TSAWTB Section 6 - Interlude - A Miscellany of Items

264 Section 6 - Interlude
Holy Ghost, (5) and have tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the world to come, (6) if they shall fall away, to renew
them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (7) For the earth
which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringing
forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing
from God: (8) But, that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected
and is nigh unto cursing: whose end is to be burned.
These verses may have spoken loudly to Darwin. He failed to become a
doctor as his father had wanted, so he was entered for the Church, intending to
become a country parson. He took theology at Cambridge, where he was so
impressed by the logical arguments in support of creation in Paley’s Natural
Theology that he memorised them by heart. Following this he embarked on
the Beagle and gradually he drew away from religion until, due to his writings
on evolution and possibly the loss of a favourite daughter, he eventually
became an agnostic.
He knew that fundamentally his theory of evolution was an attack upon
Christianity, and therefore he had “fallen away” and his life’s work had
produced only “thorns and briers”. Was the “tick” in Hebrews his, as an
acknowledgement that these passages were an accurate description of his
situation?
We will never know, but we would suggest that in fact they would not have
applied to him. His hesitancy about becoming a parson hardly indicated a deep
commitment to the true Christian faith or any zeal to spread the Gospel. It is
therefore unlikely that he had “partaken of the Holy Spirit” or had been
“enlightened”, and therefore he had never “fallen away” in the first place. If
Lady Hope account is at all accurate, then it would indicate that he may have
now realised, in a personal way and at a late stage, the real basis of the
Christian faith.
6. Did Lady Hope make more than one visit?
There is no direct reference to this in her account. However, not long before
she died, several supportive friends in Los Angeles wrote a more full record
of events (LA affidavit - M:81) that she had given in which up to four visits
were mentioned. It was on the fourth visit that the reference was made to
Hebrews and the “summer house meeting”.
Her memory was said to be fully intact even in her last years, and the five
signatories of the letter attested (again) to her “sincerity and reliability.”
This was the first time that this writer had realised that there might have
been more than one visit, and with this in mind, her account was carefully
re-examined. On doing so, several phrases almost leapt from the page.
(a) The first point is what was not said. In those very formal days, if this
had been the very first time that they had met, one would have expected them
to have exchanged polite greetings and to obtain “background information”
such as asking obvious questions about her work in Downe or his health etc.
No such exchange seems to have taken place but a degree of considerable
familiarity is immediately adopted.
Now let us read her words carefully, for an intriguing pattern begins to
emerge.
(b) She says “I used to feel when I saw him..(he would make a fine
picture)..but never did I think so more strongly than on this particular
occasion.” These words clearly imply that she had seen him more than once