changes in social environment. If 

 one is to be true to the Religion of Love, he must 

 lay his account with being regarded as an '' agita- 

 tor," and one who would '• turn the world upside 

 down," however peaceful are the methods dictated 

 by such a religion. 



THE RIGHT REV. DR. CAIRNS 



(Moderator Presbyterian Church of Victoria). 



It goes without saying that the Church is in 

 favour of Social Reform. Throughout her whole 

 history she has been closely identified with the 

 interests of the people, and has been in the van of 

 every movement which had for its object the reform 

 of .ibuses. Everybody knows the part taken by 

 the leaders of the Church in the reform of prison 

 regulations, in the emancipation of the slave and 

 in the lessening of all those evils which unhappily 

 have been too prevalent even in Christian coun- 

 trie.4. And to-day she is ready to take her place 

 alongside those who are seeking to correct the 

 abuses that call loudly for reform. 



.At the s.nme time she refuses to be drawn aside 

 from her proper work, or to become the partisan 

 of any particular class. The mission as defined by 

 her Mn-'f-r w t" jir<^ni-h the gospel, to exhibit svm- 



pathy with human sorrow and human suffering, 

 and to promote peace and goodwill among men. 



There are some to-day who stand aloof from 

 the Church, because she has not become the cham- 

 pion of their class, because she has not denounced 

 men, who, they affirm, have grown rich upon the 

 earnings of their employes, and because she has 

 not preached a gospel of Land Nationalisation. 

 Men of that tyi)e forget that the Church is seeking 

 to follow in tiie steps of her Master and that He 

 absolutely refused to interefere vrilh those ques- 

 tions which could be best dealt with by the con- 

 stituted authorities. The Church stands for justice 

 between man and man. She holds no brief for the 

 rich man against the poor, and none for the poor 

 man against the rich. The great principle which 

 she enunciates for the poor and rich alike is — " As 

 ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even 

 so unto them." 



And yet, although we hold by that position, we 

 affirm that much may be done, and ought to be 

 done, to reform the abuses that are prevalent 

 Bunyan tells us in " The Pilgrims' Progress ' that 

 when Christian found himself in the City of De- 

 struction he hastened out of it as speedily as pos- 

 sible. We ought to kncrtv our duty better, and the 

 true Christian, instead of thinking of his own 

 safety, and so escaping from evil, ought to rouse 

 himself to do what he can to change the City of 

 Destruction into a city whose walls aro salvation, 

 and whose gates are praise. 



Jesus Christ came into the world to save men, 

 to make them liker God. And we feel that no 

 pride, no selfishness, no greed, no injustice, and 

 no indifference to social responsibilities can exist 

 in the lives of men who worship God in spirit and 

 in truth. The teaching of Jesus means the des:ruc- 

 tion of selfishness. It means a finer justice, a 

 nobler charity, a more generous interpretation of 

 the rights of others, and a purer spirit of i)n)tlierh<iod. 

 Men talk often as though risking life on the 

 battlefield were the only or at least the highest iorm 

 of patriotism ; but peace has her victories as well 

 as war. The Church has been teaching all the 

 time that men may live for their country as well as 

 die for it, that patriotism can be shown in attack- 

 ing injustice, and fraud, and oppression and kin- 

 dred evils, in saving mens lives at home as well 

 as in destroying men's lives abroad. The Church 

 is awake to-day to the evils that are prevalent in 

 all communities, and by her Temperance Societies, 

 by her various organisations among the young, and 

 by her practical efforts to help those who are 

 heavilv handicapped in the race of life, is showing 

 perhaps more of the spirit of her Master than at 

 any past period of her history. She understands 

 that the command, " Seek first the Kingdom of 

 God," when translated into the language of to-day, 

 implies, among other things, the honest discharge 

 of the duties which we owe to societv. 



