IT was to be expected that the late Pan-Anglican Conference, including as it did the representatives of one of the most intelligent bodies of Christian believers, would give a prominent place to those subjects which are of the greatest moment to the Christian Church and the civilized world, and it is therefore interesting to note that the two topics which awakened altogether the profoundest attention were those of Christian Socialism and Christian Science.
The extended discussion of the nature of the social unrest and impulse of the present hour, and of the proper relation of Christian thought and activity thereto, elicited a great variety of opinions, and, withal, not a little conflict of judgment. Respecting the importance and legitimacy of the movement, however, as a rebuke to many existing economic conditions, and an appeal for the more equitable distribution of the products of labor,—a fair chance for every man,—there was a remarkable unity of thought. A long time ago Mazzini declared that "without a sense of the unity and solidarity of the human race there is no religion," and the many expressions of such a sense upon this occasion constituted one of the most distinctive and prophetic features of the great gathering. The democratic idea was in the lead, and its plea for all that makes for a genuine and universal brotherhood was applauded to the echo.
Some aspects of this present-day awakening of Christian people to human problems are especially noteworthy, namely, the clearer perception that Christ Jesus came to establish a new and ideal social order; that his gospel of good for all was to be a present-day affair, but that the bestowment of goods to feed the poor will not meet the situation; that any profession of Christian love which is not earnestly and instinctively seeking to secure such an administration of justice as will eliminate involuntary poverty, and in so far do away with social discontent, is proved thereby to be a pretense and a fraud; and that voluntary poverty is a disease of which its victims must be healed as of any other ailment. If Christian men are going to follow the injunction of our Lord, that they love their brothers as themselves, their religion, as one has put it, must become "less theological and more sociological," less ecclesiastical and more in keeping with the prayer, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth." These and kindred ideas were unequivocally championed at the Conference, while the responsibility of Christian people for much that militates against communal welfare was freely acknowledged.
