I907] Father Tyrrell's Ideas lyf 



Catholic party in line with the main body of the old unadvancing 

 Church, and he seemed to think it very doubtful. It was impossible to 

 say whether the new wine could be held in the old bottles. Indeed, his 

 views, judging from his talk with me, seem quite incompatible with 

 any church teaching I have ever heard of. If I understood him rightly 

 even such fundamental doctrines as that of a future life were matters 

 of no certainty, and he spoke as strongly as I could myself have spoken 

 about the absence of any indication of a belief in it in the Old Testa- 

 ment, and the futility of the interpretation by the Fathers of the Church 

 of the Book of Job in a contrary sense. I told him very frankly of my 

 own acceptance of pure materialism, not only as logically certain, but 

 as satisfying to the needs of my soul, though in my younger days it 

 had not been so. He seemed quite willing to agree with the thought 

 that our desire of a future life was like the desire of a child who, if in 

 the middle of his play, is threatened with being put to bed, looks upon 

 it as a terrible punishment, yet comes at the day's end to be quite 

 ready for his nurse to carry him away to it. The repugnance we feel 

 for annihilation is a physical repugnance connected with our bodily 

 strength, and decaying with its decay. I had not time, however, to go 

 into these things fully with him, but we are to meet again at Storring- 

 ton. 



" Later I learnt more of Tyrrell's ideas from Meynell, with whom he 

 is intimate. According to Meynell, Tyrrell holds with the consensus of 

 mankind on matters of moral teaching, rather than with any dogmatic 

 infallibility of the Christian Church. He thinks that the religious 

 intelligence of humanity as it advances will agree upon certain articles 

 of supernatural belief, such as the existence of God, the hope of a 

 future life, and some form of rewards and punishments to come. 

 These will be held by all religions, just as the plain rules of moral con- 

 duct. But in this view account is not taken of the views held by 

 Buddhism and other non-Christian religions. Tyrrell told me what is 

 doubtless true, that Judaism no less than Christianity is trying hard to 

 find a via media between the ancient and the modern thought, as also 

 is Mohammedanism, but the tendency of all three is, as he readily 

 admitted, towards materialism, and it was no argument that because 

 intellectual men clung closer to-day to religious beliefs than in the 

 days of Voltaire, they were therefore any nearer to a solution favour- 

 able to religion. The desire was stronger now because the practical 

 dangers of unbelief were better understood. I feel that I cannot do 

 Tyrrell justice in this recollection of his talk, but the impression it 

 has left on me is clear, that he must end in agnosticism, probably in 

 pure materialism. 



" 13th Aug. — Hafiz Awwad, Editor of the ' Mimbar ' at Cairo, has 

 been here to dine and sleep. He is an extremely able and interesting 



