mountaintop and live in the memory of the vision, then we will be of no real ...... building was named Albertus Magnus Hall in 2008. ...... His name was Bob Fagin; and I took the liberty of using his name, long ... become, and yet knew he wanted fame. ...... To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens in.
What is wrong with the church today? The following guide attempts to highlight Christian’s who lived and served Christ in their lives and influenced a generation of future followers. They exemplified who individuals could live in his steps and be responsive to the community and serve others as yourself.
The Vision and The Reality (UCB, 2015)
…to those who are…called to be saints… —1 Corinthians 1:2 Thank God for being able to see all that you have not yet been. You have had the vision, but you are not yet to the reality of it by any means. It is when we are in the valley, where we prove whether we will be the choice ones, that most of us turn back. We are not quite prepared for the bumps and bruises that must come if we are going to be turned into the shape of the vision. We have seen what we are not, and what God wants us to be, but are we willing to be battered into the shape of the vision to be used by God? The beatings will always come in the most common, everyday ways and through common, everyday people. There are times when we do know what God’s purpose is; whether we will let the vision be turned into actual character depends on us, not on God. If we prefer to relax on the mountaintop and live in the memory of the vision, then we will be of no real use in the ordinary things of which human life is made. We have to learn to live in reliance upon what we saw in the vision, not simply live in ecstatic delight and conscious reflection upon God.
This means living the realities of our lives in the light of the vision until the truth of the vision is actually realized in us. Every bit of our training is in that direction. Learn to thank God for making His demands known. Our little “I am” always sulks and pouts when God says do. Let your little “I am” be shriveled up in God’s wrath and indignation— “I AM WHO I AM…has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). He must dominate. Isn’t it piercing to realize that God not only knows where we live, but also knows the gutters into which we crawl! He will hunt us down as fast as a flash of lightning. No human being knows human beings as God does. Wisdom From Oswald Chambers ‘There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage’
The Place of Ministry
He said to them, "This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." —Mark 9:29 “His disciples asked Him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ ” (Mark 9:28). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “This kind can come out by nothing but” concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw
from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him. When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face. We must be able to “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31), but we must also know how to come down. The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and what he was referring to were mostly humiliating things. And yet it is in our power to refuse to be humiliated and to say, “No, thank you, I much prefer to be on the mountaintop with God.” Can I face things as they actually are in the light of the reality of Jesus Christ, or do things as they really are destroy my faith in Him, and put me into a panic? Wisdom From Oswald Chambers We all have the trick of saying—If only I were not where I am!—If only I had not got the kind of people I have to live with! If our faith or our religion does not help us in the conditions we are in, we have either a further struggle to go through, or we had better abandon that faith and religion. The Shadow of an Agony, 1178 L
The Place of Humiliation
If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. —Mark 9:22 After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God— that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him. Peter thought it would be a wonderful thing for them to remain on the mountain, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mountain and into the valley, where the true meaning of the vision was explained (see Mark 9:5-6, Mark 9:14-23). “If you can do anything….” It takes the valley of humiliation to remove the skepticism from us. Look back at your own experience and you will find that until you learned who Jesus really was, you were a skillful skeptic about His power. When you were on the mountaintop you could believe anything, but what about when you were faced with the facts of the valley? You may be able to give a testimony regarding your sanctification, but what about the thing that is a humiliation to you right now? The last time you were on the mountain with God, you saw that all the power in heaven and on earth belonged to Jesus— will you be skeptical now, simply because you are in the valley of humiliation? Wisdom From Oswald Chambers
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. So Send I You, 1330 L
leading example Apr 9, 2015
Read:
1 Timothy 3:1-13 If someone aspires to be an elder, he desires an honorable position (1 Timothy 3:1). The pastor of a megachurch quit providing content through social media—declaring his return to his original calling of pastoring his local church. He felt that the distraction of his popular online communications were detracting from His primary calling. Pastors and all of us struggle at times with our priorities. The Scriptures reveal the importance of testing the teaching and priorities of those who shepherd us within the church (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). Timothy was a young man working with the church in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3) where the aging apostle Paul hoped to join him (1 Timothy 3:14-15). In the meantime, Paul urged Timothy to set an example of consistent faith and good conscience as he carefully lived out His calling in Christ (1 Timothy 4:12-16). Paul also wrote with instructions on church leadership and organization to help the body of Christ reflect God’s heart (1 Timothy 2:1-15, 1 Timothy 3:1-13). God, by the work of the
Holy Spirit, can help leaders—and all of us—pursue lives of integrity and faithfulness. The list of attributes written in this passage may seem difficult for any of us to live out, but by the Spirit’s leading we can begin to imitate our Good Shepherd who leads us so well. He led with humility and grace, saying to us, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). If you’re a church leader, may God give you all you need to serve Him wholeheartedly and effectively. If you’re not in leadership, may you gently and lovingly encourage those who are. And may we all reveal God’s love and grace by our example and our priorities.
Example That Encourages Read: 2 Timothy 2:1-7 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 84-86; Romans 12 I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet . . . . I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. —John 13:14-15 The story is told that in the late 1800s a group of European pastors attended D. L. Moody’s Bible conference in Massachusetts. Following their custom, they put their shoes outside their room before they slept, expecting them to be cleaned by hotel workers. When Moody saw the shoes, he mentioned the need to others because he knew their custom. But he was met with silence. Moody collected all the shoes and cleaned them himself. A friend who made an unexpected visit to his room revealed what Moody had done. The word spread, and the next few nights others took turns doing the cleaning. Moody’s leadership style of humility inspired others to follow his example. The apostle Paul reminded Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Tim. 2:1-2 niv). When we remember that our strength is a result of God’s grace, that keeps us humble. Then in humility we pass on God’s truth by being an example that encourages and inspires others to follow. Jesus Himself is our example of servanthood. He gave His very life for us. Lord Jesus, I know little about humility. Show me and teach me as I read about Your example in Your Word. Give me the grace to humble myself and serve others. Humility is the result of knowing God and knowing yourself. Insight: Paul had been mentoring Timothy as he pastored a church in Ephesus. Paul instructed Timothy not only in matters of faith (2 Tim. 3:14-17), but in matters of church etiquette and order, and in practical matters of conducting himself in a manner that reflected the grace of Jesus Christ. The importance of the last of these is reflected in today’s passage (vv.3-6). But Paul didn’t simply give direction and instruction; he modeled what he encouraged. Modeling Christ to those around us is one of the ways we demonstrate that He is our leader (vv.2-3). We see this principle also in 1 Corinthians when Paul told the Corinthian church to follow his example as he followed the example of Christ (11:1).
BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, preacher, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor.[1] For his work, he received two honorary doctorate degrees.
In many churches Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone!
I Talk Back to the Devil: Essays in Spiritual Perfection (1990)
It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply. o Glorify his name!, The Root of the Righteous, Ch. 39.
God wants us to worship Him. He doesn't need us, for He couldn't be a self-sufficient God and need anything or anybody, but He wants us. When Adam sinned it was not he who cried, 'God, where art Thou?' It was God who cried, 'Adam, where art thou?' o Worship: The Missing Jewel as quoted in Vernon K. McLellan (2000), Twentieth century thoughts that shaped the church p. 265.
Biography Hailing from a tiny farming community in western La Jose, Pennsylvania, his conversion was as a teenager in Akron, Ohio. While on his way home from work at a tire company, he overheard a street preacher say "If you don't know how to be saved... just call on God, saying, 'Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.'" Upon returning home, he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher’s advice.
In 1919, five years after his conversion, and without formal theological training, Tozer accepted an offer to pastor his first church. This began 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), a Protestant Evangelical denomination; 33 of those years were served as a pastor in a number of churches. His first pastorate was in a small storefront church in Nutter Fort, West Virginia. Tozer also served as pastor for 30 years at Southside Alliance Church, in Chicago (1928 to 1959), and the final years of his life were spent as pastor of Avenue Road Church, in Toronto, Canada. In observing contemporary Christian living, he felt that the church was on a dangerous course toward compromising with "worldly" concerns. Born into poverty, Tozer was self-educated teaching himself what he missed in high school and college due to his home situation.[2] In 1950, Tozer received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Wheaton College. It was May 1950, when Tozer was elected editor of the Alliance Weekly magazine, now called, Alliance Life, the official publication of the C&MA.[3] From his first editorial, dated June 3, 1950, he wrote, "It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that." In 1952, he received an honorary LL.D. degree from Houghton College.[4] Among the more than 40 books that he authored, at least two are regarded as Christian classics: The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. His books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God. Living a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, never owned a car, preferring bus and train travel. Even after becoming a well-known Christian author, Tozer signed away much of his royalties to those who were in need. Tozer had seven children, six boys and one girl. He spent his last years of ministry at Avenue Road Church in the province of Ontario in Toronto, Canada, where he died from a heart attack. He was buried in Ellet Cemetery, Akron, Ohio, with a simple epitaph marking his grave: "A. W. Tozer - A Man of God." [5] Prayer was of vital personal importance for Tozer. "His preaching as well as his writings were but extensions of his prayer life," comments his biographer, James L. Snyder, in the book, In Pursuit of God: The Life Of A.W. Tozer. "He had the ability to make his listeners face themselves in the light of what God was saying to them," writes Snyder. Over the years many have been inspired by the life and sermons of Tozer. In 2011, Christian music artist Lauren Barlow of BarlowGirl published a compilation of stories told by 59 artists, writers, and leaders about how A.W. Tozer inspired them.[6]
Published works Books written or compiled by A. W. Tozer during his lifetime include the following:
Paths to Power (1940) Wingspread (1943) Let My People Go (1947)
The Pursuit of God, (1948) Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, ISBN 0-55100455-X (Online E-text) The Divine Conquest (1950) How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit (1952) ISBN 1-51746-228-2 Thomas Haire: The Praying Plumber of Lisburn (Undated booklet, but the articles originally appeared in serial form on January 6th, 13th, and 20th 1954 in the Alliance Weekly (Now Alliance Life)) (Back in print through CrossReach Publications) The Root of the Righteous (1955) Born after Midnight (1959) Of God And Men (1960) Harrisburg PA: Christian Publications, ISBN 0-87509-254-3 The Knowledge of the Holy, (1961) New York: Harper & Row, ISBN 0-06-068412-7 Christian Book of Mystical Verse (1963) The Menace of the Religious Movie (undated)(Back in print through CrossReach Publications) Total Commitment to Christ: What is It? (booklet)
There are also many compilations of sermons and other writings which were edited and published by Christian Publications, Inc., Regal Books, and others after Tozer's death. Although the following books were published posthumously, authorship is attributed to A. W. Tozer. (This list is by no means complete. Original publication dates are given where possible):
That Incredible Christian (1964) Man: The Dwelling Place of God (1966) When He is Come (1968) ISBN 0-87509-221-7 I Call It Heresy! (1974) ISBN 0-87509-209-8 Who Put Jesus on the Cross? (1975) 0-87509-212-8 The Pursuit of God (1976) STL Books, Bromley, Kent ISBN 1-55742-753-4 Gems from Tozer (1979) ISBN 0-87509-163-6 Renewed Day by Day: Daily Devotional (1980) ISBN 0-87509-292-6 A Treasury of A. W. Tozer (1980) ISBN 0-8010-8851-8 Echoes from Eden: The Voices of God Calling Man (1981) ISBN 0-87509-227-6 Originally published as, The Tozer Pulpit Vol. 8: Ten Sermons on the Voices of God Calling Man Leaning Into The Wind (1985) STL Books, Bromley, Kent ISBN 0-903843-98-6 Whatever Happened to Worship? (1985) ISBN 0-87509-367-1 Whatever Happened to Worship? (1986) OM Publishing, Carlisle, ISBN 1-85078010-2 Faith Beyond Reason (1987) OM Publishing, Bromley, Kent ISBN 1-85078-025-0 Jesus, Our Man in Glory (1987) ISBN 0-87509-390-6 Jesus, Author of Our Faith (1988) ISBN 0-87509-406-6 Men Who Met God (1989) OM Publishing, Bromley, Kent ISBN 1-85078-058-7 That Incredible Christian (1989) OM Publishing, Bromley, Kent ISBN 1-85078-0641 I Talk Back to the Devil: Essays in Spiritual Perfection (1990) ISBN 0-87509-437-6 The Coming King (1990) STL Books, Bromley, Kent ISBN 1-85078-074-9 Christ the Eternal Son (1991) ISBN 978-1-60066-047-4 The Best of A. W. Tozer, 52 Favourite Chapters Compiled by Warren W Wiersbe (1991), Crossway Books ISBN 1-85684-007-7 Man: The Dwelling Place of God (1992) ISBN 0-87509-415-5
God Tells the Man Who Cares (1992) ISBN 0-87509-508-9 Born After Midnight (1992) ISBN 0875094163 We Travel an Appointed Way (1992) OM Publishing, Bromley, Kent ISBN 1-85078116-8 The Knowledge of the Holy (1992) ISBN 0-06-069865-9 The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in Christian Life (1997) ISBN 0-8027-2707-7 The Attributes of God, Volume One with study guide by David E. Fessenden (1997) ISBN 0-87509-957-2 The Attributes of God, Volume Two with study guide by David E. Fessenden (2001) ISBN 0-87509-988-2 The Best of A. W. Tozer, Book 1 (1979) ISBN 0-87509-458-9 The Best of A. W. Tozer, Book 2 (1995) ISBN 0-87509-594-1 The Tozer Topical Reader (1999) ISBN 0-87509-838-X The Radical Cross (2005) ISBN 0-88965-236-8 The Worship-Driven Life: The Reason We Were Created (2008) ISBN 1-85424-877-4 Signposts: A Collection of Sayings from A.W. Tozer ISBN 0-89693-583-3 Tozer on the Almighty God: A 366-Day Devotional ISBN 0-87509-972-6 The Pursuit of God ISBN 1-60066-015-0 Faith Beyond Reason ISBN 1-60066-033-9 Warfare Of The Spirit ISBN 1-60066-059-2 The Pursuit Of God With Study Guide ISBN 1-60066-106-8 The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship (2009) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-46897 Reclaiming Christianity: A Call to Authentic Faith (2009) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-46903 And He Dwelt Among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John (2009) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-46910 Living As a Christian: Teachings from First Peter (2010) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-46927 Experiencing the Presence of God: Teachings from the Book of Hebrews (2010) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-46934 A Disruptive Faith: Expect God to Interrupt Your Life (2011) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-57619 The Crucified Life: How to Live Out a Deeper Christian Experience (2011) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-59224 The Dangers of a Shallow Faith: Awakening from Spiritual Lethargy (2012) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-62040 Preparing for Jesus' Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope (2012) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-63955 God's Power for Your Life: How the Holy Spirit Transforms You Through God's Word (2013) Regal Books, Ventura, CA ISBN 978-08307-65379 Keys to The Deeper Life (1984) Clarion Classics published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI ISBN 0-310-33361-X God Still Speaks (2014)CrossReach Publications
References 1.
Harris, Lynn (1992). The Mystic Spirituality of A.W. Tozer. Edwin Mellen Pr. ISBN 07734-9872-9. A. W. Tozer (Author of The Pursuit of God), www.goodreads.com. Accessed 2013-0711. "Historical Timeline". Christian and Missionary Alliance. Retrieved 2013-10-16. This publication was originally named The Word, The Work, and The World, later renamed The Alliance Weekly, later renamed The Alliance Witness, later renamed to its present name Alliance Life. Bailey, Nathan, ed. (1963-07-24). "Significant Dates in the Life of Aiden Wilson Tozer" (PDF). The Alliance Witness (Christian and Missionary Alliance) 98 (15): 7. OCLC 52856644. Retrieved 2013-10-16. 1952-Received LL.D. degree from Houghton College. This issue of The Alliance Witness is subtitled Dr. A. W. Tozer Memorial Issue. History: A.W. Tozer, cmalliance.org. Barlow, Lauren (2011). Inspired by Tozer: 59 Artists, Writers, and Leaders Share the Insight and Passion They've Gained from A.W. Tozer. Ventura, California, USA: Regal. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-8307-5929-3.
Albertus Magnus, O.P. (before 1200 – November 15, 1280), also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and a Catholic bishop. He was known during his lifetime as doctor universalis and doctor expertus and, late in his life, the term magnus was appended to his name.[1] Scholars such as James A. Weisheipl and Joachim R. Söder have referred to him as the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages.[2] The Catholic Church honours him as a Doctor of the Church, one of only 36 so honoured.
Natural science does not consist in ratifying what others have said, but in seeking the causes of phenomena. o Attributed to Albertus Magnus in: Albertus Magnus; cited in: Morris Bishop (1968) The Middle Ages. p. 252.
Do there exist many worlds, or is there but a single world? This is one of the most noble and exalted questions in the study of Nature. o Attributed to Albertus Magnus in: R.C. Bless (1996) Discovering the cosmos. p. 686.
Biography It seems likely that Albert was born sometime before 1200, given well-attested evidence that he was aged over 80 on his death in 1280; more than one source says that Albert was 87 on his death, which has led 1193 to be commonly given as the date of Albert's birth.[3] Albert was probably born in Lauingen (now in Bavaria), since he called himself 'Albert of Lauingen', but this might simply be a family name. Most probably his family was of ministerial class; his familiar connection with (being son of the count) Bollstädt noble family was a 15th century misinterpretation what is now completely disproved.[3] Albert was probably educated principally at the University of Padua, where he received instruction in Aristotle's writings. A late account by Rudolph de Novamagia refers to Albertus' encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who convinced him to enter Holy Orders. In 1223 (or 1229)[4] he became a member of the Dominican Order, and studied theology at Bologna and elsewhere. Selected to fill the position of lecturer at Cologne, Germany, where the Dominicans had a house, he taught for several years there, and at Regensburg, Freiburg, Strasbourg, and Hildesheim. During his first tenure as lecturer at Cologne, Albert wrote his Summa de bono after discussion with Philip the Chancellor concerning the transcendental properties of being.[5] In 1245, Albert became master of theology under Gueric of SaintQuentin, the first German Dominican to achieve this distinction. Following this turn of events, Albert was able to teach theology at the University of Paris as a full-time professor, holding the seat of the Chair of Theology at the College of St. James.[5][6] During this time Thomas Aquinas began to study under Albertus.[7]
Bust of Albertus Magnus by Vincenzo Onofri, c. 1493 Albert was the first to comment on virtually all of the writings of Aristotle, thus making them accessible to wider academic debate. The study of Aristotle brought him to study and comment on the teachings of Muslim academics, notably Avicenna and Averroes, and this would bring him into the heart of academic debate. In 1254 Albert was made provincial of the Dominican Order,[7] and fulfilled the duties of the office with great care and efficiency. During his tenure he publicly defended the Dominicans against attacks by the secular and regular faculty of the University of Paris, commented on St. John, and answered what he perceived as errors of the Islamic philosopher Averroes. In 1259 Albert took part in the General Chapter of the Dominicans at Valenciennes together with Thomas Aquinas, masters Bonushomo Britto,[8] Florentius,[9] and Peter (later Pope Innocent V) establishing a ratio studiorum or program of studies for the Dominicans[10] that
featured the study of philosophy as an innovation for those not sufficiently trained to study theology. This innovation initiated the tradition of Dominican scholastic philosophy put into practice, for example, in 1265 at the Order's studium provinciale at the convent of Santa Sabina in Rome, out of which would develop the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelicum"[11] In 1260 Pope Alexander IV made him bishop of Regensburg, an office from which he resigned after three years. During the exercise of his duties he enhanced his reputation for humility by refusing to ride a horse, in accord with the dictates of the Order, instead traversing his huge diocese on foot. This earned him the affectionate sobriquet "boots the bishop" from his parishioners. In 1263 Pope Urban IV relieved him of the duties of bishop and asked him to preach the eighth Crusade in German-speaking countries.[12] After this, he was especially known for acting as a mediator between conflicting parties. In Cologne he is not only known for being the founder of Germany's oldest university there, but also for "the big verdict" (der Große Schied) of 1258, which brought an end to the conflict between the citizens of Cologne and the archbishop. Among the last of his labors was the defense of the orthodoxy of his former pupil, Thomas Aquinas, whose death in 1274 grieved Albert (the story that he travelled to Paris in person to defend the teachings of Aquinas can not be confirmed).
Roman sarcophagus containing the relics of Albertus Magnus in the crypt of St. Andrew's Church, Cologne, Germany After suffering a collapse of health in 1278, he died on November 15, 1280, in the Dominican convent in Cologne, Germany. Since November 15, 1954, his relics are in a Roman sarcophagus in the crypt of the Dominican St. Andreas Church in Cologne.[13] Although his body was discovered to be incorrupt at the first exhumation three years after his death, at the exhumation in 1483 only a skeleton remained.[14] Albert was beatified in 1622. He was canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on December 16, 1931, by Pope Pius XI[12] and the patron saint of natural scientists in 1941. St. Albert's feast day is November 15.
Writings
Albertus Magnus monument at the University of Cologne.
De animalibus (1450-1500 ca., cod. fiesolano 67, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) Albert's writings collected in 1899 went to thirty-eight volumes. These displayed his prolific habits and encyclopedic knowledge of topics such as logic, theology, botany, geography, astronomy, astrology, mineralogy, alchemy, zoology, physiology, phrenology, justice, law, friendship, and love. He digested, interpreted, and systematized the whole of Aristotle's works, gleaned from the Latin translations and notes of the Arabian commentators, in accordance with Church doctrine. Most modern knowledge of Aristotle was preserved and presented by Albert.[7] His principal theological works are a commentary in three volumes on the Books of the Sentences of Peter Lombard (Magister Sententiarum), and the Summa Theologiae in two volumes. The latter is in substance a more didactic repetition of the former. Albert's activity, however, was more philosophical than theological (see Scholasticism). The philosophical works, occupying the first six and the last of the 21 volumes, are generally divided according to the Aristotelian scheme of the sciences, and consist of interpretations and condensations of Aristotle's relative works, with supplementary discussions upon contemporary topics, and occasional divergences from the opinions of the master. Albert believed that Aristotle's approach to natural philosophy did not pose any obstacle to the development of a Christian philosophical view of the natural order.[12] Albert's knowledge of physical science was considerable and for the age remarkably accurate. His industry in every department was great, and though we find in his system many gaps which are characteristic of scholastic philosophy, his protracted study of Aristotle gave him a
great power of systematic thought and exposition. An exception to this general tendency is his Latin treatise "De falconibus" (later inserted in the larger work, De Animalibus, as book 23, chapter 40), in which he displays impressive actual knowledge of a) the differences between the birds of prey and the other kinds of birds; b) the different kinds of falcons; c) the way of preparing them for the hunt; and d) the cures for sick and wounded falcons.[15] His scholarly legacy justifies his contemporaries' bestowing upon him the honourable surname Doctor Universalis. In De Mineralibus Albert claims, "The aim of natural philosophy (science) is not to simply to accept the statements of others, but to investigate the causes that are at work in nature." Aristotelianism greatly influences Albert's view on nature and philosophy.[7] Another example of his reason to formally search for the causes is in his treatises on plants, he begins with the principle, experiment is the only safe guide in such investigations. His studies of Aristotle and theology show their colors in nearly all of his works and volumes. Albert placed emphasis on experiment as well as investigation, but he respected authority and tradition so much that many of his investigations or experiments were unpublished. Albert would often keep silent about many issues such as astronomy, physics and such because he felt that his theories were too advanced for the time in which he was living.[7]
Alchemy
Albertus Magnus, Chimistes Celebres, Liebig's Extract of Meat Company Trading Card, 1929 In the centuries since his death, many stories arose about Albert as an alchemist and magician. "Much of the modern confusion results from the fact that later works, particularly the alchemical work known as the Secreta Alberti or the Experimenta Alberti, were falsely attributed to Albertus by their authors to increase the prestige of the text through association."[16] On the subject of alchemy and chemistry, many treatises relating to alchemy have been attributed to him, though in his authentic writings he had little to say on the subject, and then mostly through commentary on Aristotle. For example, in his commentary, De mineralibus, he refers to the power of stones, but does not elaborate on what these powers might be.[17] A wide range of Pseudo-Albertine works dealing with alchemy exist, though, showing the belief developed in the generations following Albert's death that he had mastered alchemy, one of the fundamental sciences of the Middle Ages. These include Metals and Materials; the Secrets of Chemistry; the Origin of Metals; the Origins of Compounds, and a Concordance which is a collection of Observations on the philosopher's stone; and other alchemy-chemistry topics, collected under the name of Theatrum Chemicum.[18] He is credited with the discovery of the element arsenic[19] and experimented with photosensitive chemicals, including silver nitrate.[20][21] He did believe that stones had occult properties, as
he related in his work De mineralibus. However, there is scant evidence that he personally performed alchemical experiments. According to legend, Albert is said to have discovered the philosopher's stone and passed it to his pupil Thomas Aquinas, shortly before his death. Albert does not confirm he discovered the stone in his writings, but he did record that he witnessed the creation of gold by "transmutation."[22] Given that Thomas Aquinas died six years before Albert's death, this legend as stated is unlikely. In his Little Book of Alchemy Albert said that alchemic gold and iron lack the properties of natural gold and iron, alchemical iron not being magnetic and alchemical gold turning to powder after several ignitions.
Astrology
Painting by Joos (Justus) van Gent, Urbino, ~ 1475 Albert was deeply interested in astrology, as has been articulated by scholars such as Paola Zambelli.[23] Throughout the Middle Ages –and well into the early modern period –astrology was widely accepted by scientists and intellectuals who held the view that life on earth is effectively a microcosm within the macrocosm (the latter being the cosmos itself). It was believed that correspondence therefore exists between the two and thus the celestial bodies follow patterns and cycles analogous to those on earth. With this worldview, it seemed reasonable to assert that astrology could be used to predict the probable future of a human being. Albert made this a central component of his philosophical system, arguing that an understanding of the celestial influences affecting us could help us to live our lives more in accord with Christian precepts.[24] The most comprehensive statement of his astrological beliefs is to be found in a work he authored around 1260, now known as the Speculum astronomiae. However, details of these beliefs can be found in almost everything he wrote, from his early De natura boni to his last work, the Summa theologiae.[25]
Matter and form Albert believed that all natural things were composed of composition of matter and form, he referred to it as quod est and quo est. Albert also believed that God alone is the absolute ruling entity. Albert's version of hylomorphism is very similar to the Aristotelian doctrine, but he also took some concepts from Avicenna.[26] Liber phisicorum sive auditus phisici is an eight-book commentary, which Albert wrote in France before 1349, on Aristotle’s Physics.[27]
Music Albert is known for his commentary on the musical practice of his times. Most of his written musical observations are found in his commentary on Aristotle's Poetics. He rejected the idea of "music of the spheres" as ridiculous: movement of astronomical bodies, he supposed, is incapable of generating sound. He wrote extensively on proportions in music, and on the three different subjective levels on which plainchant could work on the human soul: purging of the impure; illumination leading to contemplation; and nourishing perfection through contemplation. Of particular interest to 20th-century music theorists is the attention he paid to silence as an integral part of music.
Metaphysics of morals Both of his early treatises, De natura boni and De bono, start with a metaphysical investigation into the concepts of the good in general and the physical good. Albert refers to the physical good as bonum naturae. Albert does this before directly dealing with the moral concepts of metaphysics. In Albert's later works, he says in order to understand human or moral goodness, the individual must first recognize what it means to be good and do good deeds. This procedure reflects Albert's preoccupations with neo-Platonic theories of good as well as the doctrines of Pseudo-Dionysius.[28] Albert's view was highly valued by the Catholic Church and his peers.
Natural law Albert devoted the last tractatus of De Bono to a theory of justice and natural law. Albert places God as the pinnacle of justice and natural law. God legislates and divine authority is supreme. Up until his time, it was the only work specifically devoted to natural law written by a theologian or philosopher.[29]
Friendship This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help us clarify the article; suggestions may be found on the talk page. (June 2014) Albert mentions friendship in his work, De bono, as well as presenting his ideals and morals of friendship in the very beginning of Tractatus II. Later in his life he published Super Ethica.[30] With his development of friendship throughout his work this is evident that friendship ideals and morals took relevance as his life went on. Albert comments on Aristotle's view of friendship with a quote from Cicero, who writes, "friendship is nothing
other than the harmony between things divine and human, with goodwill and love. Albert agrees with this commentary but he also adds in harmony or agreement.[31] Albert calls this harmony, consensiom, itself a certain kind of movement within the human spirit. Albert fully agrees with Aristotle in the sense that friendship is a virtue. Albert relates the inherent metaphysical contentedness between friendship and moral goodness. Albert describes several levels of goodness; the useful (utile), the pleasurable (delectabile) and the authentic or unqualified good (honestum). Then in turn there are three levels of friendship based on each of those levels. Friendship based on usefulness (amicitia utilis), friendship based on pleasure (amicitia delectabilis), and friendship rooted in unqualified goodness (amicitia honesti; amicitia quae fundatur super honestum).[32]
Cultural references
The tympanum and archivolts of Strasbourg Cathedral, with iconography inspired by Albertus Magnus The iconography of the tympanum and archivolts of the late 13th-century portal of Strasbourg Cathedral was inspired by the Albert's writings of.[33] Albert is recorded as having made a mechanical automaton in the form of a brass head that would answer questions put to it. Such a feat was also attributed to Roger Bacon.[34] Albert is frequently mentioned by Dante, who made his doctrine of free will the basis of his ethical system. In his Divine Comedy, Dante places Albertus with his pupil Thomas Aquinas among the great lovers of wisdom (Spiriti Sapienti) in the Heaven of the Sun. Albert is also mentioned, along with Agrippa and Paracelsus, in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in which his writings influence a young Victor Frankenstein. In The Concept of Anxiety, Søren Kierkegaard wrote that Albert, "arrogantly boasted of his speculation before the deity and suddenly became stupid." Kierkegaard cites Gotthard Oswald Marbach whom he quotes as saying "Albertus repente ex asino factus philosophus et ex philosopho asinus" [Albert was suddenly transformed from an ass into a philosopher and from a philosopher into an ass].[35] In Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s post-apocalyptic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz there is an order of monks devoted to saving knowledge named the Albertian Order of Leibowitz in reference to Albert.
Influence and tribute
University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines A number of schools have been named after Albert, including Albertus Magnus High School in Bardonia, New York;[36] Albertus Magnus Lyceum in River Forest, Illinois; and Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut.[37] The main science building at Providence College is named in honor of Albert. The main science building at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is also named after Albert. The central square at the campus of the University of Cologne features a statue of Albert and is named after him. The Academy for Science and Design in New Hampshire honored Albert by naming one of its four houses Magnus House. As a tribute to the scholar's contributions to the law, the University of Houston Law Center displays a statue of Albert. It is located on the campus of the University of Houston. The Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium is found in Regensburg, Germany. In Managua, Nicaragua, the Albertus Magnus International Institute, a business and economic development research center, was founded in 2004. In The Philippines, the Albertus Magnus Building at the University of Santo Tomas that houses the Conservatory of Music, College of Tourism and Hospitality Management, College of Education, and UST Education High School is named in his honor. The Saint Albert the Great Science Academy in San Carlos City, Pangasinan, which offers preschool, elementary and high school education, takes pride in having St. Albert as their patron saint. Its main building was named Albertus Magnus Hall in 2008. Due to his contributions to natural philosophy, the plant species Alberta magna and the asteroid 20006 Albertus Magnus were named after him. Numerous Catholic elementary and secondary schools are named for him, including schools in Toronto; Calgary; Cologne; and Dayton, Ohio. The Albertus typeface is named after him.
References
Weisheipl, James A. (1980), "The Life and Works of St. Albert the Great", in Weisheipl, James A., Albertus Magnus and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays, Studies and texts 49, Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, p. 46, ISBN 0-88844-049-9 Joachim R. Söder, "Albert der Grosse – ein staunen- erregendes Wunder,” Wort und Antwort 41 (2000): 145; J.A. Weisheipl, "Albertus Magnus,” Joseph Strayer ed., Dictionary of the Middle Ages 1 (New York: Scribner, 1982) 129. Tugwell, Simon. Albert and Thomas, New York Paulist Press, 1988, p. 3, 96–7 Tugwell, p. 4-5. Kovach, Francs, and Rober Shahan. Albert the Great: Commemorative Essays . Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980, p.X Hampden, The Life, p. 33. Kennedy, Daniel. "St. Albertus Magnus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 10 Sept. 2014 Histoire literaire de la France: XIIIe siècle 19. p. 103. Retrieved October 27, 2012. Probably Florentius de Hidinio, a.k.a. Florentius Gallicus, Histoire literaire de la France: XIIIe siècle, Volume 19, p. 104, Accessed October 27, 2012 Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 10, p. 701. Accessed 9 June 2011 Weisheipl O.P., J. A., "The Place of Study In the Ideal of St. Dominic", 1960. Accessed 19 March 2013 Führer, Markus, "Albert the Great", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), "Zeittafel". Gemeinden.erzbistum-koeln.de. Retrieved 2013-08-09. Carroll Cruz, Joan (1977). The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of the Bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati. Charlotte, NC: TAN Books. ISBN 0-89555-066-0. An Smets, "Le réception en langue vulgaire du "De falconibus" d'Albert le Grand," in: Medieval Forms of Argument: Disputation and Debate, ed. Georgiana Donavin, Carol Poster, and Richard Utz (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2002), pp. 189–99. Katz, David A., "An Illustrated History of Alchemy and Early Chemistry", 1978 Georg Wieland, "Albert der Grosse. Der Entwurf einer eigenständigen Philosophie,” Philosophen des Mittelalters (Darmstadt: Primus, 2000) 124-39. Walsh, John, The Thirteenth, Greatest of Centuries. 1907:46.Available online. Emsley, John (2001). Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 43,513,529. ISBN 0-19-850341-5. Davidson, Michael W.; National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at The Florida State University (2003-08-01). "Molecular Expressions: Science, Optics and You — Timeline — Albertus Magnus". The Florida State University. Retrieved 2009-11-28. Szabadváry, Ferenc (1992). History of analytical chemistry. Taylor & Francis. p. 17. ISBN 2-88124-569-2. Julian Franklyn and Frederick E. Budd. A Survey of the Occult. Electric Book Company. 2001. p. 28-30. ISBN 1-84327-087-0. Paola Zambelli, "The Speculum Astronomiae and its Enigma" Dordrecht. Scott E. Hendrix, How Albert the Great's Speculum Astronomiae Was Interpreted and Used by Four Centuries of Readers (Lewiston: 2010), 44-46. Hendrix, 195. Kovach, Francs, and Rober Shahan. Albert the Great: Commemorative Essays . Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980, p. 133-135
Mullen, Dennis. "Manuscript Monday: LJS 234 – Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics". Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved February 8, 2015. Cunningham, Stanley. Reclaiming Moral Agency: The Moral Philosophy of Albert the Great. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Of America Press, 2008 p. 93 Cunningham, Stanley. Reclaiming Moral Agency: The Moral Philosophy of Albert the Great. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Of America Press, 2008 p.207 Cunningham, Stanley. Reclaiming Moral Agency: The Moral Philosophy of Albert the Great. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Of America Press, 2008 p.242 Cunningham, Stanley. Reclaiming Moral Agency: The Moral Philosophy of Albert the Great. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Of America Press, 2008 p.243 Cunningham, Stanley. Reclaiming Moral Agency: The Moral Philosophy of Albert the Great. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Of America Press, 2008 p.244 France: A Phaidon Cultural Guide, Phaidon Press, 1985, ISBN 0-7148-2353-8, p. 705 Chambers, Ephraim (1728). Androides "Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences" Check |url= scheme (help). Digicoll.library.wisc.edu. The Concept of Anxiety, Princeton University Press, 1980, ISBN 0-691-02011-6, pp. 150–151 "Albertus Magnus High School". Albertusmagnus.net. Retrieved 2013-08-09. 37. "Albertus Magnus College". Albertus.edu. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
Sources
Tugwell, Simon. Albert and Thomas, Paulist Press, New York, 1988 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "article name needed". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (first ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.
Translations
On the Causes of the Properties of the Elements, translated by Irven M. Resnick, (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2010) [translation of Liber de causis proprietatum elementorum] Questions concerning Aristotle's on Animals, translated by Irven M Resnick and Kenneth F Kitchell, Jr, (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008) [translation of Quaestiones super De animalibus] The Cardinal Virtues: Aquinas, Albert, and Philip the Chancellor, translated by RE Houser, (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2004) [contains translations of Parisian Summa, part six: On the good and Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, book 3, dist. 33 & 36] The Commentary of Albertus Magnus on Book 1 of Euclid's Elements of Geometry, edited by Anthony Lo Bello, (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2003) [translation of Priumus Euclidis cum commento Alberti]
On Animals: A Medieval Summa Zoologica, translated by Kenneth F Kitchell, Jr. and Irven Michael Resnick, (Baltimore; London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999) [translation of De animalibus] Paola Zambelli, The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma: Astrology, Theology, and Science in Albertus Magnus and His Contemporaries, (Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992) [includes Latin text and English translation of Speculum astronomiae] Albert & Thomas: Selected Writings, translated by Simon Tugwell, Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York: Paulist Press, (1988) [contains translation of Super Dionysii Mysticam theologiam] On Union with God, translated by a Benedictine of Princethorpe Priory, (London: Burns Oates & Washbourne, 1911) [reprinted as (Felinfach: Llanerch Enterprises, 1991) and (London: Continuum, 2000)] [translation of De adherendo Deo]
Further reading
Collins, David J. "Albertus, Magnus or Magus?: Magic, Natural Philosophy, and Religious Reform in the Late Middle Ages." Renaissance Quarterly 63, no. 1 (2010): 1–44. Honnefelder, Ludger (ed.) Albertus Magnus and the Beginnings of the Medieval Reception of Aristotle in the Latin West. From Richardus Rufus to Franciscus de Mayronis, (collection of essays in German and English), Münster : Aschendorff, 2005. Kovach,Francis J. & Shahan,Robert W. Albert the Great. Commemorative Essays, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980. Miteva, Evelina. "The Soul between Body and Immortality: The 13th Century Debate on the Definition of the Human Rational Soul as Form and Substance", in: Philosophia: E-Journal of Philosophy and Culture, 1/2012. ISSN: 1314-5606. Resnick, Irven (ed.), A Companion to Albert the Great: Theology, Philosophy, and the Sciences, Leiden, Brill, 2013. Resnick, Irven e Kitchell Jr, Kenneth (eds.), Albert the Great: A Selective Annotated Bibliography, (1900-2000), Tempe, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2004. Wallace, William A. (1970). "Albertus Magnus, Saint" (PDF). In Gillispie, Charles. Dictionary of Scientific Biography 1. New York: Scribner & American Council of Learned Societies. pp. 99–103. ISBN 978-0-684-10114-9.
Alfred Edersheim (7 March 1825 – 16 March 1889) was a Jewish convert to Christianity and a Biblical scholar known especially for his book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (1883).
“God is the God of the present as well as of the future...even here on earth, He reigneth, dispensing good and evil.” “So true is it that all sin is ultimately against the Lord; so bitter is the root of self; and so terrible the power of evil in its constantly growing strength, till it casts out all fear of God or care for man.” ― Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament “Indeed, to sacrifice seems as natural to man as to pray; the one indicates what he feels about himself, the other what he feels about God. The one means a felt need of propitiation, the other a felt sense of dependence.” ― Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament
Early life and education Edersheim was born in Vienna of Jewish parents of culture and wealth. English was spoken in their home, and he became fluent at an early age. He was educated at a local gymnasium and also in the Talmud and Torah at a Hebrew school, and in 1841 he entered the University of Vienna. His father suffered illness and financial reversals before Alfred could complete his university education, and he had to support himself.
Conversion and Christian ministry Edersheim emigrated to Hungary and became a teacher of languages. He converted to Christianity in Pest when he came under the influence of John Duncan, a Free Church of Scotland chaplain to workmen engaged in constructing a bridge over the Danube. Edersheim accompanied Duncan on his return to Scotland and studied theology at New College, Edinburgh and at the University of Berlin. In 1846 Alfred was married to Mary Broomfield. They had seven children. In the same year he was ordained to the ministry in the Free Church of Scotland. He was a missionary to the Jews at Iaşi, Romania for a year. On his return to Scotland, after preaching for a time in Aberdeen, Edersheim was appointed in 1849 to minister at the Free Church, Old Aberdeen. In 1861 health problems forced him to
resign and the Church of St. Andrew was built for him at Torquay. In 1872 Edersheim's health again obliged him to retire, and for four years he lived quietly at Bournemouth. In 1875 he was ordained in the Church of England, and was Curate of the Abbey Church, Christchurch, Hants, for a year, and from 1876 to 1882 Vicar of Loders, Bridport, Dorset. He was appointed to the post of Warburtonian Lecturer at Lincoln's Inn 1880-84. In 1882 he resigned and relocated to Oxford. He was Select Preacher to the University 1884-85 and Grinfield Lecturer on the Septuagint 1886-88 and 1888-89. Edersheim died at Menton, France, on 16 March 1889.
Works
History of the Jewish Nation after the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (Edinburgh, 1856) The Jubilee Rhythm of St. Bernard, and other Hymns (1866) The Golden Diary of Heart-Converse with Jesus in the Psalms (1874) The Temple and Its Ministry and Services at the Time of Jesus Christ (London, 1874) Bible History (7 vols., 1876–87) Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ (1876) The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (2 vols.,1883; condensation in one volume, 1890) Prophecy and History in Relation to the Messiah (Warburton Lectures for 1880-1884, 1885) Tohu va Bohu, "Without form and Void." A Collection of fragmentary Thoughts and Criticisms. Ed. with a Memoir, by Ella Edersheim (1890) Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim (London, 1898) Historical development of speculative philosophy, from Kant to Hegel 1854 translation of a philosophical book by Heinrich Moritz Chalybäus
References This article borrows heavily from the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, put forth in the public domain by CCEL.org
David Mishkin, The Wisdom of Alfred Edersheim, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008, ISBN 978-1-55635-939-2
Andrew Murray (9 May 1828 – 18 January 1917) was a South African writer, teacher and Christian pastor. Murray considered missions to be "the chief end of the church".[citation needed]
"God has a plan for His Church upon earth. But alas! we too often make our plan, and we think that we know what ought to be done. We ask God first to bless our feeble efforts, instead of absolutely refusing to go unless God go before us." — Andrew Murray (Absolute Surrender) "The sooner I learn to forget myself in the desire that He may be glorified, the richer will be the blessing that prayer will bring to myself. No one ever loses by what he sacrifices to the Father." — Andrew Murray "The Lord gave the wonderful promise of the free use of His Name with the Father in conjunction with doing His works. The disciple who lives only for Jesus' work and Kingdom, for His will and honor, will be given the power to appropriate the promise. Anyone grasping the promise only when he wants something very special for himself will be disappointed, because he is making Jesus the servant of his own comfort. But whoever wants to pray the effective prayer of faith because he needs it for the work of the Master will learn it, because he has made himself the servant of his Lord's interests." — Andrew Murray (With Christ in the School of Prayer) "Being filled with the Spirit is simply this - having my whole nature yielded to His power. When the whole soul is yielded to the Holy Spirit, God Himself will fill it." — Andrew Murray (Absolute Surrender)
Early life and education Andrew Murray was the second child of Andrew Murray Sr. (1794–1866), a Dutch Reformed Church missionary sent from Scotland to South Africa. He was born in Graaff Reinet, South Africa. His mother, Maria Susanna Stegmann, was of French Huguenot and German Lutheran descent.[1] Murray was sent to Aberdeen in Scotland for his initial education, together with his elder brother, John. Both remained there until they obtained their master's degrees in 1845. From there, they both went to the University of Utrecht where they studied theology. The two brothers became members of Het Réveil, a religious revival movement opposed to the rationalism which was in vogue in the Netherlands at that time. Both brothers were ordained
by the Hague Committee of the Dutch Reformed Church on 9 May 1848 and returned to the Cape. Murray married Emma Rutherford in Cape Town, South Africa, on 2 July 1856. They had eight children together (four boys and four girls).
Residence in Utrecht In 1846 they lived in the minnebroederstraat (number unknown). From 1847-1848 they lived at the zadelstraat 39.
Religious work in South Africa Murray pastored churches in Bloemfontein, Worcester, Cape Town and Wellington, all in South Africa. He was a champion of the South African Revival of 1860. In 1889, he was one of the founders of the South African General Mission (SAGM), along with Martha Osborn and Spencer Walton. After Martha Osborn married George Howe, they formed the South East Africa General Mission (SEAGM) in 1891. SAGM and SEAGM merged in 1894. Because its ministry had spread into other African countries, the mission's name was changed to Africa Evangelical Fellowship (AEF) in 1965. AEF joined with Serving In Mission (SIM) in 1998 and continues to this day. Through his writings, Murray was also a key Higher Life or Keswick leader, and his theology of faith healing and belief in the continuation of the apostolic gifts made him a significant forerunner of the Pentecostal movement.[2]
Death Murray died on 18 January 1917, four months before his 89th birthday. He was so influenced by Johann Christoph Blumhardt's Möttlingen revival that he included a portion of Friedrich Zündel's biography at the end of With Christ in the School of Prayer.
Works Murray authored over 240 books, including:
Abide in Christ Absolute Surrender Be Perfect Divine Healing God's Will: Our Dwelling Place Holy in Christ How to Raise Your Children for Christ Humility: The Beauty of Holiness Let Us Draw Nigh Like Christ Money
The Deeper Christian Life The Lord's Table The Holiest of All: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews The Master's Indwelling The Ministry of Intercession The Power of the Blood of Christ The Prayer Life The Spirit of Christ The Spiritual Life The True Vine The Two Covenants The Secret of God's Presence Thy Will Be Done Waiting on God With Christ in the School of Obedience With Christ in the School of Prayer Working for God! Humility & Absolute Surrender
References "Murray, Andrew". Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa 7. Nasou Limited. 1971. p. 653. ISBN 978-0-625-00324-2. Andrew Murray, Keswick / Higher Life Leader: a Biographical Sketch, in The Doctrine of Sanctification, Thomas D. Ross, Great Plains Baptist Divinity School, 2014 Arthur Dent (died 1607) was an English Puritan cleric, known as an author and preacher.
Life Dent was born at Melton, Leicestershire.[1] He matriculated as a pensioner of Christ's College, Cambridge, in November 1571. He graduated B.A. in 1575–6, and M.A. in 1579. Dent served as a curate for three years to George Withers, at Danbury, Essex.[2] He was on 17 December 1580 instituted to the rectory of South Shoebury, Essex, on the presentation of Robert Rich, 2nd Baron Rich. In 1582 he was one of the witnesses examined in support of charges brought against Robert Wright, a Puritan minister. About 1584 Dent himself was in trouble with John Aylmer, his diocesan bishop, for refusing to wear the surplice and omitting the sign of the cross in baptism. His name is appended to the petition sent to the lords of the council by twenty-seven ministers of Essex, who refused to subscribe the declaration "that there is nothing contained in the Book of Common Prayer contrary to the word of God".[3] Dent died of a fever after three days' illness about the end of 1607. He left a widow. Ezekiel Culverwell, in dedicating an edition of the Ruine of Rome to Lord Rich, remarked on Dent's diligence. He was considered a good preacher, and his printed sermons ran to numerous editions.[3]
Works
Dent, Arthur (1601), The plaine mans path-way to heauen : wherein euery man may clearly see, whether he shall be saued or damned : set forth dialogue wise, for the better understanding of the simple, London: imprinted for Robert Dexter, and are to be sold at the signe of the brazen serpent in Powles Church-yard. This was one of the two books that John Bunyan read before or during the four years of spiritual struggle that led eventually to his conversion, and his subsequent writing of Pilgrim's Progress. The other title was The Practice of Piety by Lewis Bayly.[citation needed] The work also influenced Richard Baxter, who recast it in 1674 as The Poor Man's Family Book. The Ruine of Rome. Or, An Exposition upon the whole Revelation. Wherein is plainly shown and proved, that the Popish religion, together with all the power and authority of Rome, shall ebbe and decay still more and more throughout all the churches of Europe, and come to an utter overthrow even in this life, before the end of the world. Written especially for the comfort of Protestants, and the daunting of Papists, Seminary Priests, Jesuits, and all the cursed rabble. London, 1607. Printed by W.I. for Simon Waterson and Richard Banckworth. The opening of heauen gates, or, The ready vvay to euerlasting life: Deliuered in a most familiar dialogue, betweene reason and religion, touching predestination, Gods word and mans free-will, to the vnderstanding of the weakest capacitie, and confirming of the more strong, by Aurthur Dent, London : Printed [at Eliot's Court Press] for Iohn Wright, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Bible without New-gate, 1624 (fifth edition) Sermon of Gods prouidence. Very godly and profitable: preached at South-Shoobery in Essex Hand-maid of repentance. Or, A short treatise of restitution (As a necessary appendix to his Sermon of Repentance.)
Modern edition
The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, ISBN 978-1-877611-69-8
References "Dent, Arthur (DNT571A)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. Usher, Brett; Craig, John. "Withers, George". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68289. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. "Dent, Arthur". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Dent, Arthur". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (c. 1614 – 12 February 1691) served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Christians commonly remember him for the intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God as recorded in a book compiled after his death, the classic Christian text, The Practice of the Presence of God.
“Wandered. Such has been my common” ― Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, The Practice of the Presence of God “In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.” “We must do our business faithfully; without trouble or disquiet, recalling our mind to GOD mildly, and with tranquility, as often as we find it wandering from Him.”
Biography Brother Lawrence was born Nicolas Herman in Hériménil, near Lunéville in the region of Lorraine, located in modern day eastern France. As a young man, Herman's poverty forced him into joining the army, which guaranteed him meals and a small stipend. During this period, Herman claimed an experience that set him on a unique spiritual journey. He considered it a supernatural clarity into a common sight, more so than as a supernatural vision. He fought in the Thirty Years' War and following an injury, left the army and served as a valet. After some time, he joined the Discalced Carmelite Priory in Paris. Nicolas entered the priory in Paris as a lay brother, not having the education necessary to become a cleric, and took the religious name, "Lawrence of the Resurrection". He spent almost all of the rest of his life within the walls of the priory, working in the kitchen for most of his life and as a repairer of sandals in his later years. Despite his lowly position in life and the priory, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him. The wisdom he passed on to them, in conversations and in letters, would later become the basis for the book, The Practice of the Presence of God. Father Joseph de Beaufort, later vicar general to the Archbishop of Paris, compiled this work after Brother Lawrence died. It became popular among Catholics and Protestants alike, with John Wesley and A. W. Tozer recommending it to others.
