James Boswell: Theologian

And a rather modern theologian at that. I found this in Jeremy Clarke’s “Low Life” column in the 7 June number of the Spectator. He copied it from Boswell’s Corsica journal:

19 October 1765. While I stopped to refresh my mules at a little village, the inhabitants came crowding about me. When they were informed of my country, a strong, black fellow said, ‘English! They are barbarians; they don’t believe in the great God.’ I told him, ‘We do believe in the great God, and in Jesus Christ too.’ ‘And the Pope?’ ‘No.’ ‘And why?’ This was a puzzling question in these circumstances, for there was a great audience to the controversy. I thought I might try a method of my own and gravely replied, ‘Because we are too far off.’ A very new argument against the Pope’s universal infallibility. ‘Too far off? Why, Sicily is as far off as England. Yet in Sicily they believe in the Pope.’ ‘Oh,’ said I. ‘We are ten times further off than Sicily.’ ‘Aha,’ said he, and seemed satisfied. I question whether any of the learned reasonings of our Protestant divines would have had so good an effect.


Could this be where American theologians learned that we in far-distant America don’t have to pay much attention to decrees from the Polish Pope. Why, he couldn’t possibly understand us. We’re even farther off than England.