preserve society by saying "No" to our own hearts, by denying our own highest values. And religion itself has always been cramped by a fear of the treachery of God. But the notion that God can be treacherous, that He can betray us through our highest values, is contrary to the logic implied in the very word God. It is the very function of a Church to deny the treachery of God, to affirm our highest values, not only in its creeds but in its very constitution; to trust utterly in God, not in its own fortress of dogma or morality. For the State there are rules of conduct, which it must enforce so that it may exist. It is in competition with other States; at this moment our State is in a deadly competition, and therefore it makes new rules of conduct and enforces them with a new severity. But a Church, so long as it is one, is never in competition and needs to make no rules of conduct. It is like St. Peter, who could walk on the waves only when he was no longer concerned for his own safety. Certainly the logic of the Church is a high and difficult logic never yet fully understood or acted upon, because it is the logic of God projected into this intimidating and bewildering world.

VIII

THE BASIS OF CONTINUITY

BY HAROLD ANSON, M.A.

Rector of Birch-in-Rusholme, Manchester; Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Lincoln; late Warden of St. John's College, Auckland, N.Z.; late Co-Editor of "The Commonwealth"; Contributor to "Concerning Prayer" and "Faith or Fear?"

The powerlessness of the Church, made manifest during the war, is due to its lack of unity.

The great practical barrier to reunion is the theory, dominant in the Anglican Church in modern times, that an unbroken ceremonial transmission of ministry is a necessary part of the constitution of a Church.

So long as this mechanical continuity has been maintained it is not held to be essential that the whole body of the Church shall have approved of the form of government or chosen its ministers.

Those who lay stress on this orderly transmission of authority do so because they believe it to be the only means by which the moral and devotional tradition can be assured.

Yet history does not show us that it has generally been the bishops who have been the true champions of the Faith.

What are the factors which constitute the identity of a nation?

How far can the same criteria of identity be applied to the Church?

The Scriptural basis of the doctrine of the necessity for a continuous succession examined.

The evidence leads us to no certain conclusion that any form of government was imposed jure divino upon the Church.

From what we know of our Lord's attitude towards religious corporations it seems unlikely that He would have laid down a rigid rule the effect of which would be to give power to an order or caste, with power to transmit authority to the end of time.

THE BASIS OF CONTINUITY

THE outstanding feature of the Great War which began in 1914, as it has affected the Church of Christ, is (or ought to be, if Christians duly consider it) the total failure of the Church either to prevent the war from beginning, or to stop it when it had once begun. The Church has been so helpless, indeed, throughout the war, that statesmen have not even hoped that any message of truth should proceed out of its mouth or any act be done which would have any lasting value for the world's peace.

This paralysis of the Church in the crisis of the world's fate is chiefly due, as all men would allow, to the lack of unity in the Church. Not only is the Church not of one mind: its members cannot even be brought to meet for worship. If nothing else kept them apart, the fear lest they might be asked to partake together in that which is called-not in grim satire but in sober reverence-" the blessed Sacrament of Unity" would effectually prevent a meeting. The Eucharist effectually keeps Christian people asunder, and that because the Church cannot decide upon the qualifications necessary in the celebrant.

Now the chief cause of disunion among Christians