The War and Unity: Being Lectures Delivered At The Local Lectures Summer Meeting Of The University Of Cambridge, 1918 — John Shaqi
The War and Unity: Being Lectures Delivered At The Local Lectures Summer Meeting Of The University Of Cambridge, 1918
Religion
The War and Unity: Being Lectures Delivered At The Local Lectures Summer Meeting Of The University Of Cambridge, 1918
Christian sociology; Christian union; Social change; World War, 1914-1918 -- Religious aspects
(_a_) The first thing is to turn the intellectual opinion that Christian
division is wrong, and unity necessary, into a general passion. That is
to say, we want to develop among us the _motive of love_. We all talk
about love glibly, and about brotherhood and a new world, with very
little sense of what these terms involve in the individual life. I am
sure that we hardly know yet what love means nor what it exacts, nor
guess into how many provinces of ordinary life it can and ought to
operate; how many heritages of past history it must be allowed to wipe
out, how many preconceived notions it must dissipate; into how many
social, commercial, municipal, political relations it must begin to
permeate. It was for this reason that an article which I wrote when in
billets near Arras for the _Church Quarterly Review_ suggested a new
National Mission of Love in the Church of England. For the space of a
month or more the one subject dealt with by preachers and teachers
throughout the Communion would be Love, in all its bearings, and with
special reference to religious differences and their healing. I believe
that this would be a splendid way of making the passion for new love and
wider brotherhood general, an act of pure religion of highest importance
both to our Christianity and national life, and sure of blessing by God.
It would assure our Nonconformist brothers that we mean business, and
mean it deeply. Perhaps they would follow suit in their own
congregations.
It is the more important, because there is a danger of the leaders and
clergy of communions rushing ahead of the rank and file. Naturally they
see the vast issues most clearly; the congregation sees more easily its
own needs and habits of worship, and inclines to shut out of mind the
needs and interests of the Church as a whole. A National Mission of
Love, dealing with all history, the larger duties of the present, and
future hopes, would help to correct this, and give a single mind to the
whole body.
(_b_) Then, in order that the Church of England may go forward as one
whole, without the risk of sectional exasperation, it does seem to me an
urgent necessity that--I do hope it is not a presumptuous
suggestion--the Archbishops appoint a Council of Unity; to thrash out
the whole subject, and decide on definite steps of action, both within
and without the Church.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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