The Henson Journals

[143]

Tuesday, January 29th, 1924.

The reformers stood for Freedom as against Compulsion. The imposing unity of the medieval Church was built upon force… From the time of Theodosius the Great dissent had been a capital offence. The long Arian dispute was silenced, not by the arguments of Athanasius or Basil, not by the wise decisions of the Council of Constantinople, but by the terrible laws of the first persecuting emperor, and from that time onwards the agreement of the Church had rested in the last resort upon the sword & the stake. What the reformer claimed was the right of the individual to judge for himself in all matters that have not been revealed…. Only as time wore on did it become clear that the ultimate choice lies between a system which holds it right to use force for spiritual purposes and one which holds it wrong.

Bigg. "Wayside Sketches" p. 161

I wrote a draft Convocation address to the King, sent it to the Archbishop. Also, I wrote a Letter to the Clergy for the Diocesan Gazette. I appended a short prayer for use in the Churches during the forthcoming Lent. Cruickshank, Wilson, Dr & Mrs McCullogh came to dinner.

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