He actually claimed
that the pun on Peter's name was an example of Our Lord's urbane
and genial humour! It gives away the latitudinarian position
completely. They're really ashamed of Christianity. They want to
bring it into line with modern thought. They hope by throwing
overboard the Incarnation, the Resurrection of the Body, and the
Ascension, to lighten the ship so effectually that it will ride
buoyantly over the billows of modern knowledge. But however lightly
the ship rides, she will still be at sea, and it would be the
better if she struck on the rock of Peter and perished than that
she should ride buoyantly but aimlessly over the uneasy oceans of
knowledge.
I've once more got a long way from the subject of my letter, but
I've always taken advantage of your patience to air my theories,
and when I begin to write to you my pen runs away with me. The
point I want to make is that unless there is a mother house which
is going to create a reserve of spiritual energy, the active work
of the Order is going to suffer. The impulse to save souls might
easily exhaust itself in the individual. A few disappointments,
unceasing hard work, the interference of a bishop, the failure of
financial support, a long period in which his work seems to have
come to a standstill, all these are going to react on the
individual missioner who depends on himself.
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