Spencer Heath Archive

Item 1528

Letter to The Rever­end Wilford 0. Cross, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, concerning his manuscript forming the basis of his course, “The Christian Doctrine of Man.”

September 12, 1954

 

 

Dear Dr. Cross:

     I want to say to you again how much I enjoyed your course on “The Christian Doctrine of Man.” I was sorry I could not remain for the last two or three sessions. But I did read thoroughly the entire mss. you were kind enough to loan me and on which your course was based. There were many things in your mss., especially the second half of it, that I would have loved to talk with you about. My reaction to it as a whole was much the same as I experienced in reading William Temple’s great book entitled, Nature, Man & God. The philosophy is beautiful and profound and well in accord with what I conceive to be the best scientific thought.

     My only misgivings relate to the specific working technology whereby the Christian ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, objectively in Society as well as subjectively in the individual, can be increasingly erected in our midst. I am much persuaded that when we are humble enough to seek and find out what God hath already wrought and wherewith He has raised the level of our material lives, we can then join hands with Him in the building of His glory into the world created by Him. The traditional Christian and Humanistic approach has been to look upon the secular and non-political transactions among men, however fruitful, as something less than divine. For some years my own endeavor has been to achieve a greater understanding in this field.

     In leaving my own mss., Citadel, Market & Altar, with you, I find that I must have separated from it the short note and perhaps the very slightly explanatory sheet that was attached to it. I am therefore returning them to you herewith. I am strongly impressed with the extraordinary correspondence between the basic dogmatic philosophy of /the/ Christian fathers and the fundamentally trinitarian conceptions of modern physical science.

     I trust you are having the pleasure of an eager and highly intelligent body of students at the beginning of the current school year. It remains for me a happy experience and a pleasant memory to have known you. My pleasant remembrance also, please, to Mrs. Cross and the two young ladies.

 

                             Sincerely,

SH:m