8 Ridley – Emerging Popularity: 1952–9

8 Ridley – Emerging Popularity: 1952–9

8

Ridley – Emerging Popularity: 1952–9

Upon his return to Ridley College, Leon again took up the position of vice-principal. The college was still under the leadership of Baker, although he was nearing retirement. For Baker’s last year he and Leon shared the bulk of the teaching and administration.

In the early 1950s the college lived from hand to mouth. Although its annual accounts might have balanced, this was often at the cost of maintaining its buildings and infrastructure. In the early 1950s, Ridley still relied on its temporary buildings such as the World War II Nissen hut. Historically students coming into the ministry were unable to meet the full costs of their tuition. The college and the students scraped by as best they could.

Leon had encountered the financial difficulties of the depression and had experienced the sting of living short of financial resources. Not long before he retired, he commented that ‘Ridley has never received a significant bequest’.¹ When quizzed, he explained that Ridley had received many small bequests and some scholarship monies, but even when pooled together these did not contribute significantly to the budget needs of the college. During another interview, he recalled:

Ridley College didn’t have anything much in the way of support. A lot of people were interested in the College but it didn’t have a good strong supporter base. You didn’t have people queuing up to find a place in Ridley. Most of the students we had in those early years just had to be there. It was difficult when I returned. The place had no money, it seemed to me the right thing to do, and so I came and I gave it my best shot.²

Ridley was not able to provide Leon and Mildred with accommodation when they first returned, so Lance Shilton, vicar of the local Carlton parish, invited them to stay with him.³ He was single, and the Morrises were able to live in the upstairs section of the double-storey Drummond Street vicarage while he lived downstairs with another colleague, Revd Ken Perry.⁴ Leon and Mildred’s ministry presence helped Shilton. In the early 1950s Carlton was a struggling suburb that was home to immigrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Shilton faced the task of rebuilding the parish’s spiritual life. On arrival he had found numerous games of chance at the parish fair. When he advised the guild president that in future, by trusting only in God’s provision, the parish would make more money, she had replied, ‘You want to bet on it?’ Ridley did eventually provide living quarters for Leon and Mildred, but instead they purchased a house for themselves at 25 Goleen Street, Coburg.⁵

Of the Morrises’ time in the vicarage, Joan Horsford, a nurse at the Royal Women’s Hospital, recalled: ‘Leon and Mildred frequently joined twenty to thirty of us, mostly young converts, in Lance’s lounge room after the evening service for a time of singing and testimony. Their interest and encouragement was a great blessing to us.’⁶ She added:

My first contact with Leon was as a newly converted 18-year-old at the League of Youth Bible class. An ardent Baptist friend had been challenging me about the Anglican practice of infant baptism … At that time Leon spoke on the matter at League of Youth and his well-reasoned and lucid explanation satisfied me and kept me in the Anglican Church.⁷

David Horsford was equally afflicted:

I remember visiting Leon by train from Sandringham to Coburg, wondering if infant baptism could be regarded as biblical. I knew I couldn’t argue with him so I said, ‘Just give me the evidence and let me make up my own mind when I return home.’ He was patient and kindly and left me to work through it. He was so logical and convincing that the problem just evaporated. I was convinced.⁸

Shilton wrote in his autobiography that Leon used ‘forced labour methods’⁹ to get students to pass in the late 1940s. He was speaking tongue-in-cheek, but Leon reacted to the observation when it was relayed to him. Even in his retirement he spoke strongly about his intentions: ‘Theology is a subject which is very important and people should get to know what it means and students very often don’t worry about that. “She’s alright, mate.” And I object to that. I can think that I wanted my students to aim for the highest, and work like mad to get there.’¹⁰

