The Henson Journals

[118]

Thursday, September 16th, 1920.

In the "Times"of Sept. 11th which I read in the Hotel last night, the Bishop of Norwich has a letter on the "Fall of Man" in which he refers with marked politeness to Canon Barnes's "excellent sermon", and endeavours to show its compatibility with orthodox Christian belief. But he avoids the crucial question, In what sense is Christ the Saviour of men from their sins since the Fall, which created the historic phenomenon if sin never happened? Rashdall's Bampton Lectures on the Atonement disclosed no belief in anything more than the influence of Christ's revelation of the Divine Character, and that of his own teaching & example. But is there really any sufficient reason for thinking that Christianity can on this view reform men, & regenerate life & character? We have no experience of any "conversions" effected apart from a belief in a real Atonement, and we ourselves, though we part easily enough with the formal doctrine, are probably still dominated by the old conviction. Nor can the true effect of the definite abandonement of the doctrine of Atonement effected by Christ's Death be justly appraised immediately. A generation must grow up without the notion of sin as the Atonement must needs shape it before the moral result begins to disclose itself. Even now it is very hard to keep alive in one's mind any deep or continuing sense of the sinfulness of wrong action: how will it be with us when the vision of the Cross of Jesus has faded from the spiritual horizon, and all the moving appeals which the Cross has suggetsed have been disallowed? Christianity as a Religion of Redemption can hardly survive the belief in the Fall, and in the sinfulness of human nature, & ^in^ the consequent need of a Saviour.

[119]

The Swedes are horribly pertinacious. Yesterday, I repulsed with difficulty a representative of the Anglo–Swedish Society, who asked me to lecture. Today, he returns to the charge, having in the interval communicated with the Archbishop of Upsala. I make a vague promise subject to the Abp's sanction. There follows an oleaginous Swede, professing to have been chaplain of the Swedish legation in London, who prefers a similar request & is similarly got rid of! Then the Bishop of Peterborough arrives, having come straight through from Harwich. He gives an ill account of the outlook in England. The miners continue to be unyielding. I wish we were well back in Durham before the crisis actually breaks.

We lunched very pleasantly with the Ramsays. Mrs Ramsay was Miss Surtees, a daughter of General Surtees of Mainsforth, who recently offered to let me his house. Mr Ramsay has been in China & appears to have married a widow, for when I admired the three charming children, he explained that the two elder were step–children. Mr Williams, the chaplain, had arranged a nice little service in the English church at 3 p.m. where I confirmed 4 young women. My address was interrupted, & all but arrested by the continuous coughing of some female. Why, with such a cough, she had attended the service at all passes my comprehension. After this function, I was interviewed by a young woman, who certainly did not understand anything I said, but nevertheless wrote briskely! Then we were taken in charge by "Sir Edgar Reuterskiöld, member of Chapter & Dean of the Faculty of Theology" in Upsala, who had [120] been sent in by the Archbishop to take charge of us. This excellent man, who spoke English very imperfectly, but professed to understand it better, chartered a taxi, and drove to a suburb of Stockholm where the great new church of Engelbrektskyrkan had been recently completed. This building makes a fine spectacle set up on a bold prominence, with a lofty though rather slender tower. The architect, Wahlman, has projected a bold design. His church is very lofty & very crude, but it accommodates 1500 persons, has no columns, & (we were assured) perfect acoustics. We were shown the chasubles & church plate. The altar–table was adorned with "seven stars", and in the apse were a great realistic Crucifix and frescoes. The Professor had tea with us in our hotel, & talked very interestingly about the state of ecclesiastical affairs in Sweden. He said that the theological students were now steadily increasing, and that they were including a larger proportion of well–born youths. In the University of Upsala there were about 2500 students, & of these as many as 500–600 voluntarily attended service in church. He complained of the difficulty of obtaining English books in Sweden; German books were easily obtainable but not English.

The Bishop of Peterborough & Ella went to the Opera. While I yet sate in the dining room the pertinacious journalist sent in a message; & I was in fact photographed by this enterprising young lady, (or rather by a photographer under her direction) in my bedroom! Could deeper humiliation befall a Prince Bishop of Durham!

[121]

Scarcely had this enterprising young lady retired than the telephone bell rang again, & I learned that yet another interviewer was on his way. My power of resistance was now much impaired, & murmuring. "Let them all come!". I resigned myself to my fate. In due course, the reviewer arrived, a stout squat man looking like a blend of a drover & a book–maker, who explained that he was a Swedish clergy–man, but had been bidden to come here at once so that he had had no time to don clerical attire! His English was woefully defective, but he said that he was a student of the "Guardian", & indeed seemed to have some inkling of the facts of English religion. He asked me about the controversy as to "Liberal" theology, the attempts at Reunion, & the precise meaning of the Lambeth proposals. I am far from persuaded that he understood my replies, but he wrote much in his note–book, & thanked me profusely!

The "Times" of Monday, the 13th inst, is rather disconcerting. We seem to be drifting into a coal–strike. Everybody, including the "Labour" leaders professes to deprecate it, but nobody points out any way of escape. On the main question the Government cannot give way on the subsidiary demand for a further increase of the already exorbitant wages which the miners are receiving, a temporary arrangement is not impossible. But the opinion gains groud that a stand must be made sooner or later, & better sooner than later. Thus the prospect of avoiding the certain loss & incalculably grave possibilities of a coal strike seems to become more remote as the days pass.

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