THE DEAN OF RIPON AND THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 373

LETTER CXXXII.

DEAN M'NEILE AND THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

"A chain is proverbially no stronger than its weakest link."

66

TO THE EDITOR OF THE RECORD."

SIR,-I have hitherto abstained from taking any part in the controversy concerning the use of the Athanasian Creed in our public service, and should probably have preserved silence to the end, not being called upon to give an opinion on the matter. I am moved, however, to speak out now by reading the Dean of Ripon's letter as published in your columns of the 31st ult.

It is impossible for any one who has marked the career of the learned Dean (McNeile), as I have done, for the last forty years at least, not to listen with deference to the arguments he may put forth on any public question; and I am quite ready to admit that on the present occasion he is not wanting to himself, and in nowise falls short of his customary skill and controversial ability.

Nevertheless he has not succeeded in convincing me of the expediency of retaining the Athanasian Creed as part of our public worship, now that the question of removing it there

* The Author was afterwards asked by the Dean of Chester (Howson) to sign a petition on the subject, and he gave it as his opinion that the Creed, as a bone of contention from time almost immemorial, had better be removed altogether from the public service:-the Apostles' and Nicene Creed, the Gloria Patri, the sentences at the commencement of the Litany, "The Peace of God," "The Grace of our Lord," with the form used in baptism, &c., being in his judgment an amply sufficient recognition on the part of the Church of the great doctrine of the Trinity.

from has been raised, and obtained such extensive currency as it has done.*

MEMORIALS ON THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

The Archbishop of Canterbury received on Monday the Deans of Canterbury and Chester at Lambeth Palace, when, on behalf of the clergy of the Northern and Southern Provinces, they presented to his Grace memorials to himself and to the Archbishop of York praying for some change either in the compulsory rubric or in the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed. Their prayer was concurred in by nearly three thousand clergymen, among whom were 14 Deans-those of Canterbury, Winchester, Durham, Westminster, Bristol, Chester, Christ Church, Carlisle, Ely, Exeter, Gloucester, Lichfield, St. David's, and Salisbury; 25 Archdeacons the Ven. Archdeacons Boutflower, Browne, Clarke, Cust, Fearon, Garbett, Hone, Hony, Hornby, J. Jones, W. B. Jones, Long, H. Moore, J. C. Moore, Prest, Sandford, Wickham, Clive, Dealtry, Gilson, Hunter, Huxtable, Ormerod, Paul, and Wise; 190 cathedral dignitaries; seven Cambridge Professors-Messrs. Swainson, Westcott, Lightfoot, Birks, Kennedy, Jarrett, and Mayor; 81 Masters and Fellows of Colleges at Oxford and Cambridge; five Principals of Theological Colleges; 13 Professors, at King's College, Durham, Sandhurst, Woolwich, Lampeter, &c.; 70 Head-Masters of Public Schools, including Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Winchester, Marlborough, Charterhouse, Cheltenham, Liverpool College and Institute, Christ's Hospital, Dulwich College, City of London, King's College School, &c.; 63 assistant masters, 16 of Her Majesty's inspectors of schools, 180 clergy of the Metropolis, two clerical peers (the Earl of Buckinghamshire and Lord Dynevor), 17 peers' sons, 11 baronets, 12 chaplains to the Queen, &c. 2,159 of those who sign have done so without any reserve, thus signifying their desire to leave entirely to the discretion of the authorities to determine whether the rubric, or the clauses, or both, shall be altered; 421 desire especially the alteration of the rubric only-218 for optional use of the Athanasian Creed, and 203 for its entire disuse in public worship; 292 desire only to touch the damnatory clauses—208 for their removal, and 84 for their alteration. The memorials were as under :

"The humble petition of the undersigned clergy showeth that the compulsory use, in its present form, of the confession of our Christian faith, commonly called the Creed of St. Athanasius, is a cause of serious disquietude to many conscientious Churchmen, who are firm believers in the great and precious doctrines of the Trinity in Unity and of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. They therefore pray your Lordships to recommend such a change, either in the rubric or the damnatory clauses, as shall secure that the Creed in its present form shall no longer remain a necessary part of the public worship of the Church of England.”

The Dean of Canterbury (Payne Smith), in supporting the prayer of the

MEMORIALS ON SUBJECT OF ATHANASIAN CREED, 1873. 375

A chain is proverbially no stronger than its weakest link ;a castle is only so far impregnable as its outer bulwarks will resist the foe; and I, for one, should be sorry that, in these days of attack on our Established Church, we had no better defence to rely on than this Creed, which has been the subject of controversy, even among ourselves, from the days, at least, of Tillotson to our own, that is to say, for full 200 years. Why so? Clearly because we see in it our weak point, and are anxious to mask it accordingly. And this the enemy are

fully alive to.

*

I agree entirely with the Dean that the gist of the argument rests not upon the antiquity or the authorship of the Creed, nor even (in my judgment) upon the main

memorial from the Southern Province, stated that the clergymen whose names were appended to it had no ulterior object in signing it. They wished to uphold the doctrines set forth in the Creed, but they felt that many minds were prejudiced against those doctrines by their being combined with clauses which seemed to violate Christian charity. While the memorial suggested two methods in which relief could be given, either of which would satisfy the majority, their scruples would not be removed by any explanation which could be given in a note, nor by the recitation of the Creed being confined to Trinity Sunday.

