Edward Paul Campbell Greene, a ruling elder in the London congregation, died on 17 October 2018. He had an unusual life, both naturally and spiritually. His father Ben was a member of the wealthy and influential Greene family, with cousins including Graham Greene the novelist and Hugh Carleton Greene who was Director-General of the BBC from 1960 to 1969. Ben was enormously tall, with a German mother; he became a Quaker and a Labour politician. During the Second World War some political enemies arranged for him to be framed by MI5 and interned because of his German connections and the supposedly pro-German sympathies that he had shown in the 1930s. Edward had two elder sisters, Anne and Margaret, who were also involved in various political activities.
Edward’s mother, Leslie Campbell, belonged to the Church of England, but was of Scottish extraction. She was related to Sir Henry Wellwood Moncreiff, who gave his name to the Free Church of Scotland’s Manual of Practice, and also to the Paul family (from which Edward’s second name was derived). William Paul was minister of St Cuthbert’s in Edinburgh (1786-1802), and one of his sons, Robert, was manager of the Commercial Bank in Edinburgh and a prominent Free Church layman at the Disruption of 1843. Edward was given a book by Rev Lachlan MacLeod called Thoughts on Union with Christ and Abiding in Him, from which he got much benefit; and it was a surprise and delight to him to discover that the anonymous author “Sosthenes” was none other than his own great-great-grandfather William Paul – the brother of Robert – whose large portrait hung on his wall.
Through William Paul, Edward was related to the celebrated John Paul Jones (1747-1792) of whom he wrote the following note in his copy of “Sosthenes”: “John Paul, commonly called (John) Paul Jones, a pirate, who is officially recognised by the United States of America as the founder of the American Navy, but more properly regarded as a traitor and a pirate in view of his support to the American Colonies in their rebellion against their lawful sovereign, George III. E.G.”
1. School. Edward was born on 8 October 1937 in Hemel Hempstead. He was baptized in the Church of England, with Clement Attlee (Prime Minister from 1945 to 1951) as one of his godfathers. The family moved to Braefoot, Kinross-shire, in Scotland in 1942. Even as a boy Edward was unusual, preferring to spend his pocket-money on salmon rather than sweets. He secured copies of all the bus and train timetables for Scotland and set up a travel-consultancy to advise people on complicated journeys across Scotland, to the extent that the headmaster of his boarding school became concerned at the volume of post he was receiving every day. On one occasion he met representatives of a railway company and persuaded them to modify their timetable so that the trains would synchronise better.
About 1947 he was sent to Gadebridge Park school near Hemel Hempstead to prepare him for Eton. He was too individualistic to be an easy pupil. About 1950 he attended his first Free Presbyterian service, when on holiday with his mother in Applecross. Rev John Angus Macdonald was then the minister. From 1950 to 1955 he was at Eton. His two elder sisters had been sent to Dartington Hall, a progressive school which had “no corporal punishment, indeed no punishment at all; no prefects; no uniforms; no Officers’ Training Corps; no segregation of the sexes; no compulsory games, compulsory religion or compulsory anything else, no more Latin, no more Greek; no competition; no jingoism”. Here, however, they both became Roman Catholics, which led to intense religious discussion in the Greene family.
2. The Free Presbyterian Church. In an account of his spiritual experiences, written in 1966, Edward said: “I cannot ever remember seriously doubting the existence of God. I was always fairly interested in religion and liked to conduct little services in my family when I was only about ten years old. I used to pray then too that the Lord would rule my life, but always with the words ‘not yet’, as there were some sins, especially lying and the indulgence of impure thoughts, which I was not willing to part with. My interest was farther stirred at this time when both my sisters (who were 10 and 12 years older than me) left the Church of England, in which we had all been brought up, and joined the Church of Rome. I thought for a time about going with them, but at that time I was always playing my parents off against my sisters, and as my parents had been very against this, I stayed where I was, and was in due course confirmed while I was at school when 14 years old.
“Our home was now in Scotland, and I had become very interested in everything Scottish; I also tended to think from the history that we had done at school that the Reformation in Scotland had been purer and less mixed up with politics than the English Reformation; so, without actually leaving the Church of England, I started attending the local parish church when in Scotland instead of going to the Episcopal Church. We had at that time a truly converted man as our minister, and, largely through his influence, I began to accept the Bible as the Word of God and formed a love for pure Reformation theology.”
In another account, he says that when he was 16, in 1953, he called on the minister supplying the local Church of Scotland in Fossoway. This was Mr Anderson, an Irish Presbyterian, who subsequently moved to Edinburgh, where he was friendly with the Free Presbyterian minister, Rev Donald Campbell. Edward asked Mr Anderson “to explain something of the differences between the Churches. He advised me to look at some of the smaller Scottish Churches, since he said that he had been told that some of them were very faithful to the Reformation position of the Church of Scotland, and he lent me the Church of Scotland year-book, which had corresponding addresses for all the Scottish Presbyterian denominations, including that of Mr John Grant (Isobel Grant’s father) in Inverness. I was then at a boarding school in England, and for a year I subscribed to six different magazines, including the F P Magazine.”