Conversion
During the winter, Herman looked at a barren tree, stripped of leaves and fruit, and realized it awaited the sure hope of a springtime revival and summer abundance. Gazing at the tree, Herman grasped deeply the extravagance of God's grace and the unfailing sovereignty of divine providence. Like the tree, he felt seemingly dead, but held hope that God had life waiting for him, and the turn of seasons would bring fullness. At that moment, he said, that leafless tree "first flashed in upon my soul the fact of God," and a love for God that never ceased. Shortly after, an injury forced his retirement from the army, and after a stint as a footman, he sought a place where he could suffer for his failures. He thus entered the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Paris as Brother Lawrence.
His method He was assigned to the monastery kitchen where, amidst the tedious chores of cooking and cleaning at the constant bidding of his superiors, he developed his rule of spirituality and work. In his Maxims, Lawrence writes, "Men invent means and methods of coming at God's love, they learn rules and set up devices to remind them of that love, and it seems like a world of trouble to bring oneself into the consciousness of God's presence. Yet it might be so simple. Is it not quicker and easier just to do our common business wholly for the love of him?" Some believe Brother Lawrence meditated on the love of God so much, it made him "levitate." [1] For Brother Lawrence, "common business," no matter how mundane or routine, could be a medium of God's love. The sacredness or worldly status of a task mattered less than motivation behind it. "Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God." Brother Lawrence felt having a proper heart about tasks made every detail of his life possess surpassing value. "I began to live as if there were no one save God and me in the world." Brother Lawrence felt that he cooked meals, ran errands, scrubbed pots, and endured the scorn of the world alongside God. One of his most famous sayings refers to his kitchen: "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees before the Blessed Sacrament.[2] or in the original French "Je possède Dieu, affirme-t-il, aussi tranquillement dans le tracas de ma cuisine, où quelquefois plusieurs personnes me demandent en même temps des choses différentes, que si j’étais à genoux devant le Saint Sacrement."[1] He admitted the path to this union was difficult. He spent years disciplining his heart and mind to yield to God's presence. "As often as I could, I placed myself as a worshiper before him, fixing my mind upon his holy presence, recalling it when I found it wandering from him. This proved to be an exercise frequently painful, yet I persisted through all difficulties."
He found a peace in reconciling himself to the thought that this struggle and longing was his destiny. He said his soul "had come to its own home and place of rest." His death in 1691 occurred in relative obscurity, but his teachings lived on in the compilation of his words.
See also
Carmelite Rule of St. Albert Book of the First Monks Constitutions of the Carmelite Order Hermit
References http://divinelycommonicons.com/iconhtml/dci_brotherlawrence.html Brother Lawrence, "The Practice of the Presence of God" Catherine Booth (17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) was co-founder of The Salvation Army, along with her husband William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Mother of The Salvation Army'.
"If we are to better the future we must disturb the present." — Catherine Booth "It seemed clear to me from the teaching of the Bible that Christ’s people should be separate from the world in everything which denoted character and that they should not only be separate but appear so." — Catherine Booth “I know not what He is about to do with me, but I have given myself entirely into His hands.”
Life
She was born as Catherine Mumford in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, in 1829 to Methodist parents, John Mumford and Sarah Milward. Her father was an occasional lay preacher and carriage maker;coach builder. Her family later moved to Boston, Lincolnshire, and later lived in Brixton, London. From an early age, Catherine was a serious and sensitive girl. She had a strong Christian upbringing and was said to have read the Bible through eight times before the age of 12.[1] During Catherine’s adolescence a spinal curvature led to years of enforced idleness.[2] She kept herself busy, however, and was especially concerned about the problems of alcoholism. Even as a young girl she had served as secretary of a Juvenile Temperance Society writing articles for a temperance magazine. Catherine was a member of the local Band of Hope and a supporter of the national Temperance Society. When Catherine refused to condemn Methodist Reformers in 1850, the Wesleyans expelled her. For the Reformers she led a girls’ Sunday school class in Clapham. At the home of Edward Rabbits, in 1851, she met William Booth, who also had been expelled by the Wesleyans for reform sympathies. William was reciting a temperance poem, “The Grogseller’s Dream,” which appealed to Catherine, who had embraced the new Methodist passion for abstinence.[3] They soon fell in love and became engaged. During their three-year engagement, Catherine constantly wrote letters of encouragement to William as he performed the tiring work of a preacher. They were married on 16 June 1855 at Stockwell Green Congregational Church in London. Their wedding was very simple, as they wanted to use their time and money for his ministry. Even on their honeymoon, William was asked to speak at meetings. The Booths had eight children: Bramwell Booth, Ballington Booth, Kate Booth, Emma Booth, Herbert Booth, Marie Booth, Evangeline Booth and Lucy Booth, and were dedicated to giving them a firm Christian knowledge. Two of their offspring, Bramwell and Evangeline, later became Generals of The Salvation Army.
Ministry
Catherine and William Booth Catherine began to be more active in the work of the church at Brighouse. Though she was extremely nervous, she enjoyed working with young people and found the courage to speak in children's meetings. During this period she discovered a model, American Wesleyan revivalist Phoebe Palmer. With William’s encouragement, Catherine wrote a pamphlet, Female Ministry: Woman’s Right to Preach the Gospel (1859), in defense of American preacher Mrs. Phoebe Palmer’s preaching, whose preaching had caused a great stir in the area where the Booths lived. Female Ministry was a short, powerful apology for women’s rights to preach the gospel. The pamphlet identifies three major principles on which her convictions rested. First, Catherine saw that women are neither naturally nor morally inferior to men. Second, she believed there was no scriptural reason to deny them a public ministry. Third, she maintained that what the Bible urged, the Holy Spirit had ordained and blessed and so must be justified.[2] She complained that the “unjustifiable application” of Paul’s advice, “ ‘Let your women keep silence in the Churches,’ has resulted in more loss to the Church, evil to the world, and dishonor to God, than any of [its] errors.”[3] At that time, it was unheard of for women to speak in adult meetings. She was convinced that women had an equal right to speak.In January 1860, following the birth of their fourth child, at Gateshead, during William's sermon, she asked to "say a word". She witnessed to her timidity about claiming her calling, yet William announced that she would speak that night.[3] It was the beginning of a tremendous ministry, as people were greatly challenged by her preaching. She became a partner in her husband’s work and soon found her own sphere as a powerful preacher. She also spoke to people in their homes, especially to alcoholics, whom she helped to make a new start in life. Often she held cottage meetings for converts. She eventually began to hold her own campaigns. Many agree that no man of her era, including her husband, exceeded her in popularity or spiritual results.
Catherine Booth was eloquent and compelling in speech, articulate and devastatingly logical in writing, she had for over twenty years defended the right of women to preach the gospel on the same terms as men. At first, Catherine and her husband had shared a ministry as traveling evangelists, but then she came into great demand as a preacher in her own right, especially among the well-to-do. A woman preacher was a rare phenomenon in a world where women had few civil rights, and no place in the professions. Catherine Booth was both a woman and a fine preacher, a magnetic combination that attracted large numbers to hear her and made its own statement about the validity of women’s ministry.[2]
The Christian Mission They began the work of The Christian Mission in 1865 in London's East End. William preached to the poor and ragged and Catherine spoke to the wealthy, gaining support for their financially demanding ministry. The textile industry employed as many women as men and contributed a substantial number of female officers. In addition, domestic indoor servants flocked to the Army, and many became officers.[4] The "Appointments of Officers, 1883" lists 127 married men. This number is important, because wives were expected to help run the corps. Since wives were not compelled to attend the officers’ course at the Training Home, they were not given a commission and, therefore, did not appear in the list. General Booth had an active policy of encouraging officers to intermarry. The "Appointments of Officers, 1883" lists thirty-six couples who had done so, the women resigning their own rights of officership to become joint officers with their husbands. The loss of the women officers’ rights when marrying contradicts the constant statement regarding equality. The Army leaders were clearly not so radical as to lose the concept of man’s conjugal superiority. This social policy carried into pay; the husband, as head of the household, received the pay for the couple. The idea that single female officers could manage on less money than their male counterparts was abolished before the Second World War. Until that time, male officers received a third more pay than their female counterparts.[4] Catherine Booth organized Food for the Million shops where the poor could buy a cheap meal and at Christmas, hundreds of meals were distributed to the needy.[5] When the name was changed in 1878 to The Salvation Army and William Booth became known as the General, Catherine became known as the 'Mother of The Salvation Army.' She was behind many of the changes in the new organization, designing the flag and bonnets for the ladies, and contributed to the Army's ideas on many important issues and matters of belief. The Booths rented a small villa, Crossley House, in Clacton-on-Sea, which had a sea view that she loved. Catherine Booth died at age 61 at Crossley House in Clacton-on-Sea. She is interred with her husband in Abney Park Cemetery, London. Subsequently, the Crossley House was donated to people with learning disabilities and provided many summer holidays until it was sold to property developers in 2005.
Works
Works by Catherine Mumford Booth at Project Gutenberg Aggressive Christianity Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-905363-11-7 Godliness Hot Saints - On Fire for God, Living Full of Light, Purity and Power aka Practical Religion Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-515-3 Let the Women Speak - Females Teaching in Church Diggory Press, ISBN 978-184685-375-3 Life and Death Popular Christianity - its Cowardly Service versus the Real Warfare Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-516-0
Legacy
Statue of Catherine Booth in the Mile End Road, London, close to the site of the first Salvation Army meeting. The statue was donated by the women of the Salvation Army in the United States of America in 2015 to mark the Army's 150th anniversary.
Catherine Booth Hospital (CBH) is a hospital and nursing school run by the Salvation Army in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. Catherine Booth House is a confidentially located domestic violence shelter in the Seattle/King County area. Operated by The Salvation Army, CBH has been serving battered women and their children since 1976. Catherine Booth Child Development Center is a preschool located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Statues of each of the Booths by George Edward Wade were erected on Champion Hill, next to the Salvation Army's training college in London in 1929.[6] Replicas of the statues by Wade stand in the Mile End Road, London, close to the site of the first Salvation Army meeting. That of William was unveiled in 1979; and that of Catherine in 2015.
See also
Catherine Bramwell-Booth, her granddaughter
References 1. "Catherine Booth" at The Salvation Army Parkin, Major Christine, "Pioneer in Female Ministry", Christian History Magazine, Issue 26: William and Catherine Booth: Salvation Army Founders (1990) Christianity Today Murdoch, Norman H., "The Army Mother", Christian History Magazine, Issue 26: William and Catherine Booth: Salvation Army Founders (1990) Christianity Today Horridge, Glenn K., "William Booth's Officers", Christian History Magazine, Issue 26: William and Catherine Booth: Salvation Army Founders (1990) Christianity Today "Famous Derbyshire People", Derbyshire, UK 6. Darke, Jo, ‘’The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone’’, photographs by Jorge Lewinski and Mayotte Magnus, a MacDonald Illustrated Book, London, 1991 p, 72-73
Further reading
Booth-Tucker, Frederick The Short Life of Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army (1892, 1910) Also published as The life of Catherine Booth : the Mother of The Salvation Army. Booth-Tucker, Frederick Gems from the life of Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army : being extracts from the original (1893) Carpenter, Minnie Lindsay Rowell Women of the flag (1945)
Charles John Huffam Dickens (/ˈtʃɑrlz ˈdɪkɪnz/; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.[1] His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.[2][3] Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms. Dickens's literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication.[4][5] The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback.[5] For example, when his wife's chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features.[6] His plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives.[7] Masses of the illiterate poor
chipped in ha'pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.[8] Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age.[9] His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.[10]
"Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts." — Charles Dickens "Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape." — Charles Dickens (Great Expectations) "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." — Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities) "It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour." — Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol)
Early years
Charles Dickens's birthplace, 393 Commercial Road, Portsmouth
2 Ordnance Terrace, Chatham, Dickens's home 1817 – May 1821[11] Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace (now 393 Commercial Road), Landport in Portsea Island (Portsmouth), the second of eight children of John Dickens (1785–1851) and Elizabeth Dickens (née Barrow; 1789–1863). His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam,[12] rigger to His Majesty's Navy, gentleman, and head of an established firm, to act as godfather to Charles. Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickens's eponymous Dombey and Son (1848).[12] In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, and the family moved to Norfolk Street, Fitzrovia.[13] When Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he thought himself a "very small and not-over-particularly-takencare-of boy".[14] Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe and Gil Blas. He read and reread The Arabian Nights and the Collected Farces of Elizabeth Inchbald.[15] He retained poignant memories of childhood, helped by an excellent memory of people and events, which he used in his writing.[16] His father's brief work as a clerk in the Navy Pay Office afforded him a few years of private education, first at a dame school, and then at a school run by William Giles, a dissenter, in Chatham.[17]
Illustration by Fred Bernard of Dickens at work in a shoe-blacking factory after his father had been sent to the Marshalsea, published in the 1892 edition of Forster's Life of Dickens[18] This period came to an end in June 1822, when John Dickens was recalled to Navy Pay Office headquarters at Somerset House, and the family—minus Charles, who stayed behind to finish his final term of work—moved to Camden Town in London.[19] The family had left Kent amidst rapidly mounting debts, and, living beyond his means,[20] John Dickens was forced by his creditors into the Marshalsea debtors' prison in Southwark, London in 1824. His wife and youngest children joined him there, as was the practice at the time. Charles, then 12 years old, boarded with Elizabeth Roylance, a family friend, at 112 College Place, Camden Town.[21] Roylance was "a reduced [impoverished] old lady, long known to our family", whom Dickens later immortalised, "with a few alterations and embellishments", as "Mrs. Pipchin" in Dombey and Son. Later, he lived in a back-attic in the house of an agent for the Insolvent Court, Archibald Russell, "a fat, good-natured, kind old gentleman... with a quiet old wife" and lame son, in Lant Street in Southwark.[22] They provided the inspiration for the Garlands in The Old Curiosity Shop.[23] On Sundays—with his sister Frances, free from her studies at the Royal Academy of Music— he spent the day at the Marshalsea.[24] Dickens later used the prison as a setting in Little Dorrit. To pay for his board and to help his family, Dickens was forced to leave school and work ten-hour days at Warren's Blacking Warehouse, on Hungerford Stairs, near the present Charing Cross railway station, where he earned six shillings a week pasting labels on pots of boot blacking. The strenuous and often harsh working conditions made a lasting impression on Dickens and later influenced his fiction and essays, becoming the foundation of his interest in the reform of socio-economic and labour conditions, the rigours of which he believed were unfairly borne by the poor. He later wrote that he wondered "how I could have been so easily cast away at such an age".[25] As he recalled to John Forster (from The Life of Charles Dickens): The blacking-warehouse was the last house on the left-hand side of the way, at old Hungerford Stairs. It was a crazy, tumble-down old house, abutting of course on the river, and literally overrun with rats. Its wainscoted rooms, and its rotten floors and staircase, and the old grey rats swarming down in the cellars, and the sound of their squeaking and scuffling coming up the stairs at all times, and the dirt and decay of the place, rise up visibly before me, as if I were there again. The counting-house was on the first floor, looking over the coalbarges and the river. There was a recess in it, in which I was to sit and work. My work was to cover the pots of paste-blacking; first with a piece of oil-paper, and then with a piece of blue
paper; to tie them round with a string; and then to clip the paper close and neat, all round, until it looked as smart as a pot of ointment from an apothecary's shop. When a certain number of grosses of pots had attained this pitch of perfection, I was to paste on each a printed label, and then go on again with more pots. Two or three other boys were kept at similar duty down-stairs on similar wages. One of them came up, in a ragged apron and a paper cap, on the first Monday morning, to show me the trick of using the string and tying the knot. His name was Bob Fagin; and I took the liberty of using his name, long afterwards, in Oliver Twist.[25] When the warehouse was moved to Chandos Street in the smart, busy district of Covent Garden the boys worked in a room in which the window gave onto the street and little audiences gathered and watched them at work—in Dickens biographer Simon Callow's estimation, the public display was "a new refinement added to his misery".[26]
The Marshalsea around 1897, after it had closed A few months after his imprisonment, John Dickens' paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Dickens, died and bequeathed him £450. On the expectation of this legacy, Dickens was released from prison. Under the Insolvent Debtors Act, Dickens arranged for payment of his creditors, and he and his family left Marshalsea,[27] for the home of Mrs Roylance. Charles's mother, Elizabeth Dickens, did not immediately support his removal from the bootblacking warehouse. This influenced Dickens' view that a father should rule the family, and a mother find her proper sphere inside the home: "I never afterwards forgot, I never shall forget, I never can forget, that my mother was warm for my being sent back". His mother's failure to request his return was a factor in his dissatisfied attitude towards women.[28] Righteous indignation stemming from his own situation and the conditions under which working-class people lived became major themes of his works, and it was this unhappy period in his youth to which he alluded in his favourite, and most autobiographical, novel, David Copperfield:[29] "I had no advice, no counsel, no encouragement, no consolation, no assistance, no support, of any kind, from anyone, that I can call to mind, as I hope to go to heaven!"[30] Dickens was eventually sent to the Wellington House Academy in Camden Town, where he remained until March 1827, having spent about two years there. He did not consider it to be a
good school: "Much of the haphazard, desultory teaching, poor discipline punctuated by the headmaster's sadistic brutality, the seedy ushers and general run-down atmosphere, are embodied in Mr. Creakle's Establishment in David Copperfield."[30] Dickens worked at the law office of Ellis and Blackmore, attorneys, of Holborn Court, Gray's Inn, as a junior clerk from May 1827 to November 1828. He was a gifted mimic and impersonated those around him: clients, lawyers, and clerks. He went to theatres obsessively—he claimed that for at least three years he went to the theatre every single day. His favourite actor was Charles Mathews, and Dickens learnt his monopolylogues, (farces in which Mathews played every character), by heart.[31] Then, having learned Gurney's system of shorthand in his spare time, he left to become a freelance reporter. A distant relative, Thomas Charlton, was a freelance reporter at Doctors' Commons, and Dickens was able to share his box there to report the legal proceedings for nearly four years.[32][33] This education was to inform works such as Nicholas Nickleby, Dombey and Son, and especially Bleak House—whose vivid portrayal of the machinations and bureaucracy of the legal system did much to enlighten the general public and served as a vehicle for dissemination of Dickens's own views regarding, particularly, the heavy burden on the poor who were forced by circumstances to "go to law". In 1830, Dickens met his first love, Maria Beadnell, thought to have been the model for the character Dora in David Copperfield. Maria's parents disapproved of the courtship and ended the relationship by sending her to school in Paris.[34]
Journalism and early novels In 1832, at age 20, Dickens was energetic and increasingly self-confident.[35] He enjoyed mimicry and popular entertainment, lacked a clear, specific sense of what he wanted to become, and yet knew he wanted fame. Drawn to the theatre—he became an early member of the Garrick[36]—he landed an acting audition at Covent Garden, where the manager George Bartley and the actor Charles Kemble were to see him. Dickens prepared meticulously and decided to imitate the comedian Charles Mathews, but ultimately he missed the audition because of a cold. Before another opportunity arose, he had set out on his career as a writer.[37] In 1833 he submitted his first story, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk", to the London periodical Monthly Magazine.[38] William Barrow, a brother of his mother, offered him a job on The Mirror of Parliament and he worked in the House of Commons for the first time early in 1832. He rented rooms at Furnival's Inn and worked as a political journalist, reporting on Parliamentary debates, and he travelled across Britain to cover election campaigns for the Morning Chronicle. His journalism, in the form of sketches in periodicals, formed his first collection of pieces, published in 1836: Sketches by Boz—Boz being a family nickname he employed as a pseudonym for some years.[39][40] Dickens apparently adopted it from the nickname "Moses", which he had given to his youngest brother Augustus Dickens, after a character in Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield. When pronounced by anyone with a head cold, "Moses" became "Boses"—later shortened to Boz.[40][41] Dickens's own name was considered "queer" by a contemporary critic, who wrote in 1849: "Mr Dickens, as if in revenge for his own queer name, does bestow still queerer ones upon his fictitious creations." He contributed to and edited journals throughout his literary career.[38] In January 1835 the Morning Chronicle launched an evening edition, under the editorship of the Chronicle's music critic, George Hogarth. Hogarth invited Dickens to contribute Street Sketches and Dickens became a regular visitor to his Fulham house, excited by Hogarth's friendship with a
hero of his, Walter Scott, and enjoying the company of Hogarth's three daughters—Georgina, Mary, and nineteen-year-old Catherine.[42]
Catherine Hogarth Dickens by Samuel Lawrence (1838) Dickens made rapid progress both professionally and socially. He began a friendship with William Harrison Ainsworth, the author of the highwayman novel Rookwood (1834), whose bachelor salon in Harrow Road had become the meeting place for a set that included Daniel Maclise, Benjamin Disraeli, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and George Cruikshank. All these became his friends and collaborators, with the exception of Disraeli, and he met his first publisher, John Macrone, at the house.[43] The success of Sketches by Boz led to a proposal from publishers Chapman and Hall for Dickens to supply text to match Robert Seymour's engraved illustrations in a monthly letterpress. Seymour committed suicide after the second instalment, and Dickens, who wanted to write a connected series of sketches, hired "Phiz" to provide the engravings (which were reduced from four to two per instalment) for the story. The resulting story became The Pickwick Papers, and though the first few episodes were not successful, the introduction of the Cockney character Sam Weller in the fourth episode (the first to be illustrated by Phiz) marked a sharp climb in its popularity.[44] The final instalment sold 40,000 copies.[38] In November 1836 Dickens accepted the position of editor of Bentley's Miscellany, a position he held for three years, until he fell out with the owner.[45] In 1836 as he finished the last instalments of The Pickwick Papers, he began writing the beginning instalments of Oliver Twist—writing as many as 90 pages a month—while continuing work on Bentley's and also writing four plays, the production of which he oversaw. Oliver Twist, published in 1838, became one of Dickens's better known stories, and was the first Victorian novel with a child protagonist.[46]
Young Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise (1839) On 2 April 1836, after a one-year engagement, and between episodes two and three of The Pickwick Papers, Dickens married Catherine Thomson Hogarth (1816–1879), the daughter of George Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle.[47] After a brief honeymoon in Chalk in Kent the couple returned to lodgings at Furnival's Inn.[48] The first of their ten children, Charley, was born in January 1837, and a few months later the family set up home in Bloomsbury at 48 Doughty Street, London, (on which Charles had a three-year lease at £80 a year) from 25 March 1837 until December 1839.[47][49] Dickens's younger brother Frederick and Catherine's 17-year-old sister Mary, moved in with them. Dickens became very attached to Mary, and she died in his arms after a brief illness in 1837. Unusually for Dickens, as a consequence of his shock, he stopped working, and he and Kate stayed at a little farm on Hampstead Heath for a fortnight. Dickens idealised Mary,- the character he fashioned after her, Rose Maylie, he found he could not now kill, as he had planned, in his fiction[50] and according to Ackroyd he drew on memories of her for his later descriptions of Little Nell and Florence Dombey.[51] His grief was so great that he was unable to meet the deadline for the June instalment of Pickwick Papers and had to cancel the Oliver Twist instalment that month as well.[46] The time in Hampstead was the occasion for a growing bond between Dickens and John Forster to develop and Forster soon became his unofficial business manager, and the first to read his work.[52]
Barnaby Rudge was Dickens's first popular failure—but the character of Dolly Varden, "pretty, witty, sexy, became central to numerous theatrical adaptations"[53] His success as a novelist continued. The young Queen Victoria read both Oliver Twist and Pickwick, staying up until midnight to discuss them.[54] Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), The Old Curiosity Shop and, finally, his first historical novel, Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots
of 'Eighty, as part of the Master Humphrey's Clock series (1840–41), were all published in monthly instalments before being made into books.[55] In the midst of all his activity during this period there was discontent with his publishers and John Macrone was bought off, while Richard Bentley signed over all his rights in Oliver Twist. Other illustrations of a certain restlessness and discontent emerge—in Broadstairs he flirted with Eleanor Picken, the young fiancée of his solicitor's best friend, and one night grabbed her and ran with her down to the sea. He declared they were both to drown there in the "sad sea waves". She finally got free but afterwards kept her distance. In June 1841 he precipitately set out on a two-month tour of Scotland and then, in September 1841, telegraphed Forster that he had decided to go to America.[56] Master Humphrey's Clock was shut down, though Dickens was still keen on the idea of the weekly magazine, a form he liked, a liking that had begun with his childhood reading of the eighteenth-century magazines Tatler and The Spectator.
First visit to the United States In 1842, Dickens and his wife made their first trip to the United States and Canada. At this time Georgina Hogarth, another sister of Catherine, joined the Dickens household, now living at Devonshire Terrace, Marylebone, to care for the young family they had left behind.[57] She remained with them as housekeeper, organiser, adviser, and friend until Dickens's death in 1870.[58]
Sketch of Dickens in 1842 during American Tour. Sketch of Dickens's sister Fanny, bottom left He described his impressions in a travelogue, American Notes for General Circulation. Dickens includes in Notes a powerful condemnation of slavery, which he had attacked as early as The Pickwick Papers, correlating the emancipation of the poor in England with the abolition of slavery abroad[59] citing newspaper accounts of runaway slaves disfigured by their masters. From Richmond, Virginia Dickens returned to Washington, D.C. and started a trek westward to St. Louis. While there, he expressed a desire to see an American prairie before returning east. A group of 13 men then set out with Dickens to visit Looking Glass Prairie, a trip 30 miles into Illinois. During his visit, Dickens spent a month in New York City, giving lectures, raising the question of international copyright laws and the pirating of his work in America.[60][61] He
persuaded a group of twenty-five writers, headed by Washington Irving, to sign a petition for him to take to Congress, but the press were generally hostile to this, saying that he should be grateful for his popularity and that it was mercenary to complain about his work being pirated.[62] The popularity he gained caused a shift in his self-perception according to critic Kate Flint, who writes the he "found himself a cultural commodity, and its circulation had passed out his control", causing him to become interested in and delve into themes of public and personal personas in the next novels.[63] She writes that he assumed a role of "influential commentator", publicly and in his fiction, evident in his next few books.[63] Soon after his return to England, Dickens began work on the first of his Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol, written in 1843, which was followed by The Chimes in 1844 and The Cricket on the Hearth in 1845. Of these, A Christmas Carol was most popular and, tapping into an old tradition, did much to promote a renewed enthusiasm for the joys of Christmas in Britain and America.[64] The seeds for the story became planted in Dickens's mind during a trip to Manchester to witness the conditions of the manufacturing workers there. This, along with scenes he had recently witnessed at the Field Lane Ragged School, caused Dickens to resolve to "strike a sledge hammer blow" for the poor. As the idea for the story took shape and the writing began in earnest, Dickens became engrossed in the book. He later wrote that as the tale unfolded he "wept and laughed, and wept again" as he "walked about the black streets of London fifteen or twenty miles many a night when all sober folks had gone to bed."[65] After living briefly in Italy (1844), Dickens travelled to Switzerland (1846), where he began work on Dombey and Son (1846–48). This and David Copperfield (1849–50) mark a significant artistic break in Dickens's career as his novels became more serious in theme and more carefully planned than his early works.
Philanthropy In May 1846 Angela Burdett Coutts, heir to the Coutts banking fortune, approached Dickens about setting up a home for the redemption of fallen women of the working class. Coutts envisioned a home that would replace the punitive regimes of existing institutions with a reformative environment conducive to education and proficiency in domestic household chores. After initially resisting, Dickens eventually founded the home, named "Urania Cottage", in the Lime Grove section of Shepherds Bush, which he managed for ten years,[66] setting the house rules, reviewing the accounts and interviewing prospective residents.[67] Emigration and marriage were central to Dickens's agenda for the women on leaving Urania Cottage, from which it is estimated that about 100 women graduated between 1847 and 1859.[68]
Religious views As a young man Dickens expressed a distaste for certain aspects of organized religion. In 1836, in a pamphlet titled Sunday Under Three Heads, he defended the people's right to pleasure, opposing a plan to prohibit games on Sundays. "Look into your churchesdiminished congregations and scanty attendance. People have grown sullen and obstinate, and are becoming disgusted with the faith which condemns them to such a day as this, once
in every seven. They display their feeling by staying away [from church]. Turn into the streets [on a Sunday] and mark the rigid gloom that reigns over everything around"[69] Dickens honoured the figure of Christ—though some claim he may have denied his divinity.[70] Notwithstanding, Dickens has been characterized as a professing Christian.[71] His son Henry Fielding Dickens described Dickens as someone who "possessed deep religious convictions". Though in the early 1840s Dickens had showed an interest in Unitarian Christianity, the writer Gary Colledge has asserted that he 'never strayed from his attachment to popular lay Anglicanism.'[72] He also wrote a religious work called The Life of Our Lord (1849), which was a short book about the life of Jesus Christ, written with the purpose of inculcating his faith to his children and family.[73][74] Dickens disapproved of Roman Catholicism and 19th-century evangelicalism, and was critical of what he saw as the hypocrisy of religious institutions and philosophies like spiritualism, all of which he considered deviations from the true spirit of Christianity.[75] Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky referred to Dickens as "that great Christian writer".[76][77]
Middle years
"Little Dorrit" 1856 In late November 1851, Dickens moved into Tavistock House where he wrote Bleak House (1852–53), Hard Times (1854) and Little Dorrit (1856).[78] It was here that he indulged in the amateur theatricals described in Forster's "Life".[79] During this period he worked closely with the novelist and playwright Wilkie Collins. In 1856, his income from writing allowed him to buy Gad's Hill Place in Higham, Kent. As a child, Dickens had walked past the house and dreamed of living in it. The area was also the scene of some of the events of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, and this literary connection pleased him.[80]
Ellen Ternan, 1858 In 1857, Dickens hired professional actresses for the play The Frozen Deep, written by him and his protégé, Wilkie Collins. Dickens fell deeply in love with one of the actresses, Ellen Ternan, and this passion was to last the rest of his life.[81] Dickens was 45 and Ternan 18 when he made the decision, which went strongly against Victorian convention, to separate from his wife, Catherine, in 1858—divorce was still unthinkable for someone as famous as he was. When Catherine left, never to see her husband again, she took with her one child, leaving the other children to be raised by her sister Georgina who chose to stay at Gad's Hill.[58] During this period, whilst pondering a project to give public readings for his own profit, Dickens was approached through a charitable appeal by Great Ormond Street Hospital, to help it survive its first major financial crisis. His 'Drooping Buds' essay in Household Words earlier in 3 April 1852 was considered by the hospital's founders to have been the catalyst for the hospital's success.[82] Dickens, whose philanthropy was well-known, was asked by his friend, the hospital's founder Charles West, to preside over the appeal, and he threw himself into the task, heart and soul.[83] Dickens's public readings secured sufficient funds for an endowment to put the hospital on a sound financial footing—one reading on 9 February 1858 alone raised £3,000.[84][85][86] After separating from Catherine,[87] Dickens undertook a series of hugely popular and remunerative reading tours which, together with his journalism, were to absorb most of his creative energies for the next decade, in which he was to write only two more novels.[88] His first reading tour, lasting from April 1858 to February 1859, consisted of 129 appearances in 49 different towns throughout England, Scotland and Ireland.[89] Dickens's continued fascination with the theatrical world was written into the theatre scenes in Nicholas Nickleby, but more importantly he found an outlet in public readings. In 1866, he undertook a series of public readings in England and Scotland, with more the following year in England and Ireland.
At his desk in 1858 Major works soon followed, including A Tale of Two Cities (1859) and Great Expectations (1861), which were resounding successes. During this time he was also the publisher, editor, and a major contributor to the journals Household Words (1850–1859) and All the Year Round (1858–1870).[90] In early September 1860, in a field behind Gad's Hill, Dickens made a bonfire of most of his correspondence—only those letters on business matters were spared. Since Ellen Ternan also destroyed all of his letters to her,[91] the extent of the affair between the two remains speculative.[92] In the 1930s, Thomas Wright recounted that Ternan had unburdened herself with a Canon Benham, and gave currency to rumours they had been lovers.[93] That the two had a son who died in infancy was alleged by Dickens's daughter, Kate Perugini, whom Gladys Storey had interviewed before her death in 1929. Storey published her account in Dickens and Daughter,[94][95] but no contemporary evidence exists. On his death, Dickens settled an annuity on Ternan which made her a financially independent woman. Claire Tomalin's book, The Invisible Woman, argues that Ternan lived with Dickens secretly for the last 13 years of his life. The book was subsequently turned into a play, Little Nell, by Simon Gray, and a 2013 film. In the same period, Dickens furthered his interest in the paranormal, becoming one of the early members of The Ghost Club.[96] In June 1862 he was offered £10,000 for a reading tour of Australia.[97] He was enthusiastic, and even planned a travel book, The Uncommercial Traveller Upside Down, but ultimately decided against the tour.[98] Two of his sons— Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens and Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens—migrated to Australia, Edward becoming a member of the Parliament of New South Wales as Member for Wilcannia 1889–94.[99][100]
Last years
After the Staplehurst rail crash On 9 June 1865, while returning from Paris with Ellen Ternan, Dickens was involved in the Staplehurst rail crash. The train's first seven carriages plunged off a cast iron bridge that was under repair. The only first-class carriage to remain on the track was the one in which Dickens was travelling. Before rescuers arrived, Dickens tended and comforted the wounded and the dying with a flask of brandy and a hat refreshed with water, and saved some lives. Before leaving, he remembered the unfinished manuscript for Our Mutual Friend, and he returned to his carriage to retrieve it.[101] Dickens later used this experience as material for his short ghost story, "The Signal-Man", in which the central character has a premonition of his own death in a rail crash. He also based the story on several previous rail accidents, such as the Clayton Tunnel rail crash of 1861. Dickens managed to avoid an appearance at the inquest to avoid disclosing that he had been travelling with Ternan and her mother, which would have caused a scandal.[102]
Second visit to the United States In the late 1850s Dickens began to contemplate a second visit to the United States, tempted by the money that he believed he could make by extending his reading tour there. The outbreak of the Civil War in America in 1861 delayed his plans. Over two years after the war, Dickens set sail from Liverpool on 9 November 1867 for his second American reading tour. Landing at Boston, he devoted the rest of the month to a round of dinners with such notables as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his American publisher James Thomas Fields. In early December, the readings began. He performed 76 readings, netting £19,000, from December 1867 to April 1868.[103] Dickens shuttled between Boston and New York, where he gave 22 readings at Steinway Hall. Although he had started to suffer from what he called the "true American catarrh", he kept to a schedule that would have challenged a much younger man, even managing to squeeze in some sleighing in Central Park.
Poster promoting a reading by Dickens in Nottingham dated 4 February 1869, two months before he suffered a mild stroke During his travels, he saw a significant change in the people and the circumstances of America. His final appearance was at a banquet the American Press held in his honour at Delmonico's on 18 April, when he promised never to denounce America again. By the end of the tour, the author could hardly manage solid food, subsisting on champagne and eggs beaten in sherry. On 23 April, he boarded his ship to return to Britain, barely escaping a Federal Tax Lien against the proceeds of his lecture tour.[104]
Farewell readings Between 1868 and 1869, Dickens gave a series of "farewell readings" in England, Scotland, and Ireland, beginning on 6 October. He managed, of a contracted 100 readings, to deliver 75 in the provinces, with a further 12 in London.[103] As he pressed on he was affected by giddiness and fits of paralysis and collapsed on 22 April 1869, at Preston in Lancashire, and on doctor's advice, the tour was cancelled.[105] After further provincial readings were cancelled, he began work on his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It was fashionable in the 1860s to 'do the slums' and, in company, Dickens visited opium dens in Shadwell, where he witnessed an elderly addict known as "Laskar Sal", who formed the model for the "Opium Sal" subsequently featured in his mystery novel, Edwin Drood.[106] After Dickens had regained sufficient strength, he arranged, with medical approval, for a final series of readings to partially make up to his sponsors what they had lost due to his illness. There were to be 12 performances, running between 11 January and 15 March 1870, the last at 8:00 pm at St. James's Hall in London. Although in grave health by this time, he read A Christmas Carol and The Trial from Pickwick. On 2 May, he made his last public appearance at a Royal Academy Banquet in the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, paying a special tribute on the death of his friend, the illustrator Daniel Maclise.[107]
Death
Samuel Luke Fildes—The Empty Chair. Fildes was illustrating "Edwin Drood" at the time of Charles Dickens's death. The engraving shows Dickens's empty chair in his study at Gads Hill Place. It appeared in the Christmas 1870 edition of the The Graphic and thousands of prints of it were sold.[108]
Death certificate of Charles Dickens. On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day, five years to the day after the Staplehurst rail crash, he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner,"[109] he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world."[110] His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.[111][nb 1] On Sunday, 19 June 1870, five days after Dickens was buried in the Abbey, Dean Arthur Penrhyn Stanley delivered a memorial elegy, lauding "the genial and loving humorist whom we now mourn", for showing by his own example "that even in dealing with the darkest scenes and the most degraded characters, genius could still be clean, and mirth could be innocent." Pointing to the fresh flowers that adorned the novelist's grave, Stanley assured those present that "the spot would thenceforth be a sacred one with both the New World and the Old, as that of the representative of literature, not of this island only, but of all who speak our English tongue."[112] In his will, drafted more than a year before his death, Dickens left the care of his £80,000 estate to his longtime colleague John Forster and his "best and truest friend" Georgina Hogarth who, along with Dickens's two sons, also received a tax-free sum of £8,000 (about £800,000 in present terms). Although Dickens and his wife had been separated for several years at the time of his death, he provided her with an annual income of £600 and made her similar allowances in his will. He also bequeathed £19 19s to each servant in his employment at the time of his death.[113]
Literary style Dickens preferred the style of the 18th century picaresque novels that he found in abundance on his father's shelves. According to Ackroyd, other than these, perhaps the most important literary influence on him was derived from the fables of The Arabian Nights.[114]
Dickens' Dream by Robert William Buss, portraying Dickens at his desk at Gads Hill Place surrounded by many of his characters His writing style is marked by a profuse linguistic creativity.[115] Satire, flourishing in his gift for caricature, is his forte. An early reviewer compared him to Hogarth for his keen practical sense of the ludicrous side of life, though his acclaimed mastery of varieties of class idiom may in fact mirror the conventions of contemporary popular theatre.[116] Dickens worked intensively on developing arresting names for his characters that would reverberate with associations for his readers, and assist the development of motifs in the storyline, giving what one critic calls an "allegorical impetus" to the novels' meanings.[115] To cite one of numerous examples, the name Mr. Murdstone in David Copperfield conjures up twin allusions to "murder" and stony coldness.[117] His literary style is also a mixture of fantasy and realism. His satires of British aristocratic snobbery—he calls one character the "Noble Refrigerator"—are often popular. Comparing orphans to stocks and shares, people to tug boats, or dinner-party guests to furniture are just some of Dickens's acclaimed flights of fancy. The author worked closely with his illustrators, supplying them with a summary of the work at the outset and thus ensuring that his characters and settings were exactly how he envisioned them. He briefed the illustrator on plans for each month's instalment so that work could begin before he wrote them. Marcus Stone, illustrator of Our Mutual Friend, recalled that the author was always "ready to describe down to the minutest details the personal characteristics, and ... life-history of the creations of his fancy."[118]
Characters Dickens's biographer Claire Tomalin regards him as the greatest creator of character in English fiction after Shakespeare.[119] Dickensian characters, are amongst the most memorable in English literature, especially so because of their typically whimsical names. The likes of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, Bob Cratchit, Oliver Twist, The Artful Dodger, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Pip, Miss Havisham, Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay, David Copperfield, Mr. Micawber, Abel Magwitch, Daniel Quilp, Samuel Pickwick, Wackford Squeers, and Uriah Heep are so well known as to be part and parcel of British
culture, and in some cases have passed into ordinary language: a scrooge, for example, is a miser. His characters were often so memorable that they took on a life of their own outside his books. "Gamp" became a slang expression for an umbrella from the character Mrs Gamp, and "Pickwickian", "Pecksniffian", and "Gradgrind" all entered dictionaries due to Dickens's original portraits of such characters who were, respectively, quixotic, hypocritical, and vapidly factual. Many were drawn from real life: Mrs Nickleby is based on his mother, though she didn't recognise herself in the portrait,[120] just as Mr Micawber is constructed from aspects of his father's 'rhetorical exuberance':[121] Harold Skimpole in Bleak House is based on James Henry Leigh Hunt: his wife's dwarfish chiropodist recognised herself in Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield.[122][123] Perhaps Dickens's impressions on his meeting with Hans Christian Andersen informed the delineation of Uriah Heep.[124] Virginia Woolf maintained that "we remodel our psychological geography when we read Dickens" as he produces "characters who exist not in detail, not accurately or exactly, but abundantly in a cluster of wild yet extraordinarily revealing remarks."[125] One "character" vividly drawn throughout his novels is London itself. From the coaching inns on the outskirts of the city to the lower reaches of the Thames, all aspects of the capital are described over the course of his body of work.
Autobiographical elements
An original illustration by Phiz from the novel "David Copperfield", widely regarded as Dickens's most autobiographical work Authors frequently draw their portraits of characters from people they have known in real life. David Copperfield is regarded as strongly autobiographical. The scenes of interminable court cases and legal arguments in Bleak House reflect Dickens's experiences as a law clerk and court reporter, and in particular his direct experience of the law's procedural delay during 1844 when he sued publishers in Chancery for breach of copyright.[126] Dickens's father was sent to prison for debt, and this became a common theme in many of his books, with the detailed depiction of life in the Marshalsea prison in Little Dorrit resulting from Dickens's own experiences of the institution.[127] Lucy Stroughill, a childhood sweetheart, may have affected several of Dickens's portraits of girls such as Little Em'ly in David Copperfield and Lucie Manette in A Tale of Two Cities.[128][nb 2] Dickens may have drawn on his childhood experiences, but he was also ashamed of them and would not reveal that this was where he gathered his realistic accounts of squalor. Very few knew the details of his early life until six years after his death, when John Forster published a biography on which Dickens had collaborated. Though Skimpole brutally sends up Leigh Hunt, some critics have detected in
his portrait features of Dickens's own character, which he sought to exorcise by selfparody.[129]
Episodic writing Most of Dickens's major novels were first written in monthly or weekly instalments in journals such as Master Humphrey's Clock and Household Words, later reprinted in book form. These instalments made the stories affordable and accessible, and the series of regular cliff-hangers made each new episode widely anticipated. When The Old Curiosity Shop was being serialised, American fans waited at the docks in New York, shouting out to the crew of an incoming ship, "Is little Nell dead?"[130] Part of Dickens's great talent was to incorporate this episodic writing style but still end up with a coherent novel at the end.
"Charles Dickens as he appears when reading." Wood engraving from Harper's Weekly, 7 December 1867 Another important impact of Dickens's episodic writing style resulted from his exposure to the opinions of his readers and friends. His friend Forster had a significant hand in reviewing his drafts, an influence that went beyond matters of punctuation. He toned down melodramatic and sensationalist exaggerations, cut long passages (such as the episode of Quilp's drowning in The Old Curiosity Shop), and made suggestions about plot and character. It was he who suggested that Charley Bates should be redeemed in Oliver Twist. Dickens had not thought of killing Little Nell, and it was Forster who advised him to entertain this possibility as necessary to his conception of the heroine.[131] Dicken's serialisation of his novels was not uncriticised by other authors. In Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "The Wrecker", there is a comment by Captain Nares, investigating an abandoned ship: "See! They were writing up the log," said Nares, pointing to the ink-bottle. "Caught napping, as usual. I wonder if there ever was a captain yet that lost a ship with his log-book up to date? He generally has about a month to fill up on a clean break, like Charles Dickens and his serial novels."
Social commentary Dickens's novels were, among other things, works of social commentary. He was a fierce critic of the poverty and social stratification of Victorian society. In a New York address, he expressed his belief that "Virtue shows quite as well in rags and patches as she does in purple and fine linen".[132] Dickens's second novel, Oliver Twist (1839), shocked readers with its images of poverty and crime: it challenged middle class polemics about criminals, making impossible any pretence to ignorance about what poverty entailed.[133][134]
Literary techniques Dickens is often described as using idealised characters and highly sentimental scenes to contrast with his caricatures and the ugly social truths he reveals. The story of Nell Trent in The Old Curiosity Shop (1841) was received as extraordinarily moving by contemporary readers but viewed as ludicrously sentimental by Oscar Wilde. "You would need to have a heart of stone", he declared in one of his famous witticisms, "not to laugh at the death of little Nell."[135] G. K. Chesterton, stated: "It is not the death of little Nell, but the life of little Nell, that I object to", arguing that the maudlin effect of his description of her life owed much to the gregarious nature of Dickens's grief, his "despotic" use of people's feelings to move them to tears in works like this.[136] The question as to whether Dickens belongs to the tradition of the sentimental novel is debatable. Valerie Purton, in her recent Dickens and the Sentimental Tradition, sees him continuing aspects of this tradition, and argues that his "sentimental scenes and characters [are] as crucial to the overall power of the novels as his darker or comic figures and scenes", and that "Dombey and Son is [ ... ] Dickens's greatest triumph in the sentimentalist tradition".[137] The Encyclopædia Britannica online comments that, despite "patches of emotional excess", such as the reported death of Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol (1843), "Dickens cannot really be termed a sentimental novelist".[138] In Oliver Twist Dickens provides readers with an idealised portrait of a boy so inherently and unrealistically "good" that his values are never subverted by either brutal orphanages or coerced involvement in a gang of young pickpockets. While later novels also centre on idealised characters (Esther Summerson in Bleak House and Amy Dorrit in Little Dorrit), this idealism serves only to highlight Dickens's goal of poignant social commentary. Dickens's fiction, reflecting what he believed to be true of his own life, makes frequent use of coincidence, either for comic effect or to emphasise the idea of providence.[139] Oliver Twist turns out to be the lost nephew of the upper-class family that randomly rescues him from the dangers of the pickpocket group. Such coincidences are a staple of 18th-century picaresque novels, such as Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, which Dickens enjoyed reading as a youth.[140]
Reception Dickens was the most popular novelist of his time,[141] and remains one of the best-known and most-read of English authors. His works have never gone out of print,[142] and have been adapted continually for the screen since the invention of cinema,[143] with at least 200 motion pictures and TV adaptations based on Dickens's works documented.[144] Many of his works were adapted for the stage during his own lifetime, and as early as 1913, a silent film of The Pickwick Papers was made.[145] He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.[1] Among fellow writers, Dickens has been both lionised and mocked. Leo Tolstoy, G. K. Chesterton, and George Orwell praised his realism, comic voice, prose fluency, and genius for satiric caricature, as well as his passionate advocacy on behalf of children and the poor. Oscar Wilde generally disparaged his depiction of character, while admiring his gift for caricature.[146] His late contemporary William Wordsworth, by then Poet laureate, thought him a "very talkative, vulgar young person", adding he had not read a line of his work; Dickens in return thought Wordsworth "a dreadful Old Ass".[147] Henry James denied him a
premier position, calling him "the greatest of superficial novelists": Dickens failed to endow his characters with psychological depth and the novels, "loose baggy monsters",[148] betrayed a "cavalier organisation".[149] Virginia Woolf had a love-hate relationship with his works, finding his novels "mesmerizing" while reproving him for his sentimentalism and a commonplace style.[150] A Christmas Carol is most likely his best-known story, with frequent new adaptations. It is also the most-filmed of Dickens's stories, with many versions dating from the early years of cinema.[151] According to the historian Ronald Hutton, the current state of the observance of Christmas is largely the result of a mid-Victorian revival of the holiday spearheaded by A Christmas Carol. Dickens catalysed the emerging Christmas as a family-centred festival of generosity, in contrast to the dwindling community-based and church-centred observations, as new middle-class expectations arose.[152] Its archetypal figures (Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the Christmas ghosts) entered into Western cultural consciousness. A prominent phrase from the tale, "Merry Christmas", was popularised following the appearance of the story.[153] The term Scrooge became a synonym for miser, and his dismissive exclamation 'Bah! Humbug!' likewise gained currency as an idiom.[154] Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray called the book "a national benefit, and to every man and woman who reads it a personal kindness".[151]
Bleak House in Broadstairs, Kent, where Dickens wrote some of his novels At a time when Britain was the major economic and political power of the world, Dickens highlighted the life of the forgotten poor and disadvantaged within society. Through his journalism he campaigned on specific issues—such as sanitation and the workhouse—but his fiction probably demonstrated its greatest prowess in changing public opinion in regard to class inequalities. He often depicted the exploitation and oppression of the poor and condemned the public officials and institutions that not only allowed such abuses to exist, but flourished as a result. His most strident indictment of this condition is in Hard Times (1854), Dickens's only novel-length treatment of the industrial working class. In this work, he uses vitriol and satire to illustrate how this marginalised social stratum was termed "Hands" by the factory owners; that is, not really "people" but rather only appendages of the machines they operated. His writings inspired others, in particular journalists and political figures, to address such problems of class oppression. For example, the prison scenes in The Pickwick Papers are claimed to have been influential in having the Fleet Prison shut down. Karl Marx asserted that Dickens "issued to the world more political and social truths than have been uttered by all the professional politicians, publicists and moralists put together".[155] George Bernard Shaw even remarked that Great Expectations was more seditious than Marx's Das Kapital.[155] The exceptional popularity of Dickens's novels, even those with socially oppositional themes (Bleak House, 1853; Little Dorrit, 1857; Our Mutual Friend, 1865), not only underscored his almost preternatural ability to create compelling storylines and unforgettable characters, but also ensured that the Victorian public confronted issues of social
justice that had commonly been ignored. It has been argued that his technique of flooding his narratives with an 'unruly superfluity of material' that, in the gradual dénouement, yields up an unsuspected order, influenced the organisation of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.[156]
Influence and legacy
Statue of Dickens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Museums and festivals celebrating Dickens's life and works exist in many places with which Dickens was associated, such as the Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum in Portsmouth, the house in which he was born. The original manuscripts of many of his novels, as well as printers' proofs, first editions, and illustrations from the collection of Dickens's friend John Forster are held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.[157] Dickens's will stipulated that no memorial be erected in his honour; nonetheless, a life-size bronze statue of Dickens, cast in 1891 by Francis Edwin Elwell, stands in Clark Park in the Spruce Hill neighbourhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Another life-size statue of Dickens is located at Centennial Park, Sydney, Australia.[158] In 2014, a life-size statue was unveiled near his birthplace in Portsmouth on the 202nd anniversary of his birth; this was supported by the author's greatgreat grandsons, Ian and Gerald Dickens.[159][160] Dickens was commemorated on the Series E £10 note issued by the Bank of England that circulated between 1992 and 2003. His portrait appeared on the reverse of the note accompanied by a scene from The Pickwick Papers. The Charles Dickens School is a high school in Broadstairs, Kent. A theme park, Dickens World, standing in part on the site of the former naval dockyard where Dickens's father once worked in the Navy Pay Office, opened in Chatham in 2007. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens in 2012, the Museum of London held the UK's first major exhibition on the author in 40 years.[161] In 2002, Dickens was number 41 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.[162] American literary critic Harold Bloom placed Dickens among the greatest Western Writers of all time.[163] In the UK survey The Big Read, carried out by the BBC in 2003, five of Dickens's books were named in the Top 100.[164]
Notable works
Main article: Charles Dickens bibliography Dickens published more than a dozen major novels, a large number of short stories, including a number of Christmas-themed stories, a handful of plays, and several non-fiction books. Dickens's novels were initially serialised in weekly and monthly magazines, then reprinted in standard book formats.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (Monthly serial, April 1836 to November 1837)[165] The Adventures of Oliver Twist (Monthly serial in Bentley's Miscellany, February 1837 to April 1839) The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Monthly serial, April 1838 to October 1839) The Old Curiosity Shop (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, April 1840 to November 1841) Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty (Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, February to November 1841) A Christmas Carol (1843) The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (Monthly serial, January 1843 to July 1844) Dombey and Son (Monthly serial, October 1846 to April 1848) David Copperfield (Monthly serial, May 1849 to November 1850) Bleak House (Monthly serial, March 1852 to September 1853) Hard Times: For These Times (Weekly serial in Household Words, 1 April 1854, to 12 August 1854) Little Dorrit (Monthly serial, December 1855 to June 1857) A Tale of Two Cities (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 30 April 1859, to 26 November 1859) Great Expectations (Weekly serial in All the Year Round, 1 December 1860 to 3 August 1861) Our Mutual Friend (Monthly serial, May 1864 to November 1865)
Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was an American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism.[1] Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist during the period 1825–1835 in upstate New York and Manhattan, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, and a religious writer. Together with several other evangelical leaders, his religious views led him to promote social reforms, such as abolition of slavery and equal education for women and African Americans. From 1835 he taught at Oberlin College of Ohio, which accepted both genders and all races. He served as its second president from 1851 to 1866, during which its faculty and students were activists for abolition, the Underground Railroad, and universal education.
