AFFAIRS IN EUROPE by J. H. W.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 25, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 12.

AFFAIRS IN EUROPE.

By J. H. W.

PEOPLE have become accustomed to associate the idea of cyclones and disasters with the United States; and it is true that our prairies offer great opportunities for displays of the power of the winds, and the great extent of our territory, and the rapid increase of railroads, render it impossible that the same watch should be kept over railroad travel that is exercised in the Old World. Yet the Old World is by no means free from disasters. The following from a London paper of February 7, under the head of "Disasters for the Week," will give an idea of what England has recently been subjected to:—

"The past week has been full of startling disasters. Severe gales and snow-storms have prevailed. A very serious collision took place in the English Channel off Dover on Sunday night, between the steamship Nereid, of Newcastle, and the full-rigged iron ship Killochan, of Greenock. Both vessels sank, and twenty-four lives were lost. On Sunday morning there was a railway accident in Belgium, near Brussels, in which fourteen were killed and fifty seriously injured. In addition to these there have been many minor disasters. The gale which has been blowing more or less for several days has left its mark on many places. On Sunday evening, in the middle of the service, the Salvation Army barracks at Derby were wrecked. The roof was blown in and two persons were killed and several wounded. The roof of Trinity Church, at Matlock, Bath, has been blown in. At South End, near Matlock, massive pieces of rock became loosened from the heights above, and rushed down the hill-sides, falling with tremendous force upon the highway. No one was hurt. At Southport early Monday morning the receding tide cut a new channel four feet wide adjoining the pier, carrying away thousands of tons of sand and stones, many of which became deposited on the chains of the new surf life-boat, thus holding her under water. The foundation of the pier also gave way, wrecking the refreshment room on the pier. Several small boats are buried in the débris. At Pudsey, Yorkshire, on Sunday evening, a part of the tall spire of the Congregational Church was dislodged by a furious storm, and fell with a tremendous crash through the roof into the midst of the congregation. The service was at once stopped, and a rush was made for the doors, but no one was hurt. A cottage was also partly blown down at Pudsey, the family being rendered homeless. At Bolton, part of the Church of the Holy Infant, Astley Bridge, was blown down, causing the greatest consternation, but fortunately injuring no one. About half of one side of the church was wrecked, and the structure is in a dangerous condition. At Sunderland on Monday the roof of a house fell in, and covered a man who was sleeping in bed, seriously injuring him. On Sunday evening the parish church at Hanmar, Flintshire, valued at £30,000, was destroyed by fire; also the parish church of Arbuthnot, Kincardineshire, was burned on Sunday. These are only a few specimens of the many disasters which have taken place throughout the United Kingdom, but these are quite sufficient to show the intensity of the gale which has been prevailing."

The Crown Prince of Austria recently committed suicide. This is a crime that is alarmingly prevalent, and on the increase, throughout Europe. Human life seems to be considered but of little worth. Dissipation and vice of all kinds combine with the immense preparations for war to lessen the sense of the value of life.

Doctor Stöcker, the German court preacher, is an able man, and has enjoyed great popularity, but he is somewhat losing caste in court circles because of his outspoken opposition to the union of Church and State. His opposition comes from a source from which it would least be expected, and cannot fail to exert some influence. A recent number of the German Evangelical Church Journal contained remarks from which the following extracts are taken:—

"The secular authorities are of divine appointment as well as the church. But the former deal with the appointments of nature, whilst the latter has to do with the appointments of grace; those work with the weapons of law and compulsion, these with the means of grace and liberty. And out of this profound difference between both institutions, arises the biblical injunction not to combine or intermingle them. Render to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and to God the things which are God's. This word of Christ separates the realms of religious life from those of the State life; but in our State churches they are falsely united with one another."

He then notices the objection that, humanly speaking, the Reformation was saved by the interference of worldly powers, but he says: "Nevertheless, history cannot invalidate a divine principle."

It is not certain that the doctor yet sees, what others see very clearly, that the union of Church and State throughout Europe, has undermined every principle, and is fast reversing every fact, of the Reformation. After the conviction, in Germany, of Pastor Thümmel for speaking against the institutions and doctrines of the Catholic Church, there was a general inquiry concerning the rapid rise of the power of Romanism in that empire, and the State church organs plead for an increase of State expenditures for the support of the State church. But the Evangelical Alliance called their attention to the fact that their connection with, and dependence upon, the State was the real cause of their weakness. It is, in fact, a repetition of the cardinal principles of the Roman Church, and can be expected to bear only the same fruit.

Consistency requires that in a State church the highest officials should be considered members of the church. And so it is. The king or queen of England is the head of the church, without regard to his or her personal standing religiously. And so of others. Of this fact Dr. Stöcker speaks as follows:—

"That worldly princes should rule, and the mighty among them have power, is an indisputable divinely-willed fact of secular arrangement. 'It shall not be so among you,' says the Saviour. But it shall thus be, after all, says the adherent to State-church principle. When that enlightened prince, Frederic William IV., felt his position in the church to be, beyond all dispute, 'unlawful and unchristian,' he stood on the side of Bible truth. Attempts have been made to maintain this truth by recognizing the authority of the Government, not as a secular power, but as being a prominent member of the church, and vested with ecclesiastical power. But in the first place, the holy Scriptures give no recognition to church-members, simply because they are prominent in worldly positions; this is no reason that they should be prominent in the church also. For in the life of the church not ruling but serving gives the pre-eminence; neither is worldly position, but living faith, held in esteem. Secondly, we find it indisputably true that ecclesiastical power was not vested in the Government, that is to say, the head of the State, as a personal matter. That anyone, simply because he is a distinguished person, wholly aside from his faith and walk, should be granted a pre-eminent place in the church, is such an absurdity that it never should have been maintained. Such a view is judged by the spirit as well as the letter of the Bible."

And yet such a view is the natural outgrowth and necessary associate of national religion. The Reformation in Europe was built upon the declaration that the Scriptures are a sufficient guide, and upon the right of private judgment in matters of faith. These are now denied in every State church in Europe—in Russia, in England, in Prussia, in Scandinavia, and even in Switzerland. A State church, or, which is the same thing, "national religion," is in its very nature antagonistic to the right of private judgment, and to freedom in worship. Basel, Switzerland, February, 1889.