ABSTRACT

The orthodox counter-offensive took two forms: a declaration by the clergy reaffirming the chief points of doctrine impugned by Lord Westbury's judgment, and a synodical condemnation by Convocation of Essays and Reviews as a book. The latter was a revival of an effort almost carried to success in 1861. The Privy Council judgment involved two new doctrinal issues: the Bible as the 'Word of God' and the eternity of punishment. The revival of the controversy over Essays and Reviews put an end to the most promising attempt to endow Jowett's Greek professorship. The idea of a clerical declaration or protest was initiated by an Oxfordshire rector, W. R. Fremantle, in a letter to his bishop, Wilberforce. The debate in the House of Lords was the last formal proceeding in the Essays and Reviews controversy. The Essayists had been acquitted in the courts, and Essays and Reviews had been condemned by the clergy.