RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY, Mr. Evelyn Waugh re- cently reminded us, has
its difficulties and demands a certain knowledge of the subject. Writing in the current number of Encounter, Mr. Angus Wilson seems to be oblivious of both the hazards and the requirement. The Church of England, he alleges, is a church not of compre- hension but of compromise, but the only examples given of what he means by this accusation are her acceptance of scientific knowledge and a warning against future wooing of parapsychology. Mr. Wilson believes that this kind of 'compromise' shows not so much a passion for truth as a desire by the church to strengthen herself--a reflection which sheds more light on its author than on the object of his remarks. He further alleges that this compromising church has refused to include within itself visionaries and mystics— but then doublethink of this kind is always easier to swallow in nice airy generalisations. There is only one sentence which seems to fit the facts fairly and squarely. 'The Church of England remains, I should imagine, in a steady decline.' Mr. Wilson has the honesty to admit that this remark at least belongs to the sphere of phantasy and imagination.
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