"I have not yet been able to stereotype my theological views, and have ceased to expect ever to do so. The idea is preposterous. None but an omniscient mind can continue to maintain a precise identity of views and opinions. Finite minds, unless they are asleep or stultified by prejudice, must advance in knowledge. The discovery of new truth will modify old views and opinions, and there is perhaps no end to this process with finite minds in any world. True Christian consistency does not consist in stereotyping our opinions and views, and in refusing to make any improvement lest we should be guilty of change, but it consists in holding our minds open to receive the rays of truth from every quarter and in changing our views and language and practice as often and as fast, as we can obtain further information. I call this Christian consistency, because this course alone accords with a Christian profession. A Christian profession implies the profession of candour and of a disposition to know and obey all truth. It must follow, that Christian consistency implies continued investigation and change of views and practice corresponding with increasing knowledge. No Christian, therefore, and no theologian should be afraid to change his views, his language, or his practices in conformity with increasing light. The prevalence of such a fear would keep the world, at best, at a perpetual stand-still, on all subjects of science, and consequently all improvements would be precluded." — Charles Grandison Finney (Finney's Systematic Theology) "Great sermons lead the people to praise the preacher. Good preaching leads the people to praise the Savior." — Charles Grandison Finney (Autobiography of Charles G. Finney, The, repack: The Life Story of Americas Greatest EvangelistIn His Own Words) "So if an elder or private member of the church finds his brethren cold towards him, there is but one way to remedy it. It is by being revived himself, and pouring out from his eyes and from his life the splendor of the image of Christ. This spirit will catch and spread in the church, and confidence will be renewed, and brotherly love prevail again." — Charles Grandison Finney (Lectures on revivals of religion) "But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings. No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart. These waves came over me, and over me, and over me, one after the other,
until I recollect I cried out," — Charles Grandison Finney (Autobiography of Charles G. Finney, The, repack: The Life Story of Americas Greatest EvangelistIn His Own Words)
Biography Early life Born in Warren, Connecticut in 1792,[2] Finney was the youngest of fifteen children. The son of farmers who moved to the upstate frontier of Jefferson County, New York after the American Revolutionary War, Finney never attended college. His leadership abilities, musical skill, six-foot three-inch stature, and piercing eyes gained him recognition in his community.[3] He and his family attended the Baptist church in Henderson, where the preacher led emotional, revival-style meetings. Both the Baptists and Methodists were known for their fervor through the early nineteenth century.[4] He "read the law", studying as an apprentice to become a lawyer, but after a dramatic conversion experience and baptism into the Holy Spirit in Adams, he gave up legal practice to preach the gospel.[5][6] In 1821, Finney started studies at age 29 under George Washington Gale, to become a licensed minister in the Presbyterian Church. He had many misgivings about the fundamental doctrines taught in that denomination.[7] He moved to New York City in 1832, where he was minister of the Chatham Street Chapel and introduced some of the revivalist fervor of upstate to his urban congregations.[4] He later founded and preached at the Broadway Tabernacle.
Revivals Finney was most active as a revivalist from 1825 to 1835, in Jefferson County and for a few years in Manhattan. He was known for his innovations in preaching and the conduct of religious meetings. These included having women pray out loud in public meetings of mixed gender; development of the "anxious seat", a place where those considering becoming Christians could sit to receive prayer; and public censure of individuals by name in sermons and prayers.[8] He was also known for his extemporaneous preaching.
Antislavery work and Oberlin College presidency In addition to becoming a popular Christian evangelist, Finney was involved with social reforms, particularly the abolitionist movement. It was strongly supported as a reform movement by the northern and midwestern Baptists and Methodists. Finney frequently denounced slavery from the pulpit. In 1835, he moved to the free state of Ohio, where he became a professor at Oberlin College. After more than a decade, he was selected as its second president, serving from 1851 to 1866. Oberlin was the first American college to accept women and blacks as students in addition to white men. From its early years, its faculty and students were active in the abolitionist movement. They participated together with people of the town in biracial efforts to help fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad, as well as to resist the Fugitive Slave Act.[9] Many slaves escaped to Ohio across the Ohio River from Kentucky, making the state a critical area for their passage to freedom.
Personal life Finney was twice a widower and married three times. In 1824, he married Lydia Root Andrews (1804–1847) while living in Jefferson County. They had six children together. In 1848, a year after Lydia's death, he married Elizabeth Ford Atkinson (1799–1863) in Ohio. In 1865 he married Rebecca Allen Rayl (1824–1907), also in Ohio. Each of Finney's three wives accompanied him on his revival tours and joined him in his evangelistic efforts.
Theology As a young man Finney was a third-degree Master Mason, but after his conversion, he dropped the group as antithetical to Christianity. He was active in Anti-Masonic movements.[10] Finney was a primary influence on the "revival" style of theology which emerged in the 19th century. Though coming from a Calvinistic background, Finney rejected tenets of "Old Divinity" Calvinism, which he felt were unbiblical and counter to evangelism and Christian mission. Finney's theology is difficult to classify. In his masterwork, Religious Revivals, he emphasizes the involvement of a person's will in salvation.[11] He did not make clear whether he believed the will was free to repent or not repent, or whether he viewed God as inclining the will irresistibly. (The latter is part of Calvinist doctrine, in which the will of an elect individual is changed by God so that he or she desires to repent, thus repenting with his or her will and not against it, but the individual is not free in whether to choose repentance as the choice must be what the will is inclined toward.) Finney, like most Protestants, affirmed salvation by grace through faith alone, not by works or by obedience.[12][13] Finney affirmed that works were the evidence of faith. Acts of unrepentant sin were signs that a person had not received salvation.[citation needed] In his Systematic Theology, Finney remarks, "I have felt greater hesitancy in forming and expressing my views upon this Perseverance of the saints, than upon almost any other question in theology."[14] Quoting Finney: "The impression of many seems to be, that grace will pardon what it cannot prevent; in other words, that if the grace of the Gospel fails to save people from the commission of sin in this life; it will nevertheless pardon them and save them in sin, if it cannot save them from sin. Now, really, I understand the Gospel as teaching that men are saved from sin first, and as a consequence, from hell; and not that they are saved from hell while they are not saved from sin. Christ sanctifies when he saves. And this is the very first element or idea of salvation, saving from sin. "Thou shall call his name Jesus," said the angel, "for he shall save his people from their sins." "Having raised up his Son Jesus," says the apostle, "he hath sent him to bless you in turning every one of you from his iniquities." Let no one expect to saved from hell, unless the grace of the Gospel saves him first from sin."-Charles Finney[15] Finney's understanding of substitutionary atonement was that it satisfied "public justice" and that it opened the way for God to pardon people of their sins. This was part of the theology of the so-called New Divinity, which was popular at that time period. In this view, Christ's death
satisfied public justice rather than retributive justice. As Finney wrote, it was not a "commercial transaction." This view of the atonement is typically known as the governmental view or government view. Albert Baldwin Dod, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and "Old School" Presbyterian,[16] reviewed Finney's 1835 book Lectures on Revivals of Religion.[17] He rejected it as theologically unsound.[18] Dod was a defender of Old School Calvinist orthodoxy (see Princeton Theology) and was especially critical of Finney's view of the doctrine of total depravity.[19] Old School Princeton Theologians as Dod prosecuted even "Conservative" evangelicals as Lyman Beecher who was twice acquitted by the general First Presbyterian synod.[20]
In popular culture
Charles W. Chesnutt named his enslaved hero "Grandison" in his short story, "The Passing of Grandison" (1899), published in the collection, The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color Line, likely an allusion to the well-known abolitionist.[21]
References Notes 1. Hankins, Barry (2004), The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, p. 137, ISBN 0-313-31848-4. Charles Grandison Finney-born place, Ohio History Central, retrieved October 2008. "I. Birth and Early Education", Memoirs of Charles G. Finney, Gospel truth, 1868. Perciaccante, Marianne (2005), Calling Down Fire: Charles Grandison Finney and Revivalism in Jefferson County, New York, 1800–1840, pp. 2–4. "III. Beginning of His Work", Memoirs, Gospel truth, 1868. "III. Beginning of His Work", Memoirs, Gospel truth, 1868. "IV. His Doctrinal Education and Other Experiences at Adams", Memoirs, Gospel truth, 1868. The various types of new measures are identified mostly by sources critical of Finney, such as Bennet, Tyler (1996), Bonar, Andrew, ed., Asahel Nettleton: Life and Labors, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, pp. 342–55; Letters of Rev. Dr. [Lyman] Beecher and the Rev. Mr. Nettleton on the New Measures in Conducting Revivals of Religion with a Review of a Sermon by Novanglus, New York: G&C Carvill, 1828, pp. 83–96; and Hodge, Charles (July 1833), "Dangerous Innovations", Biblical Repertory and Theological Review 5 (3), University of Michigan, pp. 328–33, retrieved March 2008. Charles E. Hambrick-Stowe, Charles G. Finney and the Spirit of American Evangelicalism (1996) p 199 Charles E. Hambrick-Stowe, Charles G. Finney and the Spirit of American Evangelicalism (1996), p. 112 "Charles Grandison Finney", Electronic Oberlin Group, Oberlin College "Just By Faith"
Charles G. Finney, "Letters to Professing Christians Lecture VI: Sanctification By Faith", 1837. "Perseverance of the Saints" http://www.gospeltruth.net/cgfworks.htm Old School–New School Controversy "On Revivals of Religion". Biblical Repertory and Theological Review Vol. 7 No. 4 (1835) p.626-674 Charles E. Hambrick-Stowe, Charles G. Finney and the Spirit of American Evangelicalism, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996. ISBN 0-8028-0129-3, p.159 Rev. Albert B. Dod, D.D., "On Revivals of Religion", in Essays, Theological and Miscellaneous, Reprinted from the Princeton Review, Wiley and Putnam (1847) pp.76-151 Lyman Beecher 21. Cutter, Martha J. "Passing as Narrative and Textual Strategy in Charles Chesnutt's 'The Passing of Grandison'", Passing in the Works of Charles W. Chesnutt, Eds. Wright, Susan Prothro, and Ernestine Pickens Glass. Jackson, MS: Mississippi UP, 2010, p. 43. ISBN 978-1-60473-416-4. Bibliography
Essig, James David. "The Lord's Free Man: Charles G. Finney and His Abolitionism," Civil War History, March 1978, Vol. 24 Issue 1, pp 25–45 Guelzo, Allen C. "An heir or a rebel? Charles Grandison Finney and the New England theology," Journal of the Early Republic, Spring 1997, Vol. 17 Issue 1, pp 60–94 Hambrick-Stowe, Charles E. Charles G. Finney and the Spirit of American Evangelicalism (1996), a major scholarly biography Hardman, Keith J. Charles Grandison Finney, 1792-1875: Revivalist and Reformer (1987), a major scholarly biography Johnson, James E. "Charles G. Finney and a Theology of Revivalism," Church History, September 1969, Vol. 38 Issue 3, pp 338–358 in JSTOR Perciaccante, Marianne. Calling Down Fire: Charles Grandison Finney and Revivalism in Jefferson County, New York, 1800-1840 (2005)
Charles Haddon (CH) Spurgeon (/ˈhædən ˈspɜrdʒən/; 19 June 1834 – 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers". He was a strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church in agreement with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith understanding, and opposing the liberal and pragmatic theological tendencies in the Church of his day. It is estimated that in his lifetime, Spurgeon preached to around 10,000,000 people,[1] Spurgeon was the pastor of the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London for 38 years.[2] He was part of several controversies with the Baptist Union of Great Britain and later had to leave the denomination.[3] In 1867, he started a charity organisation which is now called Spurgeon's and works globally. He also founded Spurgeon's College, which was named after him posthumously.
Spurgeon was a prolific author of many types of works including sermons, an autobiography, commentaries, books on prayer, devotionals, magazines, poetry, hymns and more.[4][5] Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime. Spurgeon produced powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition. His oratory skills held his listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle and many Christians have discovered Spurgeon's messages to be among the best in Christian literature.[6]
"There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. . . . Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord. . . ." — Charles H. Spurgeon "Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the windows which hope has opened." — Charles H. Spurgeon "Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of the Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else." — Charles H. Spurgeon "Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom." — Charles H. Spurgeon
Born in Kelvedon, Essex, Spurgeon's conversion to Christianity came on 6 January 1850, at age 15. On his way to a scheduled appointment, a snow storm forced him to cut short his intended journey and to turn into a Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester where God opened his heart to the salvation message. The text that moved him was Isaiah 45:22 – "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else." Later that year on 4 April 1850, he was admitted to the church at Newmarket.
His baptism followed on 3 May in the river Lark, at Isleham. Later that same year he moved to Cambridge, where he later became a Sunday school teacher. He preached his first sermon in the winter of 1850–51 in a cottage at Teversham while filling in for a friend. From the beginning of his ministry his style and ability were considered to be far above average. In the same year, he was installed as pastor of the small Baptist church at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, where he published his first literary work, a Gospel tract written in 1853.
New Park Street Chapel
Spurgeon at age 23. In April 1854, after preaching three months on probation and just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 19, was called to the pastorate of London's famed New Park Street Chapel, Southwark (formerly pastored by the Particular Baptists Benjamin Keach, theologian John Gill and John Rippon). This was the largest Baptist congregation in London at the time, although it had dwindled in numbers for several years. Spurgeon found friends in London among his fellow pastors, such as William Garrett Lewis of Westbourne Grove Church, an older man who along with Spurgeon went on to found the London Baptist Association. Within a few months of Spurgeon's arrival at Park Street, his ability as a preacher made him famous. The following year the first of his sermons in the "New Park Street Pulpit" was published. Spurgeon's sermons were published in printed form every week and had a high circulation. By the time of his death in 1892, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. Immediately following his fame was criticism. The first attack in the press appeared in the Earthen Vessel in January 1855. His preaching, although not revolutionary in substance, was a plain-spoken and direct appeal to the people, using the Bible to provoke them to consider the teachings of Jesus Christ. Critical attacks from the media persisted throughout his life. The congregation quickly outgrew their building, and moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000. At 22, Spurgeon was the most popular preacher of the day.[7] On 8 January 1856, Spurgeon married Susannah, daughter of Robert Thompson of Falcon Square, London, by whom he had twin sons, Charles and Thomas born on 20 September 1856. At the end of that year, tragedy struck on 19 October 1856, as Spurgeon was preaching at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall for the first time. Someone in the crowd yelled, "Fire!" The
ensuing panic and stampede left several dead. Spurgeon was emotionally devastated by the event and it had a sobering influence on his life. He struggled against depression for many years and spoke of being moved to tears for no reason known to himself.
Walter Thornbury later wrote in "Old and New London" (1897) describing a subsequent meeting at Surrey:
“
a congregation consisting of 10,000 souls, streaming into the hall, mounting the galleries, humming, buzzing, and swarming – a mighty hive of bees – eager to secure at first the best places, and, at last, any place at all. After waiting more than half an hour – for if you wish to have a seat you must be there at least that space of time in advance... Mr. Spurgeon ascended his tribune. To the hum, and rush, and trampling of men, succeeded a low, concentrated thrill and murmur of devotion, which seemed to run at once, like an electric current, through the breast of everyone present, and by this magnetic chain the preacher held us fast bound for about two hours. It is not my purpose to give a summary of his discourse. It is enough to say of his voice, that its power and volume are sufficient to reach every one in that vast assembly; of his language that it is neither high-flown nor homely; of his style, that it is at times familiar, at times declamatory, but always happy, and often eloquent; of his doctrine, that neither the 'Calvinist' nor the 'Baptist' appears in the forefront of the battle which is waged by Mr. Spurgeon with relentless animosity, and with Gospel weapons, against irreligion, cant, hypocrisy, pride, and those secret bosom-sins which so easily beset a man in daily life; and to sum up all in a word, it is enough to say, of the man himself, that he impresses you with a perfect conviction of his sincerity.
”
Spurgeon's work went on. A Pastors' College was founded in 1857 by Spurgeon and was renamed Spurgeon's College in 1923, when it moved to its present building in South Norwood Hill, London.[8] At the Fast Day, 7 October 1857, he preached to the largest crowd ever – 23,654 people – at The Crystal Palace in London. Spurgeon noted:
“
In 1857, a day or two before preaching at the Crystal Palace, I went to decide where the platform should be fixed; and, in order to test the acoustic properties of the building, cried in a loud voice, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
”
away the sin of the world." In one of the galleries, a workman, who knew nothing of what was being done, heard the words, and they came like a message from heaven to his soul. He was smitten with conviction on account of sin, put down his tools, went home, and there, after a season of spiritual struggling, found peace and life by beholding the Lamb of God. Years after, he told this story to one who visited him on his death-bed.
Metropolitan Tabernacle
Spurgeon preaching at the Surrey Music Hall circa 1858. On 18 March 1861, the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed purposebuilt Metropolitan Tabernacle at Elephant and Castle, Southwark, seating 5000 people with standing room for another 1000. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was the largest church edifice of its day. Spurgeon continued to preach there several times per week until his death 31 years later. He never gave altar calls at the conclusion of his sermons, but he always extended the invitation that if anyone was moved to seek an interest in Christ by his preaching on a Sunday, they could meet with him at his vestry on Monday morning. Without fail, there was always someone at his door the next day. He wrote his sermons out fully before he preached, but what he carried up to the pulpit was a note card with an outline sketch. Stenographers would take down the sermon as it was delivered and Spurgeon would then have opportunity to make revisions to the transcripts the following day for immediate publication. His weekly sermons, which sold for a penny each, were widely circulated and still remain one of the all-time best selling series of writings published in history.
Missionary preaching in China using The Wordless Book
“
I would propose that the subject of the ministry of this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist, although I claim to be rather a Calvinist according to Calvin, than after the modern debased fashion. I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist. You have there (pointing to the baptistry) substantial evidence that I am not ashamed of that ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ; but if I am asked to say what is my creed, I think I must reply: "It is Jesus Christ." My venerable predecessor, Dr. Gill, has left a body of divinity admirable and excellent in its way; but the body of divinity to which I would pin and bind myself for ever, God helping me, is not his system of divinity or any other human treatise, but Christ Jesus, who is the sum and substance of the gospel; who is in himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life. – The kernel of Spurgeon's first sermon at the Tabernacle[9]
”
Besides sermons, Spurgeon also wrote several hymns and published a new collection of worship songs in 1866 called "Our Own Hymn Book". It was mostly a compilation of Isaac Watts's Psalms and Hymns that had been originally selected by John Rippon, a Baptist predecessor to Spurgeon. Singing in the congregation was exclusively a cappella under his pastorate. Thousands heard the preaching and were led in the singing without any amplification of sound that exists today. Hymns were a subject that he took seriously. While Spurgeon was still preaching at New Park Street, a hymn book called "The Rivulet" was published. Spurgeon aroused controversy because of his critique of its theology, which was largely deistic. At the end of his review, Spurgeon warned:
“
We shall soon have to handle truth, not with kid gloves, but with gauntlets, – the gauntlets of holy courage and integrity. Go on, ye warriors of the cross, for the King is at the head of you.
”
On 5 June 1862, Spurgeon challenged the Church of England when he preached against baptismal regeneration.[10] However, Spurgeon taught across denominational lines as well: for example, in 1877 he was the preacher at the opening of a new Free Church of Scotland church building in Dingwall. It was during this period at the new Tabernacle that Spurgeon found a friend in James Hudson Taylor, the founder of the inter-denominational China Inland Mission. Spurgeon supported the work of the mission financially and directed many missionary candidates to apply for service with Taylor. He also aided in the work of crosscultural evangelism by promoting "The Wordless Book", a teaching tool that he described in a message given on 11 January 1866, regarding Psalm 51:7: "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." The book has been and is still used to teach illiterate people and people of other cultures and languages – young and old – around the globe about the Gospel message.[11][12] Following the example of George Müller, Spurgeon founded the Stockwell Orphanage, which opened for boys in 1867 and for girls in 1879, and which continued in London until it was bombed in the Second World War.[13][14][15] The orphanage became Spurgeon's Child Care which still exists today. On the death of missionary David Livingstone in 1873, a discolored and much-used copy of one of Spurgeon's printed sermons, "Accidents, Not
Punishments,"[16] was found among his few possessions much later, along with the handwritten comment at the top of the first page: "Very good, D.L." He had carried it with him throughout his travels in Africa. It was sent to Spurgeon and treasured by him.[17]
Downgrade Controversy
Sword and Trowel original cover page A controversy among the Baptists flared in 1887 with Spurgeon's first "Down-grade" article, published in The Sword & the Trowel.[18] In the ensuing "Downgrade Controversy," the Metropolitan Tabernacle became disaffiliated from the Baptist Union, effectuating Spurgeon's congregation as the world's largest self-standing church. Spurgeon framed the controversy in this way:
“
Believers in Christ's atonement are now in declared union with those who make light of it; believers in Holy Scripture are in confederacy with those who deny plenary inspiration; those who hold evangelical doctrine are in open alliance with those who call the fall a fable, who deny the personality of the Holy Ghost, who call justification by faith immoral, and hold that there is another probation after death... It is our solemn conviction that there should be no pretence of fellowship. Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin.[19]
Contextually the Downgrade Controversy was British Baptists' equivalent of hermeneutic tensions which were starting to divide Protestant fellowships in general.
”
The Controversy took its name from Spurgeon's use of the term "Downgrade" to describe certain other Baptists' outlook toward the Bible (i.e., they had "downgraded" the Bible and the principle of sola scriptura).[20] Spurgeon alleged that an incremental creeping of the GrafWellhausen hypothesis, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and other concepts was weakening the Baptist Union.[21][22][23] Spurgeon emphatically decried the doctrine that resulted:
“
Assuredly the New Theology can do no good towards God or man; it, has no adaptation for it. If it were preached for a thousand years by all the most earnest men of the school, it would never renew a soul, nor overcome pride in a single human heart.[24]
”
The standoff caused division amongst the Baptists and other non-conformists, and is regarded by many as an important paradigm.[a][21][25][26]
Opposition to slavery Spurgeon strongly opposed slave owning.[27] He lost support from the Southern Baptists, sales of his sermons dropped to a few, and he received scores of threatening and insulting letters as a consequence.[28]
“
Not so very long ago our nation tolerated slavery in our colonies. Philanthropists endeavored to destroy slavery; but when was it utterly abolished? It was when Wilberforce roused the church of God, and when the church of God addressed herself to the conflict, then she tore the evil thing to pieces. I have been amused with what Wilberforce said the day after they passed the Act of Emancipation. He merrily said to a friend when it was all done, “Is there not something else we can abolish?” That was said playfully, but it shows the spirit of the church of God. She lives in conflict and victory; her mission is to destroy everything that is bad in the land. The Best Warcry, March 4th, 1883'[27]
”
Restorationism Like other Protestants of his time, despite opposing Dispensationalism,[29] Spurgeon anticipated the restoration of the Jews to inhabit the Promised Land.[30]
“
We look forward, then, for these two things. I am not going to theorize upon which of them will come first — whether they shall be restored first, and converted afterwards — or converted first and then restored. They are to be restored and they are to be converted, too. The Restoration And Conversion Of The Jews. Ezekiel 37.1-10, June 16th, 1864[30]
”
Final years and death
Tomb of Charles Spurgeon, West Norwood Cemetery, London Spurgeon's wife was often too ill to leave home to hear him preach. Spurgeon also suffered ill health toward the end of his life, afflicted by a combination of rheumatism, gout and Bright's disease. He often recuperated at Menton, near Nice, France, where he died on the 31st of January 1892. He enjoyed his cigars and smoked a "F. P Del Rio y Ca." in his last days according to his grandson.[31] Spurgeon was survived by his wife and sons. His remains were buried at West Norwood Cemetery in London, where the tomb is still visited by admirers. His son Tom became the pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle after his father died.
Library William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri purchased Spurgeon's 5,103-volume library collection for £500 ($2500) in 1906. The collection was purchased by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary[32] in Kansas City, Missouri in 2006 for $400,000 and is currently undergoing restoration. A special collection of Spurgeon's handwritten sermon notes and galley proofs from 1879–91 resides at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.[33] Spurgeon's College in London also has a small number of notes and proofs.
Works
2200 Quotations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon Able to the Uttermost According To Promise All of Grace : ISBN 1-60206-436-9 An All Round Ministry Around the Wicket Gate Barbed Arrows C. H. Spurgeon's Autobiography : ISBN 0-85151-076-0 Chequebook of the Bank of Faith : ISBN 1-85792-221-2 Christ's Incarnation
Miracles and Parables of Our Lord Morning & Evening : ISBN 1-84550014-8 New Park Street Pulpit, The Only A Prayer Meeting Our Own Hymn Book Pictures From Pilgrim's Progress The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life : ISBN 0-88368-441-1 The Preachers Power and the Conditions of Obtaining it Saint And His Saviour, The Sermons in Candles
Come Ye Children Commenting and Commentaries The Dawn of Revival, (Prayer Speedily Answered) Down Grade Controversy, The Eccentric Preachers Feathers For Arrows Flashes of Thought Gleanings Among The Sheaves God Promises You : ISBN 0-88368459-4 Good Start, A Greatest Fight in the World, The Home Worship and the Use of the Bible in the Home Interpreter, The or Scripture for Family Worship John Ploughman's Pictures John Ploughman's Talks Lectures to My Students : ISBN 0-31032911-6 Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, The
Sermons on Unusual Occasions Smooth Stones taken from Ancient Brooks – Selections from Thomas Brooks : ISBN 978-1-84871-113-6 Soul Winner, The : ISBN 1-60206-7708 Speeches at Home And Abroad Spurgeon's Commentary on Great Chapters of the Bible Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Spurgeon's Sermon Notes : ISBN 08254-3768-7 Sword and The Trowel, The Talk to Farmers Till He Come The Salt Cellar Treasury of David, The : ISBN 08254-3683-4 We Endeavour The Wordless Book Word and Spirit : ISBN 0-85234-545-3 Words of Advice Words of Cheer Words of Counsel
Spurgeon's works have been translated into many languages and Moon's and Braille type for the blind. He also wrote many volumes of commentaries and other types of literature.[34]
Spurgeon near the end of his life.
The tomb of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Notes
1. 1. An accessible analysis, sympathetic to Spurgeon but no less useful, of the Downgrade Controversy appears at Tec Malta.
References 1. "Charles H. Spurgeon". Bath Road Baptist Church. Retrieved 20 January 2009. During his lifetime, Spurgeon is estimated to have preached to 10,000,000 people (Christian History, Issue 29, Volume X, No. 1) "History of the Tabernacle". Metropolitan Tabernacle. Retrieved 20 January 2009. Farley, William P (Jan 2007). "Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The Greatest Victorian Preacher". Enrichment Journal. AG. Retrieved 20 January 2009. Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (1982), "Immanuel", in Houghton, Elsie, Christian Hymnwriters, Bridgend, Wales: Evangelical Press of Wales, ISBN 0-900898-66-6 The Baptist Hymn Book, London: Psalms and Hymn Trust, 1982 Dallimore, Arnold (1985), Spurgeon: A New Biography, pp. 178–79 "Spurgeon, Charles Haddon". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. Spurgeon’s "The First Sermon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle". Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Preached Monday, March 25, 1861 (369). Retrieved 2014-12-19. Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Baptismal Regeneration The Wordless Book, Spurgeon.org Austin 2007, pp. 1–10. Brief history, Spurgeon’s child care Birchington history, The Birchington roundabout Orphanage, Vauxhall Society Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Accidents, Not Punishments W. Y. Fullerton, Charles Haddon Spurgeon: A Biography, ch. 10 Spurgeon, Charles (2009). The "Down Grade" Controversy. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications. p. 264. ISBN 1-56186211-8. Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (August 1887), "Preface", The Sword and the Trowel "The Down Grade Controversy". The Reformed Reader. Retrieved 21 August 2010. Dallimore, Arnold (Sep 1985). Spurgeon: A New Biography. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust. ISBN 978-0-85151451-2. Sheehan, Robert (Jun 1985). Spurgeon and the Modern Church. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed. ISBN 978-0-94646205-6. Nettles, Tom (21 July 2013). Living By Revealed Truth The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Ross-shire: Christian Focus. ISBN 978-1-78191122-8. Spurgeon, Charles (2009). The "Down Grade" Controversy. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications. p. 2. ISBN 1-56186211-8. Swanson, Dennis M, The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries (PDF), Narnia 3 Sin, Jack (July 2000), "The Judgement Seat of Christ" (PDF), The Burning Bush (SG: Far Eastern Bible College) 6 (2): 302–23, esp. 310
Spurgeon, Charles (1883-03-04). "The Best War Cry". Retrieved 2014-12-26. Ray, Charles. A Marvelous Ministry: The Story of C.H. Spurgeon's Sermons: 1855-1905 (PDF). Pilgrim publications. ASIN B0006YWO4K. Sermon on 'Jesus Christ Immutable', Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 1869, vol. 15, no. 848 [1]. Spurgeon, Charles (1864), "Sermon preached in June 1864 for the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews", Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 10 http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/cigars.htm "Spurgeon collection", Library, MBTS "Spurgeon", Library, Samford 34. "Spurgeon's Writings". The Spurgeon Archive. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
Further reading Source of info from Charles H. Spurgeon
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (2010), The People's Preacher, UK: Christian Television Association. Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (1995), Carter, Tom, ed., 2200 Quotations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon (trade pbk), Baker Books, ISBN 978-0-8010-5365-8 Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (2009), The "Down Grade" Controversy. Original Source Materials, Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, p. 264, ISBN 1-56186211-8
Others
Austin, Alvyn (2007), China's Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, ISBN 978-0-8028-2975-7 Brackney, William H. A Genetic History of Baptist Thought: With Special Reference to Baptists in Britain and North America. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004. Dallimore, Arnold (Sep 1985), Spurgeon: A New Biography, Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, ISBN 978-0-85151451-2 Hoyt, Wayland (1892), Walks and Talks with Charles H. Spurgeon, American Baptist Pub. Society Murray, Iain (1972), The Forgotten Spurgeon, Edinburgh UK: Banner of Truth, ISBN 978-0-85151-156-6 Nettles, Tom (21 July 2013), Living By Revealed Truth: The Life and Pastoral Theology of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Ross-shire: Christian Focus Publishing, ISBN 978-1-78191122-8, 700 pp. Sheehan, Robert (Jun 1985). Spurgeon and the Modern Church. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed. ISBN 978-0-94646205-6. The Standard Life of CH Spurgeon. London: Passmore and Alabaster.
Christoph Blumhardt (1 June 1842 in Möttlingen near Calw – 2 August 1919 in Jebenhausen near Göppingen) was a German Lutheran theologian and one of the founders of Christian Socialism in Germany and Switzerland. He was a well-known preacher. In 1899 he announced his support for socialism and joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany; for
this, he lost his position as minister. The next year, he was elected to the state parliament of Württemberg. "God is not looking for heroic figures, wonderful people who captivate others with their charisma. It must have been quite baffling to the educated world when Jesus pronounced, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Blessed are the simple and those with limited education who do not want to understand everything with their intellect. Blessed are they who do not always think they have to put themselves forward to show how smart they are. Blessed are they who do not theorize about heavenly things. Blessed are they who keep to the way that is shown them, whatever life brings." — Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt (Action in Waiting) "- It is clear that we have to come down a bit from the high horse of reason on which we enjoy sitting. We have to be simple and take time to think how to make things understandable to the little ones. We have to become children again, and some find that too hard." — Johann Christoph Blumhardt (Thoughts About Children) "If we have the right attitude of faith to the Savior and to the promises the Father makes, a new light will dawn for us, and the cause of Christ will suddenly take on joy and radiance. We will have new hope: “Why, we had completely forgotten that there is a Holy Spirit, who can supersede the laws of everyday life!” And we will not mourn, neither over the unfortunate circumstances of our lives, nor over the state of the churches, nor even over the powers of sin and hell. Nor will we fear the dangerous days that are foretold, the days of the end times. If we have the light and power of the Holy Spirit, we shall not be confounded." — Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt "Jesus Christ seeks out his lost brothers and sisters. And if someone prays for them, he will intercede for them and send his angels to them.…It does not matter whom you have at heart, or whom you bring before God in prayer – brother or sister, friend or relative, or anyone else whom circumstances have brought near – even if he or she stands utterly wrong. Because of your concern, your love, and your intercession, all can become a charge of the Son…and through him, wards of the angels, who work unseen." — Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
As World War I broke out, he declared his belief in a coming Kingdom of God, declaring "we live in the time before a massive change in the world. This darkness will be vanquished through the Lord Jesus Christ." He was a significant influence on the theologians Karl Barth, Hermann Kutter and Leonhard Ragaz, who were also Christian socialists. The son of Johann Christoph Blumhardt, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt (1842-1919) was born at Möttlingen in 1842, at the very time his father was becoming involved in the struggle with Gottliebin’s demons. As his father had done before him, he took university training pointing toward a Reformed pastorate. However, he became disillusioned with the church and theology and so decided simply to return home to Bad Boll and act as a helper there. Upon his father’s death, then, he took over as housefather and continued the work until his own death in 1919. In time, the younger Blumhardt became quite renowned as a mass evangelist and faith healer. But after a very successful “crusade” in Berlin in 1888, he drastically cut back both activities, saying,
"I do not want to suggest that it is of little importance for God to heal the sick; actually, it now is happening more and more often—although very much in quiet. However, things should not be promoted as though God’s kingdom consists in the healing of sick people. To be cleansed is more important than to be healed. It is more important to have a heart for God’s cause, not to be chained to the world but be able to move for the kingdom of God." Blumhardt’s interest gradually took what could be called “a turn to the world,” namely, a focus upon the great socioeconomic issues of the day. Under the impetus of this concern Blumhardt chose, in a public and conspicuous way, to cast his lot with Democratic Socialism, the much-maligned workers’ movement that then was fighting tooth and nail for the right of the working class. Although it brought upon his head the wrath of both the civil and ecclesiastical establishments, he addressed protest rallies, ran for office on the party slate, and was elected to a six-year term in the Württemberg legislature. He was asked to resign his ministerial status in the church. Blumhardt began as a very active and energetic legislator, but as time passed he greatly curtailed this activity and bluntly declined to stand for a second term of office. Clearly, the pattern was of a piece with his earlier retreat from mass evangelism and faith healing. Blumhardt’s disillusionment with Democratic Socialism—i.e., with the party politics, not with the movement’s purposes and ideals—and the even greater disillusionment which came toward the close of his life with the dark years of World War I—these brought him to a final position expressed in the dialectical motto: Wait and Hasten. Staunchly anti-war,[1] his understanding was that the call of the Christian is still for him to give himself completely to the cause of the kingdom. To do everything in his power to help the world toward that goal. Yet, at the same time, a Christian must remain calm and patient, unperturbed even if his efforts show no signs of success, willing to wait for the Lord to bring the kingdom at his own pace and in his own way. And, according to Blumhardt, far from being inactivity, this sort of waiting is itself a very strong and creative action in the very hastening of the kingdom. Blumhardt suffered a stroke in 1917 and died a peaceful death on August 2, 1919.
David Brainerd (April 20, 1718–October 9, 1747) was an American missionary to the Native Americans who had a particularly fruitful ministry among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. During his short life he was beset by many difficulties. As a result, his biography has become a source of inspiration and encouragement to many Christians, including missionaries such as William Carey and Jim Elliot, and Brainerd's cousin, the Second Great Awakening evangelist James Brainerd Taylor (1801–1829).
"If the heart be chiefly and directly fixed on God, and the soul engaged to glorify him, some degree of religious affection will be the effect and attendant of it. But to seek after affection directly and chiefly; to have the heart principally set upon that; is to place it in the room of God and his glory. If it be sought, that others may take notice of it, and admire us for our spirituality and forwardness in religion, it is then damnable pride; if for the sake of feeling the pleasure of being affected, it is then idolatry and self-gratification." — Jonathan Edwards (The Life and Diary of David Brainerd) "I love to live on the brink of eternity." — David Brainerd “Oh for holiness! Oh for more of God in my soul! Oh this pleasing pain! It makes my soul press after God" — David Brainerd "Saw so much of the wickedness of my heart that I longed to get away from myself…I felt almost pressed to death with my own vileness. Oh what a body of death is there in me…Oh the closest walk with God is the sweetest heaven that can be enjoyed on earth!" (The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, 86)" — David Brainerd
Biography Early life
David Brainerd on horseback. He travelled over 3000 miles on horseback as a missionary.[1]
Brainerd preaching in the open-air to Native Americans. David Brainerd was born on April 20, 1718 in Haddam, Connecticut, the son of Hezekiah, a Connecticut legislator, and Dorothy. He had nine siblings, one of whom was Dorothy's from a previous marriage. He was orphaned at the age of fourteen, as his father died in 1727 at the age of forty-six and his mother died five years later.[2] After his mother's death, Brainerd moved to East Haddam to live with one of his older sisters, Jerusha. At the age of nineteen, he inherited a farm near Durham, but did not enjoy the experience of farming and so returned to East Haddam a year later to prepare to enter Yale. On 12 July 1739, he recorded having an experience of 'unspeakable glory' that prompted in him a 'hearty desire to exalt [God], to set him on the throne and to "seek first his Kingdom"'.[3] This has been interpreted by evangelical scholars as a conversion experience.[4]
Preparing for ministry Two months later, he enrolled at Yale. In his second year at Yale, he was sent home because he was suffering from a serious illness that caused him to spit blood. It is now believed that he was suffering from tuberculosis, the disease which would lead to his death seven years
later. When he returned in November 1740, tensions were beginning to emerge at Yale between the faculty staff and the students as the staff considered the spiritual enthusiasm of the students, which had been prompted by visiting preachers such as George Whitefield, Gilbert Tennent, Ebenezer Pemberton and James Davenport, to be excessive. This led to the college trustees passing a decree in 1741 that 'if any student of this College shall directly or indirectly say, that the Rector, either of the Trustees or tutors are hypocrites, carnal or unconverted men, he shall for the first offense make a public confession in the hall, and for the second offense be expelled'. On the afternoon of the same day, the faculty had invited Jonathan Edwards to preach the commencement address, hoping that he would support their position, but instead he sided with the students. In the next term, Brainerd was expelled because it was said that he commented that one of his tutors, Chauncey Whittelsey, 'has no more grace than a chair' and that he wondered why the Rector 'did not drop down dead' for fining students perceived as over-zealous.[5] He later apologized for the first comment, but denied making the second.[6] This episode grieved Brainerd, especially as a recent law forbade the appointment of ministers in Connecticut unless they had graduated from Harvard, Yale or a European institution, meaning that he had to reconsider his plans.[7] In 1742, Brainerd was licensed to preach by a group of evangelicals known as 'New Lights'. As a result, he gained the attention of Jonathan Dickinson, the leading Presbyterian in New Jersey, who unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate Brainerd at Yale. Instead, it was therefore suggested that Brainerd devote himself to missionary work among the Native Americans, supported by the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. He was approved for this missionary work on 25 November 1742.[8]
Entering mission On 1 April 1743, after a brief period serving a church on Long Island, Brainerd began working as a missionary to Native Americans, which he would continue until late 1746 when worsening illness prevented him from working. In his final years, he also suffered from a form of depression that was sometimes immobilizing and which, on at least twenty-two occasions, led him to wish for death. He was also affected by difficulties faced by other missionaries of the period, such as loneliness and lack of food.[9] His first missionary task was working at Kaunameek, a Housatonic Indian settlement near present day Nassau, New York, twenty or thirty miles from missionary John Sergeant who was working in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Brainerd remained there for one year. During this period he started a school for Native American children and began a translation of the Psalms.[10] Subsequently, he was reassigned to work among the Delaware Indians along the Delaware River northeast of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he remained for another year, during which he was ordained by the Newark Presbytery.[10] After this, he moved to Crossweeksung in New Jersey, where he had his most fruitful ministry. Within a year, the Indian church at Crossweeksung had 130 members, who moved in 1746 to Cranbury where they established a Christian community.[11] In these years, he refused several offers of leaving the mission field to become a church minister, including one from the church at East Hampton on Long Island. He remained
determined, however, to continue the work among Native Americans despite the difficulties, writing in his diary: '[I] could have no freedom in the thought of any other circumstances or business in life: All my desire was the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God: God does not suffer me to please or comfort myself with hopes of seeing friends, returning to my dear acquaintance, and enjoying worldly comforts'.[12]
Death In November 1746, he became too ill to continue ministering, and so moved to Jonathan Dickinson's house in Elizabethtown. After a few months of rest, he travelled to Northampton, Massachusetts, where he stayed at the house of Jonathan Edwards. Apart from a trip to Boston in the summer of that year, he remained at Edwards's house until his death the following year.[11] In May 1747, he was diagnosed with incurable consumption; in these final months, he suffered greatly. In his diary entry for 24 September, Brainerd wrote: 'In the greatest distress that ever I endured having an uncommon kind of hiccough; which either strangled me or threw me into a straining to vomit'.[13] During this time, he was nursed by Jerusha Edwards, Jonathan's seventeen-year-old daughter. The friendship that grew between them was of a kind that has led some to suggest they were romantically attached.[14] He died from tuberculosis on 9 October 1747, at the age of 29. He is buried at Bridge Street Cemetery in Northampton, next to Jerusha,[15] who died in February 1748 as a result of contracting tuberculosis from nursing Brainerd.[16] His gravestone reads: Sacred to the memory of the Rev. David Brainerd. A faithful and laborious missionary to the Stockbridge, Delaware and Sasquehanna TRIBES OF INDIANS WHO died in this town. October 10, 1747 AE 32.[17]
Legacy Impact on the church and mission
Brainerd's tomb in Northampton. He made a handful of converts, but became widely known in the 1800s due to books about him.[18] His Journal was published in two parts in 1746 by the Scottish Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Much of Brainerd's influence on future generations can be attributed to the biography compiled by Jonathan Edwards and first published in 1749 under the title of An Account of
the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd. Edwards believed that a biography about Brainerd would have great value and set aside the anti-Arminian treatise he was writing (later published as Freedom of the Will) in order to create one.[19] The result was an edited version of Brainerd's diary, with some passages documenting Brainerd's despair removed.[20] It gained immediate recognition, with eighteenth-century theologian John Wesley urging: 'Let every preacher read carefully over the Life of David Brainerd '.[21] The most reprinted of Edwards's books, it has never been out of print and has thus influenced subsequent generations, mainly because of Brainerd's single-minded perseverance in his work in the face of significant suffering. Clyde Kilby summarised Brainerd's influence as being based on the fact that, 'in our timidity and our shoddy opportunism we are always stirred when a man appears on the horizon willing to stake his all on a conviction'.[22] From the eighteenth century, missionaries also found inspiration and encouragement from the biography. Gideon Hawley wrote in the midst of struggles: 'I need, greatly need, something more than humane [human or natural] to support me. I read my Bible and Mr. Brainerd's Life, the only books I brought with me, and from them have a little support'.[23] Other missionaries who have asserted the influence of Jonathan Edwards's biography of Brainerd on their lives include Henry Martyn, William Carey, Jim Elliot,[24] and Adoniram Judson.[20] A new edition, with the Journal and Brainerd's letters embodied, was published by Sereno E. Dwight at New Haven in 1822; and in 1884 was published what is substantially another edition, The Memoirs of David Brainerd, edited by James M Sherwood. Brainerd's writings contain substantial meditation on the nature of the illness that eventually led to his death and its relation to his ties with God. David Belden Lyman (1803–1868), missionary to Hawaii, was one of many in nineteenthcentury America that named their son after David Brainerd (David Brainerd Lyman, 1833– 36, and another David Brainerd Lyman, 1840–1914).
Impact on higher education Brainerd's life also played a role in the establishment of Princeton College and Dartmouth College. The 'College of New Jersey' (later Princeton) was founded due to the dissatisfaction of the New York and New Jersey Presbyterian Synods with Yale; their expulsion of Brainerd and subsequent refusal to readmit him was an important factor in driving individuals such as Jonathan Dickinson and Aaron Burr to act on this dissatisfaction. Indeed, classes began in Dickinson's house in May 1747, while Brainerd was recovering there. Dartmouth College originated from a school founded by Eleazar Wheelock for Native Americans and colonists in 1748, and Wheelock had been inspired by Brainerd's example of Native American education.[25] Despite Brainerd's expulsion from Yale, the University later named a building after him (Brainerd Hall at Yale Divinity School), the only building on the campus to be named after a student who was expelled. David Brainerd Christian School was also named after him.
Archival Collections
The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has papers for David Brainerd that consist of a letter by Brainerd (c. 1743) to Rev. Joseph Bellamy and notes concerning Brainerd’s published works by Rev. Arthur Bennett, an Anglican clergyman.
See also
Moses Tunda Tatamy (ca. 1690–1760), the first Native American baptized by Brainerd.
Brainerd Mission to the Cherokee Indians (1817–1838)
David Brainerd Christian School (2002–2009), former middle and high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
James Brainerd Taylor (1801–1829), maternal cousin of Brainerd; born Middle Haddam, Connecticut; buried in Hampden-Sydney College Church cemetery, Virginia; obelisk in Union Hill Cemetery, Middle Haddam, Connecticut, and Princeton Cemetery of Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, New Jersey; Lawrenceville School (N.J), Princeton University and Yale Divinity School-educated Second Great Awakening evangelist; primary founder of Princeton University's Philadelphian Society of Nassau Hall (1825–1930, now called Princeton Evangelical Fellowship); one of some 20,000 Americans listed in Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (6 vol., 1887–89). See John Holt Rice and Benjamin Holt Rice, Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor, Second Edition (American Tract Society, 1833, online edition) and Fitch W. Taylor, A New Tribute to the Memory of James Brainerd Taylor (John S. Taylor [no relation], 1838, online edition). And I. Francis Kyle III, An Uncommon Christian: James Brainerd Taylor, Forgotten Evangelist in America's Second Great Awakening (University Press of America, 2008, Foreword by John F. Thornbury, contains the appendix "David Brainerd and James Brainerd Taylor: A Comparative Chart"), Of Intense Brightness: The Spirituality of Uncommon Christian James Brainerd Taylor (University Press of America, 2008, Foreword by James M Houston, Epilogue by Peter Adam), God's Co-worker: 21st-century Evangelism with Uncommon Christian James Brainerd Taylor (forthcoming, published doctoral dissertation), Uncommon Christian Devotional: Living the Uncommon Christian Life with James Brainerd Taylor (forthcoming) and Uncommon Christian Ministries' online biographical sketch and timeline on Taylor (http://www.UncommonChristian.com or http://www.JamesBrainerdTaylor.com ).
Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 – December 22, 1899), also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher, who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts (now Northfield Mount Hermon School), the Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers.
"I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I have ever met." — D.L. Moody "The object of the Bible is not to tell how good men are, but how bad men can become good." — D.L. Moody (Pleasure And Profit In Bible Study And Anecdotes, Incidents And Illustrations) "No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him." — D.L. Moody "Small numbers make no difference to God. There is nothing small if God is in it." — D.L. Moody "What we need as Christians is to be able to feed ourselves. How many there are who sit helpless and listless, with open mouths, hungry for spiritual things, and the minister has to try to feed them, while the Bible is a feast prepared, into which they never venture." — D.L. Moody (Pleasure And Profit In Bible Study And Anecdotes, Incidents And Illustrations) "Others read the Bible to make it fit in and prove their favorite creed or notions; and if it does not do so, they will not read it. It has been well said that we must not read the Bible by the blue light of Presbyterianism; nor by the red light of Methodism; nor by the violet light of Episcopalianism; but by the light of the Spirit of God." — D.L. Moody (Pleasure And Profit In Bible Study And Anecdotes, Incidents And Illustrations)
Early life Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, to a large family. His father, Edwin J. Moody (1800–1841), a small farmer and stonemason, died at the age of 41, when Dwight was only four years old; his mother was Betsey Moody (née Holton; 1805–1896). They had five sons and a daughter before Dwight's birth, with twins, a boy and a girl, born one month after Edwin's death. His mother struggled to support the family, but even with her best effort, some of her children had to be sent off to work for their room and board. Dwight too was sent off, where he received cornmeal, porridge, and milk three times a day.[1] He complained to his
mother, but when she found out that he got all that he wanted to eat, she sent him back. Even during that time she continued to send them to church. Together with his eight siblings he was raised in the Unitarian church. His oldest brother ran away and was not heard from by the family until many years later.[citation needed] Plaque commemorating the spot on Court Street in Boston where Dwight Moody was converted in 1855 When Moody turned 17, he moved to Boston to work (after many job rejections) in an uncle's shoe store. One of the uncle's requirements was that Moody attend the Congregational Church of Mount Vernon where Dr. Edward Norris Kirk served as the pastor. In April 1855 Moody was then converted to evangelical Christianity when his Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball, talked to him about how much God loved him. His conversion sparked the start of his career as an evangelist. However, his first application for church membership, in May 1855, was rejected. He was not received as a church member until May 4, 1856. As his teacher, Edward Kimball, stated: "I can truly say, and in saying it I magnify the infinite grace of God as bestowed upon him, that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when he came into my Sunday School class; and I think that the committee of the Mount Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of Gospel truth, still less to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness."[2]
The Civil War "The first meeting I ever saw him at was in a little old shanty that had been abandoned by a saloon-keeper. Mr. Moody had got the place to hold the meetings in at night. I went there a little late; and the first thing I saw was a man standing up with a few tallow candles around him, holding a negro boy, and trying to read to him the story of the Prodigal Son and a great many words he could not read out, and had to skip. I thought, 'If the Lord can ever use such an instrument as that for His honor and glory, it will astonish me. As a result of his tireless labor, within a year the average attendance at his school was 650, while 60 volunteers from various churches served as teachers. It became so well known that the just-elected President Lincoln visited and spoke at a Sunday School meeting on November 25, 1860." D. L. Moody "could not conscientiously enlist" in the Union Army during the Civil War, later describing himself as "a Quaker" in this respect.[3] After the Civil War started, he became involved with the United States Christian Commission of the YMCA, and paid nine visits to the battlefront, being present among the Union soldiers after the Battle of Shiloh (a.k.a. Pittsburg Landing) and the Battle of Stones River; he also entered Richmond, Virginia, with the troops of General Grant. On August 28, 1862, he married Emma C. Revell, with whom he had a daughter, Emma Reynolds Moody, and two sons, William Revell Moody and Paul Dwight Moody.
