Sl a ,— Unless Mr. Maclnnes is as charitable as he is c ourteous,
he must by now be exasperated with most ofthe replies roused by his article. One of the most discussion because unproductive, features of religious ulscussion today is that when those in 'hopeful Perplexity' outside the church state their objections since and organised religion, there is at ce che a great chorus of agreement from inside the ucrch. Mr. Maclnnes may find this encouraging; I suspicion imagine that in fact it leaves him with the as Picion that it is (a) all part of a deep and subtle Plot to cut the ground from under his feet, or (b) for final proof that in fact the churches do not stand lot' anything distinctive at all. c And Mr. Maclnnes can hardly be blamed if he natural for that the second sti%eicion is correct. It is atural for him to talk of 'concepts . .. religious in essence.' But for me, in my old-fashioned Anglo- aubatholic way, it is odd to find him answered by talk " 'many on the clerical side who stand much nearer to him and his kind of religion than they do to the publ' •
nage of the Church. . . .' or 'the tun u damental ideals tying behind any creed. or the 'insights of Christian thinking' as if these, and no more, were all that the Christian faith is about. Nor is 'Jesus came into the world to reveal to man, in a way which any man could understand, the true nature of God' an adequate summary of what is positive in the Christian faith. As far as they go, such state- ments are only a modern form of the old do-it-your- self heresy of Pelagianism. This begins in hope, but then turns to despair. Then, just to keep going, this attitude eventually concludes that the whole thing is quite irrelevant to how the world actually exists. For such an attitude is one quite impossible to under- stand, it preaches ideals impossible to imitate, it seeks insights which don't go deep enough, and has a revelation that only blinds.
As I understand it, the Christian claim is tar greater and more terrifying than this. It is no less that our faith is (not lust 'is about') the Person and actions of God himself. through history and in particular through his church, now. Not what the church does for God, but what God himself does through the church. That in the end is why I am a Christian and a churchman, because I believe that through the practice of my faith, God acts in and for me today. If ever this belief is taken from me, that day I cease to be a Christian; not because the insights. the concepts, the revelations are untrue, but because they are so remote and unattainable that they are indeed 'irrelevant.'
Only this claim, that God himself acts through the church, can justify the continued existence of the church and organised religion. Only by asserting this claim can the church substantiate her relevance in the world today.
HAROLD WEBB
28 Benares Road. SE18
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