I - LETTERS ON “SHEEPFOLDS” TO THE REV. F. D. MAURICE AND DR. F. J. FURNIVALL (1851)

Summary

LETTERS TO F. D. MAURICE

[When this pamphlet appeared, a copy of it was sent by Dr. F. J. Furnivall to the Rev. F. D. Maurice. Maurice at that time knew Ruskin only by his books. He wrote to Dr. Furnivall (March 25, 1851) saying that he found himself in agreement with Ruskin on some points, but in sharp disagreement on others. Dividing his criticism of the pamphlet under heads, he agreed with Ruskin (1) that the sense of the word Church is to be obtained from the Bible, and that its use there is uniform; (2) that the clergy are not separate from the laity as “the Church”; (3) that the Church and State are united, and that civil governors have dominion over the clergy. But he disagreed on the following points: (1) alleging that Ruskin had missed the Scriptural Sense of “Church” (ecclesia) as “a body called out”; (2) had not perceived what this calling out means. (3) In a third clause, Maurice noted the successive “calls” from Abraham to Christ; (4) “that of this method Mr. Ruskin, professing to follow Scripture exactly, has taken no notice, but has tried to deduce a meaning from isolated texts, so sanctioning a vulgar practice”; (5) that Ruskin's nomenclature (Visible and Invisible Church) was unscriptural.