Chicago and the post-Civil War years The growing Sunday School congregation needed a permanent home, so Moody started a church in Chicago, the Illinois Street Church.[citation needed]
In June 1871 at an International Sunday School Convention in Indianapolis, Dwight Moody met Ira D. Sankey, up to then a single-gospel-singer, with whom he soon began to cooperate and collaborate.[citation needed] Four months later in October 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed Dwight's church building, as well as his family dwelling and the homes of most of his churchmembers. Many had to flee the flames, saving only their lives, and ending up completely destitute. Moody, reporting on the disaster, said about his own situation that: "...he saved nothing but his reputation and his Bible."[this quote needs a citation] Moody's chapel was rebuilt within three months as the Chicago Avenue Church.[citation needed] In the years after the fire, Moody's wealthy Chicago supporter John V. Farwell tried to persuade him to make his permanent home in Chicago, offering to build a new house for Moody and his family. But the newly famous Moody, also sought by supporters in New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, chose the tranquil farm he had purchased next door to his birthplace in Northfield, Massachusetts. He felt he could better recover from his lengthy and exhausting preaching trips in a rural setting.[1] Northfield became an important location in evangelical Christian history in the late 19th century as Moody organized summer conferences which were led and attended by prominent Christian preachers and evangelists from around the world. It was also in Northfield where Moody founded two schools (Northfield School for Girls, founded in 1879, and the Mount Hermon School for Boys, founded in 1881) which later merged into today's co-educational, nondenominational Northfield Mount Hermon School.[citation needed]
England During a trip to England in the spring of 1872, he became well known as an evangelist. Literary works published by the Moody Bible Institute have claimed that he was the greatest evangelist of the 19th century.[4] He preached almost a hundred times and came into communion with the Plymouth Brethren. On several occasions he filled stadia of a capacity of 2,000 to 4,000. In the Botanic Gardens Palace a meeting had an audience between 15,000 and 30,000.[citation needed] That turnout continued throughout 1874 and 1875, with crowds of thousands at all of his meetings. During his visit to Scotland he was helped and encouraged by Andrew A. Bonar. The famous London Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, invited him to speak, and he promoted him as well. When he returned to the US, crowds of 12,000 to 20,000 were as common as they had been in England.[5] President Grant and some of his cabinet officials attended a meeting on January 19, 1876. His evangelistic meetings took place from Boston to New York, throughout New England, and as far as San Francisco, along with other West Coast towns from Vancouver to San Diego.[citation needed] Moody aided in the work of cross-cultural evangelism by promoting "The Wordless Book," a teaching tool that had been invented by Charles Spurgeon in 1866. In 1875 he added a fourth color to the design of the three-color evangelistic device: gold—to "represent heaven." This "book" has been and is still used to teach uncounted thousands of illiterate people, young and old, around the globe about the gospel message.[6]
Missionary preaching in China using Moody's version of The Wordless Book Dwight L. Moody visited Britain with Ira D. Sankey, with Moody preaching and Sankey singing. Together they published books of Christian hymns. In 1883 they visited Edinburgh and raised £10,000 for the building of a new home for the Carrubbers Close Mission. Moody later preached at the laying of the foundation stone for what is one of the few buildings on the Royal Mile which continues to be used for its original purpose and is now called the Carrubbers Christian Centre.[citation needed] Moody greatly influenced the cause of cross-cultural Christian missions after he met Hudson Taylor, a pioneer missionary to China. He actively supported the China Inland Mission and encouraged many of his congregation to volunteer for service overseas.[citation needed]
International acclaim His influence was felt among Swedes despite that he was of English heritage, that he never visited Sweden or any other Scandinavian country, and that he never spoke a word of Swedish. Nonetheless he became a hero revivalist among Swedish Mission Friends in Sweden and America.[7] News of Moody’s large revival campaigns in Great Britain from 1873 through 1875 traveled quickly to Sweden, making “Mr. Moody” a household name in homes of many Mission Friends. Moody’s sermons published in Sweden were distributed in books, newspapers, and colporteur tracts, and they led to the spread of Sweden’s “Moody fever” from 1875 through 1880.[citation needed] He preached his last sermon on November 16, 1899, in Kansas City, Missouri. Becoming ill, he returned home by train to Northfield. During the preceding several months, friends had observed he had added some 30 pounds (14 kg) to his already ample frame. Although his illness was never diagnosed, it has been speculated that he suffered from congestive heart failure. He died on December 22, 1899, surrounded by his family. Already installed as the leader of his Chicago Bible Institute, R. A. Torrey succeeded Moody as its president. Ten years after Moody's death the Chicago Avenue Church was renamed the Moody Church in his honor, and the Chicago Bible Institute was likewise renamed the Moody Bible Institute.[citation needed]
Works
Heaven Diggory Press ISBN 978-1-84685-812-3 Prevailing Prayer—What Hinders it? Diggory Press ISBN 978-1-84685-803-1 Secret Power Diggory Press ISBN 978-1-84685-802-4 The Ten Commandments[8]
See also Biography portal
Horatio Spafford, a friend of Moody who wrote the words to the hymn It Is Well With My Soul Northfield Mount Hermon School
Notes 1. Johnson, George (2011). What Will A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul?. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 113–115. ISBN 1465380981. Moody (1900), 21 Donald W. Dayton, Discovering an Evangelical Heritage (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), 134. Bailey, Faith (1987) [1959]. D. L Moody. The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. p. Cover. ISBN 0-8024-0039-6. "Dwight Moody". New World Encyclopedia. Paragon House Publishers. Retrieved 11 June 2013. Austin (2007), 1-10 Gustafson (2008) 8. The Ten Commandments
References
Dwight Moody (New World Encyclopedia) "Dwight Moody: evangelist with a common touch" Christianity Today, 8 August 2008. Christian Biography Resources Austin, Alvyn. China’s Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (March 5, 2007) ISBN 978-0-8028-2975-7 Beadenkopf, T. M.; Stricklen, W.R. Moody in Baltimore, "Students of Johns Hopkins", Baltimore, 1879, 2nd ed. Dorsett, L. W. A Passion for Souls: The Life of D. L. Moody. 1997 Findlay, J. F. Jr. Dwight L. Moody: American Evangelist 1837–1899. 1969 Gundry, S. N. Love them in: The Proclamation Theology of D. L. Moody. 1976
Evensen, B. J. God's Man for Gilded Age: D. L. Moody and the Rise of Mass Evangelism. 2003 Gustafson, D. M. D. L. Moody and Swedes: Shaping Evangelical Identity among Swedish Missions Friends 1867–1899. (Linköping Studies in Arts and Sciences 419. / Linköping Studies in Identity and Pluralism 7.) 2008. Ph.D. Dissertation Moody, Paul Dwight. The Shorter Life of D. L. Moody. 1900 Schlachter, Franz Eugen. D. L. Moody, ein Lebensbild (1894) Simons, M. Laird. Holding the Fort: comprising sermons and addresses at the Great Revival meetings conducted by Moody and Sankey, with the lives and labors of Dwight L. Moody, Ira D. Sankey, and P. P. Bliss, Norwich, Connecticut: Henry Bill Publishing Co., 1877.
Eberhard Arnold (26 July 1883 – 22 November 1935) was a Christian German writer, philosopher, and theologian. He was the founder of the Bruderhof (place of brothers) and relative of Jonathan Holmes in 1920.
"Truth without love kills, but love without truth lies." — Eberhard Arnold "Even the sun directs our gaze away from itself and to the life illumined by it." — Eberhard Arnold (Salt and Light: Talks and Writings on the Sermon on the Mount) "We kill at every step, not only in wars, riots ad executions. We kill every time we close our eyes to poverty, suffering and shame." — Eberhard Arnold (Salt and Light: Talks and Writings on the Sermon on the Mount)
"Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder. " — Eberhard Arnold Arnold was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany, the third child of Carl Franklin and Elizabeth (Voight) Arnold. His father was a doctor of theology and philosophy, and his paternal grandfather was a pastor and missionary of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. Eberhard Arnold's life as a youth was unconventional. In 1899 at age 16, Arnold experienced an inner change, which he acknowledged as God's acceptance and the forgiveness of sins, and felt a calling to "go and witness to my truth." After he finished school, Arnold studied education, philosophy, and theology in Breslau, Halle, and Erlangen. He engaged in Christian youth work and in evangelism among the poor through the Salvation Army. While in Halle, he became part of the German Student Christian Movement, and its general secretary, in 1907 he and his wife von Hollander seceded from the state church. His work with the Salvation Army increased his sympathy for the oppressed classes of people and strengthened his stand for preaching conversion and salvation. Here in Halle, he also met Emmy von Hollander and married her in 1909. Arnold was a sought-after speaker in early 20th century Germany. He became troubled by the church's connection to the state, and in 1908, at age 25, Arnold was baptized and left the Protestant state church. In 1915 he became editor of Die Furche (The Furrow), the periodical of the Student Christian Movement, and editor of the Das Neue Werk (New Venture) Publishing House in Schlüchtern, Germany in 1919. At age 37, he abandoned middle-class life. It was then, in 1920, that he moved with his wife and children to the village of Sannerz in central Germany, and founded a community with seven adult members and five children. Here they would attempt to put into practice what Eberhard Arnold believed the Holy Spirit had revealed to him. The community ethic was based on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The community experienced both trouble and growth, but by the mid-1920s the Sannerz farm was too small. In 1926, they bought a farm in the Fulda district and established the Rhön Bruderhof. When Arnold discovered that Hutterite communities still existed in North America, he contacted them and engaged in a long period of correspondence. In 1930 he traveled to America and stayed for about a year, visiting all the communities of Hutterian brethren in the United States and Canada. In December of that year, he was commissioned by them as a missionary to Europe. In November 1933, the Bruderhof community was raided by the Gestapo, who searched for arms and anti-Nazi literature, and closed the community's school. The Bruderhof sent their school children to Switzerland, and began to search for another place to establish their community. When the teacher sent by the government arrived in 1934, he found no children to teach. Property was acquired in the Alps in Liechtenstein, and in March 1934, the Alm Bruderhof was founded. Arnold spent the last two years of his life suffering from a leg injury that would lead to his death, while attempting to shepherd his flock to safety. Nevertheless, he remained active in traveling, lecturing and writing until his death in Darmstadt on 22 November 1935. Emmy von Hollander Arnold outlived her husband by 45 years, following the Bruderhof to England, Paraguay, and eventually the United States. She died in New York on 15 January 1980, at the age of ninety-five.
The vision of Arnold continues today in Bruderhof communities in the United States, England, Germany, and Australia. Arnold's son and grandson both followed in his footsteps leading the Bruderhof. However, one of Arnold's other grandson's, Jonathan Holmes, writes about video games for the website Destructoid and is widely considered to be the city of Boston's favourite son. Eberhard's son, Johann Heinrich Arnold (1913–1982) led from 1962 through 1982, and Heinrich's son Johann Christoph Arnold from 1983 through 2001. Arnold has gained a wide following beyond the Bruderhof who respect his teachings, while believing the community lifestyle is not necessary.
See also
Bruderhof Communities Christian anarchism Peace church Simple living
Bibliography
Eberhard Arnold – Writings Selected God's Revolution: Justice, Community and the Coming Kingdom Innerland (1935) Poems and Rhymed Prayers Salt and Light: Living the Sermon on the Mount The Early Christians After the Death of the Apostles (1926) The Individual and World Need The Prayer God Answers (1913) Why We Live in Community
Edmund Hamer Broadbent (1861–1945) was a Christian missionary and author. John Bjorlie wrote that he was a "tidy-looking English gentleman with a bookish side who discovered ways of slipping into and out of countries that others just assumed were 'closed doors.' He was not a big man, and his pleasant, easygoing manner would not have conjured in your mind the picture of the fearless missionary."[1] Born in Lancashire, England, Broadbent operated under the auspices of the Plymouth Brethren movement. [2]
His missionary work from 1900 into the 1920s took him to Austria, Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Poland, Russia, Turkey, the Baltic states, Egypt, North and South America, and Uzbekistan. He spoke fluently French and German and could speak some Russian.[3] Broadbent's passion for adhering to strictly to Scripture was evident in the many independent churches which he was priviledged to found nearly everywhere he went. Another of his great joys was to discover throughout his travels groups of believers who, while unaware of thousands of similar groups around the world, held in common the desire to follow the Lord and His Word alone rather than a man or organization. Thus he had firsthand contact with the Pilgrim Church of which he wrote and saw what he considered to be biblical Christianity in practice in a wide variety of settings and cultures.( Excepts from Forward, by Dave Hunt (pp. v-vii))
His book, The Pilgrim Church, first published in 1931, is still in print. The Pilgrim Church is an alternative history of the church, unrecorded by secular history. It covers the history of many small churches throughout the ages that have attempted to follow the New Testament church pattern, the success of those that followed the pattern laid out by the apostles and the consequences to the churches that fell away from the pattern. He looks broadly at many groups such as the Paulicians, the Bogomils, the Nestorians, the Waldensians, the Anabaptists, the Hutterites, the Methodists, the Russian Mennonites and the Mennonite Brethren. He classified early primitive churches to Anabaptist, and to Moravian Brethren were historical Brethren Movement.[clarification needed] Edmund Hamer Broadbent fathered eight children by his wife Dora.
Bibliography
The Pilgrim Church ISBN 1-882701-53-4 The Pilgrim Church ISBN 978-1-882701-53-7 (Gospel Folio Press, 2009) Jeremiah: The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
References http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/article/62 Edmund Hamer Broadbent, Saint and Pioneer: recollections and reflections. London, Paternoster Press, 1946 by George Henry Lang http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/article/62 Biography on the Plymouth Brethren website Edward Harold Begbie (1871–1929), also known as Harold Begbie, was an English author and journalist who published nearly 50 books and poems and contributed to periodicals. Besides studies of the Christian religion, he wrote numerous other books, including political satire, comedy, fiction, science fiction, plays and poetry. Begbie was born in 1871, the fifth son of Mars Hamilton Begbie, rector of Fornham, St. Martin, Suffolk; he died in London on 8 October 1929.
“When the ships come back from slaughter, and the troops march home from war; When the havoc strewn behind us threats the road that lies before, Every hero shall be welcomed, every orphan shall be fed, By the man who stuck to business, by the man who kept his head.” - The Man who Keeps his Head “The soul has got its piercing steel, The heart its fierce consuming fire, Oh, make your voice like thunder peal, All nations of the earth inspire! We know your heart for Belgium bleeds, But speak your soul, declare your mind, Speak till the sin-red tyrant heeds The voice of God and all mankind. “ – To the humanity of America
“Man can no more leave God out of his philosophies than he can live without his heart or see without his eyes.”
Early career
At first Begbie took up farming, but later moved to London and joined the Daily Chronicle and later the Globe. He wrote books of popular verse, and much literature for children. He was a close friend of journalist Arthur Mee.[1] When Mee embarked on his Children's Encyclopædia in its initial fortnightly serial form, he gave to Begbie the task of writing a series on "Bible Stories".[2] At the outbreak of World War I Begbie wrote a number of recruiting poems and visited America on behalf of his paper. Some of the articles he wrote there were used as propaganda.
Religious views Begbie had a strong religious bent: he was involved in the Oxford Group (which later became Moral Re-Armament) and with the Salvation Army. His concern with social reform appeared strongly in his book The Little that is Good (1917), where he wrote about charitable work among the poor of London. He raised large sums of money for East End charities. Begbie might be described as a Broad Church Anglican, who was interested in the ways in which modern science seemed to cast doubt on materialism by showing matter was more complicated than previously believed. He was hostile to Anglo-Catholic Ritualism and to Roman Catholicism; several pre-First World War novels portray Ritualists as sinister and dishonest crypto-Catholic conspirators. His 1914 book The Lady Next Door, however, supports Irish home rule and gives an idealised portrayal of Catholicism in Ireland as a genuinely popular religion. His hostile view of urban industrial society in Belfast was criticised by many Ulster Unionists including the writer St. John Ervine.[3]
Political views He acted as ghostwriter for the memoir of the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. In 1902 and 1903, Begbie, together with J.Stafford Ransome and M.H.Temple wrote, under the pseudonym Caroline Lewis, two parodies based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, entitled Clara in Blunderland and Lost in Blunderland. These novels deal with British frustration and anger about the Boer War and with Britain's political leadership at the time. By 1916, dismayed by the attacks being made on Lord Haldane by Leopold Maxse in the National Review, he began to question the government's domestic policy. In 1917, he publicly defended the rights of pacifists and conscientious objectors to oppose the war. He later wrote his best known work under the pseudonym of "A Gentleman with a Duster", in which various anomalies and injustices were exposed. Begbie strongly defended the reality of the alleged apparition of the Angels of Mons and attacked Arthur Machen for claiming they derived from his story "The Bowmen". Begbie printed numerous accounts of the "Angels" in his book On the Side of the Angels (1915) but these are generally anonymous, second-hand or otherwise unverifiable. However, war regulations prevented naming of military personnel.[citation needed] Before the First World War Begbie was an outspoken Liberal social reformist, but he moved rapidly to the right in the post-war period. The "Gentleman with a Duster" books denounce
sexually suggestive literature (such as the early plays of Noël Coward), lament the precarious economic state of the middle classes and the prospective disintegration of the British Empire, and call for a strong hand against left-wing subversives even if this means restricting some traditional British liberties.
Works Among his other works, the best known were Broken Earthware, Other Sheep, In the Hands of the Potter, and his Life of General Booth. He also wrote a novel, The Great World, which was published in September 1925 by Mills & Boon.
The Political Struwwelpeter, 1898 The Story of Baden-Powell: 'The Wolf That Never Sleeps', 1900 Bundy in the Greenwood, 1902 Clara in Blunderland, 1902 (New edition 2010, ISBN 978-1-904808-49-7) Lost in Blunderland, 1903 (New edition 2010, ISBN 978-1-904808-50-3) On the Side of the Angels, 1915 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzBtU0xa69u0YVV3dG5wZU45SjQ/edit?usp=shar ing) The life of William Booth, the Founder of the Salvation Army, 1920 The Bed-Book of Happiness, 1914 The Vindication of Great Britain, 1916 Twice Born Men: A Clinic in Regeneration (A Footnote in Narrative to Professor William James's 'Varieties of Religious Experience'), 1909 The Mirrors of Downing Street: Some Political Reflections by a Gentleman with a Duster, 1921 Painted Windows: Studies in Religious Personality, 1922 Everychild: A Christmas Morality published by James Clarke & Co; 13 & 14 Fleet Street, London, E.C. (no date given)
References 1. John Hammerton(1946) Child of Wonder: An Intimate Biography of Arthur Mee Michael Tracy (2008), The World of the Edwardian Child, as seen in Arthur Mee's "Children's Encyclopædia", 1908-1910. [1] 3. Reprint of Harold Begbie The Lady Next Door (University College Dublin Press, 2006) with introduction by Patrick Maume.
This article incorporates text from The Modern World Encyclopædia: Illustrated (1935); out of UK copyright as of 2005. There is no biography of Harold Begbie. Lists of his writings can be found in the catalogues of major British libraries. There is a short article about him on Internet [2].
Edward McKendree Bounds (August 15, 1835 – August 24, 1913) prominently known as E.M. Bounds, was an American author, attorney, and member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South clergy. He is known for writing 11 books, nine of which focused on the subject of prayer. Only two of Bounds' books were published before he died. After his death, Rev. Claudius (Claude) Lysias Chilton, Jr., grandson of William Parish Chilton and admirer of Bounds, worked on preserving and preparing Bounds' collection of manuscripts for publication. By 1921, more editorial work was being done by Rev. Homer W. Hodge.
“A prepared heart is much better than a prepared sermon. A prepared heart will make a prepared sermon." — E.M. Bounds (Power Through Prayer) "What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer." — E.M. Bounds (Power Through Prayer) "Our praying needs to be pressed and pursued with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied, and a courage that never fails." — E.M. Bounds "The Word of God is the fulcrum upon which the lever of prayer is placed, and by which things are mightily moved." — E.M. Bounds "Spiritual work is taxing work, and men are loath to do it. Praying, true praying, costs an outlay of serious attention and of time, which flesh and blood do not relish." — E.M. Bounds (Power Through Prayer)
Early life Edward McKendree Bounds was born on August 15, 1835, in Shelbyville, Missouri. He is the son of Thomas Jefferson and Hester A. (née Purnell) Bounds.[1] In the preface to E.M.
Bounds on Prayer, published by Hendrickson Christian Classics Series over 90 years after Bounds' death, it is surmised that young Edward was named after the evangelist, William McKendree, who planted churches in western Missouri and served as the fourth bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.[1] He was the fifth child, in a family of three sons and three daughters.[1] Thomas Jefferson Bounds was one of the original settlers of Shelby County. Prior to organizing the County, Thomas Bounds served as the first Justice of the Peace.[2] In April 1835, he was named County Clerk, followed by an appointment to serve as the County Commissioner in December 1835.[2] In 1836, he began holding circuit court in his home, during the third term each year.[2] In his capacity as County Commissioner, he platted the town into blocks and lots for new settlers.[2] In 1840, he advanced the building of the First Methodist Church. In 1849, Thomas contracted tuberculosis and died.[3][4] After his father's death, 14-year-old Bounds joined several other relatives in a trek to Mesquite Canyon in California, following the discovery of gold in the area. After four unsuccessful years, they returned to Missouri. Bounds studied law in Hannibal, Missouri, after which, at age 19, he became the youngest practicing lawyer in the state of Missouri.[4] Although apprenticed as an attorney, Bounds felt called to Christian ministry in his early twenties during the Third Great Awakening. Following a brush arbor revival meeting led by Evangelist Smith Thomas, he closed his law office and moved to Palmyra, Missouri to enroll in the Centenary Seminary. Two years later, in 1859 at the age of 24, he was ordained by his denomination and was named pastor of the nearby Monticello, Missouri Methodist Church.[4] Marriage and children Bounds' first marriage was to Emma (Emmie) Elizabeth Barnett from Washington, Georgia on September 19, 1876. They had two daughters, Celeste and Corneille, and a son, Edward. Emmie died on February 18, 1886. Twenty months later, Edward married Emmie's cousin, Harriet (Hattie) Elizabeth Barnett in 1887. To them were born three sons (Samuel, Charles, and Osborne) and three daughters (Elizabeth, Mary, and Emmie). His son Edward, by his first wife, died at the age of six, and his son Charles, by his second wife, died eight days after his first birthday.[3] Military service E.M. Bounds did not support slavery. But, because he was a pastor at a congregation in the recently formed Methodist Episcopal Church South, his name was included in a list of 250 names who were to take an oath of allegiance and post a $500 bond. Edward saw no reason for a U.S. Citizen to take such an oath, he was morally opposed to the Union raising funds in this way, and he didn't have the $500.[4] Bounds and the others on the list were arrested in 1861 by Union troops, and Bounds was charged as a Confederate sympathizer. He was held with other non-combatants in a Federal prison in St. Louis for a year and a half. He was then transferred to Memphis and released in a prisoner exchange between the Union and the Confederacy.[3] He became a chaplain in the Confederate States Army (3rd Missouri Infantry CSA).[5] During the Second Battle of Franklin, Bounds suffered a severe forehead injury from a Union saber,
and he was taken prisoner. On June 28, 1865, Bounds was among Confederate prisoners who were released upon the taking of an oath of loyalty to the United States. Pastoral service Upon his release as a prisoner of the Union Army, he felt compelled to return to war-torn Franklin and help rebuild it spiritually, and he became the pastor of the Franklin Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His primary method was to establish weekly prayer sessions that sometimes lasted several hours. Bounds was regionally celebrated for leading spiritual revival in Franklin and eventually began an itinerant preaching ministry throughout the country. After serving several important churches in St. Louis and other places, south, he became Editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate for eight years and, later, Associate Editor of The Nashville Christian Advocate for four years. The trial of his faith came to him while in Nashville, and he quietly retired to his home without asking even a pension. His principal work in Washington, Georgia (his home) was rising at 4 am and praying until 7 am. He filled a few engagements as an evangelist during the eighteen years of his lifework. "While on speaking engagements, he would not neglect his early morning time in prayer, and cared nothing for the protests of the other occupants of his room at being awakened so early. No man could have made more melting appeals for lost souls and backslidden ministers than did Bounds. Tears ran down his face as he pleaded for us all in that room."[6] According to people who were constantly with him, in prayer and preaching, for eight years "Not a foolish word did we ever hear him utter. He was one of the most intense eagles of God that ever penetrated the spiritual ether. He could not brook delay in rising, or being late for dinner. He would go with me to street meetings often in Brooklyn and listen to the preaching and sing with us those beautiful songs of Wesley and Watts. He often reprimanded me for asking the unconverted to sing of Heaven. Said he: 'They have no heart to sing, they do not know God, and God does not hear them. Quit asking sinners to sing the songs of Zion and the Lamb.'"
Writing background Only two of Bounds' books were published before he died. After his death, Rev. Claudius (Claude) Lysias Chilton, Jr., grandson of William Parish Chilton and admirer of Bounds, worked on preserving and preparing Bounds' collection of manuscripts for publication. By 1921, more editorial work was being done by Rev. Homer W. Hodge. Chilton said of Bounds' books, "These books are unfailing wells for a lifetime of spiritual water-drawing. They are hidden treasures, wrought in the darkness of dawn and the heat of the noon, on the anvil of experience,and beaten into wondrous form by the mighty stroke of the divine. They are living voices whereby he, being dead, yet speaketh!"[7]
Published works
Power Through Prayer (e-text) Prayer and Praying Men (e-text) (online book) Purpose in Prayer (e-text) The Essentials of Prayer (e-text) (online book)
The Necessity of Prayer (e-text) (online book) The Possibilities of Prayer (e-text) The Reality of Prayer (e-text) The Weapon of Prayer (e-text) Preacher and Prayer (Internet Archive) (online book) Satan: His Personality, Power and Overthrow (online book) (Amazon Kindle) Heaven: A Place - A City - A Home (online book) The Ineffable Glory: Thoughts on the Resurrection (Amazon Kindle) The Collected Works of E. M. Bounds (Amazon Kindle)
Notes 1. Bounds on Prayer 2006, pages viii–xiv "The General History of Shelby County, Missouri" (PDF). Shelby.mogenweb.org. 1911. Retrieved 2013-06-08. Complete Works 2000, page 9–10 Failed Ambition 2004, pages 85–87 "3rd Missouri Infantry CSA". Missouridivision-scv.org. Retrieved 2013-06-08. Heaven 1921, pages 5–6 7. Necessity 2009, foreword
References
Bounds, E.M. (2006). E.M. Bounds on Prayer, Hendrickson Christian Classics Series, 267 pages. ISBN 978-1598560527 Bounds, E.M. (2000). The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer, Prince Press, 568 pages. ISBN 978-1565635838 Jewett, Tom (2004). Failed Ambition: The Civil War Journals & Letters of Cavalryman Homer Harris, 300 pages. ISBN 978-1438240879 Bounds, E.M.; and Homer W. Hodges (1921). Heaven, a Place, A City, A Home, Baker Books, 151 pages. ISBN 978-0801006487 Bounds, E.M., (foreword by Claude Chilton). The Necessity of Prayer, 84 pages. ISBN 978-0585035987 King, Darrel D. "E.M. Bounds (Men of Faith)", Bethany House, 1998. (ISBN 0-76422009-8) Dorsett, Lyle W. "E. M. Bounds: Man of Prayer", Zondervan (September 1991) (ISBN 0310539315)
Eberhard Arnold (26 July 1883 – 22 November 1935) was a Christian German writer, philosopher, and theologian. He was the founder of the Bruderhof (place of brothers) and relative of Jonathan Holmes in 1920.
Arnold was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany, the third child of Carl Franklin and Elizabeth (Voight) Arnold. His father was a doctor of theology and philosophy, and his paternal grandfather was a pastor and missionary of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. Eberhard Arnold's life as a youth was unconventional. In 1899 at age 16, Arnold experienced an inner change, which he acknowledged as God's acceptance and the forgiveness of sins, and felt a calling to "go and witness to my truth." After he finished school, Arnold studied education, philosophy, and theology in Breslau, Halle, and Erlangen. He engaged in Christian youth work and in evangelism among the poor through the Salvation Army. While in Halle, he became part of the German Student Christian Movement, and its general secretary, in 1907 he and his wife von Hollander seceded from the state church. His work with the Salvation Army increased his sympathy for the oppressed classes of people and strengthened his stand for preaching conversion and salvation. Here in Halle, he also met Emmy von Hollander and married her in 1909. Arnold was a sought-after speaker in early 20th century Germany. He became troubled by the church's connection to the state, and in 1908, at age 25, Arnold was baptized and left the Protestant state church. In 1915 he became editor of Die Furche (The Furrow), the periodical of the Student Christian Movement, and editor of the Das Neue Werk (New Venture) Publishing House in Schlüchtern, Germany in 1919. At age 37, he abandoned middle-class life. It was then, in 1920, that he moved with his wife and children to the village of Sannerz in central Germany, and founded a community with seven adult members and five children. Here they would attempt to put into practice what Eberhard Arnold believed the Holy Spirit had revealed to him. The community ethic was based on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The community experienced both trouble and growth, but by the mid-1920s the Sannerz farm was too small. In 1926, they bought a farm in the Fulda district and established the Rhön Bruderhof. When Arnold discovered that Hutterite communities still existed in North America, he contacted them and engaged in a long period of correspondence. In 1930 he traveled to America and stayed for about a year, visiting all the communities of Hutterian brethren in the United States and Canada. In December of that year, he was commissioned by them as a missionary to Europe. In November 1933, the Bruderhof community was raided by the Gestapo, who searched for arms and anti-Nazi literature, and closed the community's school. The Bruderhof sent their school children to Switzerland, and began to search for another place to establish their community. When the teacher sent by the government arrived in 1934, he found no children to teach. Property was acquired in the Alps in Liechtenstein, and in March 1934, the Alm Bruderhof was founded. Arnold spent the last two years of his life suffering from a leg injury that would lead to his death, while attempting to shepherd his flock to safety. Nevertheless,
he remained active in traveling, lecturing and writing until his death in Darmstadt on 22 November 1935. Emmy von Hollander Arnold outlived her husband by 45 years, following the Bruderhof to England, Paraguay, and eventually the United States. She died in New York on 15 January 1980, at the age of ninety-five. The vision of Arnold continues today in Bruderhof communities in the United States, England, Germany, and Australia. Arnold's son and grandson both followed in his footsteps leading the Bruderhof. However, one of Arnold's other grandson's, Jonathan Holmes, writes about video games for the website Destructoid and is widely considered to be the city of Boston's favourite son. Eberhard's son, Johann Heinrich Arnold (1913–1982) led from 1962 through 1982, and Heinrich's son Johann Christoph Arnold from 1983 through 2001. Arnold has gained a wide following beyond the Bruderhof who respect his teachings, while believing the community lifestyle is not necessary.
See also
Bruderhof Communities Christian anarchism Peace church Simple living
Bibliography
Eberhard Arnold – Writings Selected God's Revolution: Justice, Community and the Coming Kingdom Innerland (1935) Poems and Rhymed Prayers Salt and Light: Living the Sermon on the Mount The Early Christians After the Death of the Apostles (1926) The Individual and World Need The Prayer God Answers (1913) Why We Live in Community
Kwasizabantu (also KwaSizabantu, Kwa Sizabantu, KSB) is a non-denominational mission station that reaches out to people of all racial and cultural groups to bring a message of repentance and hope, as well as providing spiritual guidance, educational support and counselling. The Kwasizabantu ministry originated in South Africa, but has grown to include centers in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Romania, Australia and other countries. Some other organisations which started out of the work at KwaSizabantu are the Cedar College of Education and Domino Servite School.
History Kwasizabantu Mission was founded in 1970 by Erlo Stegen (born in 1935 near Durban). Stegen had been a travelling evangelist among the Zulu population of Natal since the 1950s up to 1970. In 1966-67, Stegen's efforts culminated in triggering mass conversions, accompanied by miraculous healings. In 1970, its base was established at a place called Kwa
Sizabantu (Zulu for "the place of help for people," or "the place where people are helped"). This became the movement's eponym. This mission station is situated on a farm of 550 hectares between Greytown and Stanger in KwaZulu-Natal, and is currently one of the largest and most successful mission stations in Africa.[1] The Mission has a few non-profit initiatives, as well as some successful commercial enterprises which fund its activities. One of the non-profit initiatives is Radio Khwezi a community radio broadcasting station which started broadcasting in 1995. Radio Khwezi is available in the Kwazulu-Natal Midlands region on FM 90.5 and 107.7 and is available world wide through live streaming on the Internet. Radio Khwezi broadcasts a variety of programs aimed at informing and edifying the community. The Sunday services of Kwasizabantu Mission are broadcast live from 11h00 South African time. On 12 August 2006, Kwasizabantu Mission officially opened the Emseni Care Center (meaning "place of grace"). The Emseni care Center provides free care and counselling to HIV and AIDS patients. Some of the patients have fully recovered.[2] The Kwasizabantu Mission houses the water factory aQuellé[3] and has 6ha of advanced greenhouses where sweet peppers are grown hydroponically. Kwasizabantu Mission also has an extensive avocado farming enterprise. The produce is packaged in a packaging facility on the mission station for Woolworths, Checkers, Spar and other local markets.[4] Some of the produce is exported. It also produces dairy products which are marketed through their Bonlé brand. They also have a Saverite supermarket on the premises with its own bakery and deli. The profit of the different enterprises is used to help those in need and to further the aims of the Mission. The director of the Kwasizabantu Mission in Kranskop, the Reverend Erlo Hartwig Stegen, was named co-recipient of a major international award — the Robert W. Pierce Award for Christian Service — by World Vision International on 9 December 2007.[5][6] In 2013 Rev EH Stegen was awarded the Chancellor's Medal by the North-West University (NWU) for "his humanitarian work among poor rural communities".[7]
References
http://www.joymag.co.za/mag/1-2006/kwasizabantu.php God Among the Zulus by Kurt E. Koch Th.D. (pg 133) aQuellé The North Coast Courier, July 23, 2014 Rev Erlo Stegen receives the Robert W. Pierce award from World Vision Award http://www.nwu.ac.za/content/nwu-awards-chancellor%E2%80%99s-medals
Evelyn Underhill (6 December 1875 – 15 June 1941) was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. In the English-speaking world, she was one of the most widely read writers on such matters in the first half of the 20th century. No other book of its type—until the appearance in 1946 of Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy—met with success to match that of her bestknown work, Mysticism, published in 1911.[1]
"Every minute you are thinking of evil, you might have been thinking of good instead. Refuse to pander to a morbid interest in your own misdeeds. Pick yourself up, be sorry, shake yourself, and go on again." — Evelyn Underhill "The spiritual life of individuals has to be extended both vertically to God and horizontally to other souls; and the more it grows in both directions, the less merely individual and therefore more truly personal it will become." — Evelyn Underhill "For a lack of attention a thousand forms of loveliness elude us everyday" — Evelyn Underhill (Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness) "As the beautiful does not exist for the artist and poet alone—though these can find in it more poignant depths of meaning than other men—so the world of Reality exists for all; and all may participate in it, unite with it, according to their measure and to the strength and purity of their desire." — Evelyn Underhill (Practical Mysticism; and, Abba: Meditations on the Lord's Prayer)
Biography Underhill was born in Wolverhampton. She was a poet and novelist, as well as a pacifist and mystic. An only child, she described her early mystical insights as "abrupt experiences of the peaceful, undifferentiated plane of reality—like the "still desert" of the mystic—in which
there was no multiplicity nor need of explanation."[2] The meaning of these experiences became a lifelong quest and a source of private angst, provoking her to research and write. Both her father and her husband were writers (on the law), London barristers and yachtsmen. She and her husband, Hubert Stuart Moore, grew up together and were married on 3 July 1907. The couple had no children. She travelled regularly within Europe, primarily Switzerland, France and Italy where she pursued her interests in art and Catholicism, visiting numerous churches and monasteries. Neither her husband (a Protestant) nor her parents shared her interest in spiritual matters. Underhill was called simply "Mrs Moore" by many of her friends, but was not without her detractors[citation needed]. She was a prolific author and published over 30 books either under her maiden name, Underhill, or under the pseudonym "John Cordelier", as was the case for the 1912 book The Spiral Way. Initially an agnostic, she gradually began to acquire an interest in Neoplatonism and from there became increasingly drawn to Catholicism against the objections of her husband, becoming eventually a prominent Anglo-Catholic. Her spiritual mentor from 1921 to 1924 was Baron Friedrich von Hügel, who was appreciative of her writing yet concerned with her focus on mysticism and who encouraged her to adopt a much more Christocentric view as opposed to the theistic and intellectual one she had previously held. She described him as "the most wonderful personality. ..so saintly, truthful, sane and tolerant" (Cropper, p. 44) and was influenced toward more charitable, down-to-earth activities. After his death in 1925, her writings became more focused on the Holy Spirit and she became prominent in the Anglican Church as a lay leader of spiritual retreats, a spiritual director for hundreds of individuals, guest speaker, radio lecturer and proponent of contemplative prayer. Underhill came of age in the Edwardian era, at the turn of the 20th century and like most of her contemporaries had a decided romantic bent. The enormous excitement in those days was mysteriously compounded of the psychic, the psychological, the occult, the mystical, the medieval, the advance of science, the apotheosis of art, the re-discovery of the feminine and an unashamedly sensuous and the most ethereally "spiritual"(Armstrong, p. xiii-xiv). Anglicanism seemed to her out-of-key with this, her world. She sought the centre of life as she and many of her generation conceived it, not in the state religion, but in experience and the heart. This age of "the soul" was one of those periods when a sudden easing of social taboos brings on a great sense of personal emancipation and desire for an El Dorado despised by an older, more morose and insensitive generation.[1] As an only child she was devoted to her parents, and later to her husband. She was fully engaged in the life of a barrister's daughter and wife, including the entertainment and charitable work that entailed, and pursued a daily regimen that included writing, research, worship, prayer and meditation. It was a fundamental axiom of hers that all of life was sacred, as that was what "incarnation" was about. She was a cousin of Francis Underhill, Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Education Underhill was educated at home, except for three years at a private school in Folkestone, and subsequently read history and botany at King's College London. She was conferred with an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Aberdeen University and made a fellow of King's
College. She was the first woman to lecture to the clergy in the Church of England as well as the first woman officially to conduct spiritual retreats for the Church. She was also the first woman to establish ecumenical links between churches and one of the first woman theologians to lecture in English colleges and universities, which she did frequently. Underhill was an award-winning bookbinder, studying with the most renowned masters of the time. She was schooled in the classics, well read in Western spirituality, well informed (in addition to theology) in the philosophy, psychology, and physics of her day, and acquired the prestigious post of editor of The Spectator.
Early work
Blue plaque, 50 Campden Hill Square, London
Before undertaking many of her better known expository works on mysticism, she first published a small book of satirical poems on legal dilemmas, The Bar-Lamb's Ballad Book, which received a favorable welcome. Underhill then wrote three highly unconventional though profoundly spiritual novels. Like Charles Williams and later, Susan Howatch, Underhill uses her narratives to explore the sacramental intersection of the physical with the spiritual. She then uses that sacramental framework very effectively to illustrate the unfolding of a human drama. Her novels are entitled The Grey World (1904), The Lost Word (1907), and The Column of Dust (1909). In her first novel, The Grey World, described by one reviewer as an extremely interesting psychological study, the hero's mystical journey begins with death, and then moves through reincarnation, beyond the grey world, and into the choice of a simple life devoted to beauty, reflecting Underhill's own serious perspective as a young woman. "It seems so much easier in these days to live morally than to live beautifully. Lots of us manage to exist for years without ever sinning against society, but we sin against loveliness every hour of the day."[3] The Lost Word and The Column of Dust are also concerned with the problem of living in two worlds and reflect the writer's own spiritual challenges. In the 1909 novel, her heroine encounters a rift in the solid stuff of her universe: She had seen, abruptly, the insecurity of those defences which protect our illusions and ward off the horrors of truth. She had found a little hole in the wall of appearances; and peeping through, had caught a glimpse of that seething pot of spiritual forces whence, now and then, a bubble rises to the surface of things. .[4]
Underhill's novels suggest that perhaps for the mystic, two worlds may be better than one. For her, mystical experience seems inseparable from some kind of enhancement of consciousness or expansion of perceptual and aesthetic horizons—to see things as they are, in their meanness and insignificance when viewed in opposition to the divine reality, but in their luminosity and grandeur when seen bathed in divine radiance. But at this stage the mystic's mind is subject to fear and insecurity, its powers undeveloped. The first novel takes us only to this point. Further stages demand suffering, because mysticism is more than merely vision or cultivating a latent potentiality of the soul in cosy isolation. According to Underhill's view, the subsequent pain and tension, and final loss of the private painful ego-centered life for the sake of regaining one's true self, has little to do with the first beatific vision. Her two later novels are built on the ideal of total self-surrender even to the apparent sacrifice of the vision itself, as necessary for the fullest possible integration of human life. This was for her the equivalent of working out within, the metaphorical intent of the life story of Jesus. One is reunited with the original vision—no longer as mere spectator but as part of it. This dimension of self-loss and resurrection is worked out in The Lost Word, but there is some doubt as to its general inevitability. In The Column of Dust, the heroine's physical death reinforces dramatically the mystical death to which she has already surrendered to. Two lives are better than one but only on the condition that a process of painful re-integration intervenes to re-establish unity between Self and Reality.[1] All her characters derive their interest from the theological meaning and value which they represent and it is her ingenious handling of so much difficult symbolic material that makes her work psychologically interesting as a forerunner of such 20th-century writers as Susan Howatch, whose successful novels also embody the psychological value of religious metaphor and the traditions of Christian mysticism. Her first novel received critical acclaim, but her last was generally derided. However, her novels give remarkable insight into what we may assume was her decision to avoid what St. Augustine described as the temptation of fuga in solitudinem ("the flight into solitude"), but instead acquiescing to a loving, positive acceptance of this world. Not looking back, by this time she was already working on her magnum opus.
Writings on religion Mysticism (1911) Underhill's greatest book, Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness, was published in 1911, and is distinguished by the very qualities which make it inappropriate as a straightforward textbook. The spirit of the book is romantic, engaged, and theoretical rather than historical or scientific. Underhill has little use for theoretical explanations and the traditional religious experience, formal classifications or analysis. She dismisses William James' pioneering study, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), and his "four marks of the mystic state" (ineffability, noetic quality, transcience, and passivity). James had admitted that his own constitution shut him off almost entirely from the enjoyment of mystical states thus his treatment was purely objective. Underhill substituted (1) mysticism is practical, not theoretical, (2) mysticism is an entirely spiritual activity, (3) The business and method of mysticism is love. (4) mysticism entails a definite psychological experience. Her insistence on the psychological approach was that it was the glamorous science of the pre-war period, offering the potential key to the secrets of
human advances in intelligence, creativity, and genius, and already psychological findings were being applied in theology (i.e., William Sanday's Christologies Ancient and Modern).[1] She divided her subject into two parts; the first, an introduction, and the second, a detailed study of the nature and development of human consciousness. In the first section, in order to free the subject of mysticism from confusion and misapprehension, she approached it from the point of view of the psychologist, the symbolist and the theologian. To separate mysticism from its most dubious connection she included a chapter on mysticism and magic. At the time, and still today, mysticism is associated with the occult, magic, secret rites, and fanaticism, while she knew the mystics throughout history to be the world's spiritual pioneers. She divided her map of "the way" into five stages: the first was the "Awakening of Self." She quotes Henry Suso (disciple of Meister Eckhart): "That which the Servitor saw had no form neither any manner of being; yet he had of it a joy such as he might have known in the seeing of shapes and substances of all joyful things. His heart was hungry, yet satisfied, his soul was full of contentment and joy: his prayers and his hopes were fulfilled." (Cropper p. 46) Underhill tells how Suso's description of how the abstract truth (related to each soul's true nature and purpose), once remembered, contains the power of fulfilment became the starting point of her own path. The second stage she presents as psychological "Purgation of Self," quoting the Theologia Germanica (14th century, anonymous) regarding the transcendence of ego (Underhill's "little self"): "We must cast all things from us and strip ourselves of them and refrain from claiming anything for our own." The third stage she titles "Illumination" and quotes William Law: "Everything in ...nature, is descended out that which is eternal, and stands as a. ..visible outbirth of it, so when we know how to separate out the grossness, death, and darkness. ..from it, we find. ..it in its eternal state." The fourth stage she describes as the "Dark Night of the Soul" (which her correspondence leads us to believe she struggled with throughout her life) where one is deprived of all that has been valuable to the lower self, and quoting Mechthild of Magdeburg: "...since Thou hast taken from me all that I had of Thee, yet of Thy grace leave me the gift which every dog has by nature: that of being true to Thee in my distress, when I am deprived of all consolation. This I desire more fervently than Thy heavenly Kingdom." And last she devotes a chapter to the unitive life, the sum of the mystic way: "When love has carried us above all things into the Divine Dark, there we are transformed by the Eternal Word Who is the image of the Father; and as the air is penetrated by the sun, thus we receive in peace the Incomprehensible Light, enfolding us, and penetrating us.' (Ruysbroech)
Where Underhill struck new ground was in her insistence that this state of union produced a glorious and fruitful creativeness, so that the mystic who attains this final perfectness is the most active doer – not the reclusive dreaming lover of God. We are all the kindred of the mystics. ..Strange and far away from us though they seem, they are not cut off from us by some impassable abyss. They belong to us; the giants, the heroes of our race. As the achievement of genius belongs not to itself only but also to the society that brought it forth;...the supernal accomplishment of the mystics is ours also. ..our guarantee of the end to which immanent love, the hidden steersman. ..is moving. ..us on the path toward the Real. They come back to us from an encounter with life's most august secret. ..filled with amazing tidings which they can hardly tell. We, longing for some assurance. ..urge them to pass on their revelation. ..the old demand of the dim-sighted and incredulous. ..But they cannot. ..only fragments of the Symbolic Vision. According to their strength and passion, these lovers of the Absolute. ..have not shrunk from the suffering. ..Beauty and agony have called. ..have awakened a heroic response. For them the winter is over. ..Life new, unquenchable and lovely comes to meet them with the dawn."(Cropper, p.47) The book ends with an extremely valuable appendix, a kind of who's who of mysticism, which shows its persistence and interconnection from century to century.
