MIDDLETON MURRY
SIR,—In the review (published April 12) of Love, Freedom and Society by J. Middleton Murry your reviewer, Mr. Hugh Montefiore, writes at the end of his last paragraph. 'If Murry had given more atten- tion to the life and teaching of Jesus he might have reached very different conclusions on the religion about Jesus.' In view of the fact that the late Mr. Middleton Murry wrote The Life of Jesus,' published in 1926, a book which was then described by The Times Literary Supplement as 'a book which must, we are convinced, take its place among the inter- pretations of Jesus that really count for their originality and power . . . a picture of that per- sonality which expresses so deep and searching a travail of soul as this is a true work of evangelisa- tion. It is a gift to religion as well as to modern letters,' it seems to me to be unjust and misleading to suggest that Mr. Murry had failed to give sufficient attention to the life and teaching of Jesus, whether or not we agree with his interpretation and conclusions.
In his preface Mr. Murry said of the book The Life of Jesus, 'I wrote it because I needed to write it,' and on the last page he quotes, evidently with deep feeling, the words: 'Look upon him, till he look back upon us again.'—Yours faithfully,
18 Minster Precincts, Peterborough L. CARTWRIGHT
.1.
[Mr. Montefiore writes: 'What I wrote was "more attention," not "any attention" as Canon Cartwright unfortunately interprets my words. Murry's Life of Jesus is an arresting book, but it was written over thirty years ago, partly in reaction to negative criticism of the Gospels, partly under the influence of Schweitzer. Today, however, Gospel studies tend to be both critical and positive, and I believe that, if Murry had in the last thirty years given more attention to the life and teaching of Jesus in the light of these studies, he might indeed have reached different conclusions on the religion about Jesus.'— Editor, Spectator.]
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