In October 1953, Edward wrote to Commander Lawrence MacEwen, the owner of the Island of Muck, suggesting that he might stay with them on Muck for a holiday. The Commander was intrigued by the letter from an unknown Etonian schoolboy, and a visit to Muck was arranged for the following January. A further visit took place in April and, returning from this, Edward travelled in the same train compartment as Rev John Colquhoun, Glendale, and his wife. A chance remark about Mr Colquhoun’s white tie, which was similar to the dress worn at Eton, led to a conversation which, in Mr Colquhoun’s words, “was very interesting to me, as it led him to inform me that he had been searching for something for his soul which he failed to get in the Churches with which he was acquainted. He then told me that he happened to get the Free Presbyterian Magazine and got there what his soul desired. As he did not know, at the time, that I was a minister of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland I allowed him to tell me what he knew of that Church, and I saw that he knew a great deal about it, having read a volume entitled, The History of the Free Presbyterian Church.
“When I divulged to him my Church connection he began with eagerness to ask questions about the Church and its distinctive testimony in a manner which was surprising in one so young in years. From his knowledge of the Free Presbyterian Church, his questions, and his expression of satisfaction at the answers which I gave, I, at once, perceived that he had, before I ever met him, accepted the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland as his Church, or in other words, that he is a Free Presbyterian by conviction.”
Probably it was slightly before this that Edward and his sister had been staying with Sir Michael Peto at Dundonnell, Little Loch Broom. His sister went hill-walking, which did not interest him, and he asked Sir Michael if he had any Free Presbyterians living on the estate. The answer at first was, No, but then Sir Michael remembered that there were some down at the very far end of the estate, at Scoraig, “where they couldn’t do any harm”. There was no road to Scoraig but Edward walked the several miles of the track, and it was here that he met Hector Campbell and his family. From this time forward, he became, in his heart at least, an adherent of the Free Presbyterian Church.
3. Communicant member. Returning to Eton, Edward soon ran into trouble with the school authorities. He argued with the teachers over their modernistic views of Scripture; he refused to kneel in the chapel or at house prayers; and he tried to deter the other boys from participating in school activities on the Sabbath. In June and July 1954, letters were exchanged between Mr Colquhoun and the headmaster of Eton, Robert Birley (later Sir Robert) over Edward’s chapel attendance and over the correct interpretation of the Fifth Commandment. At the end of July, his housemaster issued an ultimatum that unless Edward would desist from religious controversy – in particular from trying “to dissuade others from taking part in any activities which are permitted to occur on Sundays” – he was not to return to school.
Edward’s mother was very angry with him – she said that he had become a Free Presbyterian just to have a cast-iron excuse against dancing. In any case his family were on holiday abroad – so in August Edward took up the invitation that he had received from the Campbells in Scoraig and went to stay with them. At the Stoer communion in September he met Rev William MacLean, Ness, with whom he became great friends, and shortly afterwards he moved to Ness, of which he later gave the following description: “Ness was a very green spot in those days and I count it a great privilege to have met many of those who were then living there”. He cited the words: “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times” (Ps 77:5). Thinking of Ness brought him “pleasant recollections of former days”, and he quoted Job 29:2, “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;” and Psalm 68:24, “They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary”.
Mr MacLean was also interim-moderator of Uig, Lewis – the minister, Rev Lachlan MacLeod, being ill – and in Valtos, Uig, Edward met the elderly Mrs Matheson (grandmother of the present elder in Uig), with whom he frequently stayed, although there was no running water in the house. He got a blessing at the Raasay communion at the beginning of November, and on 20 November 1954, at the age of 17, he became a communicant member in Uig.
Soon afterwards, Edward’s father Ben came up to Lewis, being concerned about his young son’s absence. Edward read Spurgeon to him incessantly, desiring his conversion, and Ben arranged for Edward to be seen by a psychiatrist, who declared, however, that he was as sane as he was himself.
4. Royal Navy. In 1955 Edward returned briefly to Eton, and in 1956 he joined the Royal Navy for his national service, as a Naval Writer. He was on the battleship HMS Vanguard and on the destroyer HMS Cockade in the Far East. Edward often related how, in 1956, his ship developed a serious fault; and while it was being repaired, he planned to go to Spain, sending word of this to Valtos. In the event, the Navy offered the sailors a free ticket anywhere, and he asked for one to Stornoway, to travel to Uig. He did not have time to inform them that he was coming, and when Mrs Matheson’s daughter Margaret opened the door at Valtos, she had a look of shock. Mrs Matheson had been saying earlier that she thought that Edward would arrive that day, and had instructed that a bed should be made for him and some food laid aside.