The former railway apprentice, Tom Morgan, summarized Leon’s style after Cambridge: ‘Leon was a logician – straight down the line, no mucking around.’¹¹ Bob Collie recalled Leon teaching him Greek, doctrine and Old Testament. In the Greek classes, Leon:

gave out a short passage to translate for the following day. He would pick someone to share their effort. He had great patience and would wait for minutes to the person’s great embarrassment. It did ensure that everyone prepared well … He was always highly disciplined with time. If you walked past his window after his lecture he would be back at his desk hard at it. My lasting memory was his tremendous emphasis on the death of Christ which has influenced all my ministry … His effect on me was such that I often hear him speaking when I preach.¹²

Morris, Babbage and Andersen

Following the retirement of Baker, Stuart Barton Babbage became the new principal of Ridley College. He took the reins in 1953. Babbage had a fine mind and was an extrovert; he was the most flamboyant clergyman in the country at the time. Remarkably, Babbage was principal of Ridley and dean of St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne at the same time. Babbage would invite Leon to give talks down at the cathedral, where he was a popular speaker. A participant described her experience at Leon’s studies: ‘There is a rest for me here, a rest of the spirit.’¹³

Leon and Babbage knew something of each other but they had not previously worked together. A gifted and flamboyant head joined his equally gifted and much quieter deputy. Leon was the perfect foil for Babbage and those who knew him would later reflect, ‘Leon was quiet and unflappable, interested in the service of people not the shuffling of paper.’¹⁴

What did Babbage think of Leon? When asked if Leon was self-effacing, Babbage replied perceptively: ‘He was certainly not self-effacing in the academic world. He was, for example, the most effective member of the Tyndale group we had then. Leon encouraged the writing of my first book, Man in Nature and in Grace. In those days Leon was only beginning to write, of course.’¹⁵ Leon was secretary of Ridley’s Tyndale group¹⁶ and basically ran the show with support from Frank Andersen and Babbage. Topics were agreed according to the expertise of the presenters and the availability of members. It met about every two months.¹⁷

Babbage also recalled that Leon was more than an academic, citing his interest in gardening, which developed to the point that he became a specialist in grafting. It was a trend. Pig-farming in South Australia, gardening in Melbourne, and later there would be baseball and gridiron in the USA.

Babbage and Leon had the task of training a generation of young men for work in Melbourne and took upon themselves the task of raising the bar of theological scholarship in Australia. They shared this responsibility with Frank Andersen,¹⁸ who had joined Ridley at Babbage’s request. Ridley College developed in this period due to the good working relationships between Babbage, Leon and Andersen. According to Babbage, ‘It was very harmonious. We felt we were going somewhere. We had a series of tutors and great students.’¹⁹

David Williams, who would become the longest-serving vice-principal of Ridley, was one of these students. He recalled an early 1950s story concerning a window and another student, Kevin Curnow:

It was a window on the side of the building, Cumnock, the room that was the library. Now the Babbage family occupied some of the downstairs as well as the upstairs, so you couldn’t get into the library via the normal doors, you got in through that floor-to-ceiling window opening nearest the main door – you’ll see the sill is worn down a bit. And because it had two panes you had to duck a little to get in the window to the library. Anyway as you stooped over one bottom looked like another so Kevin saw this guy leaning in and tipped him right in – the guy got up and said, ‘And what are you doing, son?’ It was Leon.²⁰

Curnow passed his exams and had a successful career, all things considered.

Babbage and Leon took a keen interest in Williams’ progress and he was encouraged to combine his ThL with a Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University. He later also completed a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Theology (ThD). Williams reflected, ‘Leon had a kind of an aura so that if he told you to do something you did it! I seemed to have more of Andersen in lectures than Leon; nevertheless we were in awe of him.’²¹

While at Ridley, Leon’s popularity as a speaker continued to grow. He was invited to speak at conferences, including two in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he spoke on ‘Inspiration’, ‘Prophecy’, ‘Miracles’ and ‘Modern Theological Trends’ for the IVF at Tyndale House Christchurch and ‘The Love of God’ for the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Spring School. He also spoke on Melbourne radio station 3LO’s Religion Speaks spot on the meaning of the Incarnation. These weekly talks in December, which led up to Christmas 1957, were titled ‘The Hope of Israel’, ‘The Servant of the Lord’, ‘In the Likeness of Man’ and ‘The Word Made Flesh’.