Ruysbroeck (1914) A work by Evelyn Underhill, on the 14th-century Flemish mystic Jan van Ruusbroec (12931381), entitled Ruysbroeck was published in London in 1914.[5] She had discussed him from several different perspectives during the course of her earlier book on Mysticism in 1911. I. Life. She starts with a biography, drawn mainly from two works on his life written by fellow monastics, Pomerius[6] and Gerard Naghel.[7] His childhood was spent in the village of Ruysbroeck. [page 7] At eleven he ran away to Brussels, where he began to live with his uncle, John Hinckaert, a Canon at the Cathedral of St. Gudule, and a younger Canon, Francis van Coudenberg. [10] At twenty-four he was ordained a priest and became a prebend at St. Gudule. [12] At his first mass he envisioned his mother's spirit released from Purgatory and entering Heaven. [15] From age 26 to 50 Ruysbroeck was a cathedral chaplain at St. Gudule. [15] Although he "seemed a nobody to those who did not know him," he was developing a strong spiritual life, "a penetrating intellect, a fearless heart, deep knowledge of human nature, remarkable powers of expression". [17] At one point he wrote strong pamphlets and led a campaign against a heretical group, the Brethren of the Free Spirit led by Bloemardinne, who practiced a selfindulgent "mysticality". [18–20] Later, with the two now elderly Canons, he moved into the countryside at Groenendael ("Green Valley"). [21–22] Pomerius writes that he retired not to hide his light "but that he might tend it better" [22]. Five years later their community became a Priory under the Augustinian Canons. [23] Many of his works were written during this period, often drawing lessons from nature. [24] He had a favorite tree under which he would sit and write what the 'Spirit' gave to him. [25] He solemnly affirmed that his works were composed under the "domination of an inspiring power," she writes. [26] Pomerius says that Ruysbroeck could enter a state of contemplation in which he appeared surrounded by radiant light. [26–27] Alongside his spiritual ascent, Naghel says, he cultivated the friendship of those around him, enriching their lives. [27–28]
He also worked in the garden of the priory, and sought to help out creatures of the forest. [29–30] He moved from the senses to the transcendent without frontiers or cleavage, she writes, these being for him "but two moods within the mind of God". [30] He counseled many who came to him, including Gerard Groot of the Brothers of the Common Life. [31] His advice would plumb the "purity and direction" of the seeker's will, and love. [32] There, at Groenendael he finally "leap to a more abundant life". [34] In The Sparkling Stone Ruysbroec wrote about coming to know the love "which giveth more than one can take, and asketh more than one can pay." [34] II. Works. Next, she gives a bibliography of his eleven admittedly authentic works, providing details concerning each work's origin, nature, and contents, as well as their place in his writings. 1. The Spiritual Tabernacle; 2. The Twelve Points of True Faith; 3. The Book of the Four Temptations; 4. The Book of the Kingdom of God's Lovers; 5. The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage;[8] 6. The Mirror of Eternal Salvation or Book of the Blessed Sacraments; 7. The Seven Cloisters; 8. The Seven Degrees of the Ladder of Love; 9. The Book of the Sparkling Stone; 10. The Book of the Supreme Truth; 11. The Twelve Béguines. [36-51] III. Doctrine of God. Several types of mystics are described. The first (e.g., St. Teresa) deals with personal psychological experiences and emotional reactions, leaving the nature of God to existing theology. [page 52] The second (e.g., Plotinus) has passion sprung from the vision of a philosopher; the intellect often is more active than the heart, yet like a poet such a mystic strives to sketch his vision of the Ultimate. [53] The greatest mystics (e.g., St. Augustine) embrace at once "the infinite and the intimate" so that "God is both near and far, and the paradox of transcendent-immanent Reality is a self-evident if an inexpressible truth." Such mystics "give us by turns a subjective and psychological, an objective and metaphysical, reading of spiritual experience." Here is Ruysbroeck. [53–54] An apostolic mystic [55] represents humanity in its quest to discern the Divine Reality, being like "the artist extending our universe, the pioneer cutting our path, the hunter winning food for our souls." [56] Yet, although his experience is personal, his language is often drawn from tradition, [57] but the words may "enchant rather than inform the soul" so ineffable is the nature of God. [58] Ruysbroeck goes venturing "to hover over that Abyss which is 'beyond Reason,' stammering and breaking into wild poetry in the desperate attempt to seize the unseizable truth." [55] "[T]he One is 'neither This nor That'." [61] "God as known by man" is the Absolute One who combines and resolves the contradictory natures of time and eternity, becoming and being; who is both transcendent and immanent, abstract and personal, work and rest, the unmoved mover and movement itself. God is above the storm, yet inspires the flux. [59–60] The "omnipotent and ever-active Creator" who is "perpetually breathing forth His energetic Life in new births of being and new floods of grace." [60] Yet the soul may pierce beyond this fruitful[9] nature to the simple essence of God. There we humans would find that "absolute and abiding Reality, which seems to man Eternal Rest, the 'Deep Quiet of the Godhead,' the 'Abyss,' the 'Dim Silence'; and which we can taste indeed but never know. There, 'all lovers lose themselves'." [60] The Trinity, according the Ruysbroeck, works in living distinctions, "the fruitful nature of the Persons." [61] Yet the Trinity in itself is Unity of the Three Persons, which is the Godhead. [60–61][10] Beyond and within the Trinity, or the Godhead, then, is the "fathomless Abyss" [60] that is the "Simple Being of God" that is "an Eternal Rest of God and of all created things." [61][11]
The Father is the unconditioned Origin, Strength and Power, of all things. [62] The Son is the Eternal Word and Wisdom that shines forth in the world of conditions. [62] The Holy Spirit is Love and Generosity emanating from the mutual contemplation of Father and Son. [62][12] The Three Persons "exist in an eternal distinction [emphasis added] for that world of conditions wherein the human soul is immersed". [63] By the acts of the Three Persons all created things are born; by the incarnation and crucifixion we human souls are adorned with love, and so to be drawn back to our Source. "This is the circling course of the Divine lifeprocess." [63] But beyond and above this eternal distinction lies "the superessential world, transcending all conditions, inaccessible to thought-- 'the measureless solitude of the Godhead, where God possesses Himself in joy.' This is the ultimate world of the mystic." [63–64] There, she continues, quoting Ruysbroeck: "we can speak no more of Father, Son and Holy Spirit nor of any creature; but only of one Being, which is the very substance of the Divine Persons. There were we all one before our creation; for this is our superessence... . There the Godhead is, in simple essence, without activity; Eternal Rest, Unconditioned Dark, the Nameless Being, the Superessence of all created things, and the simple and infinite Bliss of God and of all the Saints." [64][13] "The simple light of this Being... embraces the unity of the Divine Persons" as well as envelopes and irradiates the ground and fruition of human souls in the Divine lifeprocess. "And this is the union of God and the souls that love Him." [64–65][14] IV. Doctrine of Humankind. For Ruysbroeck, "God is the 'Living Pattern of Creation' who has impressed His image on each soul, and in every adult spirit the character of that image must be brought from the hiddenness and realized." [66][15] The pattern is trinitarian; there are three properties of the human soul. First, resembling the Father, "the bare, still place to which consciousness retreats in introversion... ." [67] Second, following the Son, "the power of knowing Divine things by intuitive comprehension: man's fragmentary share in the character of the Logos, or Wisdom of God." [67–68] "The third property we call the spark of the soul. It is the inward and natural tendency of the soul towards its Source; and here do we receive the Holy Spirit, the Charity of God." [68].[16] So will God work within the human being; in later spiritual development we may form with God a Union, and eventually a Unity. [70– 71][17] The mighty force of Love is the 'very self-hood of God' in this mysterious communion. [72, 73] "As we lay hold upon the Divine Life, devour and assimilate it, so in that very act the Divine Life devours us, and knits us up into the mystical Body," she writes. "It is the nature of love," says Ruysbroeck, "ever to give and to take, to love and be loved, and these two things meet in whomsoever loves. Thus the love of Christ is both avid and generous... as He devours us, so He would feed us. If He absorbs us utterly into Himself, in return He gives us His very self again." [75–76][18] "Hungry love," "generous love," "stormy love" touches the human soul with its Divine creative energy and, once we become conscious of it, evokes in us an answering storm of love. "The whole of our human growth within the spiritual order is conditioned by the quality of this response; by the will, the industry, the courage, with which [we accept our] part in the Divine give-and-take." [74] As Ruysbroeck puts it: "That measureless Love which is God Himself, dwells in the pure deeps of our spirit, like a burning brazier of coal. And it throws forth brilliant and fiery sparks which stir and enkindle heart and senses, will and desire, and all the powers of the soul, with a fire of love; a storm, a rage, a measureless fury of love. These be the weapons with which we fight against the terrible and immense Love of God, who would consume all loving spirits and swallow them
in Himself. Love arms us with its own gifts, and clarifies our reason, and commands, counsels and advises us to oppose Him, to fight against Him, and to maintain against Him our right to love, so long as we may." [74–75][19] The drama of this giving and receiving Love constitutes a single act, for God is as an "ocean which ebbs and flows" or as an "inbreathing and outbreathing". [75, 76] "Love is a unifying power, manifested in motion itself, 'an outgoing attraction, which drags us out of ourselves and calls us to be melted and naughted in the Unity'." [76][20] Next, the spiritual development of the soul is addressed. [76–88] Ruysbroeck adumbrates how one may progress from the Active life, to the Interior life, to the Superessential life; these correspond to the three natural orders of Becoming, Being, and God, or to the three rôles of the Servant, the Friend, and the "hidden child" of God. [77, 85] The Active life focuses on ethics, on conforming the self's daily life to the Will of God, and takes place in the world of the senses, "by means". [78] The Interior life embraces a vision of spiritual reality, where the self's contacts with the Divine take place "without means". [78] The Superessential life transcends the intellectual plane, whereby the self does not merely behold, but rather has fruition of the Godhead in life and in love, at work and at rest, in union and in bliss. [78, 86, 87][21] The analogy with the traditional threefold way of Purgation, Illumination, and Union, is not exact. The Interior life of Ruysbroeck contains aspects of the traditional Union also, while the Superessential life "takes the soul to heights of fruition which few amongst even the greatest unitive mystics have attained or described." [78–79] At the end of her chapter IV, she discusses "certain key-words frequent in Ruysbroeck's works," e.g., 'Fruition' [89], 'Simple' [89–90], 'Bareness' or 'Nudity' [90], and "the great pair of opposites, fundamental to his thought, called in the Flemish vernacular Wise and Onwise." [91–93][22] The Wise can be understood by the "normal man [living] within the temporal order" by use of "his ordinary mental furniture". [91] Yet regarding the Onwise he has "escaped alike from the tyrannies and comforts of the world" and made the "ascent into the Nought". [92][23] She comments, "This is the direct, unmediated world of spiritual intuition; where the self touches a Reality that has not been passed through the filters of sense and thought." [92] After a short quote from Jalālu'ddīn, she completes her chapter by presenting eighteen lines from Ruysbroeck's The Twelve Bêguines (cap. viii) which concern Contemplation: "Contemplation is a knowing that is in no wise ... Never can it sink down into the Reason, And above it can the Reason never climb. ... It is not God, But it is the Light by which we see Him. Those who walk in the Divine Light of it Discover in themselves the Unwalled. That which is in no wise, is above Reason, not without it ...
The contemplative life is without amazement. That which is in no wise sees, it knows not what; For it is above all, and is neither This nor That." [93]
V, VI, VII, VIII. In her last four chapters, Evelynn Underhill continues her discussion of Ruysbroeck, describing the Active Life [94–114], the Interior Life (Illumination and Destitution [115–135], Union and Contemplation [136-163]), and the Superessential Life [164–185].[24]
"The Mysticism of Plotinus" (1919) An essay originally published in The Quarterly Review (1919),[25] and later collected in The Essentials of Mysticism and other essays (London: J.M.Dent 1920) at pp. 116–140.[26] Underhill here addresses Plotinus (204–270) of Alexandria and later of Rome. A Neoplatonist as well as a spiritual guide, Plotinus writes regarding both formal philosophy and hands-on, personal, inner experience. Underhill makes the distinction between the geographer who draws maps of the mind, and the seeker who actually travels in the realms of spirit. [page 118] She observes that usually mystics do not follow the mere maps of metaphysicians. [page 117] In the Enneads Plotinus presents the Divine as an unequal triune, in descending order: (a) the One, perfection, having nothing, seeking nothing, needing nothing, yet it overflows creatively, the source of being; [121] (b) the emitted Nous or Spirit, with intelligence, wisdom, poetic intuition, the "Father and Companion" of the soul; [121–122] and, (c) the emitted Soul or Life, the vital essence of the world, which aspires to communion with the Spirit above, while also directly engaged with the physical world beneath. [123] People "come forth from God" and will find happiness once re-united, first with the Nous, later with the One. [125] Such might be the merely logical outcome for the metaphysician, yet Plotinus the seeker also presents this return to the Divine as a series of moral purgations and a shedding of irrational delusions, leading eventually to entry into the intuitively beautiful. [126] This intellectual and moral path toward a life aesthetic will progressively disclose an invisible source, the Nous, the forms of Beauty. [127] Love is the prevailing inspiration, although the One is impersonal. [128] The mystic will pass through stages of purification, and of enlightenment, resulting in a shift in the center of our being "from sense to soul, from soul to spirit," in preparation for an ultimate transformation of consciousness. [125, 127] Upon our arrival, we shall know ecstasy and "no longer sing out of tune, but form a divine chorus round the One." [129] St. Augustine (354–430) criticizes such Neoplatonism as neglecting the needs of struggling and imperfect human beings. The One of Plotinus may act as a magnet for the human soul, but it cannot be said to show mercy, nor to help, or love, or redeem the individual on earth. [130] Other western mystics writing on the Neoplatonists mention this lack of "mutual attraction" between humanity and the unconscious, unknowable One. [130–131] In this regard Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) would write, "Our natural will is to have God, and the good-will of God is to have us." [130]
Plotinus leaves the problem of evil unresolved, but having no place in the blissful life; here, the social, ethical side of religion seems to be shorted. His philosophy does not include qualities comparable to the Gospel's divine "transfiguration of pain" through Jesus. [131] Plotinus "the self-sufficient sage" does not teach us charity, writes St. Augustine. [132] Nonetheless, Underhill notes, Plotinus and Neoplatonism were very influential among the mystics of Christianity (and Islam). St. Augustine the Church Father was himself deeply affected by Plotinus, and through him the western Church. [133–135, 137] So, too, was Dionysius (5th century, Syria), whose writings would also prove very influential. [133, 135] As well were others, e.g., Erigena [135], Dante [136], Ruysbroeck [136, 138], Eckhart [138], and Boehme [139].
Worship (1936) In her preface,[27] the author disclaims being "a liturgical expert". Neither is it her purpose to offer criticism of the different approaches to worship as practiced by the various religious bodies. Rather she endeavors to show "the love that has gone to their adornment [and] the shelter they can offer to many different kinds of adoring souls." She begins chapter one by declaring that "Worship, in all its grades and kinds, is the response of the creature to the Eternal: nor need we limit this definition to the human sphere. ...we may think of the whole of the Universe, seen and unseen, conscious and unconscious, as an act of worship." The chapter headings give an indication of its contents. Part I: 1. The Nature of Worship, 2. Ritual and Symbol, 3. Sacrament and Sacrifice, 4. The Character of Christian Worship, 5. Principles of Corporate Worship, 6. Liturgical Elements in Worship, 7. The Holy Eucharist: Its Nature, 8. The Holy Eucharist: Its Significance, 9. The Principles of Personal Worship. Part II: 10. Jewish Worship, 11. The Beginnings of Christian Worship, 12. Catholic Worship: Western and Eastern, 13. Worship in the Reformed Churches, 14. Free Church Worship, 15. The Anglican Tradition. Conclusion.
Influences Underhill's life was greatly affected by her husband's resistance to her joining the Catholic Church to which she was powerfully drawn. At first she believed it to be only a delay in her decision, but it proved to be lifelong. He was, however, a writer himself and was supportive of her writing both before and after their marriage in 1907, though he did not share her spiritual affinities. Her fiction was written in the six years between 1903–1909 and represents her four major interests of that general period: philosophy (neoplatonism), theism/mysticism, the Roman Catholic liturgy, and human love/compassion.[28] In her earlier writings Underhill often wrote using the terms "mysticism" and "mystics" but later began to adopt the terms "spirituality" and "saints" because she felt they were less threatening. She was often criticized for believing that the mystical life should be accessible to the average person. Her fiction was also influenced by the literary creed expounded by her close friend Arthur Machen, mainly his Hieroglyphics of 1902, summarised by his biographer:
There are certain truths about the universe and its constitution – as distinct from the particular things in it that come before our observation – which cannot be grasped by human reason or expressed in precise words: but they can be apprehended by some people at least, in a semimystical experience, called ecstasy, and a work of art is great insofar as this experience is caught and expressed in it. Because, however, the truths concerned transcend a language attuned to the description of material objects, the expression can only be through hieroglyphics, and it is of such hieroglyphics that literature consists. In Underhill's case the quest for psychological realism is subordinate to larger metaphysical considerations which she shared with Arthur Machen. Incorporating the Holy Grail into their fiction (stimulated perhaps by their association with Arthur Waite and his affiliation with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), for Machen the Holy Grail was perhaps "the" hieroglyph, "the" crystallisation in one sacred emblem of all man's transcendental yearning, "the" gateway to vision and lasting appeasement of his discontents, while for her it was the center of atonement-linked meanings as she pointed out to Margaret Robinson in a letter responding to Robinson's criticism of Underhill's last novel: "Don't marvel at your own temerity in criticising. Why should you? Of course, this thing wasn't written for you – I never write for anyone at all, except in letters of direction! But, I take leave to think the doctrine contained in it is one you'll have to assimilate sooner or later and which won't do you any harm. It's not "mine" you know. You will find it all in Eckhart. ... They all know, as Richard of St Victor said, that the Fire of Love "burns." We have not fulfilled our destiny when we have sat down at a safe distance from it, purring like overfed cats, 'suffering is the ancient law of love' – and its highest pleasure into the bargain, oddly enough. ... A sponge cake and milk religion is neither true to this world nor to the next. As for the Christ being too august a word for our little hardships – I think it is truer that it is "so" august as to give our little hardships a tincture of Royalty once we try them up into it. I don't think a Pattern which was 'meek & lowly' is likely to fail of application to very humble and ordinary things. For most of us don't get a chance "but" the humble and ordinary: and He came that we might all have life more abundantly, according to our measure. There that's all![29] Two contemporary philosophical writers dominated Underhill's thinking at the time she wrote "Mysticism": Rudolf Eucken and Henri Bergson. While neither displayed an interest in mysticism, both seemed to their disciples to advance a spiritual explanation of the universe. Also, she describes the fashionable creed of the time as "vitalism" and the term adequately sums up the prevailing worship of life in all its exuberance, variety and limitless possibility which pervaded pre-war culture and society. For her, Eucken and Bergson confirmed the deepest intuitions of the mystics. (Armstrong, Evelyn Underhill) Among the mystics, Ruysbroeck was to her the most influential and satisfying of all the medieval mystics, and she found herself very much at one with him in the years when he was working as an unknown priest in Brussels, for she herself had also a hidden side. His career which covers the greater part of the fourteenth century, that golden age of Christian Mysticism, seems to exhibit within the circle of a single personality, and carry up to a higher term than ever before, all the best attainments of the Middle Ages in the realm of Eternal life. The central doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood, and of the soul's power to become the Son of God, it is this raised to the nth degree of intensity...and demonstrated with the exactitude of the mathematician, and the passion of a poet, which Ruysbroeck gives us...the
ninth and tenth chapters of The Sparkling Stone the high water mark of mystical literature. Nowhere else do we find such a combination of soaring vision with the most delicate and intimate psychological analysis. The old Mystic sitting under his tree, seems here to be gazing at and reporting to us the final secrets of that Eternal World... (Cropper, p. 57) One of her most significant influences and important collaborations was with the Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian mystic, author, and world traveler. They published a major translation of the work of Kabir (100 Poems of Kabir, calling Songs of Kabir) together in 1915, to which she wrote the introduction. He introduced her to the spiritual genius of India which she expressed enthusiastically in a letter: This is the first time I have had the privilege of being with one who is a Master in the things I care so much about but know so little of as yet: & I understand now something of what your writers mean when they insist on the necessity and value of the personal teacher and the fact that he gives something which the learner cannot get in any other way. It has been like hearing the language of which I barely know the alphabet, spoken perfectly.(Letters) They did not keep up their correspondence in later years. Both suffered debilitating illnesses in the last year of life and died in the summer of 1941, greatly distressed by the outbreak of World War II. Evelyn in 1921 was to all outward appearances, in an assured and enviable position. She had been asked by the University of Oxford to give the first of a new series of lectures on religion, and she was the first woman to have such an honour. She was an authority on her own subject of mysticism and respected for her research and scholarship. Her writing was in demand, and she had an interesting and notable set of friends, devoted readers, a happy marriage and affectionate and loyal parents. At the same time she felt that her foundations were insecure and that her zeal for Reality was resting on a basis that was too fragile. By 1939, she was a member of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, writing a number of important tracts expressing her anti-war sentiment. After returning to the Anglican Church, and perhaps overwhelmed by her knowledge of the achievements of the mystics and their perilous heights, her ten-year friendship with Catholic philosopher and writer Baron Friedrich von Hugel turned into one of spiritual direction. Charles Williams wrote in his introduction to her Letters: 'The equal swaying level of devotion and scepticism (related to the church) which is, for some souls, as much the Way as continuous simple faith is to others, was a distress to her...She wanted to be "sure." Writing to Von Hugel of the darkness she struggled with: What ought I to do?...being naturally self-indulgent and at present unfortunately professionally very prosperous and petted, nothing will get done unless I make a Rule. Neither intellectual work nor religion give me any real discipline because I have a strong attachment to both. ..it is useless advising anything people could notice or that would look pious. That is beyond me. In my lucid moments I see only too clearly that the only possible end of this road is complete, unconditional self-consecration, and for this I have not the nerve, the character or the depth. There has been some sort of mistake. My soul is too small for it and yet it is at bottom the only thing that I really want. It feels sometimes as if, whilst still a jumble of conflicting impulses and violent faults I were being pushed from behind towards an edge I dare not jump over."[30]
In a later letter of 12 July the Baron's practical concerns for signs of strain in Evelyn's spiritual state are expressed. His comments give insight into her struggles: "I do not at all like this craving for absolute certainty that this or that experience of yours, is what it seems to yourself. And I am assuredly not going to declare that I am absolutely certain of the final and evidential worth of any of those experiences. They are not articles of faith. .. You are at times tempted to scepticism and so you long to have some, if only one direct personal experience which shall be beyond the reach of all reasonable doubt. But such an escape. ..would ...possibly be a most dangerous one, and would only weaken you, or shrivel you, or puff you up. By all means...believe them, if and when they humble and yet brace you, to be probably from God. But do not build your faith upon them; do not make them an end when they exist only to be a means...I am not sure that God does want a marked preponderance of this or that work or virtue in our life – that would feed still further your natural temperament, already too vehement. (Cropper biography) Although Underhill continued to struggle to the end, craving certainty that her beatific visions were purposeful, suffering as only a pacifist can from the devastating onslaught of World War II and the Church's powerlessness to affect events, she may well have played a powerful part in the survival of her country through the influence of her words and the impact of her teachings on thousands regarding the power of prayer. Surviving the London Blitz of 1940, her health disintegrated further and she died in the following year. She is buried with her husband in the churchyard extension at St John-at-Hampstead in London.[31] More than any other person, she was responsible for introducing the forgotten authors of medieval and Catholic spirituality to a largely Protestant audience and the lives of eastern mystics to the English-speaking world. As a frequent guest on radio, her 1936 work The Spiritual Life was especially influential as transcribed from a series of broadcasts given as a sequel to those by Dom Bernard Clements on the subject of prayer. Fellow theologian Charles Williams wrote the introduction to her published Letters in 1943, which reveal much about this prodigious woman. Upon her death, The Times reported that on the subject of theology, she was "unmatched by any of the professional teachers of her day."
Veneration Since 2000 the Church of England commemorates her liturgically on 15 June. Underhill is honoured with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 15 June.
See also
Friedrich von Hügel Arthur Machen Rudolf Christoph Eucken Henri Bergson John of the Cross John of Ruysbroeck Plotinus
Anglicanism portal Saints portal
References 1. Armstrong, C.J.R., "Evelyn Underhill: An Introduction to Her Life and Writings", A.R. Mowbray & Co., 1975 Williams, Charles, editor, "The Letters of Evelyn Underhill", Longmans Green, pp. 122–23 Underhill, E., The Grey World, London: William Heinemann, 1904 Underhill, E., The Column of Dust, London: Methuen & Co., 1909 By G. Bell & Sons; since reprinted [no date, circa 2003] by Kessinger Publishing. Canon Henricus Pomerius was prior of the monastery where Ruysbroeck resided, but two generations later; he spoke with several of those who had known Ruysbroeck well [pages 5–6] and may have based his history on the work of a contemporary of Ruysbroek. Gerard Naghel was a contemporary and a close friend of Ruysbroeck, as well as being the neighboring prior; he wrote a shorter work about his life [6]. Also known as The Spiritual Espousals (e.g., Wiseman's translation in his John Ruusbroec (Paulist Press 1985), it is "the best known" of Ruysbroeck's works. [42]. "Fruition is one of the master-words of Ruysbroeck's thought," she observes. [page 59] Later she more fully discusses it, at [89]. Here, she comments, Ruysbroeck parallels the Hindu mystics, the Christian Neoplatonists, and Meister Eckhart. [61] She quotes from The Twelve Béguines at cap. xiv. "[F]or these two Persons are always hungry for love," she adds, quoting The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii at cap. xxxvii. She gives her source as The Seven Degrees of Love at cap. xiv. She quotes from The Kingdom of God's Lovers at cap. xxix. Evelyn Underhill here refers to Julian of Norwich and quotes her phrase on the human soul being "made Trinity, like to the unmade Blessed Trinity." Then our author makes the comparison of Ruysbroeck's uncreated Pattern of humankind to an archetype, and to a Platonic Idea. [68]. Here she quotes The Mirror of Eternal Salvation at cap. viii. Cf., [70].
She quotes Ruysbroeck, The Book of Truth at cap. xi, "[T]his union is in God, through grace and our homeward-tending love. Yet even here does the creature feel a distinction and otherness between itself and God in its inward ground." [71]. Quoting The Mirror of Eternal Salvation at cap. vii. She refers here to St. Francis of Assisi. She again quotes from The Mirror of Eternal Salvation at cap. xvii. Ruysbroeck, The Sparkling Stone at cap. x. Re the Superessential life, citing The Twelve Béguines at cap. xiii [86]; and, The Seven Degrees of Love at cap. xiv [87]. These opposites are variously translated into English, Underhill sometimes favoring "in some wise" and "in no wise" or "conditioned' and "unconditioned" or "somehow" and "nohow". The second opposite Onwise she gives it translated as no wise [93]. Cf., "Superessential" [85 & 86-87; 9091]. Ruysbroeck, The Twelve Bêguines at cap. xii. As mentioned, Underhill earlier addressed how Ruysbroeck distinguishes the Active, Interior, and Superessential at pages 76-88 in her book. QR (1919) at 479–497. Recently offprinted by Kessinger Publishing as The Mysticism of Plotinus (2005), 48 pages. Evelyn Underhill, Worship (New York: Harper and Brothers 1936; reprint Harper Torchbook 1957) pp. vii-x. name="Armstrong, C.J.R." Armstrong, C.J.R., Evelyn Underhill: An Introduction to her Life and Writings, pp. 86–87, A.R. Mowbray & Co., 1975 Cropper, Margaret, Life of Evelyn Underhill, Harper & Brothers, 1958 31. Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22871 (last accessed 12 July 2009)
Publications Poetry
The Bar-Lamb's Ballad Book (1902). Online Immanence (1916). Online Theophanies (1916). Online
Novels
The Grey World (1904). Reprint Kessinger Publishing, 1942: ISBN 0-7661-0158-4. Online The Lost Word (1907). The Column of Dust (1909). Online
Religion (non-fiction)
The Miracles of Our Lady Saint Mary: Brought Out of Divers Tongues and Newly Set Forth in English (1906) Online Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness (1911). Twelfth edition published by E.P. Dutton in 1930. Republished by Dover Publications in 2002 (ISBN 978-0-486-42238-1). See also online editions at Christian Classics Ethereal Library and at Wikisource. The Path of Eternal Wisdom. A mystical commentary on the Way of the Cross (1912). "Introduction" to her edition of the anonymous The Cloud of Unknowing (c. 1370) from British Museum manuscript [here entitled A Book of Contemplation the which is called the Cloud of Unknowing, in the which a Soul is oned with God] (London: John M. Walkins 1912); reprinted as Cloud of Unknowing (1998) [her "Introduction" at 5–37]; 2007: ISBN 1-60506228-6; see her text at Google books. The Spiral Way. Being a meditation on the fifteen mysteries of the soul's ascent (1912). The Mystic Way. A psychological study of Christian origins (1914). Online Practical Mysticism. A Little Book for Normal People (1914); reprint 1942 (ISBN 0-7661-0141X); reprinted by Vintage Books, New York 2003 [with Abba (1940)]: ISBN 0-375-72570-9; see text at Wikisource. Ruysbroeck (London: Bell 1915). Online "Introduction" to Songs of Kabir (1915) transl. by Rabindranath Tagore; reprint 1977 Samuel Weiser (ISBN 0-87728-271-4), text at 5–43. The Essentials of Mysticism and other essays (1920); reprint 1999 (ISBN 1-85168-195-7).[1] The Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today (1920). Online The Mystics of the Church (1925). Concerning the Inner Life (1927); reprint 1999 (ISBN 1-85168-194-9). Online Man and the Supernatural. A study in theism (1927). The House of the Soul (1929). The Light of Christ (1932). The Golden Sequence. A fourfold study of the spiritual life (1933). The School of Charity. Meditations on the Christian Creed (1934); reprinted by Longmans, London 1954 [with M.of S. (1938)]. Worship (1936). The Spiritual Life (1936); reprint 1999 (ISBN 1-85168-197-3); see also online edition. The Mystery of Sacrifice. A study on the liturgy (1938); reprinted by Longmans, London 1954 [with S.of C. (1934)]. Abba. A meditation on the Lord's Prayer (1940); reprint 2003 [with Practical Mysticism (1914)]. The Letters of Evelyn Underhill (1943), as edited by Charles Williams; reprint Christian Classics 1989: ISBN 0-87061-172-0. Shrines and Cities of France and Italy (1949), as edited by Lucy Menzies. Fragments from an inner life. Notebooks of Evelyn Underhill (1993), as edited by Dana Greene. The Mysticism of Plotinus (2005) Kessinger offprint, 48 pages. Taken from The Essentials of Mysticism (1920).
Anthologies
Fruits of the Spirit (1942) edited by R. L. Roberts; reprint 1982, ISBN 0-8192-1314-4 Collected Papers of Evelyn Underhill (1946) edited by L. Menzies and introduced by L. Barkway. Lent with Evelyn Underhill (1964) edited by G. P. Mellick Belshaw. An Anthology of the Love of God. From the writings of Evelyn Underhill (1976) edited by L. Barkway and L. Menzies. The Ways of the Spirit (1990) edited by G. A. Brame; reprint 1993, ISBN 0-8245-1232-4 Evelyn Underhill. Modern guide to the ancient quest for the Holy (1988) edited and introduced by D. Greene. Evelyn Underhill. Essential writings (2003) edited by E. Griffin. Radiance: A Spiritual Memoir (2004) edited by Bernard Bangley, ISBN 1-55725-355-2
Studies and commentaries
Margaret Cropper, The Life of Evelyn Underhill (New York 1958). Christopher J. R. Armstrong, Evelyn Underhil (1875–1941). An introduction to her life and writings (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1976). Michael Ramsey and A. M. Allchin, Evelyn Underhill. Two centenary essays (Oxford 1977). Annice Callahan, Evelyn Underhill: Spirituality for daily living (University Press of America 1997). Dana Greene, Evelyn Underhill. Artist of the infinite life (University of Notre Dame 1998).
François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (French: [də la mɔt fenəlɔ]̃ ), more commonly known as François Fénelon (6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715), was a French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer. He today is remembered mostly as the author of The Adventures of Telemachus, first published in 1699.
“True prayer is only another name for the love of God. Its excellence does not consist in the multitude of our words; for our Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him. The true prayer is that of the heart, and the heart prays only for what it desires. To pray, then is to desire -- but to desire what God would have us desire. He who asks what he does not from the bottom of his heart desire, is mistaken in thinking that he prays." — François Fénelon (Spiritual Progress) "Little faults become great, and even monstrous in our eyes, in proportion as the pure light of God increases in us; just as the sun in rising, reveals the true dimensions of objects which were dimly and
confusedly discovered during the night." — François Fénelon (Spiritual Progress) "Silence promotes the presence of God, prevents many harsh and proud words, and suppresses many dangers in the way of ridiculing or harshly judging our neighbors ... If you are faithful in keeping silence when it is not necessary to speak, God will preserve you from evil when it is right for you to talk." — François Fénelon "Nothing will make us so charitable and tender to the faults of others as by self-examination thoroughly to know our own." — François Fénelon Discouragement is simply the despair of wounded self-love." — François Fénelon
Childhood and education, 1651–75 Fénelon was born on 6 August 1651 at the Château de Fénelon, in Sainte-Mondane, Périgord, Aquitaine, in the Dordogne river valley, the second of the three children of Pons de Salignac, Comte de La Mothe-Fénelon by his wife Louise de La Cropte. Reduced to the status of "impecunious old nobility"[1] by François' time, the La Mothe-Fénelons had produced leaders in both Church and state. His uncle Antoine currently served as bishop of nearby Sarlat, a see in which fifteen generations of the Fénelon family had filled the episcopal chair. "In fact, so many members of the family occupied the position that it had begun to be considered as practically a familial apanage to which the Salignac-Fénelon had a right as seigneurs of the locality" [2] Fénelon's early education was provided in the Château de Fénelon by private tutors, who gave him a thorough grounding in the language and literature of the Greek and Latin classics. In 1663, at age 12, he was sent to the University of Cahors, where he studied rhetoric and philosophy under the influence of the Jesuit ratio studiorum. When the young man expressed interest in a career in the church, his uncle, the Marquis Antoine de Fénelon (a friend of JeanJacques Olier and Vincent de Paul) arranged for him to study at the Collège du Plessis in Paris, whose theology students followed the same curriculum as the theology students at the Sorbonne. While there, he became friends with Antoine de Noailles, who later became a cardinal and the Archbishop of Paris. Fénelon demonstrated so much talent at the Collège du Plessis that at age 15, he was asked to give a public sermon. About 1672 (i.e. around the time he was 21 years old), Fénelon's uncle managed to get him enrolled in the Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice, the Sulpician seminary in Paris.
Early years as a priest, 1675–85 In about 1675, (when he would have been 24), Fénelon was ordained as a priest. He initially dreamed of becoming a missionary to the East, but instead, and at the instigation of friends including Bossuet, he preached in Sulpician parishes and performed routine pastoral work as his reputation for eloquence began to grow.
In early 1679, François Harlay de Champvallon, Archbishop of Paris, selected Fénelon as director of Nouvelles-Catholiques, a community in Paris for young Huguenot girls, who had been removed from their families and were about to join the Church of Rome [3]
Missionary to the Huguenots, 1686–87 During this period, Fénelon had become friends with his future rival Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet. When Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685, the Church began a campaign to send the greatest orators in the country into the regions of France with the highest concentration of Huguenots to persuade them of the errors of Protestantism. Upon Bossuet's suggestion, Fénelon was included in this group, alongside such oratorical greats as Louis Bourdaloue and Esprit Fléchier. He consequently spent the next three years in the Saintonge region of France preaching to Protestants. He persuaded the king to remove troops from the region and tried to avoid outright displays of religious oppression, though, in the end, he was willing to resort to force to make Protestants listen to his message. He believed that "to be obliged to do good is always an advantage and that heretics and schismatics, when forced to apply their minds to the consideration of truth, eventually lay aside their erroneous beliefs, whereas they would never have examined these matters had not authority constrained them."
Important friends, 1687–89 During this period, Fénelon assisted Bossuet during his lectures on the Bible at Versailles. It was probably at Bossuet's urging that he now composed his Réfutation du système de Malebranche sur la nature et sur la grâce, a work in which he attacked Nicolas Malebranche's views on optimism, the creation, and the Incarnation. This work was not published until 1820, long after Fénelon's death Fénelon also became friendly with the Duc de Beauvilliers and the Duc de Chevreuse, who were married to the daughters of Louis XIV's minister of finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert. The Duchesse de Beauvilliers, who was the mother of eight daughters, asked Fénelon his advice on raising children; as a result, he wrote his Traité de l'education des filles. This work is often seen as being somewhat ahead of its time, as it insists that girls should receive a thorough education, particularly in theological matters, so that they will be able to recognize and refute heresies. He also wrote a Treatise on the Existence of God. In 1688, Fénelon first met Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, usually known simply as "Mme Guyon" or simply Madame Guyon. At that time, she was being well received in the social circle of the Beauvilliers and Chevreuses. Fénelon and Guyon were cousins; Fénelon was deeply impressed by her piety and actively discipled her. He would later become a devotee and defended her brand of Quietism.[4]
Royal tutor, 1689–97
Fenelon and the Duke of Burgundy by Neuville
In 1689, Louis XIV named Fénelon's friend the Duc de Beauvilliers as governor of the royal grandchildren. Upon Beauvilliers' recommendation, Fénelon was named the tutor of the Dauphin's eldest son, the 7-year-old Duke of Burgundy, who was second in line for the throne. As tutor, Fénelon was charged with guiding the character formation of a future King of France. He wrote several important works specifically to guide his young charge. These include his Fables and his Dialogues des Morts. But by far the most lasting of his works that Fénelon composed for the duke was his Les Aventures de Télémaque [The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses], written in 1693– 94. On its surface, The Adventures of Telemachus was a novel about Ulysses' son Telemachus. On another level, it became a biting attack on the divine right absolute monarchy which was the dominant ideology of Louis XIV's France. In sharp contrast to Bossuet, who, when tutor to the Dauphin, had written Politique tirée de l'Écriture sainte which affirmed the divine foundations of absolute monarchy while also exhorting the future king to use restraint and wisdom in exercising his absolute power, Fénelon went so far as to write "Good kings are rare and the generality of monarchs bad".[5] French literary historian Jean-Claude Bonnet calls Télémaque "the true key to the museum of the eighteenth century imagination." [6] One of the most popular works of the century, it became an immediate best seller both in France and abroad, going through many editions and translated into every European language and even Latin verse (first in Berlin in 1743, then in Paris by Étienne Viel [1737-87]). It inspired numerous imitations, such as the Abbé Jean Terrasson's novel Sethos (1731), which in turn inspired Mozart's Magic Flute. It also more directly supplied the plot for Mozart's opera, Idomeneo (1781).
Most believed Fénelon's tutorship resulted in a dramatic improvement in the young duke's behaviour. Even the memoirist Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, who generally disliked Fénelon, admitted that when Fénelon became tutor, the duke was a spoiled, violent child; when Fénelon left him, the duke had learned the lessons of self-control as well as been thoroughly impressed with a sense of his future duties. Telemachus is therefore widely seen as the most thorough exposition of the brand of reformism in the Beauvilliers-Chevreuse circle, which hoped that following Louis XIV's death, his brand of autocracy could be replaced by a monarchy less centralized and less absolute, and with a greater role for aristocrats such as Beauvilliers and Chevreuse. In 1693, Fénelon was elected to Seat 34 of the Académie française. In 1694, the king named Fénelon Abbot of Saint-Valéry, a lucrative post worth 14,000 livres a year. The early- to mid-1690s are significant since it was during this period that Mme de Maintenon (quasi-morganatic wife of Louis XIV since roughly 1684) began to regularly consult Fénelon on matters of conscience. Also, since Fénelon had a reputation as an expert on educating girls, she sought his advice on the house of Saint-Cyr which she was founding for girls. In February 1696, the king nominated Fénelon to become the Archbishop of Cambrai while at the same time asking him to remain in his position as tutor to the duke of Burgundy. Fénelon accepted, and he was consecrated by his old friend Bossuet in August.
Quietist controversy, 1697–99 As already noted, Fénelon had met Mme Guyon in 1688 and became an admirer of her work. In 1697, following a visit by Mme Guyon to Mme de Maintenon's school at Saint-Cyr, Paul Godet des Marais, Bishop of Chartres (Saint-Cyr was located within his diocese) expressed concerns about Mme Guyon's orthodoxy to Mme de Maintenon. The bishop noted that Mme Guyon's opinions bore striking similarities to Miguel de Molinos' Quietism, which Pope Innocent XI condemned in 1687. Mme de Maintenon responded by requesting an ecclesiastical commission to exam Mme Guyon's orthodoxy: the commission consisted of two of Fénelon's old friends, Bossuet and de Noailles, as well as the head of the Sulpician order of which Fénelon was a member. The commission sat at Issy and, after six months of deliberations, delivered its opinion in the Articles d'Issy, 34 articles which briefly condemned certain of Mme Guyon's opinions, as well as set forth a brief exposition of the Catholic view of prayer. Both Fénelon and the Bishop of Chartres signed the articles, as did all three commission members. Mme Guyon immediately submitted to the decision. At Issy, the commission asked Bossuet to follow up the Articles with an exposition. Bossuet thus proceeded to write Instructions sur les états d'oraison, which he submitted to the commission members, as well as to the Bishop of Chartres and Fénelon, requesting their signatures before its publication. Fénelon refused to sign, arguing that Mme Guyon had already admitted her mistakes and there was no point in further condemning her. Furthermore, Fénelon disagreed with Bossuet's interpretation of the Articles d'Issy, as he wrote in Explication des Maximes des Saints (a work often regarded as his masterpiece -
English: Maxims of the Saints). Fénelon interpreted the Articles d'Issy in a way much more sympathetic to the Quietist viewpoint than Bossuet proposed. Louis XIV responded to the controversy by chastizing Bossuet for not warning him earlier of Fénelon's opinions and ordered Bossuet, de Noailles, and the Bishop of Chartres to respond to the Maximes des Saints. Shocked that his grandson's tutors held such views, the king removed Fénelon from his post as royal tutor and ordered Fénelon to remain within the boundaries of the archdiocese of Cambrai. This unleashed two years of pamphlet warfare as the two sides traded opinions. On 12 March 1699, the Inquisition formally condemned the Maximes des Saints, with Pope Innocent XII listing 23 specific propositions as unorthodox. Fénelon immediately declared that he submitted to the pope's authority and set aside his own opinion. With this, the Quietist matter was dropped. However, that same year, The Adventures of Telemachus was published. This book also enraged Louis XIV, for it appeared to question his regime's very foundations. Thus, even after Fénelon abjured his Quietist views, the king refused to revoke his order forbidding Fénelon from leaving his archdiocese.
Later years As Archbishop of Cambrai, Fénelon spent most of his time in the archiepiscopal palace, but also spent several months of each year to visiting churches and other institutions within his archdiocese. He preached in his cathedral on festival days, and took an especial interest in seminary training and in examining candidates for the priesthood prior to their ordination. During the War of the Spanish Succession, Spanish troops encamped in his archdiocese (an area France had only recently captured from Spain), but they never interfered with the exercise of his archiepiscopal duties. Warfare, however, produced refugees, and Fénelon opened his palace to refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict. For Fénelon all wars were civil wars. Humanity was a single society and all wars within it the greatest evil, for he argued that one's obligation to mankind as a whole was always greater than what was owed to one's particular country.[7] During these latter years, Fénelon wrote a series of anti-Jansenist works. The impetus was the publication of the Cas de Conscience, which revived the old Jansenist distinction between questions of law and questions of fact, and argued that though the church had the right to condemn certain opinions as heretical, it did not have the right to oblige one to believe that these opinions were actually contained in Cornelius Jansen's Augustinus. The treatises, sermons, and pastoral letters Fénelon wrote in response occupy seven volumes in his collected works. Fénelon particularly condemned Pasquier Quesnel's Réflexions morales sur le Nouveau Testament. His writings contributed to the tide of scholarly opinion which led to Pope Clement XI's 1713 bull Unigenitus, condemning Quesnel's opinions.
Although confined to the Cambrai archdiocese in his later years, Fénelon continued to act as a spiritual director for Mme de Maintenon, as well as the ducs de de Chevreuse and de Beauvilliers, the duke of Burgundy, and other prominent individuals. Fénelon's later years were blighted by the deaths of many of his close friends. Shortly before his death, he asked Louis XIV to replace him with a man opposed to Jansenism and loyal to the Sulpician order. He died on 7 January 1715.
Fénelon as reformer and defender of human rights Paul Hazard remarks on the bitterness of the questions Fénelon has his fictional hero Telemachus put to Idomeneus, King of Salente: "those same questions, in the same sorrowing tone, Fénelon puts to to his pupil, the Duc de Bourgogne, against the day, when he will have to take over the royal power: Do you understand the constitution of kingship? Have you acquainted yourself with the moral obligations of Kings? Have you sought means of bringing comfort to the people? The evils that are engendered by absolute power, by incompetent administration, by war, how will you shield your subjects from them? And when in 1711, the same Duc de Bourgogne became Dauphin of France, it was a whole string of reforms that Fénelon submitted to him in preparation for his accession".[8] Finally, to complete the credit items of Fénelon's account, we must put his defense of Human Rights. Thus he speaks: A people is no less a member of the human race, which is society as a whole, than a family is a member of a particular nation. Each individual owes incomparably more to the human race, which is the great fatherland, than to the particular country in which he was born. As a family is to the nation, so is the nation to the universal commonweal; wherefore it is infinitely more harmful for nation to wrong nation, than for family to wrong family. To abandon the sentiment of humanity is not merely to renounce civilization and to relapse into barbarism, it is to share in the blindness of the most brutish brigands and savages; it is to be a man no longer, but a cannibal."[9]
Works
The Adventures of Telemachus Treatise on the Education of Daughters Dialogues of the dead Lives of the ancient philosophers Christian Perfection The Existence of God Let Go The Royal Way of the Cross Maxims of the Mystics'' The Inner Life
See also Poetry portal
Human rights Christian mysticism
References 1. Louis Cognet, "Fénelon," Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, 5:151. Ed. M. Viller et al. Paris: Beauchesne, 1964. Chad Helms, ed. and tr., Fénelon: Selected Writings. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York and Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2006, p. 6f. Cardinal de Bausset, Histoire de Fenelon, Archevêque de Cambrai, 3rd ed., I, pp. 45f. (Versailles: Lebel, 1817). Letters from Baron Van Hugel to a Niece, edited with an introduction by Gwendolen Greene— first published in 1928, p. 110
[citation needed]
La Naissance du Pantheon: Essai sur le culte des grands homes (Paris Fayard, 1998). Sylvana Tomaselli, "The spirit of nations," in Mark Goldie and Robert Wokler, eds., The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 9–39. Quote on p. 11. Paul Hazard, The European Mind, 1680-1715, translated by J. Lewis May (Cleveland Ohio: Meridian Books [1935] [1963], 1967) pp. 282. Fénelon, Dialogue des Morts, "Socrate et Alcibiade" (1718), quoted in Paul Hazard, The European Mind, 1680-1715 (1967), pp. 282–83.
Frederick William Bourne (1830–1905) was an English preacher and author.
He was born at Woodchurch Kent and joined the Bible Christian Movement as a preacher. In 1866, he became the editor of the Bible Christian Magazine and led the Bible Christian movement for many years. He wrote several books under the title "F. W. Bourne". One; The King's Son, a memoir of Billy Bray was reprinted over fifty times. He married Mary Horswell in 1859 and had five children before her death in 1873. He later remarried in 1876 to Adelaide Chalcraft. He died in 1905 and is buried at Lake Chapel in Shebbear, Devon. (Except from biography of F.W. Bourne Volume 1, pages 3 – 10) At the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth century there entered upon his probation, as a minister of the Bible Christian Connexion, a young man who was destined to play a part probably unexcelled by any other person, not excluding the direct founders of the denomination; for whilst to ori-ginate implies in many instances genius, insight, and a gift of organization, the ability to con-solidate, to guide, to lay down and work upon principles adapted to the particular environment in which they are to operate, is equally essential. And it may be expedient to repeat here the fact that the Bible Christian Connexion, unlike some other of the minor Methodist bodies, is not a "split," a separated branch from the great
Wesleyan body. As related to the Mother Church of Methodism, it is not a "schismatic" section of that - communion, since, apart from one or two persons in the early part of its history, it had no vital association with Wesleyan Methodism. It is not, therefore, historically, a "separated branch," cut off by wilful persons because of disagreement on doctrinal, ecclesiastical, or political questions. It is essentially a growth, an evolution of religious and spiritual life resident in the souls of a few men and women to whom had been given the blest vision of God, and who were bent on telling to others the glory of that which they saw. To the growth of this small but vigorous communion the Rev. Frederick William Bourne, during a period extending over fifty years, rendered incomparable service. Born in the beautiful but isolated village of Woodchurch, Kent, on July 25th, 1830, early in life he was initiated into the "mysteries of the Kingdom of God." In-heriting strong religious instincts, and possessing native mental powers which few, if any, of his predecessors in the Bible Christian ministry sur-passed, the deep spiritual impressions received when young culminated in his decision for Christ ere he had passed beyond the period which fre-quently proves so critical to young people. When only twenty years of age he was accepted as a probationer for the Bible Christian ministry, - a ministry which, at that period, received the scan-tiest remuneration for heroic services rendered, married preachers receiving as salary the sum of £40, and single men something like £10 per year. The inducements to enter the ministry at that period were frugal meals, poor dwellings, long journeys on country roads by day and by night, and the privilege of preaching several sermons a week to scattered populations in rural districts, returning home late in the week. Those were heroic days, fraught with wonderful benediction to preachers and people, the spiritual influences then created being felt by the denomination to the present hour. "One soweth, and another reapeth." When in reminiscent mood, Mr. Bourne indulged in the pleasant exercise of relating to his younger brethren in the ministry some amusing stories concerning himself and the first few circuits in which he laboured. Being in early life somewhat thin and pale, and practically destitute of personal adornment and attraction, when entering upon his work in one important circuit he met with a somewhat peculiar reception. Certain persons, gifted evidently with more than ordinary aesthetic perception, said when the the young preacher appeared, "that if the Conference could not send them a man, they might have sent them something to look at." Strange and varied impressions were made upon the minds of some of the leaders in the denomination and in the circuits by the young preacher. Some were exceedingly dubious as to his loyalty to the Connexion, and were sufficiently sceptical as to his faithful adherence to the church of his choice, that they ventured upon the dan-gerous ground of prophecy, and predicted that after the young man had been a minister in the denomination a few years he would certainly leave it, and that he might as well take his departure at once. The groundlessness of such a prophecy is evident to all who had the slightest acquaintance with. Mr. Bourne; and knowing, as some do, the Powerful inducements held out to him in later years to forsake his high and noble calling, it seems somewhat strange that such impressions respecting his fidelity and loyalty should have been possible. It is not too much to affirm that a more devoted, loyal, and faithful minister the denomination never produced, and again and again did he emphasize the necessity of devotion and loyalty on the part of his younger brethren, if the Connexion was to maintain its position and fulfil its function in the world. Himself gifted with those admirable qualities which combine to make up what is conveniently termed "individuality," he heeded not, however, the suspicions of his
brethren, but marked out and proceeded on his own course, following those spiritual instincts and aptitudes which differentiated him from so many of his predecessors and contemporaries.
Mr. Bourne's first appointment was in the Chatham Circuit, which covered many miles of the hop county. Here he remained two years, proceeding thence to the Devonport Circuit, which at that period included Plymouth. After spending four successful years in this Metropolis of the West, he received an appointment to the Swansea and Aberavon Circuit, returning, after an interval of a few years' service at Newport (Mon.), to the Devonport Circuit for a second term. Here he remained seven years at that time in Connexional history, when the itinerant system was more rigid than in later years - a rather prolonged pastorate. He enriched the spiritual life of his people by earnest and faithful preaching of the verities of the Gospel, and added to his own mental and religious life by prayerful reading and study. So effective at this period was his ministry, so rich was it in those intellectual and spiritual qualities which gave him such a commanding position in the Connexion, that there remain at Devonport a few who remember his service with affection and gratitude.
