Cathedrals and the People
By SIR ARNOLD WILSON, M.P.
THE Dean of Liverpool recently invited a distinguished Unitarian Minister to preach in the Cathedral on an occasion which he regarded as " special " and outside the range of " statutory " services. Lord Hugh Cecil, vir pietate gravis, has called upon the Bishop, Dr. A. A.
David, to cause inquiry to be made under the Church Discipline Act, into the action of the Dean. The Bishop has refused to do so, and has upheld the Dean on the question of principle. The controversy has aroused con- siderable interest, and laymen within and round the Church of England are wondering whither Dr. David, the Dean and (presumably) the Chapter of Liverpool Cathedral are leading us.
The legal position is not free from complications such as, in every land, surround the growth of ancient institu- tions. The status of Cathedral Churches in England varies, broadly speaking, with their age. The Dean and Chapter have always occupied a position of great inde- pendence, and in past times constituted a cons/Hunt which the Bishop of a diocese was bound to consult. With the growth of the hierarchical principle, the position is now reversed and all that remains of it is the cone d'elire, but, the Dean and Chapter are not uniformly subject to • the same measure of pastoral oversight by " the Ordinary," as in the Prayer Book, &c., the Bishops are known. Cathedrals and Cathedral services occupy an important place in civic life. They are not, indeed, parish churches, but, as Sydney Smith reminded us over a century ago, in great cities they perform the same functions on a larger scale. On great occasions and at great moments in our national and provincial life they are a focus for the public expression of feeling of the whole nation, which has through voluntary channels sub- scribed vast sums for their maintenance. Our great cities are proud of their Cathedrals : the services are well attended. Here are stored the banners under which county regiments have fought, for causes now forgotten : here are placed memorials of men of many shades of Christian belief who, having nobly served their generations, have fallen asleep. They are the property of Christian England, rather than of the Church of England, and public opinion would not readily suffer them to become the centres of any narrow cult which may claim to be the repository of ecclesiastical tradition in this realm. Nowhere is this more true than in Liverpool.
The essence of the Christian faith does not consist mainly of dogma. In the words of Dr. David himself, " there are aspects of truth which lid altogether outside the scope of words. Doctrine should be a sign-post, not a ring-fence. A rigid insistence on forms of belief may obscure other Christian values. . . . We will teach the traditional expression of our faith, we will defend it when attacked, but we will not assume men of other confessions to be our enemies and, when ;forced to defend the truth enshrined in our creed, we will do so in quietness and
confidence." •
These are wise words, but they evade the point at issue to which Lord Hugh returns, replying that " a person who does not believe in the deity of Christ cannot deliver the message of the Church, which is throughout penetrated by belief in that deity ; those who reject it must not preach in our churches."
Lord Hugh regards the Bishop's refusal to refer the matter to the appropriate Ecclesiastical Court as contumacious, his interpretation of the canon law as anarchical and calculated to strengthen the Roman view that the Church of England is " a city of confusion." He pro- claims his intention of pressing his views by such means and on such occasions as seem to him proper. He will probably secure widespread support, for even Toe II, a latitudinarian body, has adopted towards Unitarians an attitude which accords closely with his views.
The well of truth is deep, and the men and women of Sychar in this twentieth century would fain drink of it. There is in this country as great a number of men and women as ever who seek guidance from the teachings of Our Lord, rather than from what is taught about His teachings ; their loyalty to the highest standard they know is the greatest of national assets. " God is a Spirit," said Our Lord, " and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth," but by His next words (John IV) He proclaimed Himself the Messiah, and these two sayings are of the essence of the Christian faith.
Dr. David's outlook in this matter is that of an inquiring layman of wide culture and sympathies, who has ren- dered great services to his diocese and to the nation, broadening the basis of the religious life of those with whom he comes in contact. Few who have read his published works and in particular his contribution to "Affirmations,"* can fail to be impressed by his learning and by his earnestness ; yet it lacks something—the appeal to the example and person of Christ, thus fore- shadowing the development which Lord Hugh Cecil has challenged. My own conviction is that the Bishop has erred, in a matter of vital importance, and that Lord Hugh Cecil has done rightly in challenging him and in declaring his intention to press the issue. " The English people," in Milton's words, " may deserve to be accounted a right pious, right honest and right hardy nation," but they arc attached rather to the person and example of Christ than to a vague Deism ; they have protected their beliefs by a sheath of custom and observance to strip which is to do an ill-service to a troubled world. " The four short years of Christ's ministry did more," says Lecky, " to soften and moralize mankind than all the disquisitions of the philosophers." The unity of Christendom centres round the divinity of Christ. In hoc signo vinces.
*Energy, human and Divine, 1928. (Bean, Is.)
Previous page