Another remarkable experience that he had, on HMS Cockade on 19 January 1957, was an overwhelming sense of Divine love, with the words of Ephesians 2:17, “came and preached peace to you which were afar off” being strongly impressed on his mind; and then what seemed to be an external voice, first quoting the words of Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”, and then saying to him, “This is thy charter and warrant for the ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, to which I have called thee”. Thoughts of the ministry had been on his mind before this, but they were continual thereafter. At the end of his national service, he applied to join the Navy permanently, but was turned down when he told them of his thoughts concerning the ministry.
5. Spiritual diaries. Returning to Kinross, Edward was perplexed as to what to do. He did not see his way clearly to the ministry, and he wondered if he should become a teacher. For a while he taught in Kinross, and then in Motherwell. He left a number of spiritual diaries, most of which peter out after a few entries, but those of 1958 are an exception. Often he complains of his deadness and corruptions: “Felt very dead for the most part of the day”; “Felt very heavy this morning again . . . my negligence in secret prayer . . . my hypocritical refusal of duties such as praying, singing, etc when asked, thinking thereby to appear more humble, whereas in fact I might have got good from them in the path of obedience”; “Am very heavy and grieved at heart for falling into my besetting sin”; “Fear I have become very carnal”.
He commenced the practice of fasting, and an entry in October 1958 mentions his reasons for an ensuing fast: “1. That my sins have probably at no time exceeded those of the last few weeks. . . . 2. That previous essays at the work have been of a uniformly encouraging nature. 3. That it is [since he missed a previous fast that he had appointed] that the present utter death has come upon me.” He therefore appointed a fast in relation to the following matters: 1. “Indwelling corruption”; 2. “My many other sinful courses of action”; 3. “The grievous dearth in my soul since August 9”; 4. Direction where to reside. 5. What course to pursue at university. 6. What private studies to pursue. 7. “With especially in view [Rev William] MacLean’s present labours, namely that they would be blessed, and that he might prosper himself in soul and body.”
6. Wadham and application for the ministry. From 1959 to 1963 Edward read Classics at Wadham College, Oxford. In the summer of 1960 he had a serious motorcycle accident in Germany and nearly lost a foot. It so happened that at the local cottage-hospital there was an experienced East German surgeon who was serving time to have his qualifications recognised in West Germany, and he was able to re-attach the foot, but the injury troubled Edward for the rest of his life. He regarded the accident as a fitting chastisement for his corruptions. In 1962 he twice took a holiday job, teaching at a remand school in Glasgow, which he greatly enjoyed; and back at Wadham in January 1963, he set up an Oxford University Free Presbyterian Society for the discussion of doctrinal and spiritual matters. Rev Donald MacLean, Glasgow, related that when he heard of this Society, he wrote demanding to know its constitution, only to receive a copy of the constitution in Latin.
At the end of 1961, Edward finally applied for the ministry through the Uig Kirk Session, but there was a division at the Outer Isles Presbytery and the case went to the Synod. By a large majority he was not accepted. In 1964 he re-applied, but again was turned down by the Synod, this time by a narrower margin. One of the issues was his experience of January 1957, with the voice that he heard at that time. His case greatly interested Finlay Beaton, Inverness, and among Edward’s papers is advice from Finlay as to how he should have handled his case at the 1964 Synod, together with a draft petition and a lengthy supporting document that Finlay had drawn up should he ever re-apply. Edward continued to have lingering thoughts regarding the work of the ministry, but by 1966 he seems to have been reconciled to his rejection, and he regarded the Synod’s decision as a wise one.
From 1963 to 1965, Edward worked as a tutor for the Earl of Lovelace’s son at Torridon House, taking services in Shieldaig while he was there. At some point, he also taught at Rannoch School, taking services in Aberfeldy. At this stage he used to speak, as he did when he resumed taking services after 1989, but he discontinued the practice after a painful experience in Larne.
7. Wadham, Magdalen College School and the Tutorial College. In autumn 1965 he returned to Wadham to commence postgraduate studies, settling on the subject of the Swiss theologian Francis Turretine. He never completed these studies, however. He was very much involved in evangelistic efforts among his fellow-students, and, judging by a spiritual diary which survives for part of the year 1966, this was one of the happiest periods of his life: “I feel more and more drawn out in love to the Christians in Wadham. How wonderful to have such fellowship and to be planted in such a group. My cup overflows.” At the same time, he questioned the levity and some of the conduct that he found at the Christian Union: “There are several things making me to tremble. . . . Yet knowing the blessing I myself have had from others caring for me, I dare not again get completely drawn into an inward-looking group. Do Thou show me the right way, and meanwhile strengthen me in my own soul and keep me from evil.” He often attended services in London, but he regarded his spiritual home as Edinburgh.