His intellectual force, strength of personality, and power for service shown in the various cir-cuits in which he laboured, soon brought him into prominence, so that comparatively early in his ministerial career he became an object of ad-miration and affection to his brethren. As far as the writer's knowledge goes, few ministers during the last forty or fifty years have been honoured with the Presidency of the Conference within a period of twenty years after entrance upon the active work of the ministry. This honour was conferred upon Mr Bourne at St. Austell in 1867 seventeen years from the commencement of his ministry as a probationer. This was significant of much a testimony to recognised worth, and a prophecy of greater things. To be made President after seventeen years' service, and when only thirty-seven years of age, is an honour which few men win, and is sufficient proof of Mr. Bourne's versatile gifts, and the strength and beneficence of his influence. At the Exeter Conference, in 1875, he was appointed to fill the chair a second time, whilst at the Plymouth Conference, in 1891, the esteem and reverence for him experienced by his brethren and the lay representatives prompted them to honour him with the Presidency for the third time. Other brethren since 1850 have twice filled the chair, but the experience of Mr. Bourne, in being President of Conference three times within a period of twenty-five years, is altogether unique. In the early history of the Connexion, when its ramifications were not so wide, nor its financial and other responsibilities so weighty, the same person frequently presided over the deliberations of the Conference. The activities of Mr. Bourne were distributed over a wide area, and embraced many departments of ministerial service. He was elected assistant -editor of the Connexional Magazine in 1861, editor--in-chief in 1866, and editor and book steward combined in 1869. In this two-fold office he con-tinued until 1888, when he resigned the post of book steward, but continued the work of editor. In this capacity he rendered fruitful service, both to the denomination and to the general public interested in its beneficent work. Numerous ar-ticles on manifold subjects were contributed to its pages by himself, and a high standard was ever maintained. If there has been a defect in the composition of the Magazine, its flavour has been a little too literary, and it has not provided those popular elements which seem so essential to win public favour and ensure financial
success. As this was conceded by the late editor when this criticism was offered a few years prior to his retirement.
In 1866 he became the Connexional Treasurer, and continued to hold the position until failing health compelled him, in 1901, to surrender a portion of his task. An assistant was appointed, who has now practically assumed the whole re-sponsibility. In 1881 Mr. Bourne visited the churches in South Australia, Victoria, and Queens-land, returning home via New Zealand, the United States, and Canada. During this tour he came into contact with many friends from the homeland, fellowship with whom was an inspiration, and a source of spiritual delight. He was a member of the three Methodist Ecumenical Conferences, held respectively in England in 1881, in America in 1891, and in City-road Chapel, London, in 1901. At each of these Conferences he entered into the proceedings with earnestness and zest, always sharing in the discussions.
Bibliography
The Kings Son - a memoir of Billy Bray Bible Christian Book Room, 1872 The Centenary Life of James Thorne of Shebbear. The Bible Christians: Their Origin and History.
George Fox (September 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war. He rebelled against the religious and political authorities by proposing an unusual and uncompromising approach to the Christian faith. He travelled throughout Britain as a dissenting preacher, for which he was often persecuted by the authorities who disapproved of his beliefs. Fox married Margaret Fell, the widow of one of his wealthier supporters; she was a leading Friend. His ministry expanded and he undertook tours of North America and the Low Countries. Between these tours, he was imprisoned for more than a year. He spent the final decade of his life working in London to organize the expanding Quaker movement. While his movement attracted disdain from some, others such as William Penn and Oliver Cromwell viewed Fox with respect.
“And dwell in that which is pure of God in you, for fear that your thoughts get forth, and then evil thoughts get up, and surmising one against another, which arises out of the veiled mind, which darkens the pure discerning. But as you dwell in that which is of God, it guides you up out of the elementary life, and out of the mortal into the immortal, which is hidden from all the fleshly ones, where is peace and joy eternal to all who can witness the new birth.” ~ George Fox, 1624-1691 “Sing and rejoice, you children of the day and of the light; for the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that may be felt. And truth flourishes as the rose, and the lilies do grow among the thorns, and the plants atop of the hills, and upon them the lambs do skip and play. And never heed the tempests nor the storms, floods nor rains, for the seed Christ is over all, and reigns.” ~ George Fox, 1624-1691
Early life
Memorial to Fox's birthplace, situated on George Fox Lane in Fenny Drayton, England
George Fox was born in the strongly puritan village of Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire, England (now known as Fenny Drayton), 15 miles (24 km) west-south-west of Leicester. He was the eldest of four children of Christopher Fox, a successful weaver, called "Righteous Christer"[2] by his neighbours, and his wife, Mary née Lago. Christopher Fox was a churchwarden and was relatively wealthy; when he died in the late 1650s he left his son a substantial legacy.[3] From childhood Fox was of a serious, religious disposition. There is no record of any formal schooling but he learned to read and write. "When I came to eleven years of age", he said, "I knew pureness and righteousness; for, while I was a child, I was taught how to walk to be kept pure. The Lord taught me to be faithful, in all things, and to act faithfully two ways; viz., inwardly to God, and outwardly to man."[4] Known as an honest person, he also proclaimed, "The Lord taught me to be faithful in all things...and to keep to Yea and Nay in all things." [5] As he grew up, his relatives "thought to have made me a priest" but he was instead apprenticed to a local shoemaker and grazier, George Gee of Mancetter.[6] This suited his contemplative temperament and he became well known for his diligence among the wool traders who had dealings with his master. A constant obsession for Fox was the pursuit of "simplicity" in life, meaning humility and the abandonment of luxury, and the short time he spent as a shepherd was important to the formation of this view. Toward the end of his life he wrote a letter for general circulation pointing out that Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David were all keepers of sheep or cattle and therefore that a learned education should not be seen as a necessary qualification for ministry.[7] George Fox knew people who were "professors" (followers of the standard religion), but by the age of 19 he had begun to look down on their behaviour, in particular drinking alcohol. He records that, in prayer one night after leaving two acquaintances at a drinking session, he heard an inner voice saying, "Thou seest how young people go together into vanity, and old people into the earth; thou must forsake all, young and old, keep out of all, and be as a stranger unto all."[8]
First travels Driven by his "inner voice", Fox left Drayton-in-the-Clay in September 1643, moving toward London in a state of mental torment and confusion. The English Civil War had begun and troops were stationed in many towns through which he passed.[3] In Barnet, he was torn by depression (perhaps from the temptations of the resort town near London). He alternately shut himself in his room for days at a time or went out alone into the countryside. After almost a
year he returned to Drayton, where he engaged Nathaniel Stephens, the clergyman of his hometown, in long discussions on religious matters.[9] Stephens considered Fox a gifted young man but the two disagreed on so many issues that he later called Fox mad and spoke against him.[10] Over the next few years Fox continued to travel around the country as his particular religious beliefs took shape. At times he actively sought the company of clergy but found no comfort from them as they seemed unable to help with the matters troubling him. One, in Warwickshire, advised him to take tobacco (which Fox disliked) and sing psalms; another, in Coventry, lost his temper when Fox accidentally stood on a flower in his garden; a third suggested bloodletting.[11] He became fascinated by the Bible, which he studied assiduously.[12] He hoped to find among the "English Dissenters" a spiritual understanding absent from the established church but fell out with one group, for example, because he maintained that women had souls:[13] as I had forsaken the priests, so I left the separate preachers also, and those esteemed the most experienced people; for I saw there was none among them all that could speak to my condition. And when all my hopes in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could tell what to do, then, oh, then, I heard a voice which said, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition"; and when I heard it my heart did leap for joy. Then the Lord let me see why there was none upon the earth that could speak to my condition, namely, that I might give Him all the glory; for all are concluded under sin, and shut up in unbelief as I had been, that Jesus Christ might have the preeminence who enlightens, and gives grace, and faith, and power. Thus when God doth work, who shall let (i.e. prevent) it? And this I knew experimentally.[14][15]
A Quaker woman preaches at a meeting in London
He thought intensely about the Temptation of Christ, which he compared to his own spiritual condition, but drew strength from his conviction that God would support and preserve him.[16] In prayer and meditation he came to a greater understanding of the nature of his faith and what it required from him; this process he called "opening". He also came to what he deemed a deep inner understanding of standard Christian beliefs. Among his ideas were:
Rituals can be safely ignored, as long as one experiences a true spiritual conversion. The qualification for ministry is given by the Holy Spirit, not by ecclesiastical study. This implies that anyone has the right to minister, assuming the Spirit guides them, including women and children.[3]
God "dwelleth in the hearts of his obedient people": religious experience is not confined to a church building. Indeed, Fox refused to apply the word "church" to a building, using instead the name "steeple-house", a usage maintained by many Quakers today. Fox would just as soon worship in fields and orchards, believing that God's presence could be felt anywhere.[17] Though Fox used the Bible to support his views, Fox reasoned that, because God was within the faithful, believers could follow their own inner guide rather than rely on a strict reading of Scripture or the word of clerics.[3][18] Fox also made no clear distinction between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.[3]
Religious Society of Friends In 1647 Fox began to preach publicly:[19] in market-places, fields, appointed meetings of various kinds or even sometimes "steeple-houses" after the service. His powerful preaching began to attract a small following. It is not clear at what point the Society of Friends was formed but there was certainly a group of people who often travelled together. At first, they called themselves "Children of the Light" or "Friends of the Truth", and later simply "Friends". Fox seems to have had no desire to found a sect but only to proclaim what he saw as the pure and genuine principles of Christianity in their original simplicity, though he afterward showed great prowess as a religious legislator in the organization he gave to the new society. There were a great many rival Christian denominations holding very diverse opinions; the atmosphere of dispute and confusion gave Fox an opportunity to put forward his own beliefs through his personal sermons. Fox's preaching was grounded in scripture but was mainly effective because of the intense personal experience he was able to project.[3] He was scathing about immorality, deceit and the exacting of tithes and urged his listeners to lead lives without sin,[20] avoiding the Ranter's antinomian view that a believer becomes automatically sinless. By 1651 he had gathered other talented preachers around him and continued to roam the country despite a harsh reception from some listeners, who would whip and beat them to drive them away.[21] As his reputation spread, his words were not welcomed by all. As an uncompromising preacher, he hurled disputation and contradiction to the faces of his opponents.[22] The worship of Friends in the form of silent waiting seems to have been wellestablished by this time,[23] though it is not recorded how this came to be.
Imprisonment Fox complained to judges about decisions he considered morally wrong, as in his letter on the case of a woman due to be executed for theft.[24] He campaigned against the paying of tithes, which funded the established church and often went into the pockets of absentee landlords or religious colleges far away from the paying parishioners. In his view, as God was everywhere and anyone could preach, the established church was unnecessary and a university qualification irrelevant for a preacher.[3] Conflict with civil authority was inevitable. Fox was imprisoned several times, the first at Nottingham in 1649.[25] At Derby in 1650 he was imprisoned for blasphemy; a judge mocked Fox's exhortation to "tremble at the word of the Lord", calling him and his followers "Quakers".[26] Following his refusal to fight against the return of the monarchy (or to take up arms for any reason), his sentence was doubled.[27] The refusal to swear oaths or take up arms came to be a much more important part of his public statements. Refusal to take oaths meant that Quakers could be prosecuted under laws compelling subjects to pledge allegiance, as well as making testifying in court problematic.[3] In a letter of 1652 (That which is set up by the sword), he urged Friends not to use "carnal
weapons" but "spiritual weapons", saying "let the waves [the power of nations] break over your heads". In 1652, Fox preached for several hours under a walnut tree at Balby, where his disciple Thomas Aldham was instrumental in setting up the first meeting in the Doncaster area.[28] In June that year Fox felt that God led him to ascend Pendle Hill where he had a vision of many souls coming to Christ. From there he travelled to Sedbergh in Westmorland, where he had heard a group of Seekers were meeting, and preached to over a thousand people on Firbank Fell, convincing many, including Francis Howgill, to accept that Christ might speak to people directly.[29] At the end of the month he stayed at Swarthmoor Hall, near Ulverston, the home of Thomas Fell, vice-chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and his wife, Margaret. At around this time the ad hoc meetings of Friends began to be formalized and a monthly meeting was set up in County Durham.[3] Margaret became a Quaker and, although Thomas did not convert, his familiarity with the Friends proved influential when Fox was arrested for blasphemy in October. Fell was one of three presiding judges, and had the charges dismissed on a technicality. Fox remained at Swarthmoor until summer 1653 then left for Carlisle where he was arrested again for blasphemy.[3] It was even proposed to put him to death but Parliament requested his release rather than have "a young man ... die for religion".[30] Further imprisonments came at London in 1654, Launceston in 1656, Lancaster in 1660, Leicester in 1662, Lancaster again and Scarborough in 1664–66 and Worcester in 1673–75. Charges usually included causing a disturbance and travelling without a pass. Quakers fell foul of irregularly enforced laws forbidding unauthorized worship while actions motivated by belief in social equality— refusing to use or acknowledge titles, take hats off in court or bow to those who considered themselves socially superior—were seen as disrespectful.[31] While imprisoned at Launceston Fox wrote, "Christ our Lord and master saith 'Swear not at all, but let your communications be yea, yea, and nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.' ... the Apostle James saith, 'My brethren, above all things swear not, neither by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other oath. Lest ye fall into condemnation.'"[32] In prison George Fox continued writing and preaching, feeling that imprisonment brought him into contact with people who needed his help—the jailers as well as his fellow prisoners. In his journal, he told his magistrate, "God dwells not in temples made with hands."[33] He also sought to set an example by his actions there, turning the other cheek when being beaten and refusing to show his captors any dejected feelings.
Encounters with Oliver Cromwell
Cromwell was sympathetic to Fox and almost agreed to follow his teaching—but persecution of Quakers continued.
Parliamentarians grew suspicious of monarchist plots and fearful that the group travelling with Fox aimed to overthrow the government: by this time his meetings were regularly attracting crowds of over a thousand. In early 1655 he was arrested at Whetstone, Leicestershire and taken to London under armed guard. In March[34] he was brought before the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. After affirming that he had no intention of taking up arms Fox was able to speak with Cromwell for most of the morning about the Friends and advised him to listen to God's voice and obey it so that, as Fox left, Cromwell "with tears in his eyes said, 'Come again to my house; for if thou and I were but an hour of a day together, we should be nearer one to the other'; adding that he wished [Fox] no more ill than he did to his own soul."[35] This episode was later recalled as an example of "speaking truth to power", a preaching technique by which subsequent Quakers hoped to influence the powerful.[36] Although not used until the 20th century, the phrase is related to the ideas of plain speech and simplicity which Fox practiced, but motivated by the more worldly goal of eradicating war, injustice and oppression. Fox petitioned Cromwell over the course of 1656, asking him to alleviate the persecution of Quakers.[37] Later that year, they met for a second time at Whitehall. On a personal level, the meeting went well; despite disagreements between the two men, they had a certain rapport. Fox invited Cromwell to "lay down his crown at the feet of Jesus"—which Cromwell declined to do.[38] Fox met Cromwell again twice in March 1657.[39] Their last meeting was in 1658 at Hampton Court, though they could not speak for long or meet again because of the Protector's worsening illness—Fox even wrote that "he looked like a dead man".[40] Cromwell died in September of that year.
James Nayler One early Quaker convert, the Yorkshireman James Nayler, arose as a prominent preacher in London around 1655. A breach began to form between Fox's and Nayler's followers. As Fox was held prisoner at Launceston, Nayler moved south-westwards towards Launceston intending to meet Fox and heal any rift. On the way he was arrested himself and held at
Exeter. After Fox was released from Launceston gaol in 1656, he preached throughout the West Country. Arriving at Exeter late in September, Fox was reunited with Nayler. Nayler and his followers refused to remove their hats while Fox prayed, which Fox took as both a personal slight and a bad example. When Nayler refused to kiss Fox's hand, Fox told Nayler to kiss his foot instead. Nayler was offended and the two parted acrimoniously. Fox wrote, "there was now a wicked spirit risen amongst Friends".[41] After Nayler's own release later the same year he rode into Bristol triumphantly playing the part of Jesus Christ in a re-enactment of Palm Sunday. He was arrested and taken to London, where Parliament defeated a motion to execute him by 96–82. Instead, they ordered that he be pilloried and whipped through both London and Bristol, branded on his forehead with the letter B (for blasphemer), bored through the tongue with a red-hot iron and imprisoned in solitary confinement with hard labour.[42] Nayler was released in 1659, but he was a broken man. On meeting Fox in London, he fell to his knees and begged Fox's forgiveness. Shortly afterward, Nayler was attacked by thieves while travelling home to his family, and died.[3]
Suffering and growth
19th-century engraving of George Fox, based on a painting of unknown date
The persecutions of these years—with about a thousand Friends in prison by 1657—hardened George Fox's opinions of traditional religious and social practices. In his preaching, he often emphasized the Quaker rejection of baptism by water; this was a useful way of highlighting how the focus of Friends on inward transformation differed from what he saw as the superstition of outward ritual. It was also deliberately provocative to adherents of those practices, providing opportunities for Fox to argue with them on matters of scripture. This pattern was also found in his court appearances: when a judge challenged him to remove his hat, Fox riposted by asking where in the Bible such an injunction could be found. The Society of Friends became increasingly organized towards the end of the decade. Large meetings were held, including a three-day event in Bedfordshire, the precursor of the present Britain Yearly Meeting system.[43] Fox commissioned two Friends to travel around the country collecting the testimonies of imprisoned Quakers, as evidence of their persecution; this led to the establishment in 1675 of Meeting for Sufferings, which has continued to the present day.[44]
The 1650s, when the Friends were most confrontational, was one of the most creative periods of their history. During the Commonwealth, Fox had hoped that the movement would become the major church in England. Disagreements, persecution and increasing social turmoil, however, led Fox to suffer from a severe depression, which left him deeply troubled at Reading, Berkshire, for ten weeks in 1658 or 1659.[45] In 1659, he sent parliament his most politically radical pamphlet, Fifty nine Particulars laid down for the Regulating things, but the year was so chaotic that it never considered them; the document was not reprinted until the 21st century.[3]
The Restoration With the restoration of the monarchy, Fox's dreams of establishing the Friends as the dominant religion seemed at an end. He was again accused of conspiracy, this time against Charles II, and fanaticism—a charge he resented. He was imprisoned in Lancaster for five months, during which he wrote to the king offering advice on governance: Charles should refrain from war and domestic religious persecution, and discourage oath-taking, plays, and maypole games. These last suggestions reveal Fox's Puritan leanings, which continued to influence Quakers for centuries after his death. Once again, Fox was released after demonstrating that he had no military ambitions. At least on one point, Charles listened to Fox. The seven hundred Quakers who had been imprisoned under Richard Cromwell were released, though the government remained uncertain about the group's links with other, more violent, movements. A revolt by the Fifth Monarchists in January 1661 led to the suppression of that sect and the repression of other Nonconformists, including Quakers.[46] In the aftermath of this attempted coup, Fox and eleven other Quakers issued a broadside proclaiming what became known among Friends in the 20th century as the "peace testimony": they committed themselves to oppose all outward wars and strife as contrary to the will of God. Not all his followers accepted this statement; Isaac Penington, for example, dissented for a time arguing that the state had a duty to protect the innocent from evil, if necessary by using military force. Despite the testimony, persecution against Quakers and other dissenters continued.[3] Penington and others, such as John Perrot and John Pennyman, were uneasy at Fox's increasing power within the movement. Like Nayler before them, they saw no reason why men should remove their hats for prayer, arguing that men and women should be treated as equals and if, as according to the apostle Paul, women should cover their heads, then so could men. Perrot and Penington lost the argument. Perrot emigrated to the New World, and Fox retained leadership of the movement.[3] Parliament enacted laws which forbade non-Anglican religious meetings of more than five people, essentially making Quaker meetings illegal. Fox counseled his followers to openly violate laws that attempted to suppress the movement, and many Friends, including women and children, were jailed over the next two and a half decades. Meanwhile, Quakers in New England had been banished (and some executed), and Charles was advised by his councillors to issue a mandamus condemning this practice and allowing them to return.[47] Fox was able to meet some of the New England Friends when they came to London, stimulating his interest in the colonies. Fox was unable to travel there immediately: he was imprisoned again in 1664 for his refusal to swear the oath of allegiance, and on his release in 1666 was preoccupied with organizational matters—he normalized the system of monthly and quarterly meetings throughout the country, and extended it to Ireland.
Visiting Ireland also gave him the opportunity to preach against what he saw as the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church, in particular the use of ritual. More recent Quaker commentators have noted points of contact between the denominations: both claim the actual presence of God in their meetings, and both allow the collective opinion of the church to augment Biblical teaching. Fox, however, did not perceive this, brought up as he was in a wholly Protestant environment hostile to "Popery". Fox married Margaret Fell of Swarthmoor Hall, a lady of high social position and one of his early converts, on 27 October 1669 at a meeting in Bristol. She was ten years his senior and had eight children (all but one of them Quakers) by her first husband, Thomas Fell, who had died in 1658. She was herself very active in the movement, and had campaigned for equality and the acceptance of women as preachers. As there were no priests at Quaker weddings to perform the ceremony, the union took the form of a civil marriage approved by the principals and the witnesses at a meeting. Ten days after the marriage, Margaret returned to Swarthmoor to continue her work there while George went back to London.[48] Their shared religious work was at the heart of their life together, and they later collaborated on a great deal of the administration the Society required. Shortly after the marriage, Margaret was imprisoned at Lancaster;[49] George remained in the south-east of England, becoming so ill and depressed that for a time he lost his sight.[50]
Travels in America and Europe
This stone in Queens, New York, located across from the John Bowne House commemorates the place where George Fox preached a sermon on 7 June 1672.
By 1671 Fox had recovered and Margaret had been released by order of the King. Fox resolved to visit the English settlements in America and the West Indies, remaining there for two years, possibly to counter any remnants of Perrot's teaching there.[3] After a voyage of seven weeks, during which dolphins were caught and eaten, the party arrived in Barbados on 3 October 1671.[51] From there, Fox sent an epistle to Friends spelling out the role of women's meetings in the Quaker marriage ceremony, a point of controversy when he returned home. One of his proposals suggested that the prospective couple should be interviewed by an allfemale meeting prior to the marriage to determine whether there were any financial or other impediments. Though women's meetings had been held in London for the last ten years, this was an innovation in Bristol and the north-west of England, which many there felt went too far.[3]
Fox wrote a letter to the governor and assembly of the island in which he refuted charges that Quakers were stirring up the slaves to revolt and tried to affirm the orthodoxy of Quaker beliefs. After a stay in Jamaica, Fox's first landfall on the North American continent was at Maryland, where he participated in a four-day meeting of local Quakers. He remained there while various of his English companions travelled to the other colonies, because he wished to meet some Native Americans who were interested in Quaker ways—though he relates that they had "a great dispute" among themselves about whether to participate in the meeting. Fox was impressed by their general demeanour, which he said was "courteous and loving".[52] He resented the suggestion (from a man in North Carolina) that "the Light and Spirit of God ... was not in the Indians", a proposition which Fox refuted.[53] Fox left no record of encountering slaves on the mainland. Elsewhere in the colonies, Fox helped to establish organizational systems for the Friends, along the same lines as he had done in Britain.[54] He also preached to many non-Quakers, some but not all of whom were converted.
Fox established a Yearly Meeting in Amsterdam for Friends in the Netherlands and German states.
Following extensive travels around the various American colonies, George Fox returned to England in June 1673 confident that his movement was firmly established there. Back in England, however, he found his movement sharply divided among provincial Friends (such as William Rogers, John Wilkinson and John Story) who resisted establishment of women's meetings and the power of those who resided in or near London. With William Penn and Robert Barclay as allies of Fox, the challenge to Fox's leadership was eventually put down.[3] But in the midst of the dispute, Fox was imprisoned again for refusing to swear oaths after being captured at Armscote, Worcestershire.[55] His mother died shortly after hearing of his arrest and Fox's health began to suffer.[56] Margaret Fell petitioned the king for his release,[57] which was granted,[58] but Fox felt too weak to take up his travels immediately. Recuperating at Swarthmoor, he began dictating what would be published after his death as his journal and devoted his time to his written output: letters, both public and private, as well as books and essays.[59] Much of his energy was devoted to the topic of oaths, having become convinced of its importance to Quaker ideas. By refusing to swear, he felt that he could bear witness to the value of truth in everyday life, as well as to God, who he associated with truth and the inner light. For three months in 1677 and a month in 1684, Fox visited the Friends in the Netherlands, and organized their meetings for discipline. The first trip was the more extensive, taking him into what is now Germany, proceeding along the coast to Friedrichstadt and back again over several days. Meanwhile, Fox was participating in a dispute among Friends in Britain over the role of women in meetings, a struggle which took much of his energy and left him
exhausted. Returning to England, he stayed in the south in order to try to end the dispute. He followed the foundation of the colony of Pennsylvania, where Penn had given him over 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land, with interest.[3] Persecution continued, with Fox arrested briefly in October 1683. Fox's health was becoming worse, but he continued his activities—writing to leaders in Poland, Denmark, Germany, and elsewhere about his beliefs, and their treatment of Quakers.
Last years
George Fox's marker in Bunhill Fields, next to the Meeting House[60]
In the last years of his life, Fox continued to participate in the London Meetings, and still made representations to Parliament about the sufferings of Friends. The new King, James II, pardoned religious dissenters jailed for failure to attend the established church, leading to the release of about 1500 Friends. Though the Quakers lost influence after the Glorious Revolution, which deposed James II, the Act of Toleration 1689 put an end to the uniformity laws under which Quakers had been persecuted, permitting them to assemble freely. Two days after preaching, as usual, at the Gracechurch Street Meeting House in London, George Fox died between 9 and 10 p.m. on 13 January 1691. He was interred in the Quaker Burying Ground, Bunhill Fields, three days later in the presence of thousands of mourners.[61]
Journal and letters Fox's journal was first published in 1694, after editing by Thomas Ellwood—a friend and associate of John Milton—with a preface by William Penn. Like most similar works of its time the journal was not written contemporaneously to the events it describes, but rather compiled many years later, much of it dictated. Parts of the journal were not in fact by Fox at all but are constructed by its editors from diverse sources and written as if by him.[62] The dissent within the movement and the contributions of others to the development of Quakerism are largely excluded from the narrative. Fox portrays himself as always in the right and always vindicated by God's interventions on his behalf.[3] As a religious
autobiography, Rufus Jones compared it to such works as Augustine's Confessions and John Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. It is, though, an intensely personal work with little dramatic power that only succeeds in appealing to readers after substantial editing. Historians have used it as a primary source because of its wealth of detail on ordinary life in the 17th century, and the many towns and villages which Fox visited.[63] Hundreds of Fox's letters—mostly intended for wide circulation, along with a few private communications—were also published. Written from the 1650s onwards, with such titles as Friends, seek the peace of all men or To Friends, to know one another in the light, they give enormous insight into the detail of Fox's beliefs, and show his determination to spread them. These writings, in the words of Henry Cadbury, Professor of Divinity at Harvard University and a leading Quaker, "contain a few fresh phrases of his own, [but] are generally characterized by an excess of scriptural language and today they seem dull and repetitious".[64] Others point out that "Fox's sermons, rich in biblical metaphor and common speech, brought hope in a dark time."[65] Fox's aphorisms have found an audience beyond Quakers, with many other church groups using them to illustrate principles of Christianity. Fox is described by Ellwood as "graceful in countenance, manly in personage, grave in gesture, courteous in conversation". Penn says he was "civil beyond all forms of breeding". We are told that he was "plain and powerful in preaching, fervent in prayer", "a discerner of other men's spirits, and very much master of his own", skilful to "speak a word in due season to the conditions and capacities of most, especially to them that were weary, and wanted soul's rest"; "valiant in asserting the truth, bold in defending it, patient in suffering for it, immovable as a rock".[66]
Legacy Fox's influence on the Society of Friends was tremendous, and his beliefs have largely been carried forward by that group. Perhaps his most significant achievement, other than his predominant influence in the early movement, was his leadership in overcoming the twin challenges of government prosecution after the Restoration and internal disputes that threatened its stability during the same period. Not all of his beliefs were welcome to all Quakers: his Puritan-like opposition to the arts[67] and rejection of theological study, forestalled development of these practices among Quakers for some time. The name of George Fox is often invoked by traditionalist Friends who dislike modern liberal attitudes to the Society's Christian origins. At the same time, Quakers and others can relate to Fox's religious experience, and even those who disagree with many of his ideas regard him as a pioneer. Walt Whitman, who was raised by parents inspired by Quaker thought, later wrote: "George Fox stands for something too—a thought—the thought that wakes in silent hours—perhaps the deepest, most eternal thought latent in the human soul. This is the thought of God, merged in the thoughts of moral right and the immortality of identity. Great, great is this thought— aye, greater than all else."[68] George Fox University in Oregon, founded as Pacific College in 1891, was renamed for him in 1949. He also has a building named after him at Lancaster University. James Harcourt
played Fox in the 1941 film Penn of Pennsylvania. Fox's relationship with Margaret Fell is novelized in Jan de Hartog's The Peaceable Kingdom: An American Saga.
See also
Christian anarchism Christian mysticism List of people on stamps of Ireland Anthony Sharp (Quaker), Dublin Quaker and merchant
George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. His writings have been cited as a major literary influence by many notable authors including W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien,[1] Walter de la Mare,[2] E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle.[1] C. S. Lewis wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master": "Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier." G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence". Elizabeth Yates wrote of Sir Gibbie, "It moved me the way books did when, as a child, the great gates of literature began to open and first encounters with noble thoughts and utterances were unspeakably thrilling."[3] Even Mark Twain, who initially disliked MacDonald, became friends with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald.[4] Christian author Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) wrote in Christian Disciplines, vol. 1, (pub. 1934) that "it is a striking indication of the trend and shallowness of the modern reading public that George MacDonald's books have been so neglected". In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works on Christian apologetics including several that defended his view of Christian Universalism.
"I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking." — George MacDonald "Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best; God finds it hard to give, because He would give the best, and man will not take it." — George MacDonald "It is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness. I knew that love gives to him that loveth, power over over any soul be loved, even if that soul know him not, bringing him inwardly close to that spirit; a power that cannot be but for good; for in proportion as selfishness intrudes, the love ceases, and the power which springs therefrom dies. Yet all love will, one day, meet with its return. " — George MacDonald (Phantastes) “Come, then, affliction, if my Father wills, and be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy. " — George MacDonald
Early life George MacDonald was born on 10 December 1824 at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His father, a farmer, was one of the MacDonalds of Glen Coe, and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the massacre of 1692.[5][6] The Doric dialect of the Aberdeenshire area appears in the dialogue of some of his non-fantasy novels. MacDonald grew up in the Congregational Church, with an atmosphere of Calvinism. But MacDonald never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine; indeed, legend
has it that when the doctrine of predestination was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the elect). Later novels, such as Robert Falconer and Lilith, show a distaste for the idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others. McDonald graduated from the University of Aberdeen, and then went to London, studying at Highbury College for the Congregational ministry. MacDonald was the pastor of Trinity Congregational Church, Arundel from 1850.
In 1850 he was appointed pastor of Trinity Congregational Church, Arundel, but his sermons (preaching God's universal love and the possibility that none would, ultimately, fail to unite with God) met with little favour and his salary was cut in half. Later he was engaged in ministerial work in Manchester. He left that because of poor health, and after a short sojourn in Algiers he settled in London and taught for some time at the University of London. MacDonald was also for a time editor of Good Words for the Young, and lectured successfully in the United States during 1872–1873.
Work George MacDonald's best-known works are Phantastes, The Princess and the Goblin, At the Back of the North Wind, and Lilith, all fantasy novels, and fairy tales such as "The Light Princess", "The Golden Key", and "The Wise Woman". "I write, not for children," he wrote, "but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." MacDonald also published some volumes of sermons, the pulpit not having proved an unreservedly successful venue. MacDonald also served as a mentor to Lewis Carroll (the pen-name of Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson); it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of Alice by MacDonald's many sons and daughters, that convinced Carroll to submit Alice for publication.[7] Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of several of the MacDonald children. MacDonald was also friends with John Ruskin and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with Rose La Touche.[7] MacDonald was acquainted with most of the literary luminaries of the day; a surviving group photograph shows him with Tennyson, Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Trollope, Ruskin, Lewes, and Thackeray. While in America he was a friend of Longfellow and Walt Whitman. George MacDonald with son Ronald (right) and daughter Mary (left) in 1864. Photograph by Lewis Carroll.
In 1877 he was given a civil list pension. From 1879 he and his family moved to Bordighera[8] in a place much loved by British expatriates, the Riviera dei Fiori in Liguria, Italy, almost on the French border. In that locality there also was an Anglican Church, which he attended. Deeply enamoured of the Riviera, he spent there 20 years, writing almost half of his whole literary production, especially the fantasy work.[9] In that Ligurian town MacDonald founded a literary studio named Casa Coraggio (Bravery House), which soon
became one of the most renowned cultural centres of that period, well attended by British and Italian travellers, and by locals. In that house representations were often held of classic plays, and readings were given of Dante and Shakespeare.[10] In 1900 he moved into St George's Wood, Haslemere, a house designed for him by his son, Robert Falconer MacDonald, and the building overseen by his eldest son, Greville MacDonald. He died on 18 September 1905 in Ashtead, (Surrey). He was cremated and his ashes buried in Bordighera, in the English cemetery, along with his wife Louisa and daughters Lilia and Grace. As hinted above, MacDonald's use of fantasy as a literary medium for exploring the human condition greatly influenced a generation of such notable authors as C. S. Lewis (who featured him as a character in his The Great Divorce),[11] J. R. R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L'Engle. MacDonald's non-fantasy novels, such as Alec Forbes, had their influence as well; they were among the first realistic Scottish novels, and as such MacDonald has been credited with founding the "kailyard school" of Scottish writing.[12] His son Greville MacDonald became a noted medical specialist, a pioneer of the Peasant Arts movement, and also wrote numerous fairy tales for children. Greville ensured that new editions of his father's works were published. Another son, Ronald MacDonald, was also a novelist.[13] Ronald's son, Philip MacDonald, (George MacDonald's grandson) became a very well known Hollywood screenwriter.
Theology MacDonald rejected the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement as developed by John Calvin, which argues that Christ has taken the place of sinners and is punished by the wrath of God in their place, believing that in turn it raised serious questions about the character and nature of God. Instead, he taught that Christ had come to save people from their sins, and not from a Divine penalty for their sins. The problem was not the need to appease a wrathful God but the disease of cosmic evil itself. George MacDonald frequently described the Atonement in terms similar to the Christus Victor theory. MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "Did he not foil and slay evil by letting all the waves and billows of its horrid sea break upon him, go over him, and die without rebound—spend their rage, fall defeated, and cease? Verily, he made atonement!"
George MacDonald with his wife Louisa in 1901 at their 50th wedding anniversary.
MacDonald was convinced that God does not punish except to amend, and that the sole end of His greatest anger is the amelioration of the guilty.[14] As the doctor uses fire and steel in
certain deep-seated diseases, so God may use hell-fire if necessary to heal the hardened sinner. MacDonald declared, "I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children."[15] MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "When we say that God is Love, do we teach men that their fear of Him is groundless?" He replied, "No. As much as they fear will come upon them, possibly far more. ... The wrath will consume what they call themselves; so that the selves God made shall appear." However, true repentance, in the sense of freely chosen moral growth, is essential to this process, and, in MacDonald's optimistic view, inevitable for all beings (see universal reconciliation). He recognised the theoretical possibility that, bathed in the eschatological divine light, some might perceive right and wrong for what they are but still refuse to be transfigured by operation of God's fires of love, but he did not think this likely.[citation needed] In this theology of divine punishment, MacDonald stands in opposition to Augustine of Hippo, and in agreement with the Greek Church Fathers Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and St. Gregory of Nyssa, although it is unknown whether MacDonald had a working familiarity with Patristics or Eastern Orthodox Christianity. At least an indirect influence is likely, because F. D. Maurice, who influenced MacDonald, knew the Greek Fathers, especially Clement, very well. MacDonald states his theological views most distinctly in the sermon Justice found in the third volume of Unspoken Sermons. In his introduction to George MacDonald: An Anthology, C. S. Lewis speaks highly of MacDonald's theology: "This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of Unspoken Sermons. My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help—sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith. ... I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Hence his Christ-like union of tenderness and severity. Nowhere else outside the New Testament have I found terror and comfort so intertwined. ... In making this collection I was discharging a debt of justice. I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him. But it has not seemed to me that those who have received my books kindly take even now sufficient notice of the affiliation. Honesty drives me to emphasize it."
Bibliography Fantasy
Phantastes: A Fairie Romance for Men and Women (1858) "Cross Purposes" (1862) Adela Cathcart (1864), containing "The Light Princess", "The Shadows", and other short stories The Portent: A Story of the Inner Vision of the Highlanders, Commonly Called "The Second Sight" (1864)
Dealings with the Fairies (1867), containing "The Golden Key", "The Light Princess", "The Shadows", and other short stories At the Back of the North Wind (1871) Works of Fancy and Imagination (1871), including Within and Without, "Cross Purposes", "The Light Princess", "The Golden Key", and other works The Princess and the Goblin (1872) The Wise Woman: A Parable (1875) The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Tales (1882; republished as Stephen Archer and Other Tales) The Day Boy and the Night Girl (1882) The Princess and Curdie (1883), a sequel to The Princess and the Goblin The Flight of the Shadow (1891) Lilith: A Romance (1895)
Realistic fiction
David Elginbrod (1863; republished as The Tutor's First Love), originally published in three volumes Alec Forbes of Howglen (1865; republished as The Maiden's Bequest) Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood (1867) Guild Court: A London Story (1868) Robert Falconer (1868; republished as The Musician's Quest) The Seaboard Parish (1869), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood (1871) Wilfrid Cumbermede (1871–72) The Vicar's Daughter (1871–72), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood and The Seaboard Parish The History of Gutta Percha Willie, the Working Genius (1873), usually called simply Gutta Percha Willie Malcolm (1875) St. George and St. Michael (1876) Thomas Wingfold, Curate (1876; republished as The Curate's Awakening) The Marquis of Lossie (1877; republished as The Marquis' Secret), the second book of Malcolm Paul Faber, Surgeon (1879; republished as The Lady's Confession), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate Sir Gibbie (1879; republished as The Baronet's Song) Mary Marston (1881; republished as A Daughter's Devotion) Warlock o' Glenwarlock (1881; republished as Castle Warlock and The Laird's Inheritance) Weighed and Wanting (1882; republished as A Gentlewoman's Choice) Donal Grant (1883; republished as The Shepherd's Castle), a sequel to Sir Gibbie What's Mine's Mine (1886; republished as The Highlander's Last Song) Home Again: A Tale (1887; republished as The Poet's Homecoming) The Elect Lady (1888; republished as The Landlady's Master) A Rough Shaking (1891) There and Back (1891; republished as The Baron's Apprenticeship), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate and Paul Faber, Surgeon Heather and Snow (1893; republished as The Peasant Girl's Dream) Salted with Fire (1896; republished as The Minister's Restoration) Far Above Rubies (1898)
Poetry
Twelve of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis (1851), privately printed translation of the poetry of Novalis Within and Without: A Dramatic Poem (1855) Poems (1857) "A Hidden Life" and Other Poems (1864) "The Disciple" and Other Poems (1867) Exotics: A Translation of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis, the Hymn-book of Luther, and Other Poems from the German and Italian (1876) Dramatic and Miscellaneous Poems (1876) A Book of Strife, in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul (1880), privately printed The Threefold Cord: Poems by Three Friends (1883), privately printed, with Greville Matheson and John Hill MacDonald Poems (1887) The Poetical Works of George MacDonald, 2 Volumes (1893) Scotch Songs and Ballads (1893) Rampolli: Growths from a Long-planted Root (1897)
Nonfiction
Unspoken Sermons (1867) England's Antiphon (1868, 1874) The Miracles of Our Lord (1870) Cheerful Words from the Writing of George MacDonald (1880), compiled by E. E. Brown Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare (1882) "Preface" (1884) to Letters from Hell (1866) by Valdemar Adolph Thisted The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: A Study With the Test of the Folio of 1623 (1885) Unspoken Sermons, Second Series (1885) Unspoken Sermons, Third Series (1889) A Cabinet of Gems, Cut and Polished by Sir Philip Sidney; Now, for the More Radiance, Presented Without Their Setting by George MacDonald (1891) The Hope of the Gospel (1892) A Dish of Orts (1893) Beautiful Thoughts from George MacDonald (1894), compiled by Elizabeth Dougall
In popular culture This section contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. Please help to clean it up to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Where appropriate, incorporate items into the main body of the article. (March 2012)
(Alphabetical by artist)
Christian celtic punk band Ballydowse have a song called "George MacDonald" on their album Out of the Fertile Crescent. The song is both taken from MacDonald's poem "My Two Geniuses" and liberally quoted from Phantastes.[citation needed]
American classical composer John Craton has utilized several of MacDonald's stories in his works, including "The Gray Wolf" (in a tone poem of the same name for solo mandolin – 2006) and portions of "The Cruel Painter", Lilith, and The Light Princess (in Three Tableaux from George MacDonald for mandolin, recorder, and cello – 2011).[citation needed]
Contemporary new-age musician Jeff Johnson wrote a song titled "The Golden Key" based on George MacDonald's story of the same name.[citation needed] He has also written several other songs inspired by MacDonald and the Inklings.[citation needed]
Jazz pianist and recording artist Ray Lyon has a song on his CD Beginning to See (2007), called "Up The Spiral Stairs", which features lyrics from MacDonald's 26 and 27 September devotional readings from the book Diary of an Old Soul.[citation needed]
A verse from The Light Princess is cited in the "Beauty and the Beast" song by Nightwish.
Rock group The Waterboys titled their album Room to Roam (1990) after a passage in MacDonald's Phantastes, also found in Lilith. The title track of the album comprises a MacDonald poem from the text of Phantastes set to music by the band. The novels Lilith and Phantastes are both named as books in a library, in the title track of another Waterboys album, Universal Hall (2003). (The Waterboys have also quoted from C. S. Lewis in several songs, including "Church Not Made With Hands" and "Further Up, Further In", confirming the enduring link in modern pop culture between MacDonald and Lewis.)
References
Ankeny, Rebecca Thomas. The Story, the Teller and the Audience in George MacDonald's Fiction. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. Gray, William N. "George MacDonald, Julia Kristeva, and the Black Sun." Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900 36.4 (Autumn 1996): 877–593. Accessed 19 May 2009. Hein, Rolland. George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker. Nashville: Star Song, 1993. Johnson, Joseph. George MacDonald: A Biographical and Critical Appreciation. London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., 1906. Lewis, C. S. George MacDonald: An Anthology. 1947. Lewis, C. S. Surprised by Joy. MacDonald, Greville. George MacDonald and His Wife. McGillis, Roderick, ed. For the Childlike: George MacDonald's Fantasies for Children. Metuchen, NJ, and London: The Children's Literature Association and the Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1992. Raeper, William. George MacDonald. Tring, Herts., and Batavia, IL: Lion Publishing, 1987. Reis, Richard R. George MacDonald. Twayne, 1972. Robb, David S. George MacDonald. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1987. Wolff, Robert Lee. The Golden Key: A Study of the Fiction of George Macdonald. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961.
Further reading
North Wind. A Journal of George MacDonald Studies. The Journals of the George MacDonald Society Greville MacDonald, George MacDonald and his Wife, London: *George Allen & Unwin, 1924 (republished 1998 by Johannesen ISBN 1-881084-63-9
Rolland Hein, George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker. Star Song Publishing, 1993. ISBN 156233-046-2 William Raeper, George MacDonald. Novelist and Victorian Visionary, Lion Publishing, 1987 Thomas Gerold, Die Gotteskindschaft des Menschen. Die theologische Anthropologie bei George MacDonald, Münster: Lit, 2006 ISBN 3-8258-9853-9 (A study of MacDonald's theology). George MacDonald Selections From His Greatest Works, compiled by David L. Neuhouser, published by Victor Press 1990. ISBN 0-89693-788-7 Wingfold. A journal "Celebrating the works of George MacDonald". Published by Barbara Amell
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) better known as G. K. Chesterton, was an English writer,[1] lay theologian, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, literary and art critic, biographer, and Christian apologist. Chesterton is often referred to as the "prince of paradox."[2] Time magazine, in a review of a biography of Chesterton, observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out."[3] Chesterton is well known for his fictional priest-detective Father Brown,[4] and for his reasoned apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognized the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man.[3][5] Chesterton, as a political thinker, cast aspersions on both Progressivism and Conservatism, saying, "The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected."[6] Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian, and came to identify this position more and more with Catholicism, eventually converting to Roman Catholicism from High Church Anglicanism. George Bernard Shaw, Chesterton's "friendly enemy" according to Time, said of him, "He was a man of colossal genius."[3] Biographers have identified him as a successor to such Victorian authors as Matthew Arnold, Thomas Carlyle, Cardinal John Henry Newman, and John Ruskin.[7]
"Are you a devil?" "I am a man," answered Father Brown gravely; "and therefore have all devils in my heart." — G.K. Chesterton
"There is but an inch of difference between the cushioned chamber and the padded cell." — G.K. Chesterton "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried. ========== What's Wrong with the World (Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith))" — Anonymous "A man must be prepared not only to be a martyr, but to be a fool. It is absurd to say that a man is ready to toil and die for his convictions if he is not even ready to wear a wreathe around his head for them." — G.K. Chesterton
Early life
G. K. Chesterton at the age of 17.
Chesterton was born in Campden Hill in Kensington, London, the son of Marie Louise (Grosjean) and Edward Chesterton.[8][9] He was baptized at the age of one month into the Church of England,[10] though his family themselves were irregularly practising Unitarians.[11] According to his autobiography, as a young man Chesterton became fascinated with the occult and, along with his brother Cecil, experimented with Ouija boards.[12] Chesterton was educated at St Paul's School, then attended the Slade School of Art in order to become an illustrator. The Slade is a department of University College London, where Chesterton also took classes in literature, but did not complete a degree in either subject.
Family life Chesterton married Frances Blogg in 1901; the marriage lasted the rest of his life. Chesterton credited Frances with leading him back to Anglicanism, though he later considered
Anglicanism to be a "pale imitation". He entered full communion with the Roman Catholic Church in 1922.[13]
Career In 1896 Chesterton began working for the London publisher Redway, and T. Fisher Unwin, where he remained until 1902. During this period he also undertook his first journalistic work, as a freelance art and literary critic. In 1902 the Daily News gave him a weekly opinion column, followed in 1905 by a weekly column in The Illustrated London News, for which he continued to write for the next thirty years. Early on Chesterton showed a great interest in and talent for art. He had planned to become an artist, and his writing shows a vision that clothed abstract ideas in concrete and memorable images. Even his fiction contained carefully concealed parables. Father Brown is perpetually correcting the incorrect vision of the bewildered folks at the scene of the crime and wandering off at the end with the criminal to exercise his priestly role of recognition and repentance. For example, in the story "The Flying Stars", Father Brown entreats the character Flambeau to give up his life of crime: "There is still youth and honour and humour in you; don't fancy they will last in that trade. Men may keep a sort of level of good, but no man has ever been able to keep on one level of evil. That road goes down and down. The kind man drinks and turns cruel; the frank man kills and lies about it. Many a man I've known started like you to be an honest outlaw, a merry robber of the rich, and ended stamped into slime."[14]
Caricature of Chesterton, by Max Beerbohm.
Chesterton loved to debate, often engaging in friendly public disputes with such men as George Bernard Shaw,[15] H. G. Wells, Bertrand Russell and Clarence Darrow.[16][17] According to his autobiography, he and Shaw played cowboys in a silent film that was never released.[18]
Visual wit Chesterton was a large man, standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and weighing around 20 stone 6 pounds (130 kg). His girth gave rise to a famous anecdote. During the First World War a lady in London asked why he was not "out at the Front"; he replied, "If you go round to the side, you will see that I am."[19] On another occasion he remarked to his friend George Bernard Shaw, "To look at you, anyone would think a famine had struck England." Shaw retorted, "To look at you, anyone would think you have caused it."[20] P. G. Wodehouse once described a very loud crash as "a sound like G. K. Chesterton falling onto a sheet of tin".[21] Chesterton usually wore a cape and a crumpled hat, with a swordstick in hand, and a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He had a tendency to forget where he was supposed to be going and miss the train that was supposed to take him there. It is reported that on several occasions he sent a telegram to his wife Frances from some distant (and incorrect) location, writing such things as "Am in Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?" to which she would reply, "Home".[22] Because of these instances of absent-mindedness and of Chesterton being extremely clumsy as a child, there has been speculation that Chesterton had undiagnosed developmental coordination disorder or attention deficit disorder.[23]
Radio In 1931, the BBC invited Chesterton to give a series of radio talks. He accepted, tentatively at first. However, from 1932 until his death, Chesterton delivered over 40 talks per year. He was allowed (and encouraged) to improvise on the scripts. This allowed his talks to maintain an intimate character, as did the decision to allow his wife and secretary to sit with him during his broadcasts.[24] The talks were very popular. A BBC official remarked, after Chesterton's death, that "in another year or so, he would have become the dominating voice from Broadcasting House."[25]
Death and veneration
Telegram sent by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (future Pius XII) on behalf of Pope Pius XI to the people of England following the death of Chesterton.
Chesterton died of congestive heart failure on the morning of 14 June 1936, at his home in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. His last known words were a greeting spoken to his wife. The homily at Chesterton's Requiem Mass in Westminster Cathedral, London, was delivered by Ronald Knox on 27 June 1936. Knox said, "All of this generation has grown up under Chesterton's influence so completely that we do not even know when we are thinking Chesterton."[26] He is buried in Beaconsfield in the Catholic Cemetery. Chesterton's estate was probated at £28,389, approximately equivalent in 2012 terms to £1.3 million.[27] Near the end of Chesterton's life, Pope Pius XI invested him as Knight Commander with Star of the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great (KC*SG).[28] The Chesterton Society has proposed that he be beatified.[29] He is remembered liturgically on 13 June by the Episcopal Church (USA), with a provisional feast day as adopted at the 2009 General Convention.[30]
Writing
Chesterton in his study.
Chesterton wrote around 80 books, several hundred poems, some 200 short stories, 4000 essays, and several plays. He was a literary and social critic, historian, playwright, novelist, Catholic theologian[31][32] and apologist, debater, and mystery writer. He was a columnist for the Daily News, The Illustrated London News, and his own paper, G. K.'s Weekly; he also wrote articles for the Encyclopædia Britannica, including the entry on Charles Dickens and part of the entry on Humour in the 14th edition (1929). His best-known character is the priest-detective Father Brown,[4] who appeared only in short stories, while The Man Who Was Thursday is arguably his best-known novel. He was a convinced Christian long before he was received into the Catholic Church, and Christian themes and symbolism appear in much of his writing. In the United States, his writings on distributism were popularized through The American Review, published by Seward Collins in New York. Of his nonfiction, Charles Dickens: A Critical Study (1906) has received some of the broadest-based praise. According to Ian Ker (The Catholic Revival in English Literature, 1845–1961, 2003), "In Chesterton's eyes Dickens belongs to Merry, not Puritan, England" ; Ker treats Chesterton's thought in Chapter 4 of that book as largely growing out of his true appreciation of Dickens, a somewhat shop-soiled property in the view of other literary opinions of the time.