Leon the Writer

During his second stint at Ridley, Leon’s writing career expanded into full flower. He was compelled to write by an inner drive to faithfully record his findings. He was also asked to write because people appreciated his clear yet deep insights.

To begin with, Leon produced a number of works on the preaching of the cross that flowed out of his doctoral research. Not long after, he began writing on other topics. He also responded to requests to write, particularly when there was no one else available to write a particular piece. In the early 1950s, various journals published articles from him on the atonement (1952); worship (1953); God as a God of love (1953/4); church union (1954), ‘The Biblical Use of the Term “Blood”’ (1955)²² and many more.

In 1955, Leon published his reworked thesis as The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross with IVP under the guidance of Ronald Inchley. This material was at the epicentre of the tidal wave of literature that flowed from Leon’s pen. In itself, it widened his influence and reputation although a few years would transpire before the quiet Leon would become well known internationally. He earned his international status as an author through a masterly command of his subject and skill in interpreting the Bible. Importantly, although his analysis was detailed, he had the ability to clearly present his arguments in ‘word bites’ that were pithy and direct.

The work was reprinted several times and republished in the 1980s. Many preachers and teachers read it to this day. American Scot McKnight recorded reading it three times.²³ Russell Moore of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) thanked God for Leon’s book ‘in an era when all about us so-called “evangelicals” are embarrassed by the blood of Jesus, calling for a “non-violent atonement” or a “more nuanced view of the work of Christ”’.²⁴ Don Carson continues to tell people it ‘should to this day be on any preacher’s list of “must” books’.²⁵ Nearly sixty years after the book was first published, its conclusions continue to form a strong analytical part of newer works on the atonement – for example, Cole’s God the Peacemaker.

A Question of Publishers

In 1955, interest in Leon began to emerge on both sides of the Atlantic. He was establishing a reputation as a godly scholar in Britain and those parts of Europe where IVF carried out student work. More than one publishing house began taking notice, including Marshall, Morgan & Scott who asked Leon if he would be interested in contributing a commentary in their New London Commentary series.²⁶ The American firm Eerdmans requested one thousand copies of The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross based on the quality of Leon’s work and the recommendation of Ned Stonehouse at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, who was involved with the firm.

Stonehouse was delighted to have found in Leon another evangelical scholar for Eerdmans and wrote warmly to Leon: ‘I should welcome with all my heart the addition of others to our ranks.’²⁷ He told Leon that he had known of his work for some time and that others like the American scholar, Roger Nicole, took a favourable view of Leon’s writings on the atonement. Quickly Stonehouse realized he and Leon were kindred scholars with a passion for mining the treasures of the New Testament and they began corresponding more frequently.

On one occasion Stonehouse suggested to Leon an interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 3:13 where ‘your hearts’ (13a) embraced ‘all Christians’ in a context where Paul prayed for them. Had Stonehouse left open the possibility of praying for Christians both living and dead? Leon cheekily replied that he thought it applied only to those Thessalonians alive at the time and ‘right sorry am I to see a good Presbyterian advocating such a view of prayer’. Stonehouse defended his biblical and Presbyterian roots, arguing that whatever final interpretation was adopted the term must only refer to ‘the living saints’.

