the freedom of conscience, vindicated at the Reformation. This is part of the so-called Protestant contribution to modern civilization, and the Church of England took no small share in the vindication of that principle.

This then is the threefold witness of the Church of England-Scriptural, Catholic, Protestant a witness which no other communion can give. We have made too little of the greatness of our position. It is such as to comprehend all that is vital in the other communions. But now the time has come when we must make it known. We owe it to our Church. We owe it to the people of this country.

The Religious Outlook

If the position of the Christian faith were judged by what we often read in the pages of some novels and maga1 zines, its prospects would indeed be gloomy. I want, therefore, to utter a word of re-assurance upon the. subject.

In these it is often assumed that religion is oldfashioned; that nobody who is abreast with modern knowledge holds to the traditional doctrines of the Christian Creed, or believes in the inspiration of the Scriptures, and that even the Clergy are tainted with practical infidelity while still retaining their official position in the Church.

With reference to the last allegation, I think that I can safely say that it is wholly baseless as regards the Clergy of the Church of England in this country; and with reference to the other allegations I venture to declare that they are wholly incorrect, both as regards the most modern knowledge and as regards the attitude of scholars of the first rank towards the Christian faith. The allegations are dangerous only where men have not the means of knowing, or have not read enough to know differently, or where they are not sufficiently interested to search for themselves whether these things are so. It cannot therefore be too clearly understood or too widely proclaimed that the trend of the most recent and best thought in both science and philosophy is not anti-religious or antiChristian, but rather the opposite.

But now, having said this, we do know, however, that there is a certain amount of unsettlement in matters of faith among the rank and file of the people who have no access to the best and most recent work of present

scholars and who generally take their knowledge at third or fourth hand-an unsettlement aggravated by such irresponsible allegations. People have not given up their faith, but they are shaken as to the certainty of it. They are not sure of it. The result is best expressed by saying that they are drifting, without sure conviction that Christianity is the supreme and exclusive religion that it claims to be.

As we look back over the past fifty years we can trace fairly intelligently the causes which have produced the present unrest. They are broadly three in number: The influence of modern science, the tendency of modern criticism, and the drift or spirit of the age. All these are inter-related, for modern criticism is largely the application of scientific methods to history and to historical documents, and the drift of the age has taken its direction under conditions which owe their nature in a great degree to the transformation of the material environment of human life by the application of the discoveries of physical science. Their cumulative result is the present unrest.

And yet, when we take each of these causes by itself we can see that there is no reason to feel alarmed over the ultimate issue. It is evident that the causes and their combination are only a temporary phase in the progress of knowledge and in the age-long struggle of the faith, a phase which is already passing away.

1. First take the influence of modern science. Many sincere people find a difficulty in reconciling their faith with what they are told and believe to be the most recent facts of science. This arises mainly from the false emphasis laid by science a generation ago upon physical causation. Natural law governs the universe and it was assumed that matter and force have produced all that exists. That left no room for God, and hence the difficulty. Those who know will remember that these were the scientific conceptions of twenty or thirty years ago. It is only now, however, that they have reached the popular mind. Those who dabble in scientific ideas and write in popular novels or magazines, or who give popular lectures on scientific and religious subjects, under secular agencies, retail these conceptions as the most advanced results of modern science. But the true men of science, the leaders in scientific work and scientific thought today, know perfectly well that these conceptions are oldfashioned or accepted with well recognised limitations.

The mechanical conception of the universe is in fact fast passing away and the philosophers of to-day recognise man's freedom and man's spirit and leave ample room for the spiritual, and therefore for God. So far from matter and force being the cause of everything, it is now held that these are but manifestations of an infinite spirit. The laws of nature are no longer the supreme things which they were once considered, making us the slaves of matter and force. They are now regarded as the means by which matter and force are mastered by the free mind and will of man. And if man can make natural laws to subserve his purpose, surely God can do as much. And therefore there is ample room for miracle and answers to prayer. What we need to do, therefore, is to expose the obsolete character of this popular science and to assure the unsettled that the best and most recent science and philosophy are not hostile to the faith.

