NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS WARNING
By The Rev. Dr. Hui terfield
By Our Own Correspondent " We know war is a horrible thing that rarely brings aught but suffering, death, and misery in its wake; yet our super-efficient modern world has not even the horse-sense to keep out of it. As the monkey said to the Bishop, ' This madness is unbelievably inereditable.' " This statement was made by the Rev. W. Butterfield, D.D., Ph.D., B.C.L., preaching at the Civic Sunday service held in the Church of
SS. Mary and John, Newton-le-Willows, on Sunday last.
The Modern World's Deficiencies
Dr. Butterfield said that the result of the deficiencies in the modern world were to be seen in the widespread evils of poverty, distress, slums, war, class struggle, social injustice, oppression and persecution of the weak by the strong, and every kind of wickedness.
" The solemn truth is that the modern world is a renegade," he continued, " an apostate world; it has rejected time one thing that was for its good, the one thing it simply could not do without. In practice it has rejected God and religion.
"Can a man live without a heart? Can man, modern man, the modern world, live without God? For years this impossible feat has been attempted; we are beginning to see the fatal result, we shall taste the bitter fruit to our destruction as the years roll on.
Christian No Longer " Ojwe our world was Christian,' now, in practice, it is Christian no longer. It has rejected its Christianity, it no longer lives according to Christian principle and Christian virtue, in justice and charity, in the love of its God and its neighbour. Instead, selfishness, greed, covetousness, love of wealth, pleasure, fame, power are the principles and motives of men's lives. la it to be wondered that there result injustice, quarrelling, hatred, war, discontent, unhappiness?
"The standard of morality rejected in Europe is the standard of Christianity. European civilisation is founded on Christianity, on the fact that Europeans agree to try to live by Christian principles, to be just and charitable to one another, to love and worship God and help their neighbour in the Christian spirit. In so far as they do that, in so far as they succeed in being good Christians, they live happily and fruitfully together, they are civilised, they will be free from injustice and war and all those other evils born of uncivilised, unchristian barbarism.
" Take from Europe its Christianity and it must inevitably perish. For a long time now, over a period of centuries, Europe has been gradually losing its Christianity, and our present evils are the natural result of that gradual dechristianisation.
" There is only one radical remedy; It is to give back to Europe its Christianity, to rechristianise an unchristian world, to teach men once more to live by Christian principle, in justice and charity one with another, to live as Christians should, as Christ taught them to hive, lovingly-loving God and one another.
" War, peace conferences, treaties, disarmament, the infinitely multifarious efforts of politicians are by themselves of no avail. They have been tried and have failed; doubtless they will be tried again, and will fail again.
"In proportion as the world begins again to live in that Christian way in that proportion will its sorrows and troubles disappear, and only in that proportion."