This discussion between Stonehouse and Leon took place in 1955 while two publishers were encouraging Leon to write material on 1 and 2 Thessalonians. IVF wanted Leon to write a short commentary that was popular in style while Eerdmans had a longer, more technical commentary in mind. In response, Leon supplied Stonehouse and IVF with sample drafts of a long and short version of commentary on 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

Leon felt sandwiched between the two publishers. He took the understandable view that his primary obligation lay with IVF, who had first commissioned him. Leon had heard that Inchley was concerned that IVF’s shorter version of the same title would be seen as a potted version of Eerdmans’ longer one and the two books would be in competition. Leon felt that was the end of the matter and wrote to Stonehouse, voicing his hope that they might be able to collaborate on a future project.²⁸ In response, Stonehouse raised the possibility of a title in the New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT) series – perhaps on John’s Gospel. Leon later recalled that when he received Stonehouse’s reply, ‘it took my breath away’ and then perhaps cheekily added:

But when the panic subsided a little another conviction of mine returned, namely that we need the contribution of the young as well as of the aged. The sense of utter inadequacy for such a task remains, but if it were offered me I think I would regard it as a leading from God that I should devote my immediate future to this work.

Leon then concluded that he didn’t think it was the time for him to write on John but that he would do what he discerned as God’s direction.²⁹

In the meantime, Stonehouse wrote a letter to Inchley, asking him to reconsider the matter. He suggested Eerdmans and IVF view this situation as a one-off coincidence.³⁰ IVF and Eerdmans reached an agreement. Leon was free to write for both publishers on the same title. What in reality was a marketing and sales clash was resolved by the graciousness of Inchley, who did not press IVF’s rights.

Before the end of 1955, Leon had received the green light to write an extensive and detailed work on the letters to the Thessalonians. In signing up Leon, Eerdmans were taking a risk as he was relatively untried in the field of writing major commentaries. Furthermore, they approved Leon’s request for an increased word limit that exceeded the usual amount allocated for the NICNT series. Requesting increased word limits was a trait of Leon. Despite using a wonderful economy of words he always felt there was much to explore. In 1956, IVF published the Tyndale Commentary, 1, 2 Thessalonians, in England and then in America.³¹

Leon used the thirty-minute tram rides between home and work to handwrite his material before getting it typed by a willing student helper.³² Once Leon began work on the NICNT commentary, Stonehouse helped him to refine his craft through frequent correspondence about all manner of topics related to writing and publishing. At one point in response to Leon’s concerns about the more technical Thessalonians commentary being sufficiently different from the IVF commentary, Stonehouse simply said, ‘My impression is that you are working out the problem involved very successfully.’³³

Further Publications

Throughout this time, Leon continued to write articles when requested. On one occasion, the editor of a local magazine, Evangelical Action, asked him to contribute several articles on eternal punishment. In part, Leon relied on the interpretation of the word aion and its derivatives as used in Scripture. One reader took strong exception to the fact that you could believe in such a doctrine and argued his case in correspondence with Leon, sending him his own booklet concerning the belief in immortality.³⁴ It would be a feature of Leon’s life that many people would write to him. Most writers were positive, but whether positive or negative Morris responded graciously in his written reply.

In the late 1950s, Leon’s other publications included:

•  The Story of the Cross³⁵ and Salvation.³⁶

•  1 Corinthians, Tyndale Commentary.³⁷ This was well received and was reproduced at least five times in the next ten years. It sold the most copies of any single book of Leon’s, in excess of 250,000.

•  The Lord from Heaven.³⁸ This small book of 112 pages was aimed at general readers and explained the key issues surrounding the person of Jesus. Scholars like Ralph Martin noted, ‘I was sent his little book The Lord from Heaven … It has left an indelible impression.’³⁹

•  The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians.⁴⁰ This technical work was a major contribution by Leon at the academic and leadership level.