The Dean of Chester (Howson) referred to two misapprehensions which were prevalent. By some it seemed to be thought that these memorials were the result of an agitation. So far as he knew, the exact contrary was the case; no pressure had been exerted to obtain signatures, which by such a method might have been largely increased. Another misapprehension was that these memorials were the expression of party feeling; this was evidently not the case, for they were signed by clergymen of various shades of thought. The predominant feeling in his own mind was this-that whereas in all other parts of our ordinary Church Service the stream of devotion flowed easily, this Creed was like a reef thrown across the stream, causing much disturbance of mind. As regarded the feeling of the laity, he referred to a recent strong expression of opinion on the part of magistrates, men of business, and professional men in Chester, conveying an impression that the opinion among educated lay Churchmen in that city was nearly unanimous against the compulsory recitation of this Creed.

* See Letters LXXXIX., pp. 115-16; cvi., pp. 208-9, &c.

See Letter LXXV., p. 30.

substance of the document itself. Wherever I have heard it assailed, it has invariably been upon the damnatory clauses; and I am sorry to say I think the Dean's elaborate defence or interpretation of these is (like the clauses themselves to the Creed) the weakest point of his letter; and he evidently feels it to be so himself, as he allows, in conclusion, that he would be glad if a solution could be found of that difficulty, the Creed itself being retained as a whole.

That these clauses keep many able men from joining our Church, as a profession, is well known,* and I can bring my

*The following letter on the subject of this Creed appeared in the Daily News of Nov. 18th, 1871; and is worth preserving, as an indication of the earnestness with which this matter has been pressed by the Laity upon the ears of those in authority, but alas! hitherto without any other result than disgust at the way in which their prayer has been ignored:

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

To the Editor of the Daily News.

SIR,-It will be in the memory of your readers that the questions relating to the Athanasian Creed were, some months ago, remitted by Convocation to the whole Episcopate. Since then no sign has been given; and we know not whether any success (as we should deem it) has been achieved-in other words, whether any relief is to be given to the consciences of the clergy and laity of the Establishment, or to those (and they are many) who are unwillingly kept without its pale by the enforced use of the so-called Athanasian Creed. Our ignorance of ecclesiastical law and custom prevents our knowing how far the Bench of Bishops may or can report to the two Convocations of Canterbury and York, and whether they can make known publicly their recommendations on the subject. As persons long deeply interested in the result, we venture to urge upon the Church of England and the public generally the importance of speedy action. Time is passing, and, in common with many more, we feel the chilling effects of delay in checking the freedom of earnest thought and manly candour, too much fettered by the dead weight of this Creed, and in narrowing the boundaries and influence of the Church on theological topics of great moment, and also in shortening the days in which many earnest advocates of Christian truth can hope to use their powers in the service of a Church to which it has been their long-cherished wish to devote themselves. We need only remind you of the case of the late well-known Prebendary Wodehouse, whose whole life was embittered

A NONCONFORMIST'S VIEW OF THE CREED.

own experience to bear strongly upon that point.

377

Some five

or six years ago I was invited to a public dinner in London,

by similar delay, while all the obstacles and difficulties that beset his path and hampered his freedom and energy (with the one exception of the Creed) were removed within a few years or months of his death. For our own parts we say, by all means let any new translation of the Creed be made that shall be at once less stringent, and yet correct. To this no objection can possibly be raised. But will this suffice? We believe many will desire with ourselves, that the plan proposed by the Rev. George Venables, at the Wolverhampton Church Congress, should be adopted, viz., of annulling the rubric enforcing its use, and letting it rest with the Articles.

The present 66 use of the Creed is the main point in which the English Church differs from all other Churches of Christendom, and forms the chief barrier (so far as her services are concerned) to any harmony with either Eastern or Western Churches. Surely the ingenious author of the Creed, whoever he might be, both at the beginning and end of his dogmatic composition, forgot the solemn exhortations, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; ""Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned." For our parts, when we reflect on the well-known fact that earnest preachers of the Gospel, who love the Church of this country better than any other, are compelled to retain the sectarian attitude of the Dissenter, because they dare not doom their fellow-men "to perish everlastingly" if they cannot subscribe to this dogmatic and mystical Creed; and that lay members of the Church, who have long been yearning for the time when they may find themselves freely and honourably enrolled among her clergy, remain unwillingly silent hearers of a Gospel which they would fain preach and spread abroad with all the energy left to them, but who for conscience' sake will not enter into holy orders on account of this obstacle to faithful candour and generous regard for the convictions of their fellow-men; we cannot but feel that some much stronger arguments than any that we have seen or heard ought to be found for retaining in the Anglican Church so unwelcome a fetter on full and free religious life and thought. It should never be forgotten that this Creed has crept into the Church service without authority; has never been recognised by a single general Church Council, and nearly the whole Royal Commission has declared that it ought in some way to be removed from the objectionable position which it now holds in the regular services and worship of our National Church. We venture to make together publicly this one more appeal, knowing that we have the sympathy of many of their lordships on the Episcopal Bench, while we are well assured of the good wishes of thousands among the clergy and laity within and without the pale of the Church.

We are Sir, respectfully yours,

JOSH. H. HUTTON, B.A., Brighton.
JOSH. CROMPTON, M.A., Norwich.

P.S.-The announcement that the Revision Committee of the Irish