The Critical Review of Theological Philosophical Literature, Vol. 9 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from The Critical Review of Theological Philosophical Literature, Vol. 9

Canon Gore's essay is perhaps the most noteworthy in the book. He wishes that the Anglican Church, while remaining established and endowed, should attain to some measure of self-government, and he thinks that the example of the Established Church of Scot land shows that some measure of self-government is possible. To attain this there must be a desire and preparation for it. Both; within and without the Church. He sees the desire and the preparation in various movements which have manifested them selves during the reign of our present Queen. There has for example been a great revival Of the corporate life of the Church it is no longer regarded as merely a department Of civil administra tion. This corporate life is manifesting itself in such revivals Of corporate activity as diocesan and Church congresses, and it is generally recognised that a real and genuine Church life is em bodied in these assemblies. Then various circumstances have tended to emphasise the distinction between Church and State the recent Parish Councils Act which has removed almost the last vestiges of civil authority from church officers and vestries the Divorce Act which has set the law of the Church and the law of the State in Opposition to each other; the dealings Of law courts and of Parliament with theological and ritualistic disputes and the growing disinclination in the Houses of Parliament to interfere in properly ecclesiastical or Spiritual matters. And those movements are accompanied, Canon Gore thinks, by an increasing readiness on the part of the State to recognise the value of the services of the Church.

The desire for some measure of self-government on the part of the Church is only a natural outcome of these tendencies. But as soon as this reasonable aspiration for self-government comes into view, one practical condition Of its realisation immediately confronts us with peremptory urgency. And that is that it is vain to seek any measure Of self-government which will remain in the hands of the clergy only. If the Anglican Church is ever to be trusted with self-government the people must have their share.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Critical Review of Theological Philosophical Literature, Vol. 9

The motto of this extremely interesting volume of Essays appears to be the saying of Dr Johnson, quoted by the editor in his preface, "Shall the Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland have its General Assembly, and the Church of England be denied its Convocation?" The editor and his essayists are however aware that while no one denies that, in the last resort at least, the power to govern lies in the laity of what they are pleased to call the "Presbyterian Kirk," the popular idea is that when an Anglican speaks of the self-government of the Church he means the exclusive rule of the clergy. They see that this idea must be got rid of in fact as well as in name before the reforms they wish for can even be demanded. "It is quite certain," says Canon Gore, "that no English Parliament would grant self-government to the Church while the organ of this self-government is purely or almost purely the clergy." And he goes on to declare that the "necessary preliminary to our approaching Parliament with our great request," i.e., for some measure of self-government, "is to agree upon a scheme for giving constitutional representation and authority to the laity in parishes and dioceses."

The volume contains fifteen Essays of various value and written with very varying degrees of Christian charity. The three most interesting to the general reader are those on "General Outlines of Church Reform," by the editor, Canon Gore; "The Position of the Laity in the Early Church," by the Rev. R. B. Backham; and "Self-Government of the Church," by the Hon. and Rev. Arthur Lyttleton. In next importance come the Essays on "Parochial Church Councils," by H. J. Torr, on "Legal and Parliamentary Possibilities," by the Hon. Mr Justice Phillimore, and on the "Reform of Patronage," by Clement Y. Sturge, Barrister-at-Law. All three, like those on "Pensions for the Clergy," by Dean Lefroy, and "The Increase of the Episcopate," by Wilfred S. de Winton, describe matters which need to be reformed in the Anglican Church.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.