Leon’s writing was prodigious in its results. To the mere mortal it is exhausting, almost unbelievable, considering the man had a wife, a senior position in a theological college, frequent speaking engagements and seldom refused an invitation. One would be tempted to imagine that words flowed out of him like water over Niagara Falls. Intriguingly, this was not the case. On a note, later typed, he recorded:

I hate writing. Perhaps it is because I write as badly as I do. The tool I use most frequently is the waste paper basket. But I still write; why I wonder? To be practical money has something to do with it I imagine. But for one so far from the best seller lists there must be many easier ways of staying alive. I think the basic answer is that a writer must write. To write is difficult. Not to write is agony. I don’t like agony so I write. And I write in the hope that what I write will be of interest and of help to those who read. I write on biblical topics for these seem to be far and away the most significant. I hope that writing on these topics will bring writer and readers a little nearer to God.⁴¹

Parish and Diocesan Work

Throughout their second stint at Ridley, Leon and Mildred kept direct contact with the local church. Initially they worshipped in Coburg, where Leon was again licensed. Leon then became licensed as curate of St John’s Bentleigh (1957–8), followed by St George’s Bentleigh (1958–9). These parishes were in the south of Melbourne, an hour’s drive away from Coburg. Parishioners from these southern churches would drive to Coburg to pick up Leon and Mildred and take them to the Sunday services. After giving them a home-cooked lunch and taking them to the evening services, they would then return them to Coburg.⁴²

Mildred had stopped nursing on her return to Australia. Instead, like many clergy wives, she used her energies to support the college and wider ministries. It is usually the case that wives of ministers have considerable spiritual insight and experience to offer but it is mostly seen as an adjunct to their husband, a derivative ministry. This was Mildred’s experience too; there was less recognition for her ministry in its own right and no recognized authority. Nance Maggs, a local parishioner, remembered spotting Mildred one day far away from home. When asked why, Mildred explained that she was visiting some student wives in Glenhuntly.⁴³ Strong pastoral care, right across town.

No longer having to work long hours at a nursing home, Mildred rediscovered her craft-making skills. Most of her craft was made for others, but occasionally she would knit a jumper for Leon. Decades later, when Mildred would spend her time darning Leon’s jumpers, his sister-in-law joked that he might walk to the local shopping mall in a jumper ‘with more darns than jumper’.⁴⁴ Mildred also spent a considerable amount of time supporting her family in New South Wales. During the 1950s, her sister, Sarah, lost a daughter, who was burnt to death, and Mildred stayed with her other three children so that Sarah could visit her other sister, Wilma, as an aid to her recovery.⁴⁵

During the same period, Leon was also making a contribution to the wider Melbourne diocese. He collaborated with Frank Woods on a series of discipleship studies that would become, a few years later, the Forward in Depth programme. He worked with Woods on the material in 1959 and it was published for use in the diocese soon after in 1961.⁴⁶ His willingness to collaborate sacrificially at this level significantly moderated the view of some that ‘he worked almost alone’.⁴⁷ The programme ran until 1964 and was used by some twenty thousand Anglicans. A minister recalled, ‘Intriguingly Leon was in Cambridge as the warden at Tyndale all the time the programme ran. He was still influencing Melbourne Christians directly through this very successful programme of discipleship studies. The booklets were a key to many parishes starting Bible study groups.’⁴⁸

The same minister gave another fascinating personal reflection:

Leon was an evangelical hermit in his own way. He was a very holy man and you did not feel you were on his level. He was very discreet and you could tell him the worst about yourself and only he would know. He was very careful about his words never criticizing Anglo-Catholics … His sermons were profound simplicity. He related the gospel to people who are not of a theological mind. He would say, ‘Remember you are coming to preach the word of God’ … Leon prayed prayers from the heart … he was a pastor praying for all his students. In one Ridley photo Leon only had his science hood while Babbage was running around trying to get correct hoods. He would take a walk every hour after 55 minutes’ work. Other churchmen respected him.⁴⁹

Love and Truth in Evangelism

Despite his many commitments, Leon became involved with the Evangelical Alliance. The alliance was a gathering of mission agencies and people prominent in the evangelical movement – for example, Harold McCracken, Len Buck and Alfred Coomb. Babbage was the chairman in 1958 when the alliance invited Billy Graham to come to Australia for a Melbourne crusade in late summer 1959.⁵⁰

Graham found an acceptance across Australia that other American evangelists had not. No one but God knows exactly why, although it was clear that he came across as entirely genuine. Non-Christians listened to him and respected his manner and style, and many were converted.

