DEVOTIONAL READING .sx GUIDANCE FOR THE " RELIGIOUS BOOK WEEK .sx " By .sx Dean Inge .sx Several publishers are arranging a Religious Book Week from October 11th till 17th .sx This is a reading age ; and those who are disquieted by the falling-off in Church attendance in many parts of the country may take comfort from the large and steady sale of religious and devotional literature .sx There is no reason to think that the people of this country are becoming more indifferent to religion than they used to be .sx Among religious and devotional books , the Bible must always take the first place .sx The habit of reading " my chapter " every day has undoubtedly declined ; not many people keep it up .sx This is on the whole a misfortune ; but a more intelligent and less mechanical way of studying the Scriptures may bring greater profit .sx The Bible should be read with a commentary ; it should be understood that some parts of it have much greater value than others ; and it may be worth while , as a change from consecutive reading , to trace the development of revealed truth on certain great subjects , for example , the difficult problem of Divine justice which exercised the minds of nearly all the Old Testament writers , the slow growth of belief in a future life among the Hebrews , or the use in the New Testament of such new and characteristic ideas as love , joy , peace , hope , humility .sx The most valuable part of Bible study , as of all serious reading , is when we shut the book and think about it .sx We ought all to know well the great classics of devotion , such as the Confessions of St. Augustine , the Imitation of Christ , and , I think I would add , the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius , though the philosophic emperor was not a Christian .sx Every thoughtful Englishman ought to read and value our own religious literature , such as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress , Penn's No Cross No Crown , The Devotions of Bishop Andrewes and Bishop Wilson , and certainly not least , the works of William Law .sx The serious call is a very severe book , and some may think that it prescribes a more complete withdrawal from worldly interests than most of us are called upon to attempt ; but it must give every reader a wholesomely uneasy conscience .sx The best books of Law's mystical period , The Spirit of Love , The Spirit of Prayer , and Christian Perfection , may be recommended without any qualification .sx The Church of England has never produced a more devout spirit and a more virile intelligence than this great Nonjuror .sx Nor should we neglect religious poetry .sx Dante may be read ( with much loss ) in English ; but what a treasure of sacred poetry there is in our own language !sx If I had to choose the two finest bits of poetry ever written , I think I should select Milton's " Blest pair of sirens , " and the passage in Paradise Lost beginning " Hail , holy light , " which it is difficult to read without tears .sx George Herbert , Vaughan , and the recently unearthed Traherne are precious to all lovers of good poetry .sx There are a few exquisite poems by Richard Crashaw .sx Many of the eighteenth century hymns are good to read , though better to sing .sx The first part of Wordsworth's Prelude is one of the great poems of the world , and a classical exposition of the Christian Platonism .sx Keble perhaps did not say very much that had not been better said by Wordsworth ; but it was not for nothing that the Christian Year was the favourite Sunday reading in thousands of parsonages for two generations .sx Newman , in spite of his occasional narrowness and fierceness , is a noble writer , and we all have other friends in the English Treasury of Sacred Song .sx Those who are happy enough to love the mystics will not forget the exquisite Revelations of Julian of Norwich , and will perhaps add two other books of the same period , Hylton's Scale of Perfection , and the annonymous Cloud of Unknowing .sx The famous Theologia Germanica is in the same tradition , and modern books like those of Erskine of Linlathen and A Modern Mystic's Way are treasured by many .sx The Prayer Book bids us call upon the children " to hear sermons .sx " What are we to say about homiletic literature as devotional reading ?sx A sermon is a kind of speech , not a kind of essay , and how few speeches can be read without boredom !sx Among Parliamentary orators , perhaps only Burke ( who emptied the House ) , and John Bright .sx Some of the most popular preachers have either perished or are dreary to read - I am afraid Liddon is no exception .sx Church and Lightfoot are more alive , and Robertson of Brighton is still fresh .sx But as a rule the Church and not the closet is the place for sermons .sx There are a few good religious biographies and a great many bad ones .sx It would be invidious to make a selection ; but I am sure that biography should be a part of our serious reading .sx If the book is well written , with sympathetic understanding and no wish to present the subject always in canonicals , it may help us very much in our struggles with our own faults and in our wish to make the most of our talents , whether they are five , two , or one .sx Then there are books on Church History and on the development of dogma - not for everybody , but for those who can profit by them .sx The popular lives of Christ should be handled with discretion or not read at all .sx We have seen that Divine figure dressed up as a modern German , Frenchman , Englishman , or ( in The Man That Nobody Knows ) as an unmistakable Yankee .sx Or , as a schoolboy wrote .sx " Very little is said of this incident in the Gospels , but a full account may be found in Farrar's Life of Christ !sx " The short sketch by Bishop Gore in the Home University Library may be recommended , and Seeley's Ecce Homo is not out of date .sx A good time of the day for religious reading is the half-hour between being called in the morning