26 OCTOBER 1934, Page 18

THE VIRGIN-EIRTH

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

Sia,—Dr. Major has such a way with him that he is quite capable of carrying on his gallant fight single handed. However, lest it should be thought that he stands alone among C. of E. clergymen, may I, as a humble follower and one of many who think like him, put forward my view ? Though I agree .with him as to the necessity of a radical reformation of doctrine, I cannot but feel that it would be wiser to leave the Creeds as they have stood throughout the ages, but so to interpret them that .they express our innermost convictions. For instance, though I glory in the title modernist, I find the " Apostles' Creed, with the exception of two clauses, can easily be interpreted so as to express my beliefs. Those clauses are that about the Virgin Birth and that about the Resurrection of the Body. Even they can be made to bear a meaning not wholly at variance with the truth. Our Lord was the eldest son of Mary and, therefore, until He came, she was Virgin. The Resnrrection of the Body can likewise be taken to mean that our " ego'" will still persist in that other world where truth, which in`

this world is sometimes so dim and contentious, will be scut in all her purity and sublimity.—I am, Sir, yours respectfully, Milford Vicarage, nr. Morpeth. J. D. CALDWELL.