THE CHURCH AND DIVORCE [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—May I point out that the letters of " A Liberal Church. man " and of Mr. G. F. C. Raban, criticizing my article on the above subject, practically support its contentions ? " A Liberal Churchman " quotes a passage from the Divorce Act to show that it had in view parochial conditions. Even if it had, which is not in the least clear, he goes on to nullify his argument by stating that " the parochial atmosphere has come to prevail more acutely and on a wider scale." Mr. Raban thinks that I have " got hold of the pig by the wrong ear." I think not. He seems to make no allowance for the diffi- culty of compressing a most perplexed and tangled subject within the limits of an article. I am aware of the texts he cites, and of the implications of their problems, textual and other- wise. But the fact that two interpretations were allowed to I Cor. vii. 15, seeing that the power to marry again would conflict with the crucial Luke xvi. 18, and that the Church permitted " the benefit of the doubt," surely conveys a doubt as to the genuineness of the Lucan text. Any alternative is difficult to imagine. In any case, the points I desired to stress remain untouched—the problem which confronts the parish priest, and the need for authoritative direction. A rigorist
adherence to the ancient Canon Law, minus the many allevi- ations which ecclesiastical casuistry had brought about, would seem to be the impossible thing.—I am, Sir, &c.,
THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE.
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