IDEALISM AND RELIGION - [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I
am glad that my letter provoked amongst others the delightfully naive and refreshing outburst front my young friend Miss Gilbert-Lodge. She has certainly received sonic hard knocks but I must ask at least one of your correspondents to remember that even in these degenerate days, it ought still to be " Ladies first " and willy-nilly the last word-always with them, so don't let us begrudge her a third innings, 'even 'if she was caught in the first and clean bowled in the second.. • •• I wish, however, now to return to' the direct question which I posed in my letter, viz., what is wrong-with organised religion in this country ? I suppose that most of- us wouldagree- that- Christianity, if it is to be an effective moral and • spiritual force in the State, must find- some corporate- expresSiOn for its' worship and sonic organised Channel or channels-for its services- to the community. Many .of us are stilt convinced- that our Church of England, Catholic though Reformed; is;-beerittile Of its history and character and consequent close and iritimlite- relationship to the State, on the whole and in' spite :of its manifold defects, the best available organ and instrument for this purpose. Why; then, does it to so serious an extent fail of its object and hait'in the accomplishinent 'of it ? it because of this very cloie alliance with • the -State ?' 'The Archbishop's Commission Report upon the whole • problem must cause some amongst' us furiously to think. Theadmissiob is wrung even from therh that- a strong-case for DiSeStablish- ment exists. Betbre; however; we seek along theft flats fuf solution of our strained relations with ,the State„-it is worth while to glance back at history. -I think that the more we study the past,-the more clearly it becomes evident that the real secret all through-has been our struggle to achieve and to conserve a purer form of scriptural Catholicism which avoids at once the accretions of Rome and the diminutions of Con-
tinental . • tinental .Protestantism., We shook off the encroachments of ,
Papalism at the.Reformation and ever since we have struggled to preserve a purer and, as wcbelieve, more Apostolic form of Catholicism against the insistent pressure from Puritanism to abandon our Catholic heritage. That pressure, both within the Cburch and without it, has constituted the real stumbling block to any effective corporate witness on the grand scale here in England. Our unhappy divisions have hindered the mcibilisfiig Of the .N■iioie moral and spiritual forces of Christi- anity as against the -menace of secularism past and present.
What, .however, is becoming increasingly clear is that the future-really lies, with such a presentation of ('hristianity as is,aiMed,at by the Church of England, embracing within its hospitable borders and endeavouring to. house under one wide ..roof all the values of a pure Catholicism, a sane Liberalism and a fervent Evangelicalism. Clearly if we are to minister effectively to the whole nation we must be able to offer not aone7sided and over-emphasised aspect of the whole truth-hut. the many-Sided witness and the manifold treasures hidden in a Catirolicisin purged of mediaeval abuses, and a Liberalism which faithfully fulfils its appointed task of holding fast to the great Church tradition and the revealed truth of ('hristianity whilst ever alert to save this from becoming frozen into static dogmas, by re-stating it and re-interpreting it in terms of modern thought. Side by side with all this is the fervent Evangelical passion which seeks to tell to others of the wonders of God's grace in the conversion and transformation of human souls brought to His healing touch through the Church's ministry of the. Word and the Sacraments.
We cannot afford to lose one little bit of all this which the world needs so badly. Can we not therefore seek a larger vision of a Church truly Catholic, sanely Liberal and on fire with Evangelical zeal ? Surely those at present outside our ranks might be caught by such a vision and come back to the Mother Church from which their forefathers broke away in despair. No one school of thought can ever hope to drive out,. the other -from the Church in these enlightened days. Rather must we labour to conserve just those aspects of the whole truth which we now perceive the others to be witnessing for and which, if we ourselves can assimilate them, will make our, own experience of Christianity the fuller and the richer.
Why not then, close our ranks and get on with the supreme task of Evangelism ? If for the adequate performance of such a task we find that we need a larger measure of spiritual freedom, such a gift will be gladly given to use in no grudging spirit by a grateful State and Nation.— Yeurs truly,
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