B. I. Retires

The flint-hard mind and steely pen of Bernard Iddings Bell, canon of the Episcopal Church, educator and high churchman, have struck many a light for Christians. Last week, Dr. Bell, 68, retired in the dark.

Blindness (from acute glaucoma) has stopped Canon Bell's work as "Episcopal Representative" on the campus of the University of Chicago. The assignment was always broad--part of his church's policy of freeing one of its most distinguished writer-preachers from specific duties. Bell made his job a kind of unofficial chaplaincy to the university's brightest brains, answering questions, enlivening bull sessions and putting the things of the spirit in terms intellectuals were willing to listen to. His influence spread far beyond the campus through his tireless writing (Crisis in Education, Crowd Culture). His cant-hating, spade-calling honesty brought thousands of clergymen to his lectures--often to hear themselves taken apart.

Since he went blind a year ago, Dr. Bell has written little. He sits in his study, smoking like a smudge pot and talking to his many friends by telephone. His wife dials the number and he begins as he always has: "This is B. I." He will stay on at Chicago as Consultant on Christian Education--"an honorific title," he says, "to give me status in the church, but with no functions at all."

One function even a muffled Bell could be counted on to keep up: his sharp talk. Last week he waggled his bulldog jaw at a visitor who mentioned the "current religious revival." B. I. snorted. "Religion has become a fad," he said. "There's an awful lot of people joining the church, but what it means I don't know. I'm not sure it means anything . . . It's too easy to be in the church."

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