R1JMAN NATURE A REVELATION OF THE DIVINE. MO TIM EDITOR
OF THE " SHICTATOR:1 Silk—In the kindly worded review of my book, "Human Nature a Revelation of the Divine," contained in the Spectator of October 4th, the reviewer says :— " Canon Robinson would set aside the 'traditional doctrine of the Atonement as a misinterpretation of Scripture which has arisen from the legal atmosphere in which much of the Christian theology of the West was developed." Again: "The time, he thinks, has come when all reserve should be thrown aside, and Children taught what scholars have discovered." Although the above statements will suggest to most readers opinions which I earnestly and entirely disavow, I should not have ventured to ask your permission to say so were it not for
the fact that since the book was published I have become the editorial secretary of a great Missionary Society the supporters of which would be entirely out of sympathy with the views which are here attributed to one of their representatives.
Without entering into any detailed explanation, may I quota a single sentence from the preface to the book in question 1)— " The treatment of the subject has involved several references to the doctrine of the Atonement, and to certain explanations of the doctrine which have at different times been put forward. In order to guard against any misunderstanding, it should be stated that these references, if read apart from their context, or if interpreted as part of a complete theory of the Atonement, would convey an entirely different impression to that which I wish to give."
[We, of course, gladly publish Canon Robinson's letter, and
most deeply regret that we should in any way have misrepre- sented his meaning.—En. Spectator.]
Previous page
