The Henson Journals

[181]

13th Sunday after Trinity, August 26th, 1923.

Almighty and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The epistle is taken from the Pauline argument in the epistle to the Galatians, very unattractive and unhelpful to modern readers, which leads to the conclusion that "the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Man's natural inability to "do unto God true and laudable service" is in the Christian covenant remedied by the gift of Divine power to all genuine believer. Then the Gospel for the day sets before us the Divine claim on man. The lawyer's "tempting" question, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? is answered by a reference to "the Law" which the lawyer spiritually interprets in the "evangelical summary" of the Decalogue as requiring love to God ad love to one's neighbour. To the further question, And who is my neighbour? Christ replies in the beautiful and profoundly suggestive parable of the Good Samaritan. The collect links the teaching of the Lord with the doctrine of S. Paul. Only within the Christian covenant, where Divine grace enables human weakness, is obedience to the Divine law possible to man.

[182] [symbol]

Before getting up I read through the little "congress book" which treats of "Evolution and the Fall". It is written by E. O. James, D. Litt, F.S.A., F.R.A.J. Vicar of St Thomas', Oxford. It opens with the bold suggestion that the conflict between Christianity & Science, of which the condemnation of Galileo in the classic illustration, was really due to the Reformation. Fathers & Schoolmen were familiar with the theory of evolution, but "then came the Reformation, and with it an insistence on the mechanical verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. The stories of creation, therefore, is the opening chapters of Genesis came to be interpreted quite literally as records of historical facts. Thus gradually the notion of 'special creation' and of the 'fixity of species' took definite shape, aided by such writings as Milton's Paradise Lost: & this view, although devoid of Biblical or ecclesiastical authority, thenceforth became the generally accepted explanation of the world of nature". This almost takes one's breath away. The literalism of the Fathers and the Schoolmen was incredibly coarse, and the allegorical method of exegesis which commended itself to the greater thinkers from Origin downwards did so as providing an escape from an intellectually & morally intolerable situation, but that method proceeded on the supposition that the very words of Scripture were inspired. The exaltation of the Scriptures, which the Reformers did unquestionably carry to an irrational length, justified itself to them as providing a more reasonable & adequate authority than that of the Church.

[183]

We motored to church with our hostess. Oakford is a small parish with about 500 inhabitants. The Rector, Butler, used to meet me nearly 40 years ago in the Warden's Lodgings at All Souls. He was a brother–in–law of Sir W. Anson. Much to our surprise the three Miss Ansons appeared. They are living together in a house of their own hard by the church. There was but a small congregation, so small that I could not but imagine that the church was too large for the parish, a conjecture which the Rector confirmed.

We lunched with the Herberts, who had an interesting party. There was Edmund Warre, Captain Asquith, a brother in law of Vernon Storr, & several more. With Mr Herbert I had much interesting talk. He does not take a rosy view of the European situation. He thinks the French will again overrun Europe .

Ella and I walked up the hill above the house, & admired the view. After dinner, at M rs Buchannan's request, I read prayers in the drawing room . Then we sang two hymns, & this performance was rather well–intentioned than edifying. Why will religious people insist on singing hymns at family devotions? Save in the very rare case of the servants being addicted to hymn singing, the effect is almost ludicrous. The pious few exert themselves to sing, though truly they cannot; the majority stand awkwardly silent, or emit strange sounds. I must needs think that abstinence from hymn–singing would better serve the interest of domestic religion. The piano is of all instruments the least devotional, & the hardest to sing to.

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