and " time to get up .sx " If husband and wife can read aloud to each other at this time , they will get through a great deal in a year , and it is a very happy beginning to the day .sx The best books , especially poetry , were meant to be read aloud .sx It is an excellent practice ; it prevents us from reading too fast .sx WHAT PREACHERS ARE SAYING .sx CRISIS AND CONFIDENCE .sx By the Rev. H. GLEW , Vicar of St. James' , Selby .sx " For thus saith the Lord God , the Holy One of Israel ; in returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength .sx " - ( Isaiah xxx , 15 .sx ) Isaiah wrote in a time of crisis .sx Sennacherib and his Assyrian armies were hammering at the gates of Babylon .sx He was aiming at world power .sx Judah was alarmed .sx Her politicians were panic-stricken .sx Sennacherib was expected to turn his armies upon Palestine and strike Egypt .sx Judah's politicians were stung to action , but God was not in their thoughts , and they turned to Egypt for an alliance .sx Their politics had neither faith nor intelligence .sx Egypt was the blusterer of the political world .sx She was unreliable .sx No security lay that way .sx The crisis was great .sx Isaiah describes it as " the bulging out of a high wall whose breaking cometh suddenly .sx " A simple but effective illustration of imminent danger .sx What was to be done ?sx Isaiah confronts the politicians .sx Your strength is not in alliance but in reliance upon God .sx " For thus saith the Lord God , the Holy One of Israel ; In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength .sx " THE PRESENT CRISIS .sx A crisis is now upon this nation .sx It is not a crisis entirely of our making .sx Like Judah we are confronted with an international problem .sx But it is not a war crisis .sx It is an economic one .sx A crisis of money ; of the production and distribution of goods ; of trading and unemployment .sx It is a crisis that may be likened unto a storm with England in the track of it .sx The most stable countries of the world are in the storm .sx There are deficits and adverse trade balances on every hand .sx The nations are casting about for security .sx Can it be found ?sx The United States and France have sought it in gold .sx Their cellars bulge with it - a thousand million in the U.S.A. ; five hundred million in France .sx But security is not in gold .sx Our politicians borrowed gold , but security was not that way .sx The pound sterling has been forced off the gold standard .sx THE SPIRIT OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE .sx The crisis is real , but unlike Judah Britain's heart is strong .sx Panic is far from our thoughts .sx As in the war crisis , Britain stands firm .sx Nothing is finer than the magnificent courage and calm with which the British people face a crisis .sx This is a greater asset than bars of gold .sx But nevertheless Isaiah's call is urgent to-day .sx " In returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength .sx " In spite of the magnificent spirit of our people - in spite of our acceptance of higher taxation without a murmur - in spite of the quiet acceptance of a possible general election , there is one disturbing feature in the spirit of the British race .sx It is the thing that Isaiah saw in his nation .sx It is the neglect of God .sx The awful thing about the neglect of God is the fact that the spirit of the people loses its fibre .sx The morale of the people declines .sx History witnesses to the fact that the stability of civilisation depends upon the people's hold on God .sx It was the people's lack of a real hold on God that gave Isaiah misgiving .sx The lack of any real hold on God is the weakness of our national life to-day .sx The fact of unrest ; the fact of uncertain market prices ; the fact that securities tend to depreciate is not an isolated fact .sx It is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual unrest .sx There is instability in the spiritual basis of our nation .sx Note its loose hold on morals .sx To say more about this would be to shock you .sx Note its terrible waste of money on gambling .sx Note its disregard of the Christian faith and life .sx Our modern life is in danger of losing its basis .sx It is grounded on nothing .sx We have been living above our income not only in matters of money but in matters of spirit .sx LIVING ABOVE OUR INCOME .sx Our financial credit was not genuine .sx It was founded upon past tradition .sx Our magnificent spirit is not secure .sx It is an inheritance from the spiritual resources of our fathers .sx Financially and spiritually we are parasites on the past .sx We have not built up our own spiritual resources .sx The decay of religion is evidence of this .sx The financial crisis has called us back to live within our income .sx Capital must be accumulated to be secure .sx This crisis calls us back to build up our spiritual capital .sx We are called back to God .sx " In returning and rest shall ye be saved .sx " Sir Francis Goodenough told a group of business men a parable the other day .sx I would vary that parable a little .sx There was a successful business man who fell sick and was told he must have a very serious operation .sx He employed the best physician , the best surgeon , and the best nurses .sx He grew worse .sx A series of operations were necessary .sx To overcome his troubles he spent all .sx He got into debt .sx He borrowed from his friends .sx In his convalescence he said , " I have spent all and overspent .sx I must be careful now .sx I will save and repay my debts .sx I am thankful I survived .sx I will get myself straight again .sx " Britain was mutilated by the operations of war .sx She hardly survived but she did survive .sx She was in debt .sx The operations of war had cost too much but did she act as that business man ?sx No .sx She spent more .sx She acted as though the war had enriched her .sx She spent her substance as a profligate , and now the bill has come in to be paid .sx