In 1967, initially to support himself in his academic studies, he started working at Magdalen College School, Oxford, where he taught Classics and English until 1969. At the same time, he began giving private tutorials, and also arranging tutors for those that he could not teach himself. He found that there was a remarkable demand for this service, to the extent that when he came home to his lodgings for lunch, he would be met by a queue of people on the staircase, all wanting him to arrange tutorials for them. In 1967, he founded the tutorial college in Oxford which bears his name and from 1969 this became his main work. It was the first such college in Oxford, and in 1975 he moved to the lodgings in Pembroke Street which became memorable to many Free Presbyterian visitors.
8. Spiritual declension. Up to this time, he had been zealous – even excessively so – for some of the old practices of the Scottish Church and Highland society. He always wore a black suit and, until 1962, he refused to precent unless the line was given out. As late as 1964 he seems to have opposed the use of electricity on the Sabbath and to have maintained that women should have their heads covered at all times (Finlay Beaton wrote to him countering his views on both these subjects).
In 1967 or 1968, however, his fervour tailed off and he became irregular in his attendance in London, going instead to Church of England services in Oxford. He grew his hair long, and yielded to certain besetting sins with which he had long struggled. He never left the Free Presbyterian Church, retaining his membership in Edinburgh throughout this period, and attending there several times during the course of the year. He continued to correspond with Free Presbyterian friends in Scotland, and to arrange holidays with groups of people such as Miss Betty Gunn (Edinburgh), Miss Jean Nicolson (from the African Mission), and Jackie MacAskill (elder in Stornoway). Nevertheless, this was definitely a period of backsliding. The cares and pressures of the world seem to have ensnared him, and for many years he did not sit at the Lord’s Table. There are no diary entries from this period, and when he did finally recover the joy of his salvation, he was always fearful of a relapse. The Gaelic poet Dugald Buchanan had passed through a similar period of backsliding – much briefer (only two years), but far more intense – in the brutal years following the 1745 rebellion, and this was a comfort to him.
9. Restoration. The lukewarmness or backsliding continued for the long period of about 21 years. In the late 1980s, however, the rising APC movement in the Free Presbyterian Church finally shook him out of his slumbers. He resumed more regular attendance in London about 1987, and in May 1989 he attended the communion.
In his diary for Sabbath, May 14, he notes: “Today communicated at the London Communion, it being my first such sacrament for 21 or 22 years. I enjoyed much of the Lord’s blessing and presence. In the morning Rev DB [Macleod] preached on Galatians 6:14, ‘God forbid that I should glory’, and at night the London minister (Mr McPherson) on Ecclesiastes 10:15 – very affectingly. At the after-meeting there were only two called to pray, N and me, it being the first time I have been called in London. I felt some nearness to the Lord and afterwards David Ayers spoke to me to say that he had felt helped by it. . . . I also got a promise for myself today, Joel 2:25, ‘I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, etc.’ If it means what I hope and ask, I should like to look for 21 or 22 years now of reviving and usefulness. May the Lord accomplish this and keep me humble.” The Lord, indeed, more than fulfilled this promise to him.
On 14 October 1989, he transferred his membership from Edinburgh to London, and on 30 June 1991 he was ordained an elder. He continued a loyal upholder of Free Presbyterian principles to the end of his life. From 1991 to 2002 he was a member of the Committee of the Trinitarian Bible Society, of which he was a life-member. He also had a love for the work of the Reformation Translation Fellowship, and frequently tried to stir up support for it at Synods.
He was widely travelled, and had been to unexpected places such as West Africa and the Northern Territories in Australia. In the early 1980s he went with his mother to China. The Christian books that he had been given to take in were confiscated, but her bags were not searched out of respect for her age. He was good at languages, and had a great love for Gaelic, in which he was always ready to precent. He was warm-hearted and cheerful and had a very wide circle of friends – ranging from the biblical scholar John Wenham to the godly but simple Zena Macleod, living in a remote cottage near Kinlochbervie. He was good at keeping in touch with people, and exercised continual hospitality. With his portly figure, his antiquated bicycle, and his dark suit and bowler hat, he was a striking sight in Oxford.
In his last years he had a great variety of unrelated ailments and was often in hospital. Though he often spoke of his forgetfulness and “total senility”, he was entirely clear in his mind until the day of his death. He died suddenly, apparently while going to bed. In 2012, his New Year’s card carried a picture of his late friend Jackie MacAskill, with an appropriate text (in Greek), which in English reads: “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (Lk 12:40). (Rev) D W B Somerset