The Melbourne crusade began in Festival Hall, West Melbourne, a venue for rock concerts and vaudeville-type wrestling.⁵¹ Its size proved inadequate for the numbers attending, so the crusade’s later meetings were at the brand-new Sydney Myer Music Bowl, a grassy-hilled amphitheatre within walking distance from the city and adjacent to the Botanical Gardens. The public converged in large numbers every night to hear the music, singing, testimony and the good news of Jesus. On one particular night attendance reached an estimated seventy thousand people. Graham was the magnet, but the energy was God’s Spirit.

For the final meeting of the crusade, a decision was taken to book the city’s sacred sporting venue, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as numbers warranted such a bold move. What occurred reverberated around Melbourne and across the globe. The ground filled to overflowing. The Melbourne Cricket Club secretary assessed the situation and gave permission for people to sit on the grassy surface in front of the podium and choir. Graham preached the gospel and there was a wonderful final response. It was estimated that over 140,000 and possibly as many as 159,000 attended that meeting. This number far surpassed the 100,000 who would cram in for a football grand final and remained the ground record for decades. However, to Leon and Graham this was not the statistic that mattered.

Leon, in his role of follow-up chairman, supervised the nightly sorting of decision cards at Ridley College. In total, 28,105 commitments were registered. Many nights Leon would be up with the other volunteers until early in the morning, making sure that the cards of those who made decisions were referred to the most appropriate local church for them. One could not have found a more logical, analytical, energetic and devotional follow-up chairman. Over fifty years later many still follow Jesus and serve in Melbourne churches.⁵²

For Leon, this event connected two of his passions: his belief in the power of the cross to rescue people for a new life, and the outward working of this belief – that is, preaching this good news. The 1959 crusade directly touched nearly 1.5 per cent of Melbourne’s population – 28,105 registered commitments in a population of two million. Indirectly by attendance and family impact, it touched above 5 per cent. In terms of his own role in preparing the soil for Graham and a public gospel crusade, Leon’s contribution to Melbourne’s church from 1945 to 1959 cannot be overstimated.

The Next Step

Behind the scenes, Leon had been contemplating what to do next. In 1957 he had asked Stonehouse at the end of a letter, ‘I wonder if it might be possible and advisable to go to the United States … do you know of any position as visiting lecturer which might be open to me?’⁵³ Stonehouse encouraged Leon to come to the United States even though there was no promise of a position.

However, it was the next sentence of Stonehouse’s reply that leapt from the page: ‘I should like to seize this opportunity of inviting you definitely to undertake the commentary on the Gospel according to John in this series.’⁵⁴ After discussing with Stonehouse the deadlines of two other projects to which he was already committed, Leon accepted his invitation to write the commentary. Leon anticipated the commentary would stretch to a two-volume work and he implored Stonehouse to let him write as much as needed on John: ‘I think that to write on John is the highest privilege that can come to man, and would want to think that I can put my best into it.’⁵⁵ His commentary would become one of his great contributions in explaining Christian love and truth from the perspective of John’s Gospel.

By the time Leon left Ridley in 1959, he had set in train the rise of the scholarly standard among his evangelical Australian friends and laid down a stronger platform for gospel-based ministry. Through his local ministry and the faithful preparation of clergy he had set up a carefully installed watering system that brought life to many parishes. His writing career and reputation as an international scholar continued to grow and his Apostolic Preaching of the Cross had sold in excess of four thousand copies.

Babbage noted in a report: ‘During these eight years of my Principalship he has been a most generous and loyal colleague. I have valued, more than I can say, his wise Counsel and warm friendship.’⁵⁶

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