Chesterton's writings consistently displayed wit and a sense of humour. He employed paradox, while making serious comments on the world, government, politics, economics, philosophy, theology and many other topics.[33][34]
Views and contemporaries
Self-portrait of Chesterton based on the distributist slogan "Three acres and a cow."
Chesterton's writing has been seen by some analysts as combining two earlier strands in English literature. Dickens' approach is one of these. Another is represented by Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, whom Chesterton knew well: satirists and social commentators following in the tradition of Samuel Butler, vigorously wielding paradox as a weapon against complacent acceptance of the conventional view of things. Chesterton's style and thinking were all his own, however, and his conclusions were often opposed to those of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. In his book Heretics, Chesterton has this to say of Wilde: "The same lesson [of the pessimistic pleasure-seeker] was taught by the very powerful and very desolate philosophy of Oscar Wilde. It is the carpe diem religion; but the carpe diem religion is not the religion of happy people, but of very unhappy people. Great joy does not gather the rosebuds while it may; its eyes are fixed on the immortal rose which Dante saw."[35] More briefly, and with a closer approximation of Wilde's own style, he writes in Orthodoxy concerning the necessity of making symbolic sacrifices for the gift of creation: "Oscar Wilde said that sunsets were not valued because we could not pay for sunsets. But Oscar Wilde was wrong; we can pay for sunsets. We can pay for them by not being Oscar Wilde." Chesterton and Shaw were famous friends and enjoyed their arguments and discussions. Although rarely in agreement, they both maintained good will toward and respect for each other. However, in his writing, Chesterton expressed himself very plainly on where they differed and why. In Heretics he writes of Shaw:
After belabouring a great many people for a great many years for being unprogressive, Mr. Shaw has discovered, with characteristic sense, that it is very doubtful whether any existing human being with two legs can be progressive at all. Having come to doubt whether humanity can be combined with progress, most people, easily pleased, would have elected to abandon progress and remain with humanity. Mr. Shaw, not being easily pleased, decides to throw over humanity with all its limitations and go in for progress for its own sake. If man, as we know him, is incapable of the philosophy of progress, Mr. Shaw asks, not for a new kind of philosophy, but for a new kind of man. It is rather as if a nurse had tried a rather bitter food for some years on a baby, and on discovering that it was not suitable, should not throw away the food and ask for a new food, but throw the baby out of window, and ask for a new baby.[36] Shaw represented the new school of thought, modernism, which was rising at the time. Chesterton's views, on the other hand, became increasingly more focused towards the Church. In Orthodoxy he writes: "The worship of will is the negation of will... If Mr. Bernard Shaw comes up to me and says, 'Will something', that is tantamount to saying, 'I do not mind what you will', and that is tantamount to saying, 'I have no will in the matter.' You cannot admire will in general, because the essence of will is that it is particular."[37]
Title page of the 1909 edition of Orthodoxy, first published in the previous year.
This style of argumentation is what Chesterton refers to as using 'Uncommon Sense' — that is, that the thinkers and popular philosophers of the day, though very clever, were saying things that were nonsensical. This is illustrated again in Orthodoxy: "Thus when Mr. H. G. Wells says (as he did somewhere), 'All chairs are quite different', he utters not merely a misstatement, but a contradiction in terms. If all chairs were quite different, you could not call them 'all chairs'."[38] Or, again from Orthodoxy: The wild worship of lawlessness and the materialist worship of law end in the same void. Nietzsche scales staggering mountains, but he turns up ultimately in Tibet. He sits down beside Tolstoy in the land of nothing and Nirvana. They are both helpless — one because he
must not grasp anything, and the other because he must not let go of anything. The Tolstoyan's will is frozen by a Buddhist instinct that all special actions are evil. But the Nietzscheite's will is quite equally frozen by his view that all special actions are good; for if all special actions are good, none of them are special. They stand at the crossroads, and one hates all the roads and the other likes all the roads. The result is — well, some things are not hard to calculate. They stand at the cross-roads.[39] Another contemporary and friend from schooldays was Edmund Bentley, inventor of the clerihew. Chesterton himself wrote clerihews and illustrated his friend's first published collection of poetry, Biography for Beginners (1905), which popularized the clerihew form. Chesterton was also godfather to Bentley's son, Nicolas, and opened his novel The Man Who Was Thursday with a poem written to Bentley.
Charges of anti-Semitism Chesterton faced accusations of anti-Semitism during his lifetime, as well as posthumously.[40] An early supporter of Captain Dreyfus, by 1906 he had turned into an antidreyfusard.[41] From the early 20th century, both his fictional and non-fictional work included caricatures of Jews, stereotyping them as greedy, cowardly, disloyal and communists.[42] In a work of 1917, titled A Short History of England, Chesterton considers the royal decree of 1290 by which Edward I expelled Jews from England, a policy that remained in place until 1655. Chesterton writes that popular perception of Jewish moneylenders could well have led Edward I's subjects to regard him as a "tender father of his people" for "breaking the rule by which the rulers had hitherto fostered their bankers' wealth". He felt that Jews, "a sensitive and highly civilized people" who "were the capitalists of the age, the men with wealth banked ready for use", might legitimately complain that "Christian kings and nobles, and even Christian popes and bishops, used for Christian purposes (such as the Crusades and the cathedrals) the money that could only be accumulated in such mountains by a usury they inconsistently denounced as unchristian; and then, when worse times came, gave up the Jew to the fury of the poor".[43][44] In The New Jerusalem, Chesterton made it clear that he believed that there was a "Jewish Problem" in Europe, in the sense that he believed that Jewish culture (though not Jewish ethnicity) separated itself from the nationalities of Europe.[45] He argued that he was quite in favor of a Jew becoming Prime Minister or Lord Chancellor, under the condition, though, that "every Jew must be dressed like an Arab [...] The point applies to any Jew, and to our own recovery of healthier relations with him. The point is that we should know where we are; and he would know where he is, which is in a foreign land." He suggested the formation of a Jewish homeland as a solution, and was later invited to Palestine by Jewish Zionists who saw him as an ally in their cause. Later he grew out of the notion of Palestine as a Jewish homeland, and suggested somewhere in Africa instead. Chesterton, like Belloc, openly expressed his abhorrence of Hitler's rule almost as soon as it started.[46] In The Truth about the Tribes Chesterton blasted German race theories writing "the essence of Nazi Nationalism is to preserve the purity of a race in a continent where all races are impure."[47]
The historian Simon Mayers points out that Chesterton wrote in works such as The Crank, The Heresy of Race, and The Barbarian as Bore against the concept of racial superiority and critiqued pseudo-scientific race theories saying they were akin to a new religion.[47] In The Truth About the Tribes Chesterton wrote "The curse of race religion is that it makes each separate man the sacred image which he worships. His own bones are the sacred relics; his own blood is the blood of St. Januarius."[47] Mayers records that despite "his hostility towards Nazi antisemitism...[its unfortunate that he made] claims that 'Hitlerism' was a form of Judaism, and that the Jews were partly responsible for race theory."[47] In The Judaism of Hitler Chesterton wrote "Hitlerism is almost entirely of Jewish origin."[47] In A Queer Choice Chesterton maintained that the only possible source of "the Hitlerites" idea of "a Chosen Race" was "from the Jews."[47] In The Crank Chesterton went on to say "If there is one outstanding quality in Hitlerism it is its Hebraism" and "the new Nordic Man has all the worst faults of the worst Jews: jealousy, greed, the mania of conspiracy, and above all, the belief in a Chosen Race."[47] Mayers also shows that Chesterton didn't just portray Jews as culturally and religiously distinct, but racially as well. Chesterton wrote The Feud of the Foreigner in 1920 saying that the Jew "is a foreigner far more remote from us than is a Bavarian from a Frenchman; he is divided by the same type of division as that between us and a Chinaman or a Hindoo. He not only is not, but never was, of the same race."[47] In The Everlasting Man, while writing about human sacrifice, Chesterton indicated that he thought medieval stories about Jews ritually killing Christian children might plausibly have some basis in fact. Chesterton wrote "The Hebrew prophets were perpetually protesting against the Hebrew race relapsing into an idolatry that involved such a war upon children; and it is probable enough that this abominable apostasy from the God of Israel has occasionally appeared in Israel since, in the form of what is called ritual murder; not of course by any representative of the religion of Judaism, but by individual and irresponsible diabolists who did happen to be Jews."[47][48] Chesterton goes on in the paragraph to speak of "the enormous [devotional] popularity of the Child Martyr of the Middle Ages" and of little St. Hugh (figures held to have been ritual victims of Jews).[48] In his 1989 biography of Chesterton, Gilbert: The Man who was G.K. Chesterton, Michael Coren quoted the Wiener Library as having said that they had never thought of Chesterton "as a man who was seriously anti-semitic".[49] In 2010, the then director of the Wiener Library denied that either the library or anyone authorised to speak on its behalf had ever issued such statement.[50] In September 2013, following a discussion of the issue on Twitter, Coren stated that the disputed quotation had come from a 1985 conversation with a librarian whom he did not name.[51] Although he did not explicitly withdraw his attribution of the quotation to the Wiener Library, neither did he provide any justification for regarding the unnamed librarian's opinions as being those of the library. The American Chesterton Society has devoted a whole issue of their magazine, Gilbert, to defending Chesterton against charges of antisemitism.[52]
Opposition to Eugenics In Eugenics and Other Evils Chesterton attacked eugenics as Britain was moving towards passage of the Mental Deficiency Act 1913. Some backing the ideas of eugenics called for
the government to sterilize people deemed "mentally defective;" this view did not gain popularity but the idea of segregating them from the rest of society and thereby preventing them from reproducing did gain traction. These ideas disgusted Chesterton who wrote "It is not only openly said, it is eagerly urged that the aim of the measure is to prevent any person whom these propagandists do not happen to think intelligent from having any wife or children."[53] He blasted the proposed wording for such measures as being so vague as to apply to anyone, including "Every tramp who is sulk, every labourer who is shy, every rustic who is eccentric, can quite easily be brought under such conditions as were designed for homicidal maniacs. That is the situation; and that is the point...we are already under the Eugenist State; and nothing remains to us but rebellion."[53] He derided such ideas as founded on nonsense "as if one had a right to dragoon and enslave one's fellow citizens as a kind of chemical experiment".[53] Chesterton also mocked the idea that poverty was a result of bad breeding "[it is a] strange new disposition to regard the poor as a race; as if they were a colony of Japs or Chinese coolies. ...The poor are not a race or even a type. It is senseless to talk about breeding them; for they are not a breed. They are, in cold fact, what Dickens describes: 'a dustbin of individual accidents,' of damaged dignity, and often of damaged gentility."[53]
The Chesterbelloc
George Bernard Shaw, Hilaire Belloc, and G. K. Chesterton. See Also G. K.'s Weekly.
Chesterton is often associated with his close friend, the poet and essayist Hilaire Belloc.[54][55] George Bernard Shaw coined the name Chesterbelloc[56] for their partnership,[57] and this stuck. Though they were very different men, they shared many beliefs;[58] Chesterton eventually joined Belloc in the Catholic faith, and both voiced criticisms of capitalism and socialism.[59] They instead espoused a third way: distributism.[60] G. K.'s Weekly, which occupied much of Chesterton's energy in the last 15 years of his life, was the successor to Belloc's New Witness, taken over from Cecil Chesterton, Gilbert's brother, who died in World War I.
Legacy Literary
Chesterton's The Everlasting Man contributed to C. S. Lewis's conversion to Christianity. In a letter to Sheldon Vanauken (14 December 1950)[61][page needed] Lewis calls the book "the best popular apologetic I know",[62] and to Rhonda Bodle he wrote (31 December 1947)[63] "the [very] best popular defence of the full Christian position I know is GK Chesterton's The Everlasting Man". The book was also cited in a list of 10 books that "most shaped his vocational attitude and philosophy of life".[64] Chesterton was a very early and outspoken critic of eugenics. Eugenics and Other Evils represents one of the first book length oppositions to the Eugenics movement that began to gain momentum in England during the early 1900s.[65] Chesterton's 1906 biography of Charles Dickens was largely responsible for creating a popular revival for Dickens's work as well as a serious reconsideration of Dickens by scholars.[66]
G. K. Chesterton with wife Frances.
Chesterton's novel The Man Who Was Thursday inspired the Irish Republican leader Michael Collins with the idea: "If you didn't seem to be hiding nobody hunted you out."[67] Collins's favorite work of Chesterton was The Napoleon of Notting Hill, and he was "almost fanatically attached to it", according to his friend Sir William Darling who cemented their friendship in their mutual appreciation of Chesterton's work.[68] Etienne Gilson praised Chesterton's Aquinas volume as follows: "I consider it as being, without possible comparison, the best book ever written on Saint Thomas... the few readers who have spent twenty or thirty years in studying St. Thomas Aquinas, and who, perhaps, have themselves published two or three volumes on the subject, cannot fail to perceive that the so-called 'wit' of Chesterton has put their scholarship to shame."[69] Chesterton's column in the Illustrated London News on 18 September 1909 had a profound effect on Mahatma Gandhi.[70] P. N. Furbank asserts that Gandhi was "thunderstruck" when he read it,[71] while Martin Green notes that "Gandhi was so delighted with this that he told Indian Opinion to reprint it."[72] Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, author of seventy books, identified Chesterton as the stylist who had the greatest impact on his own writing, stating in his autobiography Treasure in Clay "The greatest influence in writing was G. K. Chesterton who never used a useless word, who saw the value of a paradox, and avoided what was trite."[73] Chesterton wrote the
introduction for Sheen's book God and Intelligence in Modern Philosophy; A Critical Study in the Light of the Philosophy of Saint Thomas.[74] Canadian Media Guru Marshall McLuhan was heavily influenced by Chesterton; McLuhan said the book What's Wrong with the World changed his life in terms of ideas and religion.[75] Neil Gaiman has stated that he grew up reading Chesterton in his school's library, and that The Napoleon of Notting Hill was an important influence on his own book Neverwhere, which used a quote from it as an epigraph. Gaiman also based the character Gilbert, from the comic book The Sandman, on Chesterton,[76] and the novel he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett is dedicated to him. Argentine author and essayist Jorge Luis Borges cited Chesterton as a major influence on his own fiction. In an interview with Richard Burgin during the late 1960s, Borges said, "Chesterton knew how to make the most of a detective story."[77] Chesterton's fence is the principle that reforms should not be made until the reasoning behind the existing state of affairs is understood. The quotation is from Chesterton’s 1929 book The Thing: Why I am a Catholic, in the chapter entitled "The Drift from Domesticity": "In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away." To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: "If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."[78]
Other In 1974, Father Ian Boyd, C.S.B, founded The Chesterton Review, a scholarly journal devoted to Chesterton and his circle. The journal is published by the G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture based in Seton Hall University, South Orange, U.S.A.
Dale Ahlquist founded the American Chesterton Society in 1996 to explore and promote his writings.[79] In 2008, a Catholic high school, Chesterton Academy, opened in the Minneapolis area. In 2012, a crater on the planet Mercury was named Chesterton after the author.[80] In the Fall of 2014, a Catholic high school, G.K. Chesterton Academy of Chicago, is set to open in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.[81] A fictionalized GK Chesterton is the central character in the Young Chesterton Chronicles, a series of young adult adventure novels written by John McNichol, and published by Sophia Institute Press and Bezalel Books. A fictionalized GK Chesterton is the central character in the G K Chesterton Mystery series, a series of detective novels written by Australian Kel Richards, and published by Riveroak Publishing.[82] Chesterton wrote the hymn O God of Earth and Altar which was printed in The Commonwealth and then included in the English Hymnal in 1906.[83] Several lines of the hymn are sung in the beginning of the song Revelations by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden on their 1983 album Piece of Mind.[84] Lead singer Bruce Dickinson in an interview stated "I have a fondness for hymns. I love some of the ritual, the beautiful words, Jerusalem and there was another one, with words by G.K. Chesterton O God of Earth and Altar - very fire and brimstone: 'Bow down and hear our cry'. I used that for an Iron Maiden song, Revelations. In my strange and clumsy way I was trying to say look its all the same stuff."[85]
Major works Main article: G. K. Chesterton bibliography Library resources about G. K. Chesterton
Online books
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
By G. K. Chesterton
Online books
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1904), Ward, M, ed., The Napoleon of Notting Hill, UK: DMU. ——— (1905), Heretics, Project Gutenberg, ISBN 978-0-7661-7476-4. ——— (1906), Charles Dickens: A Critical Study. ——— (1908a), The Man Who Was Thursday. ——— (1908b), Orthodoxy. ——— (6 July 2008) [1911a], The Innocence of Father Brown, Project Gutenberg's. ——— (1911b), Ward, M, ed., The Ballad of the White Horse, UK: DMU. ——— (1912), Manalive. ———, Father Brown (short stories) (detective fiction). ——— (1920), Ward, M, ed., The New Jerusalem, UK: DMU. ——— (1922), Eugenics and Other Evils. ——— (1923), Saint Francis of Assisi. ——— (1925), The Everlasting Man. ——— (1933), Saint Thomas Aquinas. ——— (1936), The Autobiography. ——— (1950), Ward, M, ed., The Common Man, UK: DMU.
Articles
"Literary Pictures of the Year," Part II, The Bookman, July/August 1900. "Literary Portraits of G. F. Watts," The Bookman, January 1901. "England’s Novelists in
"The Strange Crime of John Boulnois," McClure’s Magazine, February 1913. "The Paradise of Thieves," McClure’s Magazine, March 1913. "The Man in the
"Old King Cole: A Parody," The Living Age, January 1921. "The Next Renascence, XII: The Mad Hatter and the Sane Householder," Vanity Fair, Vol. XV, January 1921.
the National Portrait Gallery," The Bookman, January 1902. "Books to Read," The Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. XXVI, January/April 1902. "The Conspiracy of Journalism," The Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. XXVI, January/April 1902. "The Ways of the World: The New English Academy," The Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. XXVI, January/April 1902. "Five Painters and a Critic," The Bookman, April 1902. "Thomas Carlyle," The Bookman, May 1902. "Alexandre Dumas," Part II, The Bookman, June 1902. "Matthew Arnold," Part II, The Bookman, September/October 1902. "The Just-So Stories," The Bookman, December 1902. "Tennyson," The Bookman, December 1902. "Tackeray," The Bookman, April 1903. "The Yellow Van," The Bookman, December 1903. "Christianity and Rationalism." In: George Haw, ed., Religious Doubts of Democracy, Macmillan & Co., 1904. "Why I Believe in Christianity." In: George Haw, ed., Religious Doubts of Democracy, Macmillan & Co., 1904. "Miracles and Modern Civilisation." In: George Haw, ed., Religious
Passage," McClure’s Magazine, April 1913. "The Purple Wig," McClure’s Magazine, July 1913. "The Head of Caesar," McClure’s Magazine, August 1913. "Slavery and the American Store," The Century Magazine, November 1913. "Magic," The Dublin Review, Vol. CLIV, No. 308-309, January/April, 1914. "Wilfrid Ward," The Dublin Review, Vol. CLIX, No. 314-315, July/October, 1916. "The English Blunder about Russia." In: Winifred Stephens, ed., The Soul of Russia, Macmillan & Co., 1916. "Human Nature and the Historian," The Catholic World, Vol. CIV, No. 624, March 1917. "The Plan for a New War," The North American Review, Vol. 206, No. 745, Dec., 1917. "Stopford Brooke," The Hibbert Journal, Vol. XVI, 1917/1918. "Germany and AlsaceLorraine: How to Help Annexation," The North American Review, Vol. 207, No. 748, Mar., 1918. "The Real Secret Diplomacy," The North American Review, Vol. 207, No. 749, Apr., 1918. "A Note on the New Martyrdom," The Lotus Magazine, Vol. 10, No. 2, Feb., 1919. "On Newspaper Proprietors," The Living
"The Republican in the Ruins," The Living Age, August 1921. "Charles Dickens," The Living Age, February 1922. "The Myth of Arthur," The Living Age, September 1922. "Where All Roads Lead," The Catholic World, Vol. CXVI, No. 692, November 1922. "Are the Artists Going Mad?," The Century Magazine, December 1922. "The Patriot of the Planet," The Century Magazine, March 1923. "The Game of Psychoanalysis," The Century Magazine, May 1923. "A Defense of Detective Stories." In: Essays of Today, George G. Harrap & Co., 1923. "The World State," The Living Age, June 1925. "Why I Am a Catholic," The Forum, January 1926. "The International Irritant," The Forum, June 1928. "The Skeptic as a Critic," The Forum, February 1929. "Is Humanism a Religion?," The Bookman, May 1929. "The West’s Defense," The Forum, June 1929. "The Doom of the Darnaways," The North American Review, Vol. 228, No. 4, Oct., 1929. "The Inefficiency of Science," The North American Review, Vol.
Doubts of Democracy, Macmillan & Co., 1904. "The Ethernal Heroism of the Slums." In: George Haw, ed., Religious Doubts of Democracy, Macmillan & Co., 1904. "The Atmosphere of Matthew Arnold," The Bookman, April 1904. "Mr. Wells and the Giants," The Bookman, December 1904. "The Poetic Quality in Liberalism," The Living Age, Vol. XXVI, January/March 1905. "The Saint," The Bookman, July 1906. "Why I am Not a Socialist," The New Age, Vol. II, No. 10, 4 January 1908. "On Wells and a Glass of Beer," The New Age, Vol. II, No. 13, 25 January 1908. "The Last of the Rationalists," The New Age, Vol. II, No. 18, 29 February 1908. "Milton and his Age," The Oxford and Cambridge Review, 1909. "Objections to Socialism," The Forum, Vol. XLI, 1909. "The Modern Surrender of Women," The Dublin Review, Vol. CXLV, No. 290-291, July/October, 1909. "What is Toleration?," The Dublin Review, Vol. CXLVII, No. 294-295, July/October, 1910. "An Agnostic Defeat," The Dublin Review, Vol. CL, No. 300-301, January/April, 1912. "What is a
Age, March 1919. "The Heretic and the Home Visitor," The Living Age, May 1919. "Mr. Shaw and the Danger of Living," The Living Age, July 1919. "The True Case Against Bolshevism," The Living Age, September 1919. "Anti-Catholic History." In: Catholic and AntiCatholic History, The America Press, 1920. "The New Renascence, I: The Same Old Game," Vanity Fair, January 1920. "The New Renascence, II: The Machine of Tomfoolery," Vanity Fair, Vol. 13, No. 5, February 1920. "The New Renascence, III: Public Laws and Public Liquors," Vanity Fair, March 1920. "The Romance of Rhyme," The Living Age, March 1920. "The Fastidious Futurist," The Living Age, March 1920. "The New Renascence, IV: Beauty and the Bricklayer," Vanity Fair, April 1920. "The New Renascence, V: The Library Broken Loose," Vanity Fair, Vol. 14, No. 3, May 1920. "The New Renascence, VI: Nothing and the New Religions," Vanity Fair, June 1920. "The New Renascence, VII: The Soul of Skylarking," Vanity Fair, Vol. XIV, No. 5, July 1920. "The Sleepwalker and the State," Vanity Fair,
228, No. 5, Nov., 1929. "Magic and Fantasy in Fiction," The Bookman, March 1930. "Keeping up with Mr. Shaw," The Living Age, July 1930. "The Spirit of the Age in Literature," The Bookman, October 1930. "Reflections on a Rotten Apple," The Forum, October 1931. "The Mission of Ireland," Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, Vol. 21, No. 83, Sep., 1932. "The End of the Moderns," The Bookman, December 1932 Rep. in The American Conservative. "The Day of the Lord," The American Review, Vol. I, No. 1, April 1933. "Sex and Property," The American Review, January 1934. "Seven Days," The Living Age, April 1934. "The Masterless Man," The American Review, June 1934. "A Mild Remonstance," The American Review, September 1935. "Persecuting the Common Man," The American Mercury, January 1936. "The Case Against Corruption," The American Review, September 1936. "Some Literary Celebrities," The Saturday Review, September 1936. "Portrait of a Friend," The American Review, October 1936.
Conservative?," The Dublin Review, Vol. CL, No. 300-301, January/April, 1912. "The Chance of the Peasant," Everyman, Vol. I, No. 1, 18 October 1912. "The Collapse of Socialism," Everyman, Vol. I, No. 6, 22 November 1912. "The Absence of Mr. Glass," McClure’s Magazine, November 1912. "A Salute to the Last Socialist," Everyman, Vol. I, No. 10, 20 December 1912.
Vol. XIV, No. 6, August 1920. "The Doctor and the Doctrinaire," Vanity Fair, Vol. 15, No. 1, September 1920. "The New Renascence, XI: The Wreck of the Modern Machine," Vanity Fair, Vol. XV, No. 2, October 1920.
"The Huxley Heritage," The American Review, Vol. VIII, No. 4, February 1937. "Euthanasia and Murder," The American Review, Vol. VIII, No. 4, February 1937. "How to Write a Detective Story," Best Seller Mystery Magazine, March 1960.
Short stories
"The Crime of the Communist," Collier’s Weekly, July 1934. "The Three Horsemen," Collier’s Weekly, April 1935. "The Ring of the Lovers," Collier’s Weekly, April 1935. "A Tall Story," Collier’s Weekly, April 1935. "The Angry Street – A Bad Dream," Famous Fantastic Mysteries, February 1947.
Miscellany
Elsie M. Lang, Literary London, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton. London: T. Werner Laurie, 1906. George Haw, From Workhouse to Westminster, with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton. London: Cassell & Company, 1907. Darrell Figgs, A Vision of Life with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1909. C. Creighton Mandell, Hilaire Belloc: The Man and his Work, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton. London: Methuen & Co., 1916. Harendranath Maitra, Hinduism: The World-Ideal, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton. London: Cecil Palmer & Hayward, 1916. Maxim Gorki, Creatures that Once Were Men, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton. New York: The Modern Library, 1918. Sibyl Bristowe, Provocations, with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton. London: Erskine Macdonald, 1918. W.J. Lockington, The Soul of Ireland, with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1920. Arthur J. Penty, Post-Industrialism, with a preface by G. K. Chesterton. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922.
Leonard Merrick, The House of Lynch, with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1923. Henri Massis, Defence of the West, with a preface by G. K. Chesterton. London: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1928. Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven and other Poems, with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton. Boston: International Pocket Library, 1936.
Further reading
Ahlquist, Dale (2012), The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G.K. Chesterton, Ignatius Press, ISBN 978-1-58617-675-4. ——— (2003), G.K. Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense, Ignatius Press, ISBN 978-0-89870857-8. Belmonte, Kevin (2011). Defiant Joy: The Remarkable Life and Impact of G.K. Chesterton. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson. Blackstock, Alan R. (2012). The Rhetoric of Redemption: Chesterton, Ethical Criticism, and the Common Man. New York. Peter Lang Publishing. Braybrooke, Patrick (1922). Gilbert Keith Chesterton. London: Chelsea Publishing Company. Cammaerts, Émile (1937). The Laughing Prophet: The Seven Virtues And G. K. Chesterton. London: Methuen & Co., Ltd. Campbell, W. E. (1908). "G.K. Chesterton: Inquisitor and Democrat," The Catholic World, Vol. LXXXVIII, pp. 769–782. Campbell, W. E. (1909). "G.K. Chesterton: Catholic Apologist" The Catholic World, Vol. LXXXIX, No. 529, pp. 1–12. Chesterton, Cecil (1908). G.K. Chesterton: A Criticism. London: Alston Rivers (Rep. by John Lane Company, 1909). Clipper, Lawrence J. (1974). G.K. Chesterton. New York: Twayne Publishers. Coates, John (1984). Chesterton and the Edwardian Cultural Crisis. Hull University Press. Coates, John (2002). G.K. Chesterton as Controversialist, Essayist, Novelist, and Critic. N.Y.: E. Mellen Press Conlon, D. J. (1987). G.K. Chesterton: A Half Century of Views. Oxford University Press. Cooney, A (1999), G.K. Chesterton, One Sword at Least, London: Third Way, ISBN 0-95350771-8. Coren, Michael (2001) [1989], Gilbert: The Man who was G.K. Chesterton, Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, ISBN 9781573831956, OCLC 45190713. Corrin, Jay P. (1981). G.K. Chesterton & Hilaire Belloc: The Battle Against Modernity. Ohio University Press. Ervine, St. John G. (1922). "G.K. Chesterton." In: Some Impressions of my Elders. New York: The Macmillan Company, pp. 90–112. Ffinch, Michael (1986), G.K. Chesterton, Harper & Row. Hitchens, Christopher (2012). "The Reactionary," The Atlantic. Herts, B. Russell (1914). "Gilbert K. Chesterton: Defender of the Discarded." In: Depreciations. New York: Albert & Charles Boni, pp. 65–86. Hollis, Christopher (1970). The Mind of Chesterton. London: Hollis & Carter. Hunter, Lynette (1979). G.K. Chesterton: Explorations in Allegory. London: Macmillan Press. Jaki, Stanley (1986). Chesterton: A Seer of Science. University of Illinois Press. Jaki, Stanley (1986). "Chesterton's Landmark Year." In: Chance or Reality and Other Essays. University Press of America. Kenner, Hugh (1947). Paradox in Chesterton. New York: Sheed & Ward. Kimball, Roger (2011). "G. K. Chesterton: Master of Rejuvenation," The New Criterion, Vol. XXX, p. 26.
Kirk, Russell (1971). "Chesterton, Madmen, and Madhouses," Modern Age, Vol. XV, No. 1, pp. 6–16. Knight, Mark (2004). Chesterton and Evil. Fordham University Press. Lea, F.A. (1947). "G. K. Chesterton." In: Donald Attwater (ed.) Modern Christian Revolutionaries. New York: Devin-Adair Co. McCleary, Joseph R. (2009). The Historical Imagination of G.K. Chesterton: Locality, Patriotism, and Nationalism. Taylor & Francis. McLuhan, Marshall (1936), "GK Chesterton: A Practical Mystic", Dalhousie Review 15 (4). McNichol, J. (2008), The Young Chesterton Chronicles, Book One: The Tripods Attack!, Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, ISBN 978-1-933184-26-5. Oddie, William (2010). Chesterton and the Romance of Orthodoxy: The Making of GKC, 18741908. Oxford University Press. Orage, Alfred Richard. (1922). "G.K. Chesterton on Rome and Germany." In: Readers and Writers (1917-1921). London: George Allen & Unwin, pp. 155–161. Oser, Lee (2007). The Return of Christian Humanism: Chesterton, Eliot, Tolkien, and the Romance of History. University of Missouri Press. Paine, Randall (1999), The Universe and Mr. Chesterton, Sherwood Sugden, ISBN 0-89385511-1. Pearce, Joseph (1997), Wisdom and Innocence – A Life of GK Chesterton, Ignatius Press, ISBN 978-0-89870-700-7. Peck, William George (1920). "Mr. G.K. Chesterton and the Return to Sanity." In: From Chaos to Catholicism. London: George Allen & Unwin, pp. 52–92. Raymond, E. T. (1919). "Mr. G.K. Chesterton." In: All & Sundry. London: T. Fisher Unwin, pp. 68–76. Schall, James V. (2000). Schall on Chesterton: Timely Essays on Timeless Paradoxes. Catholic University of America Press. Scott, William T. (1912). Chesterton and Other Essays. Cincinnati: Jennings & Graham. Seaber, Luke (2011). G.K. Chesterton's Literary Influence on George Orwell: A Surprising Irony. New York: Edwin Mellen Press. Sheed, Wilfrid (1971). "Chesterbelloc and the Jews," The New York Review of Books, Vol. XVII, No. 3. Shuster, Norman (1922). "The Adventures of a Journalist: G.K. Chesterton." In: The Catholic Spirit in Modern English Literature. New York: The Macmillan Company, pp. 229–248. Slosson, Edwin E. (1917). "G.K. Chesterton: Knight Errant of Orthodoxy." In: Six Major Prophets. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, pp. 129–189. Smith, Marion Couthouy (1921). "The Rightness of G.K. Chesterton," The Catholic World, Vol. CXIII, No. 678, pp. 163–168. Stapleton, Julia (2009). Christianity, Patriotism, and Nationhood: The England of G.K. Chesterton. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Sullivan, John (1974), G.K. Chesterton: A Centenary Appraisal, London: Paul Elek, ISBN 0-23617628-5. Tonquédec, Joseph de (1920). G.K. Chesterton, ses Idées et son Caractère, Nouvelle Librairie National. Ward, Maisie (1944), Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Sheed & Ward. Ward, Maisie (1952). Return to Chesterton, London: Sheed & Ward. West, Julius (1915). G.K. Chesterton: A Critical Study. London: Martin Secker. Williams, Donald T (2006), Mere Humanity: G.K. Chesterton, CS Lewis, and JRR Tolkien on the Human Condition.
Henry Drummond (17 August 1851 – 11 March 1897) was a Scottish evangelist, writer and lecturer.
"you will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love." — Henry Drummond "Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man who sits behind a counter and says, "All right, you can have a telephone but you lose privacy and the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder puff or your petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline. Henry Drummond, a character in Inherit the Wind" — Jerome Lawrence (Inherit the Wind) "He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God. God is love. Therefore love. Without distinction, without calculation, without procrastination, love. Lavish it upon the poor, where it is very easy; especially upon the rich, who often need it most; most of all upon out equals, where it is very difficult, and for whom perhaps we do the least of all." — Henry Drummond
Life and work Drummond was born in Stirling. He was educated at Edinburgh University, where he displayed a strong inclination for physical and mathematical science. The religious element was an even more powerful factor in his nature, and disposed him to enter the Free Church of Scotland. While preparing for the ministry, he became for a time deeply interested in the evangelizing mission of Moody and Sankey, in which he actively co-operated for two years. In 1877 he became lecturer on natural science in the Free Church College, which enabled him to combine all the pursuits for which he felt a vocation. His studies resulted in his writing Natural Law in the Spiritual World, the argument of which is that the scientific principle of continuity extends from the physical world to the spiritual. Before the book was published in
1883, an invitation from the African Lakes Company drew Drummond away to Central Africa. Upon his return in the following year he found himself famous. In 1884 he was a guest at Haddo House for a dinner hosted by John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair in honour of William Ewart Gladstone on his tour of Scotland.[1] Large bodies of serious readers, among the religious and the scientific classes alike, discovered in Natural Law the common standing-ground which they needed; and the universality of the demand proved, if nothing more, the seasonableness of its publication. Drummond continued to be actively interested in missionary and other movements among the Free Church students. In 1888 he published Tropical Africa, a valuable digest of information.[2] In 1890 he travelled in Australia, and in 1893 delivered the Lowell Lectures at Boston. It had been his intention to reserve them for mature revision, but an attempted piracy compelled him to hasten their publication, and they appeared in 1894 under the title of The Ascent of Man. Their object was to vindicate for altruism, or the disinterested care and compassion of animals for each other, an important part in effecting the survival of the fittest, a thesis previously maintained by Professor John Fiske. Drummond's health failed shortly afterwards (he had suffered from bone cancer for some years), and he died on 11 March 1897. His character was full of charm[peacock term]. His writings were too nicely adapted to the needs of his own day to justify the expectation that they would long survive it, but few men exercised more religious influence in their own generation, especially on young men. In 1905 the church placed a medallion plaque to his memory in the Free Church College in Edinburgh, sculpted by James Pittendrigh Macgillivray.
Selected writings
Signature of Henry Drummond
See Lennox's book for a fuller bibliography of Drummond's writings.[3]
Natural Law in the Spiritual World (1883) Tropical Africa (1888) The Greatest Thing in the World and Other Addresses (1894) The Ascent of Man (1894) The Ideal Life and Other Unpublished Addresses (1897) The Monkey That Would Not Kill (1898) The New Evangelism and Other Papers (1899)
See also
God of the gaps
References 1. Emslie, Alfred Edward. "Dinner at Haddo House, 1884". National Portrait Gallery, London. Review, Anti-Slavery Reporter, May–June 1888, p 82 3. * Lennox, Cuthbert (1901). The Practical Life Work of Henry Drummond. New York: James Pott and Company.
Further reading
Smith, George Adam (1898). The Life of Henry Drummond. New York: Doubleday & McClure Company. Simpson, James Y. Henry Drummond. Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1901, ("Famous Scots Series") Drummond, Henry (1894). Natural Law in the Spiritual World. Hodder and Stoughton (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00013-0) Drummond, Henry (1883). The Ascent of Man. J. Pott & Co. (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00053-6)
Henry Suso, O.P. (also called Amandus, a name adopted in his writings, and Heinrich Seuse in German), was a German Dominican friar and one of the most popular spiritual and contemplative writers of his day. An important author in both Latin and Middle High German, he died in Ulm on 25 January 1366, and was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1831.
"If you strive to do your best in all things, people will take it as being the worst thing possible from you. And those whom you strive to treat most circumspectly will reward you most ungraciously. No one can please everyone to the same degree. If, however, you want to try it, you will be out of step
with God and the truth. Base people’s rebukes are the praises of good people." — Henry Suso (Henry Suso: The Exemplar, with Two German Sermons) One should not judge pleasure according to the senses. One should judge it according to truth. . . . The power to renounce gives one more power than to possess things." — Henry Suso (Henry Suso: The Exemplar, with Two German Sermons)
Biography Suso was born Heinrich von Berg, a member of the ruling family of Berg. He was born in either the Free imperial city of Überlingen on Lake Constance or nearby Constance, on 21 March 1295, and perhaps on that date up to 1297.[1] Later, out of humility and devotion to his mother, he took her family name, which was Sus (or Süs). At 13 years of age he was admitted to the novitiate of the Dominican Order at their priory in Constance. After completing that year of probation, he advanced to do his preparatory, philosophical, and theological studies there. In the prologue to his Life, Suso recounts how, after about five years in the monastery (in other words, when he was about 18 years old), he experienced a conversion to a deeper form of religious life through the intervention of Divine Wisdom. He made himself "the Servant of Eternal Wisdom", which he identified with the divine essence and, in more specific terms, with divine Eternal Wisdom made woman in Christ. From this point forward in his account of his spiritual life, a burning love for Eternal Wisdom dominated his thoughts and controlled his actions; his spiritual journey culminated in a mystical marriage to Christ in the form of the Goddess Eternal Wisdom.[2]
Career Suso was then sent on for further studies in philosophy and theology, probably first at the Dominican monastery in Strasbourg, perhaps between 1319 and 1321, and then from 1324 to 1327 he took a supplementary course in theology in the Dominican Studium Generale in Cologne, where he would have come into contact with Meister Eckhart, and probably also Johannes Tauler, both celebrated mystics.[3] Returning to his home priory at Constance in about 1327, Suso was appointed to the office of lector (lecturer). His teaching, however, aroused criticism - most likely because of his connection with Eckhart in the wake of the latter's trial and condemnation in 1326-9. Suso's Little Book of Truth, a short defence of Eckhart's teaching, probably dates from this time, perhaps 1329. In 1330 this treatise, and another, were denounced as heretical by enemies in the Order. Suso traveled to the Dominican General Chapter held at Maastricht in 1330 to defend himself. The consequence is not entirely known - at some point between 1329 and 1334 he was removed from his lectorship in Constance, though he was not personally condemned.[3] Knowledge of Suso's activities in subsequent years is somewhat sketchy. It is known that he served as prior of the Constance convent - most likely between 1330 and 1334, though possibly in the 1340s.[3] It is also known that he had various devoted disciples, a group including both men and women, especially those connected to the Friends of God movement. His influence was especially strong in many religious communities of women, particularly in
the Dominican Monastery of St. Katharinental in the Argau, a famous nursery of mysticism in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the mid-1330s, during his visits to various communities of Dominican nuns and Beguines, Suso became acquainted with Elsbeth Stagel, prioress of the monastery of Dominican nuns in Töss. The two became close friends. She translated some of his Latin writings into German, collected and preserved most of his extant letters, and at some point began gathering the materials that Suso eventually put together into his Life of the Servant. Suso shared in the exile of the Dominican community from Constance between 1339 and 1346, during the most heated years of the quarrel between Pope John XXII and the Holy Roman Emperor. He was transferred to the monastery at Ulm in about 1348. He seems to have remained there for the rest of his life. Here, during his final years (possibly 1361-3), he edited his four vernacular works into The Exemplar. Suso died in Ulm on 25 January 1366.
Mortifications Early in his life, Suso subjected himself to extreme forms of mortifications; later on he reported that God told him they were unnecessary. During this period, Suso devised for himself several painful devices. Some of these were: an undergarment studded with a hundred and fifty brass nails, a very uncomfortable door to sleep on, and a cross with thirty protruding needles and nails under his body as he slept. In the autobiographical text in which he reports these, however, he ultimately concludes that they are unnecessary distractions from the love of God.[4]
Writings Suso and Johannes Tauler were students of Meister Eckhart, forming the nucleus of the Rhineland school of mysticism. As a lyric poet and "troubadour of divine wisdom," Suso explored with psychological intensity the spiritual truths of Eckhart’s mystical philosophy.[citation needed] Suso's first work was the Büchlein der Wahrheit (Little Book of Truth) written between 1328 and 1334 in Constance. This was a short defence of the teaching of Meister Eckhart, who had been tried for heresy and condemned in 1328-9. In 1330 this treatise and another (possibly the Little Book of Eternal Wisdom) were denounced as heretical by Dominican opponents, leading Suso to travel to the Dominican General Chapter held at Maastricht in 1330 to defend himself.[3] Suso's next book, Das Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit (The Little Book of Eternal Wisdom), written around 1328-1330,[3] is less speculative and more practical. At some point between 1334 and 1337 Suso translated this work into Latin, but in doing so added considerably to its contents, and made of it an almost entirely new book, which he called the Horologium Sapientiae (Clock of Wisdom). This book was dedicated to the new Dominican Master General, Hugh of Vaucemain, who appears to have been a supporter of his.[3] At some point in the following decades, Stagel formed a collection of 28 of Suso's letters in the Grosses Briefbuch (Great Book of Letters), which survives. Suso also wrote a long text
purporting to tell the story of his spiritual life and ascetic practices (variously referred to as the Life of the Servant, Life, Vita, or Leben Seuses), and revised the Büchlein der Wahrheit, and the Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit. At some point in his later years, perhaps 1361-3, he collected these works, together with 11 of his letters (the Briefbüchlein, or Little Book of Letters, a selection of letters from the Grosses Briefbuch), and a prologue, to form one book he referred to as The Exemplar.[5] There are also various sermons attributed to Suso, although only two appear to be authentic.[5] A treatise known as the Minnebüchlein (Little Book of Love) is sometimes, but probably incorrectly, attributed to Suso.[5] Suso was very widely read in the later Middle Ages. There are 232 extant manuscripts of the Middle High German Little Book of Eternal Wisdom.[6] The Latin Clock of Wisdom was even more popular: over four hundred manuscripts in Latin, and over two hundred manuscripts in various medieval translations (it was translated into eight languages, including Dutch, French, Italian, Swedish, Czech, and English). Many early printings survive as well. The Clock was therefore second only to the Imitation of Christ in popularity among spiritual writings of the later Middle Ages.[7] Among his readers and admirers were Thomas à Kempis and John Fisher.[8] Wolfgang Wackernagel and others have called Suso a "Minnesinger in prose and in the spiritual order" or a "Minnesinger of the Love of God" both for his use of images and themes from secular, courtly, romantic poetry and for his rich musical vocabulary.[9] The mutual love of God and man which is his principal theme gives warmth and color to his style. He used the full and flexible Alemannic idiom with rare skill, and contributed much to the formation of good German prose, especially by giving new shades of meaning to words employed to describe inner sensations.
Legacy and veneration In the world Suso was esteemed as a preacher, and was heard in the cities and towns of Swabia, Switzerland, Alsace, and the Netherlands. His apostolate, however, was not with the masses, but rather with individuals of all classes who were drawn to him by his singularly attractive personality, and to whom he became a personal director in the spiritual life. Suso was reported to have established among the Friends of God a society which he called the Brotherhood of the Eternal Wisdom. The so-called Rule of the Brotherhood of the Eternal Wisdom is but a free translation of a chapter of his Horologium Sapientiae, and did not make its appearance until the fifteenth century. Suso was declared Blessed in 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI, who assigned 2 March as his feast day, celebrated solely within the Dominican Order. The Dominicans now celebrate his feast on 23 January, the feria, or "free" day, nearest the day of his death.
Editions and translations The Exemplar (Middle High German):
Henry Suso, Das Buch von dem Diener (The Life of the Servant), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, Heinrich Seuse. Deutsche Schriften, 1907
(translated by Frank Tobin, in The Exemplar, with Two German Sermons, New York: Paulist Press, 1989, pp. 61–204.)
Das Büchlein der ewigen Weisheit (The Little Book of Eternal Wisdom), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, ibid.
(trans. in F. Tobin, ibid., pp. 204–304.)
Das Büchlein der Wahrheit (The Little Book of Truth), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, ibid.
(trans. in F. Tobin, ibid., pp. 305–332.)
Das Briefbüchlein (The Little Book of Letters), ed. K. Bihlmeyer, ibid., pp360–393
(trans. in F. Tobin, ibid., pp. 333–360.) Preaching and Letters (Middle High German):
Henry Suso, The Great Book of Letters, ed. K. Bihlmeyer, Heinrich Seuse. Deutsche Schriften, 1907, pp. 405–494.
Sermons 1 and 4 (those now recognized as authentic) are published in English translation in The Exemplar, with Two German Sermons, trans. F. Tobin, (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), pp. 361–376.
Latin:
Henry Suso, Horologium sapientiae (Clock of Wisdom), ed. P. Künzle, Heinrich Seuses Horologium sapientiae, Freiburg: Universitatsverlag, 1977
(translated by Edmund Colledge, Wisdom's Watch upon the Hours, Catholic University of America Press [1994])
References This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Bl. Henry Suso". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 1. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p. 197. Barbara Newman, God and the Goddesses (2003), pp. 12-4 Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p. 198. http://www.philosophy, r. o. (2004). "Internal Suffering and Christianity." available from http://www.philosophy-religion.org/criticism/suffering.htm
Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p. 204. An updated list of manuscripts containing only the Little Book of Eternal Wisdom Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p. 199 and 201 Pierre Debongnie (1940), "Henri Suso et l'Imitation de Jesus-Christ" (Revue d'ascetique et de mystique 21: pp. 242-68 9. Rozenski, Steven (2008), "The Visual, the Textual, and the Auditory in Henry Suso’s Vita or Life of the Servant", Mystics Quarterly 34: 35–72
Further reading English:
van Aelst, José (2013). "Visualizing the Spiritual: Images in the Life and Teachings of Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366)". In de Hemptinne, Thérèse; Fraeters, Veerle; Góngora, María Eugenia. Speaking to the Eye: Sight and Insight through Text and Image (1150–1650). Brepols. Haas, Alois (1994). "Reading Henry Suso". Listening 29: 199–215. Hamburger, Jeffrey (1998). The Visual and the Visionary: Art and Female Spirituality in Late Medieval Germany. James, Sarah (2012). "Rereading Henry Suso and Eucharistic Theology in Fifteenth-Century England". The Review of English Studies 63 (262): 732–42. doi:10.1093/res/hgs053. Kieckhefer, Richard (1984). Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth-Century Saints and Their Religious Milieu, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. McGinn, Bernard (2005). The Harvest of Mysticism, pp. 191–239. Newman, Barbara (2003). God and the Goddesses: Vision, Poetry, and Belief in the Middle Ages. University of Pennsylvania Press. Rozenski, Steven (2010). "Henry Suso's Horologium Sapientiae in fifteenth-century France: images of reading and writing in Brussels Royal Library MS IV 111". Word & Image 26 (4): 364–80. doi:10.1080/02666281003603146. Schultze, Dirk (2005). The Seven Points of True Love and Everlasting Wisdom: A Middle English Translation of Henry Suso's Horologium Sapientiae, Edited from Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Brogyntyn II.5. Williams-Krapp, Werner (2004). "Henry Suso's Vita between Mystagogy and Hagiography". In Mulder-Bakker, Anneke. Seeing and Knowing: Women and Learning in Medieval Europe, 1200-1550. Brepols. pp. 35–48.
German:
Filthaut, E.M., ed. (1966). Seuse-Studien: Heinrich Seuse. Studien zum 600. Todestag, 13661966, Cologne: Albertus Magnus Verlag Haas, Alois. (1971). Nim din selbes war. Studien zur Lehre von der Selbsterkenntnis bei Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler und Heinrich Seuse, Freiburg: Universitatsverlag. Keller, Hildegard Elisabeth and Hamburger, Jeffrey, eds. (2011). Die Stunde des Hundes – after Henry Suso's Exemplar. Largier, Niklaus (1999). "Der Körper der Schrift: Bild und Text am Beispiel einer SeuseHandschrift des 15. Jahrhunderts". Mittelalter. Neue Wege durch einen alten Kontinent: 241– 71.
Italian:
Digitized manuscript (ca. 1500-25) of the Horologio di sapienza (an Italian translation of the Horologium Sapientiae): Digitized codex at Somni.
Horatius Bonar (19 December 1808 – 31 July 1889) was a Scottish churchman and poet.
"It is not opinions that man needs: it is TRUTH. It is not theology; it is God. It is not religion: it is Christ. It is not literature and science; but the knowledge of the free love of God in the gift of His only-begotten Son." — Horatius Bonar (Words to Winners of Souls) "We are forgiven, that we may be like Him who forgives us." — Horatius Bonar (Everlasting Righteousness) "Faith is the acknowledgment of the entire absence of all goodness in us, and the recognition of the cross as the substitute for all the want on our part. Faith saves, because it owns the complete salvation of another, and not because it contributes anything to that salvation." — Horatius Bonar (Everlasting Righteousness) “The divine order then is first pardon, then holiness; first peace with God, and then conformity to the image of that God with whom we have been brought to be at peace." — Horatius Bonar (God's Way of Holiness)
Life The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He came from a long line of ministers who have served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. One of eleven children, his brothers John James and Andrew Alexander were also ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. He had married Jane Catherine Lundie in 1843 and five of their young children died in succession. Towards the end of their lives, one of their surviving daughters was left a widow with five small children and she returned to live with her parents. Bonar's wife, Jane, died in 1876. He is buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.
In 1853 Bonar earned the Doctor of Divinity degree at the University of Aberdeen.
