Inter-Church Relations: A Retrospect

Extract

The subject of relations between the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches exercises a peculiarly urgent claim upon the attention of contemporary students of theology. Nevertheless many may be reluctant to allow that the task of dealing with it can profitably be undertaken by a historian–even if he be a church historian; and I suspect that some will read the words ‘a Retrospect’ with depression or alarm. Is this not a time for looking forward rather than back? Did we not read with approval the signatories' declaration in the Joint Report on Relations between Anglican and Presbyterian Churches: ‘We have renounced, and believe that the Churches concerned should renounce, the method of selecting and measuring such faults and errors in the past history of the Churches now conferring as might be judged to be responsible for our present divisions. These matters have been investigated frequently, and complete agreement on them is not to be expected at this stage in history… The time has come when the voice of mutual recrimination should be silent'? And has Bishop How not reminded us that ‘Scotland needs a purged memory’?