2. Again, much the same is true as regards the tendency of modern criticism. The popular mind is very vague. It does not grasp the exact result of any development of scientific thought. It receives an impression and from that impression it derives its conviction or want of conviction. There is an impression abroad that criticism has altered radically the value of the Scriptures and weakened their authority. It is assumed or vaguely feared that our ideas concerning their historical character were all wrong, and one is often astonished to meet with the extreme theories of the Tubingen School of forty years ago quoted as accepted results of criticism. The criticism of the New Testament has now reached something like finality, and the result has been the overthrow of all the extreme theories of forty years ago and the establishment almost in its entirety of the old and traditional view of the dates and origin of the New Testament books. And even as regards Old Testament criticism, the discoveries of the spade are largely modifying the theories of the first critics. The theories of even ten years ago are already being revised, and the revision is in a conservative direction. But as with science, so with criticism, many popular writers in novels and magazines retail the old theories, no longer held by the best scholars, as if they were the most recent results of scientific criticism. But truth is mighty and it will prevail. All we need is patience, and courage, and faith. No lover of truth will deprecate, but rather welcome the most searching criti

cism of all the books of the Bible. But I am firmly convinced that, as in the case of the New Testament, so also in the case of the Old, true scientific criticism will only serve to bring out more and more clearly the marvellous purpose of God towards our race as finally fulfilled in the person and work of Christ Jesus our Lord.

3. And then the drift of the age. The tendency of the age has been to concentrate thought and energy more and more upon the material side of life. The scientific discoveries of the last fifty years have given to man an amazing mastery over material forces. The expansion of commerce and industry, the opening of new continents for exploitation, the immense accession of material comforts and luxuries have made the earth very attractive for the well-to-do; so attractive that God and heaven if not disbelieved are simply forgotten. At the other end of the social scale the struggle for existence has become fiercer and fiercer, and the thoughts and energies of men have been so taken with schemes of combination for bettering their material conditions that, again, God and heaven, if not disbelieved, are simply forgotten. But surely these are transitory conditions. The heart of man remains the same and will assert itself and seek after God, for it cannot find rest till it rests in Him, and therefore we need not despair. There are aspirations and ideals in the heart of man which the negations of science and criticism and the comforts of the material world cannot satisfy, and which can only be satisfied by the assurances and promises and experience open to men in Christ Jesus.

These causes singly or in combination may produce a temporary unsettlement, but as it is fundamentally due to a presentation of science which is fast passing away, it can only be temporary. In the meantime it is the mission of the Church and especially of the Clergy to warn the people against the obsolete science and even obsolete criticism which are dealt out to them as "modern" knowledge, and above all to uplift the Lord Jesus, the truth of Whose claims and historical reality have only been enhanced by the discoveries and best criticism of the day. For, after all, it is not by elaborate discussions of science and criticism, however necessary in their place, that men are won for God, but by uplifting the Lord Jesus. Let the Church be true to her Lord and exhibit His life and spirit in her activities, and the clouds which now tem

porarily dull the heavens will pass away like a morning mist before the rising sun.

Churches Consecrated-7.

1. Trinity Church, Wiarton, Oct. 15, 1911-This event took place under the unique circumstances of a vacancy in the parish. Nevertheless the credit for the event is largely due to the Rev. C. K. Bourne, who, however, had resigned the parish before the Consecration of the Church.

2.-St. John's Church, Port Elgin, Oct. 18, 1911-The consecration of this church was looked forward to eagerly under the Incumbency of the Rev. W. F. Brownlee, who had worked diligently for it. His successor, Rev. T. J. Hamilton, took up the work and with the co-operation of the people brought it to the happy culmination on the date mentioned.

3. Grace Church, Nissouri, Dec. 10, 1911.-This was really a double event, Consecration and Jubilee. The Church has been completely renovated and now forms one of the neatest country churches in the Diocese. Both the Incumbent, Rev. H. Snell, and the people, are to be congratulated upon the happy event.

4. St. James' Church, Wallaceburg, Feb. 18, 1912.The consecration of this church marks a new era of life and energy in this parish under the incumbency of the Rev. A. L. Charles, and there are prospects of still further developments in this promising field.

5.-St. John's Church, Glencoe, Feb. 20, 1912.-This event marked the culmination of a long effort on the part of the people and of successive Incumbents, particularly of the Rev. Edwin Lee, who, however, had left the parish before the Church was ready for Consecration, which took place under the new Incumbent, Rev. C. H. P. Owen, who, with his accustomed energy, brought the matter to final and successful issue.

6. St. Matthew's Church, London, March 10, 1912. -This happy event marked the conclusion of a long struggle; two men especially labored hard for it, the Rev. E. Appleyard, the present incumbent, and his immediate predecessor, the Rev. Wm. Lowe. This is the third Church under the incumbency of the Rev. E. Appleyard which I have consecrated in two years, a fact which constitutes a distinguished record.

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