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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2015
On 13 August 1919 an interview between Charles Dawbarn, a member of the press, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on the relationship between Christianity and Spiritualism appeared in the columns of The Daily Chronicle. Before the article appeared, Dawbarn had also asked the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, ,for an interview to give him the opportunity to state the position of Anglicanism in regard to Spiritualism. ‘It will be seen,’ he told the Archbishop, ‘that Sir Arthur blames the Church for cold comfort administered to those who mourn their dead and declares that windy words and dogmatic assertions prevail in the pulpit.’ Archbishop Davidson, however, refused this invitation. The article, ‘The Challenge of Spiritualism. Does It Confirm the Christian Doctrine of Immortality?,’ introduced Sir Arthur as ‘… the immortal literary figure … Sure we are that nothing but sincerity and a desire to serve humanity lies at the bottom of his missionary efforts for Spiritualism.’ Dawbarn noted that in the minds of many people Spiritualism did constitute a ‘challenge to the Churches, which has not been disregarded,’ and he drew attention to the words of Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram, Bishop of London, at a recent Hyde Park meeting speaking about the influence of Spiritualism: ‘Many have been led astray.’ This statement appears to have been the occasion for the newspaper interview with Conan Doyle.
1 Dawbarn to Davidson, 8 August 1919, Lambeth Conference Papers 1920, LC 135, Lambeth Palace Library, Lambeth Palace, London.
2 The Daily Chronicle (London), 13 August 1919.
3 Jones, K., Conan Doyle and the Spirits. The Spiritualist Career of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Wellingborough, Northamptonshire: The Aquarian Press, 1989), p. 19.Google Scholar
4 Doyle, A. C., Memories and Adventures (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1924), p. 9.Google Scholar
5 Ibidem, p. 10.
6 Ibidem, p. 11.
7 Doyle, A. C., The Roman Catholic Church. A Rejoinder (London: Psychic Press, 1929), p. 14.Google Scholar
8 Doyle, A. C., The Vital Message (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1918), p. 188.Google Scholar
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10 Ibidem, p. 25.
11 Ibidem, p. 26.
12 Ibidem, p. 27.
13 A. C. Doyle, Preface, The Roman Catholic Church. A Rejoinder.
14 Doyle, A. C., The History of Spiritualism, vol. 2 (London: Cassell and Co., 1926), p. 226.Google Scholar
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20 Ibidem, p. 119.
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24 Ibidem, p. 159.
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29 Ibidem, p. 214. Pheneas was the guide of the Doyle family who spoke through Lady Doyle beginning in 1922. In the messages, he revealed that he was of Middle Eastern origin, having lived on earth before the time of Abraham.
30 Doyle, A. C., The New Revelation, p. 73.Google Scholar
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33 Ibidem, p. 28.
34 Ibidem, p. 182.
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50 Ibidem, p. 8.
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60 Ibidem, p. 135.
61 Ibidem, p. 6.
62 Ibidem, p. 139.
63 Ibidem.
64 Ibidem, pp. 140–142. According to Crehan, Thurston ‘next devoted himself to following up a hint given by some of his critics, that an examination of what Spiritualism led to and of what happened to famous mediums who had never been detected in any fraud might provide much valuable light on its true nature, diabolic or harmless,’ p. 142.
65 The Tablet, 11 November 1939.
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70 Ibidem, p. 43.
71 Ibidem, p. 52.
72 Ibidem, p. 85.
73 Jones, K., Conan Doyle and the Spirits, p. 221.Google Scholar
74 A. C. Doyle, Preface, The Roman Catholic Church. A Rejoinder.
75 Ibidem, p. 5.
76 Ibidem, p. 6.
77 Ibidem, p. 10.
78 Ibidem, p. 11.
79 Ibidem, pp. 46–47.
80 Edwards, O. D., The Quest for Sherlock Holmes. A Biographical Study of Arthur Conan Doyle (Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 1983), p. 257.Google Scholar
81 Doyle, A. C., The Roman Catholic Church. A Rejoinder, p. 56.Google Scholar
82 Ibidem, pp. 71–72.
83 Thurston, H., The Church and Spiritualism (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1933)Google Scholar.
84 Ibidem, p.xi.
85 Ibidem, p. xvii.
86 Thurston, H., Spiritualism (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1934), p. 6.Google Scholar
87 Ibidem, p. 15.
88 Ibidem, p. 18.
89 Ibidem, p. 29.
90 The Tablet, 11 November 1939.