Bibliographic record
Arthur Fenton Hort, Life and Letters of Fenton John Anthony Hort, vol. 2 (London: Macmillan, 1896).
Use on this site
Later letters and biographical commentary
Key topics
Séance remark; Mary-worship / Jesus-worship
Why it matters
This volume contains two of the most disputed Hort quotations.
p. 33 — “the creatures wouldn’t stir”
This is the compact séance line that keeps appearing in later discussions. The brevity of the line makes context all the more important.
We tried to turn tables, but the creatures wouldn’t stir.
p. 50 — Mary-worship and Jesus-worship
This line is among the strongest pieces of direct documentary evidence used in modern debates about Hort’s beliefs. It is powerful precisely because it is brief and unambiguous.
I have been persuaded for many years that Mary-worship and “Jesus”-worship have very much in common in their causes and their results.