, 4 The Christian Superstition " SIR,—" Of the two great
superstitions of the western world—Chfistianity and Marxism--Christianity has, of course, had a much longer , period in which to sterilise fine intelligences and divert the most powerful instru- ment that we know—the human mind—from fruitful use in the, service of the species which possess it ; but in the present generation it is hard to say .which of,. the two carries the heavier burden of guilt, on that
particular account." •••
So writes Professor Barbara Wootton, Professor in Social Studies at - Bedford College, London, in her latest book, Testament foi-. Social Science, page 87. It is quite incredible that a person of such standing and wielding such influence is able to write a book, the main.theme of which is praise otthe scientific method of enquiry. It surely cannot have escaped Professor Wootton's thought that one aspect of scientific enquiry is a certain detachment and humility before the facts. Even if the above quotation were true, -which it is no., one•would have thought that such a statement would have been the considered conclusion of a -balanced argument based ,on .objective facts.
The professor„procluces no evidence to show that Christianity is the
superstition she considers it to be, and she does not examine the effects of this prophylactic. Further, can the professor show that science and its kindred spirit would have developed in spite of Christianity ; may not the spirit of science itself be due to an essentially Christian view of the universe and man's destiny within it, albeit at times unrecognised In addition one must judge a dynamic, which Christianity is, by its fruits. Thus we must consider the depth and range of personalities such as Si. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and Lady Julian of Norwich ; artists of the- Italian schools, notably Michelangelo and Raphael ; Dante; composers of the calibre of Bach, Handel and Elgar ; Isaac Newton, Pascal and Charles Darwin ; also the Wesleys, John Henry Newman and William Temple, and, needless to say, the list is hardly exhabstive. If this superstition and sterilising agent can produce men such as these, then what the world needs is more, not less, of this superstition or what- ever it may be called.-1 am, yours faithfully, W. B. VANE. 5 King's Avenue, Meols, Wirral. Cheshire.
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