Honest Brent

Unofficial though it is, there could be no more authentic pronouncement upon the condition of the church universal than an analysis of the Stockholm conference* by the Rt. Rev. Charles Henry Brent, Bishop of western New York./- This he has in effect issued in a 50-c- book called Understanding.

It is widely supposed that theological differences are relatively unimportant today. Astonishingly, Bishop Brent finds that they are vitally important, are, in fact, the most important differences which exist among Christians. Before varieties of Christians can deal unitedly with practical matters they must, says the world-circling Bishop, "face problems of faith and order, of sacrament and authority." Herein the Bishop, an intellectual modernist, departs from the American liberals, whose inclination is to sidestep questions of faith and order, of sacrament and authority. Secondly, it is widely supposed that the non-Catholic churches have come, or are rapidly coming, to close cooperation. But according to Bishop Brent, the Stockholm conference revealed that the breach among the churches, even in practical affairs, is greater than he dreamed. For this reason he finds the Church singularly impotent: "The lost Christian ethic remains undiscovered."

And for both these reasons, the Bishop reports that Stockholm was an historic event in Christianity, because it made a new and sincere beginning of the task of uniting Christ's scattered hosts. The beginning was a beginning in under-standing--the flower which bloomed at Stockholm.

*Leaders of all important Christian bodies except one were present (TIME, Aug. 24 et seq.). The Roman Catholic, itself a church universal, was not represented. /- Recently appointed to govern the American Episcopal churches in Europe.