Christian Belief
Bertram described himself as 'at least a nominal Christian', up to the end of his university years. When in China he had stopped attending church although there were a few practical Christians he greatly admired. In 1947 he was married at the Auckland registry office as he had left off churchgoing too long to feel a church service appropriate. However, he remained an occasional church-goer, remaining as an adherent of the Scottish Presbyterian Church and in later years he and his wife returned to full communion with the Presbyterian church. He wrote "I think we were the better for it, though I remain convinced that the only consolations of religion that really matter are those that are hardest to take.".
James Bertram died in Lower Hutt on 24 August 1993, survived by his wife Jean. They had no children.
Read more about this topic: James Munro Bertram
Famous quotes containing the words christian and/or belief:
“I never went near the Wellesley College chapel in my four years there, but I am still amazed at the amount of Christian charity that school stuck us all with, a kind of glazed politeness in the face of boredom and stupidity. Tolerance, in the worst sense of the word.... How marvelous it would have been to go to a womens college that encouraged impoliteness, that rewarded aggression, that encouraged argument.”
—Nora Ephron (b. 1941)
“There is not much sense in suffering, since drugs can be given for pain, itching, and other discomforts. The belief has long died that suffering here on earth will be rewarded in heaven. Suffering has lost its meaning.”
—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (b. 1926)