IN THE field of theology no less than in the cities and villages of invaded countries the German method of “frightfulness” has spread havoc. It is as much the purpose of Kultur to reduce the Almighty Son of God to the level of an ordinary man as it is to destroy the temples where He was wont to be worshipped. We have cherished the belief that one outcome of the war would be the relief of English religion from the malign influence of German destructive teachers. There is, however, on the part of Broad Churchmen, who claim to be the propagandists of modern Liberalism in the Church and the leaders in the cause of progress, an effort being made to induce the Prime Minister to recommend to the King for appointment to the See of Newcastle, the Deanery of Ripon and the Mastership of the Temple certain prominent members of that party with which, we are assured, “the ordinary layman is more and more coming to feel that the future lies”. One letter-writer suggests to Mr Asquith that Canon Glazebrook, Dr Morrison and the Rev. W. A. Edwards would adorn the positions now vacant. It is complained that “many clergymen of the Broad School pay a heavy price for their devotion to the cause of progress. They must still be prepared to endure, in the words of the Bishop of Hereford, a polite but lifelong boycott.” These words come oddly from the Bishop of Hereford, whose merits have certainly not gone without recognition. . . We hope that the interest of the Church and of religion rather than the interest of a narrow clique will be the Prime Minister’s sole consideration.
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