Service He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland. At first he was put in charge of mission work at St. John's parish in Leith and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the Disruption of 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh to take over the Chalmers Memorial Church (named after his teacher at college, Dr. Thomas Chalmers). The 1870s brought an invitation for MacDonald to tour and lecture in America. He was wellreceived by huge audiences and by writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. A well-paid ministerial position was offered him but he chose to return to England. In 1877 he was pensioned at the request of Queen Victoria. The ill health that had plagued MacDonald the greater part of his life forced him to seek the warmer climates of Europe. One of his daughters was taken to Italy for a cure in 1877 though she ended up dying. However Macdonald found the climate of such benefit to his own maladies that he spent most of the years from 1881 to 1902 in Bordighera, Italy, "Heaven of the English" in his house "Casa Coraggio." His wife was the organist of the Catholic church there and they often held concerts and amateur plays in their home socializing and having a merry time. Titles published around this time were Sir Gibbie (1879), Donal Grant (1883), and the moral allegories Lilith (1895) and Robert Falconer (1868) show MacDonald's early distaste for the limiting Calvinist God's electing to love some and denying it to others. In 1883, he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.
Works He was a voluminous and highly popular author. He also served as the editor for "The Quarterly journal of Prophecy" from 1848 to 1873 and for the "Christian Treasury" from 1859 to 1879. In addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., "I heard the voice of Jesus say" and "Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power," became known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was published as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series). His last volume of poetry was My Old Letters. Bonar was also author of several biographies of ministers he had known, including "The Life of the Rev. John Milne of Perth" in 1869, - and in 1884 "The Life and Works of the Rev. G. T. Dodds", who had been married to Bonar's daughter and who had died in 1882 while serving as a missionary in France. In his George MacDonald: An Anthology (1947) C. S. Lewis states that while reading a copy of MacDonald's Phantastes (1858) "a few hours later," through inspiration of the gentle Christian's words "I knew I had crossed a great frontier.".... "I know hardly any other writer who seems closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ himself." W.H. Auden and J. R. R. Tolkien also admired his efforts. Phantastes was to become a definitive work of MacDonald's career. Through his writing, peppered with the Doric Dialect, he asserted that there was a God and art and the expression of creativity of spirit brought one closer to Him. Other successful titles were At the Back of the North Wind (1871), The Princess and the Goblin (published sometime in the 1880s) and it's sequel The Princess and Curdie (1883).
The Diary of an Old Soul first published posthumously in 1965 strikes a deeper note of thoughtfulness where MacDonald offers a prayer for each day of the year. His hymns include:
Fill thou my life, O Lord, my God I heard the Voice of Jesus say I Was a Wandering Sheep Thy way, not mine, O Lord Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face A few more years shall roll Come Lord and tarry not O love of God, how strong and true
Some of his books include:
Words to Winners of Souls. Nabu Press. 2011. ISBN 978-1-24772-723-3. The Everlasting Righteousness. Banner of Truth. 1996. ISBN 978-0-85151-655-4. God's Way of Holiness. Christian Focus Publications. 1999. ISBN 978-1-85792-503-6. How Shall I Go to God. Baker Book House. 1977. ISBN 978-0-8010-0713-2. Night of Weeping. Christian Focus Publications. 1999. ISBN 978-1-85792-441-1. God's Way of Peace ISBN 1-4590-9630-4 Follow the Lamb ISBN 0-906731-63-1 Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes on The Acts & Larger Epistles - commentary on Acts, Romans, and 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians ASIN B002ZJRS9K Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes on Revelation - commentary on the Book of Revelation ASIN B002ZRQ55U
References
"The Life and Works of Horatius Bonar CD-Rom". This contains virtually all the extant writings of this author, along with much biographical material. LUX Publications. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
Julian, John (June 1907). A Dictionary of Hymnology. London: John Murray. pp. 161–162.
Bailey, Albert Edward (1950). The Gospel in Hymns. New York: Charles Scribner's sons. pp. 451–455.
"New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge". Retrieved 2007-02-17.
Heath Christian Book Shop Charitable Trust. "Horatius Bonar 1808-1880". Retrieved 2007-0217. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bonar, Horatius". Encyclopædia Britannica 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 197.
Jakob Böhme (/ˈbeɪmə, ˈboʊ-/;[1] 1575 – November 17, 1624) was a German Christian mystic and theologian. He is considered[by whom?] an original thinker within the Lutheran tradition, and his first book, commonly known as Aurora, caused a great scandal. In contemporary English, his name may be spelled Jacob Boehme; in seventeenth-century
England it was also spelled Behmen, approximating the contemporary English pronunciation of the German Böhme.
“If men would as fervently seek after love and righteousness as they do after opinions, there would be no strife on earth, and we should be as children of one father, and should need no law or ordinance. For God is not served by any law, but only by obedience.” “A true Christian, who is born anew of the Spirit of Christ, is in the simplicity of Christ, and hath no strife or contention with any man about religion.” All that men will serve God with must be done in Faith, viz. in the Spirit. It is the Spirit that maketh the work perfect, and acceptable in the sight of God. All that a man undertaketh and doeth in Faith, he doth in the Spirit of God, which Spirit of God doth co-operate in the work, and then it is acceptable to God.
Biography
Jakob Böhme (anonymous portrait)
Böhme was born in March 8, 1575, at Alt Seidenberg (now Stary Zawidów, Poland), a village near Görlitz in Upper Lusatia, a territory of the Holy Roman Empire. His father, George Wissen, was Lutheran, reasonably wealthy, but a peasant nonetheless. Böhme was the fourth of five children. Böhme's first job was that of a herd boy. He was, however, deemed to be not strong enough for husbandry. When he was 14 years old, he was sent to Seidenberg, as an apprentice to become a shoemaker.[2] His apprenticeship for shoemaking was hard; he lived with a family who were not Christians, which exposed him to the controversies of the time. He regularly prayed and read the Bible as well as works by visionaries such as Paracelsus, Weigel and Schwenckfeld, although he received no formal education.[3] After three years as an apprentice, Böhme left to travel. Although it is unknown just how far he went, he at least made it to Görlitz.[2] In 1592 Böhme returned from his journeyman years. By 1599, Böhme was master of his craft with his own premises in Görlitz. That same year he married Katharina, daughter of Hans Kuntzschmann, a butcher in Görlitz, and together he and Katharina had four sons and two daughters.[3][4] Böhme's mentor was Abraham Behem who corresponded with Valentin Weigel. Böhme joined the "Conventicle of God's Real Servants" - a parochial study group organized by Martin Möller. Böhme had a number of mystical experiences throughout his youth, culminating in a vision in 1600 as one day he focused his attention onto the exquisite beauty of a beam of sunlight reflected in a pewter dish. He believed this vision revealed to him the spiritual structure of the world, as well as the relationship between God and man, and good and evil. At the time he chose not to speak of this experience openly, preferring instead to continue his work and raise a family.[citation needed] In 1610 Böhme experienced another inner vision in which he further understood the unity of the cosmos and that he had received a special vocation from God.
The shop in Görlitz, which was sold in 1613, had allowed Böhme to buy a house in 1610 and to finish paying for it in 1618. Having given up shoemaking in 1613, Böhme sold woolen gloves for a while, which caused him to regularly visit Prague to sell his wares.[2]
Aurora and writings There are as many blasphemies in this shoemaker's book as there are lines; it smells of shoemaker's pitch and filthy blacking. May this insufferable stench be far from us. The Arian poison was not so deadly as this shoemaker's poison. — Gregorius Richter following the publication of Aurora.[5]
Twelve years after the vision in 1600, Böhme began to write his first book, Die Morgenroete im Aufgang (The rising of Dawn). The book was given the name Aurora by a friend; however, Böhme originally wrote the book for himself and it was never completed.[6] A manuscript copy of the unfinished work was loaned to Karl von Ender, a nobleman, who had copies made and began to circulate them. A copy fell into the hands of Gregorius Richter, the chief pastor of Görlitz, who considered it heretical and threatened Böhme with exile if he continued working on it. As a result, Böhme did not write anything for several years; however, at the insistence of friends who had read Aurora, he started writing again in 1618. In 1619 Böhme wrote "De Tribus Principiis" or "On the Three Principles of Divine Being". It took him two years to finish his second book, which was followed by many other treatises, all of which were copied by hand and circulated only among friends.[7] In 1620 Böhme wrote "The Threefold Life of Man", "Forty Questions on the Soul", "The Incarnation of Jesus Christ", "The Six Theosophical Points", "The Six Mystical Points". In 1622 Böhme wrote "De Signatura Rerum". In 1623 Böhme wrote "On Election to Grace", "On Christ's Testaments", "Mysterium Magnum", "Clavis (Key)". The year 1622 saw Böhme write some short works all of which were subsequently included in his first published book on New Year's Day 1624, under the title Weg zu Christo (The Way to Christ).[4] The publication caused another scandal and following complaints by the clergy, Böhme was summoned to the Town Council on 26 March 1624. The report of the meeting was that: "Jacob Boehme, the shoemaker and rabid enthusiast, declares that he has written his book To Eternal Life, but did not cause the same to be printed. A nobleman, Sigismund von Schweinitz, did that. The Council gave him warning to leave the town; otherwise the Prince Elector would be apprised of the facts. He thereupon promised that he would shortly take himself off."[8] I must tell you, sir, that yesterday the pharisaical devil was let loose, cursed me and my little book, and condemned the book to the fire. He charged me with shocking vices; with being a scorner of both Church and Sacraments, and with getting drunk daily on brandy, wine, and beer; all of which is untrue; while he himself is a drunken man." — Jacob Böhme writing about Gregorius Richter on 2 April 1624.[9]
Böhme left for Dresden on 8 or 9 May 1624, where he stayed with the court physician for two months. In Dresden he was accepted by the nobility and high clergy. His intellect was also recognized by the professors of Dresden, who in a hearing in May 1624, encouraged Böhme to go home to his family in Görlitz.[3] During Böhme's absence his family had suffered during the Thirty Years' War.[3] Once home, Böhme accepted an invitation to stay with Herr von Schweinitz, who had a country-seat. While there Böhme began to write his last book, the 177 Theosophic Questions. However, he fell terminally ill with a bowel complaint forcing him to travel home on 7 November. Gregorius Richter, Böhme's adversary from Görlitz, had died in August 1624, while Böhme was away. The new clergy, still wary of Böhme, forced him to answer a long list of questions when he wanted to receive the sacrament. He died on November 17, 1624.[10] In this short period, Böhme produced an enormous amount of writing, including his major works De Signatura Rerum (The Signature of All Things) and Mysterium Magnum. He also developed a following throughout Europe, where his followers were known as Behmenists. The son of Böhme's chief antagonist, the pastor primarius of Görlitz Gregorius Richter, edited a collection of extracts from his writings, which were afterwards published complete at Amsterdam with the help of Coenraad van Beuningen in the year 1682. Böhme's full works were first printed in 1730.
Theology
Böhme's cosmogony or the Philosophical Sphere or the Wonder Eye of Eternity (1620).
The chief concern of Böhme's writing was the nature of sin, evil and redemption. Consistent with Lutheran theology, Böhme preached that humanity had fallen from a state of divine grace to a state of sin and suffering, that the forces of evil included fallen angels who had rebelled against God, and that God's goal was to restore the world to a state of grace. There are some serious departures from accepted Lutheran theology, however, such as his rejection of sola fide, as in this passage from The Way to Christ:
For he that will say, I have a Will, and would willingly do Good, but the earthly Flesh which I carry about me, keepeth me back, so that I cannot; yet I shall be saved by Grace, for the Merits of Christ. I comfort myself with his Merit and Sufferings; who will receive me of mere Grace, without any Merits of my own, and forgive me my Sins. Such a one, I say, is like a Man that knoweth what Food is good for his Health, yet will not eat of it, but eateth Poison instead thereof, from whence Sickness and Death, will certainly follow.[11] Another place where Böhme may depart from accepted theology (though this was open to question due to his somewhat obscure, oracular style) was in his description of the Fall as a necessary stage in the evolution of the Universe.[12] A difficulty with his theology is the fact that he had a mystical vision, which he reinterpreted and reformulated.[13] According to F. von Ingen, to Böhme, in order to reach God, man has to go through hell first. God exists without time or space, he regenerates himself through eternity, so Böhme, who restates the trinity as truly existing but with a novel interpretation. God, the Father is fire, who gives birth to his son, whom Böhme calls light. The Holy Spirit is the living principle, or the divine life.[14] However, it is clear that Böhme never claimed that God sees evil as desirable, necessary or as part of divine will to bring forth good. In his Threefold Life, Böhme states: "[I]n the order of nature, an evil thing cannot produce a good thing out of itself, but one evil thing generates another." Böhme did not believe that there is any "divine mandate or metaphysically inherent necessity for evil and its effects in the scheme of thing."[15] Dr. John Pordage, a commentator on Böhme, wrote that Böhme "whensoever he attributes evil to eternal nature considers it in its fallen state, as it became infected by the fall of Lucifer... ."[15] Evil is seen as "the disorder, rebellion, perversion of making spirit nature's servant",[16] which is to say a perversion of initial Divine order.
Jakob Böhme's House in Zgorzelec, where he lived from 1590 to 1610
Böhme's correspondences in "Aurora" of the seven qualities, planets and humoral-elemental associations:
1. Dry - Saturn - melancholy, power of death; 2. Sweet - Jupiter - sanguine, gentle source of life;
3. Bitter - Mars - choleric, destructive source of life; 4. Fire - Sun/Moon - night/day; evil/good; sin/virtue; Moon, later = phlegmatic, watery; 5. Love - Venus - love of life, spiritual rebirth; 6. Sound - Mercury - keen spirit, illumination, expression; 7. Corpus - Earth - totality of forces awaiting rebirth.
In "De Tribus Principiis" or "On the Three Principles of Divine Being" Böhme subsumed the seven principles into the Trinity:
1. The "dark world" of the Father (Qualities 1-2-3); 2. The "light world" of the Holy Spirit (Qualities 5-6-7); 3. "This world" of Satan and Christ (Quality 4).
Cosmology In one interpretation of Böhme's cosmology, it was necessary for humanity to return to God, and for all original unities to undergo differentiation, desire and conflict — as in the rebellion of Satan, the separation of Eve from Adam and their acquisition of the knowledge of good and evil —, in order for creation to evolve to a new state of redeemed harmony that would be more perfect than the original state of innocence, allowing God to achieve a new selfawareness by interacting with a creation that was both part of, and distinct from, Himself. Free will becomes the most important gift God gives to humanity, allowing us to seek divine grace as a deliberate choice while still allowing us to remain individuals. Böhme saw the incarnation of Christ not as a sacrificial offering to cancel out human sins, but as an offering of love for humanity, showing God's willingness to bear the suffering that had been a necessary aspect of creation. He also believed the incarnation of Christ conveyed the message that a new state of harmony is possible. This was somewhat at odds with Lutheran teachings, and his suggestion that God would have been somehow incomplete without the Creation was even more controversial, as was his emphasis on faith and self-awareness rather than strict adherence to dogma or scripture.[citation needed]
Marian views Böhme believed that the Son of God became human through the Virgin Mary. Before the birth of Christ, God recognized himself as a virgin. This virgin is therefore a mirror of God's wisdom and knowledge.[17] Böhme follows Luther (and all Christians), in that he views Mary within the context of Christ. Unlike Luther, he does not address himself to dogmatic issues very much, but to the human side of Mary. Like all other women, she was human and therefore subject to sin. Only after God elected her with his grace to become the mother of his son, did she inherit the status of sinlessness.[14] Mary did not move the Word, the Word moved Mary, so Böhme, explaining that all her grace came from Christ. Mary is "blessed among women" but not because of her qualifications, but because of her humility. Mary is an instrument of God; an example of what God can do: It shall not be forgotten in all eternity, that God became human in her.[18] Böhme, unlike Luther (and virtually all other Christians to that point in time), does not believe that Mary was the Ever Virgin. Her virginity after the birth of Jesus is unrealistic to Böhme. The true salvation is Christ, not Mary. The importance of Mary, a human like every one of us, is that she gave birth to Jesus Christ as a human being. If Mary had not been
human, according to Böhme, Christ would be a stranger and not our brother. Christ must grow in us as he did in Mary. She became blessed by accepting Christ. In a reborn Christian, as in Mary, all that is temporal disappears and only the heavenly part remains for all eternity. Böhme's peculiar theological language, involving fire, light and spirit, which permeates his theology and Marian views, does not distract much from the fact that his basic positions are Lutheran, with the one exception of the virginity of Mary, where he invents a more idiosyncratic view.[18]
Influences Böhme's writing shows the influence of Neoplatonist and alchemical[19] writers such as Paracelsus, while remaining firmly within a Christian tradition. He has in turn greatly influenced many anti-authoritarian and mystical movements, such as the Religious Society of Friends, the Philadelphians, the Gichtelians, the Society of the Woman in the Wilderness, the Ephrata Cloister, the Harmony Society, the Zoarite Separatists, Rosicrucianism, Martinism and Christian theosophy. Böhme's disciple and mentor, the Liegnitz physician Balthasar Walther, who had travelled to the Holy Land in search of magical, kabbalistic and alchemical wisdom, also introduced kabbalistic ideas into Böhme's thought.[20] Böhme was also an important source of German Romantic philosophy, influencing Schelling in particular.[21] In Richard Bucke's 1901 treatise Cosmic Consciousness, special attention was given to the profundity of Böhme's spiritual enlightenment, which seemed to reveal to Böhme an ultimate nondifference, or nonduality, between human beings and God. Böhme is also an important influence on the ideas of the English Romantic poet, artist and mystic William Blake.
Reaction In addition to the scientific revolution, the 17th century was a time of mystical revolution in Catholicism, Protestantism and Judaism. The Protestant revolution developed from Böhme and some medieval mystics. Böhme became important in intellectual circles in Protestant Europe, following from the publication of his books in England, Holland and Germany in the 1640s and 1650s.[22] Böhme was especially important for the Millenarians and was taken seriously by the Cambridge Platonists and Dutch Collegiants. Henry More was critical of Böhme and claimed he was not a real prophet, and had no exceptional insight into metaphysical questions. More, for example, dismissed Opera Posthuma by Spinoza as a return to Behmenism.[23] While Böhme was famous in Holland, England, France, Russia, Denmark and America during the 17th century, he became less influential during the 18th century. A revival, however, occurred late in that century with interest from German Romantics, who considered Böhme a forerunner to the movement. Poets such as John Milton, Ludwig Tieck, Novalis and William Blake found inspiration in Böhme's writings. Coleridge, in his Biographia Literaria, speaks of Böhme with admiration. Böhme was highly thought of by the German philosophers Baader, Schelling and Schopenhauer. Hegel went as far as to say that Böhme was "the first German philosopher."[24] Danish Bishop Hans Lassen Martensen published a book about Böhme.[25]
References by modern authors
His description of the three original Principles and the seven Spirits offers a striking analogy with the Law of Three and the Law of Seven which are described in the works of Boris Mouravieff and George Gurdjieff. On the "Mappa Mundi" that C. S. Lewis included at the beginning of his novel The Pilgrim's Regress, a region in the far South (the area that, in the novel, symbolizes excessive emotionalism and moral and intellectual dissolution) is identified as "Behmenheim". In his preface to the third edition of the book, Lewis said that this region "is named, unfairly, after Jakob Boehme or Behmen". Like many of the other regions on the map, however, Behmenheim does not figure in the plot of the novel itself. The epigraph of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian: An Evening Redness in the West contains a selection from Böhme, giving readers an insight to major themes of the novel. In Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things, one of the characters, a botanical illustrator, is very influenced by the writings of Böhme.
Works
Aurora: Die Morgenröte im Aufgang (unfinished) (1612) De Tribus Principiis (The Three Principles of the Divine Essence, 1618–1619) The Threefold Life of Man (1620) Answers to Forty Questions Concerning the Soul (1620) The Treatise of the Incarnations: (1620) o I. Of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ o II. Of the Suffering, Dying, Death and Resurrection of Christ o III. Of the Tree of Faith The Great Six Points (1620) Of the Earthly and of the Heavenly Mystery (1620) Of the Last Times (1620) De Signatura Rerum (The Signature of All Things, 1621) The Four Complexions (1621) Of True Repentance (1622) Of True Resignation (1622) Of Regeneration (1622) Of Predestination (1623) A Short Compendium of Repentance (1623) The Mysterium Magnum (1623) A Table of the Divine Manifestation, or an Exposition of the Threefold World (1623) The Supersensual Life (1624) Of Divine Contemplation or Vision (unfinished) (1624) Of Christ's Testaments (1624) o I. Baptism o II. The Supper Of Illumination (1624) 177 Theosophic Questions, with Answers to Thirteen of Them (unfinished) (1624) An Epitome of the Mysterium Magnum (1624) The Holy Week or a Prayer Book (unfinished) (1624) A Table of the Three Principles (1624) Of the Last Judgement (lost) (1624)
The Clavis (1624) Sixty-two Theosophic Epistles (1618–1624)
Books in print
The Way to Christ (inc. True Repentance, True Resignation, Regeneration or the New Birth, The Supersensual Life, Of Heaven & Hell, The Way from Darkness to True Illumination) edited by William Law, Diggory Press ISBN 978-1-84685-791-1 Of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, translated from the German by John Rolleston Earle, London, Constable and Company LTD, 1934.
See also
German mysticism Christian mysticism Sophia (wisdom) "The Secret Miracle"
References
Bailey, Margaret Lewis (1914). Milton and Jakob Boehme; a study of German mysticism in seventeenth-century England. New York: Oxford University Press. Calian, George-Florin (2010). Alkimia Operativa and Alkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy. Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU. Deussen, Paul (1910). "Introduction". In Boehme, Jacob. Concerning the three principles of the divine essence. London: John M. Watkins. Martensen, Hans Lassen (1885). Jacob Boehme: his life and teaching, or Studies in theosophy. trans. T. Rhys Evans. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Popkin, Richard (1998). "The religious background of seventeenth-century philosophy". In Garber, Daniel; Ayers, Michael. The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy 1. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53720-9. Swainson, William Perkes (1921). Jacob Boehme; the Teutonic philosopher. London: William Rider & Son, Ltd. Weeks, Andrew (1991). Boehme: An Intellectual Biography of the Seventeenth-Century Philosopher and Mystic. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0596-3.
Jessie Penn-Lewis (1861–1927) was a Welsh evangelical speaker and author of a number of Christian evangelical works
. In the war upon the powers of darkness, prayer is the primary and mightiest weapon, both in aggressive war upon them and their works; in the deliverance of men from their power; and against them as a hierarchy of powers opposed to Christ and His Church.
- Jessie Penn-Lewis “Those who have entered into the afflictions of Christ for His Church's sake know something of what they mean, for they have learned in a measure to pour out their souls unto death, in fellowship with Him.” "My life is not my own. I can do nothing else but be obedient to the heavenly vision - since God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise. Here am I, raised from the grave to be His instrument! Here am I to be spent, every breath, for the God who gives me breath. Our home is not our own, it is God's. We have nothing, we glory in being slaves of Jesus Christ, my dear one and I."
Early life Penn-Lewis was born in Victoria Terrace, Neath in 1861.[1] Her father was an engineer and her grandfather a Calvinist Methodist minister.[2] She was married to William Penn-Lewis.
Welsh revival She was involved in the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival, one of the largest Christian revivals ever to break out, although the revival was abruptly shortened with the mental and physical collapse of one of the leaders, Evan Roberts.[3] Penn-Lewis traveled internationally to take her message to audiences in Russia, Scandinavia, Canada, the U.S., and India.[4] The Welsh revival was not an isolated religious movement but very much a part of Britain's modernisation.[citation needed] The revival began in late 1904 under the leadership of Evan Roberts (1878–1951), a 26-year-old former collier and minister in training. The revival lasted less than a year, but in that time 100,000 people were converted. Begun as an effort to kindle non-denominational, non-sectarian spirituality, the Welsh revival of 1904-05 coincided with the rise of the labour movement, socialism, and a general disaffection with religion among the working class and youths. Placed in context, the short-lived revival appears as both a climax for Nonconformism and a flashpoint of change in Welsh religious life. The movement
spread to Scotland and England, with estimates that a million people were converted in Britain. Missionaries subsequently carried the movement abroad; it was especially influential on the Pentecostal movement emerging in California.[2] Unlike earlier religious revivals based on powerful preaching, the revival of 1904–05 relied primarily on music and on alleged paranormal phenomena as exemplified by the visions of Evan Roberts. The intellectual emphasis of the earlier revivals had left a dearth of religious imagery that the visions supplied. The visions also challenged the denial of the spiritual and miraculous element of Scripture by opponents of the revival, who held liberal and critical theological positions. The structure and content of the visions not only repeated those of Scripture and earlier Christian mystical tradition but also illuminated the personal and social tensions that the revival addressed by juxtaposing Biblical images with scenes familiar to contemporary Welsh believers.[3]
Penn-Lewis was close to Evan Roberts and there is some controversy associated with her influence over him. After the breakdown by Roberts cut the revival short, he stayed with the Penn-Lewises for a couple of years, but never fully recovered. Ultimately, Penn-Lewis declared some of phenomena of the Welsh Revival to be the work of Satan, declaring her still controversial position in her book on spiritual warfare called War on the Saints, which describes the work of demons on Christians, the theme for which Penn-Lewis is most known.
Influences Penn-Lewis was influenced by the Dutch Reformed, South African writer Andrew Murray among others, and her books contain quotes from him and references to his works. Frank Buchman, the founder of the Oxford Group, credits Penn-Lewis with helping him to turn his life around from depression when he heard her speak at a Keswick Convention.[5] She also influenced Johan Oscar Smith, the founder of Brunstad Christian Church[6] and the missionary statesman Norman Grubb.[7]
Works
War on The Saints The Awakening in Wales & Some of the Hidden Springs Spiritual Warfare The Centrality of the Cross Thy Hidden Ones Dying to Live Conquest of Canaan Face to Face All Things New Story of Job Fruitful Living Life in the Spirit Opened Heavens The Cross of Calvary "The Magna Charta of Woman"
She founded the magazine The Overcomer, which is still published.
See also
Margaret E. Barber Watchman Nee David Morrieson Panton
References 1. Oxford DNB article: Lewis, Jessie Elizabeth Penn Haddad, M. R. (2005): The Mystical theology of Jessie Penn-Lewis (1861-1927), Durham Thesis, Durham University, p. 83. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2708. Fisher, G. Richard (2000). "Pressing Truth to the Extreme: The Errors of Jessie Penn-Lewis". Personal Freedom Outreach. Retrieved 2007-06-16. Garrard, Mary (2014). Mrs. Penn-Lewis: A Memoir. Shoals, Indiana: Kingsley Press. ISBN 9781937428457. Selby, Saul (September 15, 2000). Twelve Step Christianity: The Christian Roots & Application of the Twelve Steps. Hazelden. p. 208. ISBN 1-56838-561-7. Lie, Gier (2004). "The Christology Among Smith's Friends: A Misunderstood Impulse from the Keswick Tradition?" (PDF). Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 7 (2): 305. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
Eberhard Arnold (26 July 1883 – 22 November 1935) was a Christian German writer, philosopher, and theologian. He was the founder of the Bruderhof (place of brothers) and relative of Jonathan Holmes in 1920. Arnold was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany, the third child of Carl Franklin and Elizabeth (Voight) Arnold. His father was a doctor of theology and philosophy, and his paternal grandfather was a pastor and missionary of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces. Eberhard Arnold's life as a youth was unconventional. In 1899 at age 16, Arnold experienced an inner change, which he acknowledged as God's acceptance and the forgiveness of sins, and felt a calling to "go and witness to my truth." After he finished school, Arnold studied education, philosophy, and theology in Breslau, Halle, and Erlangen. He engaged in Christian youth work and in evangelism among the poor through the Salvation Army. While in Halle, he became part of the German Student Christian Movement, and its general secretary, in 1907 he and his wife von Hollander seceded from the state church. His work with the Salvation Army increased his sympathy for the oppressed classes of people and strengthened his stand for preaching conversion and salvation. Here in Halle, he also met Emmy von Hollander and married her in 1909. Arnold was a sought-after speaker in early 20th century Germany. He became troubled by the church's connection to the state, and in 1908, at age 25, Arnold was baptized and left the Protestant state church. In 1915 he became editor of Die Furche (The Furrow), the periodical
of the Student Christian Movement, and editor of the Das Neue Werk (New Venture) Publishing House in Schlüchtern, Germany in 1919. At age 37, he abandoned middle-class life. It was then, in 1920, that he moved with his wife and children to the village of Sannerz in central Germany, and founded a community with seven adult members and five children. Here they would attempt to put into practice what Eberhard Arnold believed the Holy Spirit had revealed to him. The community ethic was based on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The community experienced both trouble and growth, but by the mid-1920s the Sannerz farm was too small. In 1926, they bought a farm in the Fulda district and established the Rhön Bruderhof. When Arnold discovered that Hutterite communities still existed in North America, he contacted them and engaged in a long period of correspondence. In 1930 he traveled to America and stayed for about a year, visiting all the communities of Hutterian brethren in the United States and Canada. In December of that year, he was commissioned by them as a missionary to Europe. In November 1933, the Bruderhof community was raided by the Gestapo, who searched for arms and anti-Nazi literature, and closed the community's school. The Bruderhof sent their school children to Switzerland, and began to search for another place to establish their community. When the teacher sent by the government arrived in 1934, he found no children to teach. Property was acquired in the Alps in Liechtenstein, and in March 1934, the Alm Bruderhof was founded. Arnold spent the last two years of his life suffering from a leg injury that would lead to his death, while attempting to shepherd his flock to safety. Nevertheless, he remained active in traveling, lecturing and writing until his death in Darmstadt on 22 November 1935. Emmy von Hollander Arnold outlived her husband by 45 years, following the Bruderhof to England, Paraguay, and eventually the United States. She died in New York on 15 January 1980, at the age of ninety-five. The vision of Arnold continues today in Bruderhof communities in the United States, England, Germany, and Australia. Arnold's son and grandson both followed in his footsteps leading the Bruderhof. However, one of Arnold's other grandson's, Jonathan Holmes, writes about video games for the website Destructoid and is widely considered to be the city of Boston's favourite son. Eberhard's son, Johann Heinrich Arnold (1913–1982) led from 1962 through 1982, and Heinrich's son Johann Christoph Arnold from 1983 through 2001. Arnold has gained a wide following beyond the Bruderhof who respect his teachings, while believing the community lifestyle is not necessary.
See also
Bruderhof Communities Christian anarchism Peace church Simple living
Bibliography
Eberhard Arnold – Writings Selected God's Revolution: Justice, Community and the Coming Kingdom Innerland (1935)
Poems and Rhymed Prayers Salt and Light: Living the Sermon on the Mount The Early Christians After the Death of the Apostles (1926) The Individual and World Need The Prayer God Answers (1913) Why We Live in Community
John Heinrich Arnold(1913-1982) was a Bruderhof Pastor, Counselor and Author
“If we really see the injustice of the world for what it is, we will long for the kingdom of God. Only when the hearts of men are moved toward love and peace will his righteousness break in. Those who remain unmoved, however, cannot take part in the kingdom. Therefore John the Baptist said, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand (Mt. 3:2)." And Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and everything else will be yours as well (Mt. 6:33)." – J H Arnold “Christ promises us eternal life in a kingdom based on faith, not on work and bread. Usually a king demands the blood of his subjects. But Christ gave his blood for his subjects. He gave his life and his body for the lives of others. At the time Christ offered his body to his disciples, he had - as far as we know - the largest following of his lifetime. But after this, many left him. That is why Jesus asked the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave me?" Peter's answer is wonderful: "Lord, to whom shall we go? Your words are words of eternal life (Jn. 6:67-68)." “What a mighty thing it is to live for God's kingdom! Do not shrink back. Live for it; look for it, and you will find that it is so powerful it will completely overwhelm you - it will solve every problem on earth. Everything will be new, and each person will love the other in Christ. All separation brought about by death will be overcome, and love will rule. The commission we are given by Jesus as a church is to work for his kingdom and his future reign. There is nothing greater on earth than to work for this. Let us live intensely and use our time for the kingdom! Let us love one another!”
Johann Heinrich Arnold (also known as Heini and Heinrich) is best known for his books, which have helped thousands to follow Christ in their daily lives, and for his pastoral care as elder of the Bruderhof community movement. When Heinrich Arnold was seven, his parents Eberhard and Emmy Arnold and their five children left a bourgeois life in Berlin for a dilapidated villa in the German village of Sannerz, where they founded the Bruderhof, a Christian community based on Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. As a young man, Heinrich Arnold refused to serve in Hitler's armed forces and was forced to flee Germany. He studied agriculture in Zurich, Switzerland, and in 1936 married Annemarie Waechter, a kindergarten teacher and fellow Bruderhof member. In 1938 Heinrich and Annemarie Arnold moved to England, where Heinrich managed the Bruderhof community’s farm, which by then had been expelled from Nazi Germany. In 1941 the Bruderhof community was forced to emigrate to South America. In 1954, however, Heinrich Arnold and his family moved to the fledgling Woodcrest Bruderhof in Rifton, New York, the first of many Bruderhof communities in North America. From 1962 until his death, Heinrich Arnold served as elder and pastor of the growing Bruderhof movement, guiding its communities through times of turmoil and crisis, and pointing again and again to Jesus Christ. But those who knew best him remember Heinrich Arnold as a down-to-earth man who loved life and would warmly welcome any troubled person in for a cup of coffee and a chat.
Books
Discipleship Homage to a Broken Man Freedom From Sinful Thoughts
Johann Heinrich Arnold (1913–1982) grew up surrounded by people for whom discipleship took shape in a dramatic way. When he was six, his parents, Eberhard and Emmy, left their villa in Berlin and moved to Sannerz, a village in central Germany. There, with a small circle of friends, they set out to live in full community of goods on the basis of Acts 2 and 4 and the Sermon on the Mount. It was a time of tremendous upheaval. The same post-war restlessness that drove his father, a well-known writer and theologian, to this leap of faith also inspired thousands of others to rise up against the rigid social and religious conventions of the period and seek new ways of life. These were Heinrich’s formative years, and the steady stream of young anarchists and tramps, teachers, artisans, and free-thinkers who came through the little community influenced him profoundly. Heinrich himself felt the call to follow Christ at the age of eleven. Later, as a young man, he committed himself to life-long membership in the church community, known by then as the Bruderhof, or “place of brothers.” In 1938 he was chosen as a servant of the Word, or pastor, and from 1962 until his death he served as elder for the growing Bruderhof movement.
Arnold was a true pastor, but an unconventional one. He was not a charismatic personality, and he had no formal theological training. He was a true Seelsorger or “spiritual guide” who cared deeply for the inner and outer wellbeing of the communities entrusted to him. And he served his brothers and sisters by sharing in their daily lives in work and leisure, at communal meals, business meetings, and worship services. Arnold’s style as a speaker and writer was straightforward and spontaneous. He rarely spoke with notes, and when he wrote, he quickly and sometimes almost aggressively met the heart of the issue. There were those who felt he was too blunt. Yet it was precisely his simplicity that made his witness accessible to so many. His faith was not a matter theological sophistication, but something that had to be expressed in deeds: “We are tired of words; they are cheap and can be heard almost anywhere, for who will say that he is against brotherhood and love?” As a pastor, Arnold was called on to address every aspect of spiritual life, personal and communal. But there is a visible thread that runs through all he wrote: Christ and his cross as the center of the universe. Again and again, Arnold insists that without meeting Christ personally – without being confronted by His message of repentance and love – there is no possibility of a living Christian faith. To him it was unimportant whether a problem he had to face was of a practical or an inner nature. He sought to approach every issue on the solid ground of Christ’s commands. This was true not only for the internal questions of communal life but also for all matters that needed attention beyond it, such as current political events or social issues and trends. Arnold knew well that he did not have all the answers. Often he said that he needed to think about a matter in question, or wished to consider it in prayer, or simply felt he did not know what to do about it. Asked to explain a difficult verse, an apparent contradiction, or the meaning of a mysterious passage in the Bible, he might say, “I have thought about these words a great deal, but I do not fully understand them myself. Let us leave it in trust to God. Someday it will be revealed to us” – and he would not attempt an interpretation. Though widely-read and entirely at home in the Old and New Testament, he was a man whose education was the education of the heart, whose knowledge was the knowledge of the human soul, and whose understanding of God’s ways was born of his love for God, for Jesus, and for the church. There are many aspects of Arnold’s writings that one might consider at greater length – the influence of his own father, Eberhard Arnold; of the nineteenth century Lutheran pastors Johann Christoph Blumhardt and Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt and their vision of the kingdom as a present reality; or of the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart, in his discipleship of the heart. There are also Dietrich von Hildebrand, Friedrich von Gagern, and Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevski whose books Arnold read and referred to often. In these predecessors Arnold found spiritual kinship and a remarkable depth and breadth of vision. But what mattered to him most of all was the power of the Gospel to transform the lives of his readers and of all those he counseled. In his own words: What a great gift it would be if we could see a little of the great vision of Jesus – if we could see beyond our small lives! Certainly our view is very limited. But we can at least ask him to call us out of our small worlds and our self-centeredness, and we can at least ask to feel the challenge of the great harvest that must be gathered – the harvest of all nations and all people, including the generations of the future.
John Bunyan (/ˈbʌnjən/; baptised 30 November 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and baptist[1] preacher best remembered as the author of the religious allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons. Bunyan came from the village of Elstow, near Bedford. He had some schooling and at the age of sixteen joined the Parliamentary army during the first stage of the English Civil War. After three years in the army he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker, which he had learnt from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in Bedford, and becoming a preacher. After the restoration of the monarch, when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested and spent the next twelve years in gaol as he refused to undertake to give up preaching. During this time he wrote a spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and began work on his most famous book, The Pilgrim's Progress, which was not published until some years after his release. Bunyan's later years, in spite of another shorter term of imprisonment, were spent in relative comfort as a popular author and preacher, and pastor of the Bedford Meeting. He died aged 59 after falling ill on a journey to London and is buried in Bunhill Fields. The Pilgrim's Progress became one of the most published books in the English language; 1,300 editions having been printed by 1938, 250 years after the author's death. He is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the United States Episcopal Church on 29 August. Some other churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the Anglican Church of Australia, honour him on the day of his death (31 August).
"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you." — John Bunyan What God says is best, is best, though all the men in the world are against it." — John Bunyan (The Pilgrims Progress; From This World to That Which Is to Come by a New Edition) "Suffering in the path of Christian obedience, with joy - because the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life (Psalm 63:3) - is the clearest display of the worth of God in our lives. Therefore, faithfilled suffering is essential in this world for the most intense, authentic worship. When we are most satisfied with God in suffering, he will be most glorified in us in worship. Our problem is not styles of
music. Our problem is styles of life. When we embrace more affliction for the worth of Christ, there will be more fruit in the worship of Christ." — John Piper (Tested by Fire: The Fruit of Suffering in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper and David Brainerd.) "Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." — John Bunyan
Early life
Bunyan's High Street cottage
John Bunyan was born in 1628 to Thomas and Margaret Bunyan at Bunyan’s End in the parish of Elstow, Bedfordshire. Bunyan’s End is located about half-way between the hamlet of Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford) and Elstow High Street. Bunyan’s date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 30 November 1628, the baptismal entry in the parish register reading “John the sonne of Thomas Bunnion Jun., the 30 November”.[2] The name Bunyan was spelt in many different ways (there are 34 variants in Bedfordshire Record Office) and had its origins in the Norman-French name Buignon.[3] There had been Bunyans in north Bedfordshire since at least 1199.[4] Bunyan’s father was a brazier or tinker who travelled around the area mending pots and pans, and his grandfather had been a chapman or small trader.[5] The Bunyans also owned land in Elstow, so Bunyan’s origins were not quite as humble as he suggested in his autobiographical work Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners when he wrote that his father’s house was “of that rank that is meanest and most despised in the country”.[6] As a child Bunyan learnt his father’s trade of tinker and was given some rudimentary schooling.[7] In Grace Abounding Bunyan recorded few details of his upbringing, but he did note how he picked up the habit of swearing (from his father), suffered from nightmares, and read the popular stories of the day in cheap chap-books. In the summer of 1644 Bunyan lost both his mother and his sister Margaret.[8] That autumn, shortly before or after his sixteenth birthday, Bunyan enlisted in the Parliamentary army when an edict demanded 225 recruits from the town of Bedford. There are few details available about his military service, which took place during the first stage of the English Civil War. A muster roll for the garrison of Newport Pagnell shows him as private “John Bunnian”.[9] In Grace Abounding, he recounted an incident from this time, as evidence of the grace of God:
"When I was a Souldier I, with others were drawn out to go to such a place to besiege it; But when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired to go in my room, to which, when I had consented, he took my place; and coming to the siege, as he stood Sentinel, he was shot into the head with a Musket bullet and died."[10] Bunyan’s army service provided him with a knowledge of military language which he then used in his book The Holy War, and also exposed him to the ideas of the various religious sects and radical groups he came across in Newport Pagnell.[11] The garrison town also gave him opportunities to indulge in the sort of behaviour he would later confess to in Grace Abounding: “So that until I came to the state of Marriage, I was the very ringleader of all the Youth that kept me company, in all manner of vice and ungodliness”.[12] Bunyan spent nearly three years in the army, leaving in 1647 to return to Elstow and his trade as a tinker. His father had remarried and had more children and Bunyan moved from Bunyan’s End to a cottage in Elstow High Street.
Marriage and conversion Within two years of leaving the army, Bunyan married. The name of his wife and the exact date of his marriage are not known, but Bunyan did recall that his wife, a pious young woman, brought with her into the marriage two books that she had inherited from her father: Arthur Dent's Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven and Lewis Bayly's Practice of Piety. He also recalled that, apart from these two books, the newly-weds possessed little: “not having so much household-stuff as a Dish or a Spoon betwixt us both”.[13] The couple’s first daughter, Mary, was born in 1650, and it soon became apparent that she was blind. They would have three more children, Elizabeth, Thomas and John. By his own account, Bunyan had as a youth enjoyed bell-ringing, dancing and playing games including on Sunday, the Sabbath, which was forbidden by the Puritan regime. One Sunday the vicar of Elstow preached a sermon against Sabbath breaking, and Bunyan took this sermon to heart. That afternoon, as he was playing tip-cat (a game in which a small piece of wood is hit with a bat) on Elstow village green, he heard a voice from the heavens “Wilt thou leave thy sins, and go to Heaven? Or have thy sins, and go to Hell?” [14] The next few years were a time of intense spiritual conflict for Bunyan as he struggled with his doubts and fears over religion and guilt over what he saw as his state of sin.[15] During this time Bunyan, whilst on his travels as a tinker, happened to be in Bedford and pass a group of women who were talking about spiritual matters on their doorstep. The women were in fact some of the founding members of the Bedford Free Church or Meeting and Bunyan, who had been attending the parish church of Elstow, was so impressed by their talk that he joined their church.[16] At that time the nonconformist group was meeting in St John’s church in Bedford under the leadership of former Royalist army officer John Gifford.[17] At the instigation of other members of the congregation Bunyan began to preach, both in the church and to groups of people in the surrounding countryside.[18] In 1656, having by this time moved his family to St Cuthbert's Street in Bedford, he published his first book, Gospel Truths Opened, which was inspired by a dispute with Quakers.[19] In 1658 Bunyan’s wife died, leaving him with four small children, one of them blind. A year later he married an eighteen-year-old woman called Elizabeth.[20]
Imprisonment
Bunyan in prison
The religious tolerance which had allowed Bunyan the freedom to preach became curtailed with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The members of the Bedford Meeting were no longer able to meet in St John’s church, which they had been sharing with the Anglican congregation.[21] That November, Bunyan was preaching at Lower Samsell, a farm near the village of Westoning, thirteen miles from Bedford, when he was warned that a warrant was out for his arrest. Deciding not to make an escape, he was arrested and brought before the local magistrate Sir Francis Wingate, at Harlington House. The Act of Uniformity, which made it compulsory for preachers to be ordained by an Anglican bishop and for the revised Book of Common Prayer to be used in church services, was still two years away, and the Act of Conventicles, which made it illegal to hold religious meetings of five or more people outside the Church of England was not passed until 1664. Bunyan was arrested under the Conventicle Act of 1593, which made it an offence to attend a religious gathering other than at the parish church with more than five people outside their family. The offence was punishable by 3 months imprisonment followed by banishment or execution if the person then failed to promise not to re-offend. The Act had been little used, and Bunyan’s arrest was probably due in part to concerns that non-conformist religious meetings were being held as a cover for people plotting against the king (although this was not the case with Bunyan’s meetings).[22] The trial of Bunyan took place in January 1661 at the quarter sessions in Bedford, before a group of magistrates under John Kelynge, who would later help to draw up the Act of Uniformity.[23] Bunyan, who had been held in prison since his arrest, was indicted of having “devilishly and perniciousy abstained from coming to church to hear divine service” and having held “several unlawful meetings and conventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the good subjects of this kingdom”.[24] He was sentenced to three months imprisonment with transportation to follow if at the end of this time he didn’t agree to attend the parish church and desist from preaching.[25] As Bunyan refused to agree to give up preaching, his period of imprisonment eventually extended to 12 years and brought great hardship to his family. Elizabeth, who made strenuous attempts to obtain his release, had been pregnant when her husband was arrested and she subsequently gave birth prematurely to a still-born child.[26] Left to bring up four stepchildren, one of whom was blind, she had to rely on the charity of Bunyan’s fellow members of the Bedford Meeting and other supporters and on what little her husband could earn in gaol
by making shoelaces. But Bunyan remained resolute: "O I saw in this condition I was a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his Wife and Children; yet thought I, I must do it, I must do it".[27] Bunyan spent his 12 years’ imprisonment in Bedford County Gaol, which stood on the corner of the High Street and Silver Street. There were however occasions when he was allowed out of prison, depending on the gaolers and the mood of the authorities at the time, and he was able to attend the Bedford Meeting and even preach. His daughter Sarah was born during his imprisonment (the other child of his second marriage, Joseph, was born after his release in 1672).[28] In prison, Bunyan had a copy of the Bible and of John Foxe's Book of Martyrs, as well as writing materials. He also had at times the company of other preachers who had been imprisoned. It was in Bedford Gaol that he wrote Grace Abounding and started work on The Pilgrim’s Progress, as well as penning several tracts that may have brought him a little money.[29] In 1671, while still in prison, he was chosen as pastor of the Bedford Meeting.[30] By that time there was a mood of increasing religious toleration in the country and in March 1672 the king issued a declaration of indulgence which suspended penal laws against nonconformists. Thousands of nonconformists were released from prison, amongst them Bunyan and five of his fellow inmates of Bedford Gaol. Bunyan was freed in May 1672 and immediately obtained a licence to preach under the declaration of indulgence.[31]
Later life Following his release from gaol in 1672 Bunyan probably did not return to his former occupation of tinker. Instead he devoted his time to writing and preaching.[32] He continued as pastor of the Bedford Meeting and travelled over Bedfordshire and adjoining counties on horseback to preach, becoming known affectionately as “Bishop Bunyan”. His preaching also took him to London, where Lord Mayor Sir John Shorter became a friend and presented him with a silver-mounted walking stick.[33] The Pilgrim’s Progress was published in 1678 by Nathaniel Ponder and immediately became popular, though probably making more money for its publisher than for its author.[34] Two events marred Bunyan’s life during the later 1670s. Firstly he became embroiled in a scandal concerning a young woman called Agnes Beaumont. When going to preach in Gamlingay in 1674 he allowed Beaumont, a member of the Bedford Meeting, to ride pillion on his horse, much to the anger of her father, who then died suddenly. His daughter was initially suspected of poisoning him, though the coroner found he had died of natural causes.[35] And then in 1676-7 he underwent a second term of imprisonment, probably for refusing to attend the parish church.[36]
Bunyan's effigy on his grave in Bunhill Fields
In 1688, on his way to London, Bunyan made a detour to Reading, Berkshire, to try and resolve a quarrel between a father and son. Continuing to London to the house of his friend, grocer John Strudwick of Snow Hill in the City of London, he was caught in a storm and fell ill with a fever. He died in Strudwick’s house on the morning of 31 August 1688 and was buried in the tomb belonging to Strudwick in Bunhill Fields nonconformist burial ground in London.[37] Bunyan’s estate at his death was worth £42 19s 0d. His widow Elizabeth died in 1691.[38]
Works
Pilgrim's Progress, first edition 1678.
Between 1656 when he published his first work, Some Gospel Truths Opened (a tract against the Quakers), and his death in 1688, Bunyan published 42 titles. A further two works, including his Last Sermon, were published the following year by George Larkin. In 1692
Southwark comb-maker Charles Doe, who was a friend of Bunyan's later years, brought out, with the collaboration of Bunyan's widow, a collection of the author's works, including 12 previously unpublished titles, mostly sermons. Six years later Doe published The Heavenly Footman and finally in 1765 Relation of My Imprisonment was published, giving a total of 58 published titles.[39] It is the allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress, written during Bunyan’s twelve-year imprisonment although not published until 1678 six years after his release, that made Bunyan’s name as an author with its immediate success. It remains the book for which Bunyan is best remembered.[40] The images Bunyan uses in The Pilgrim's Progress are reflections of images from his own world; the strait gate is a version of the wicket gate at Elstow Abbey church,[41] the Slough of Despond is a reflection of Squitch Fen, a wet and mossy area near his cottage in Harrowden, the Delectable Mountains are an image of the Chiltern Hills surrounding Bedfordshire. Even his characters, like the Evangelist as influenced by John Gifford, are reflections of real people. Further allegorical works were to follow: The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680), Pilgrim’s Progress Part II, and The Holy War (1682). Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, a spiritual autobiography was published in 1666, when he was still in jail.
Memorials
Bunhill Fields funerary monument
In 1862 a recumbent statue was created to adorn Bunyan's grave, and restored in 1922.[42] In 1874, a bronze statue of John Bunyan, sculpted by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, was erected in Bedford. This stands at the south-western corner of St Peter's Green, facing down Bedford's High Street. The site was chosen by Boehm for its significance as a crossroads. Bunyan is depicted expounding the Bible, to an invisible congregation, with a broken fetter representing his imprisonment by his left foot. There are three scenes from "The Pilgrim's Progress" on the stone plinth: Christian at the wicket gate; his fight with Apollyon; and losing his burden at the foot of the cross of Jesus. The statue was unveiled by Lady Augusta Stanley, wife of the Dean of Westminster, on Wednesday 10 June 1874.[43] In 1876 the Duke of Bedford gave bronze doors by Frederick Thrupp depicting scenes from The Pilgrim's Progress to the Bunyan Meeting (the former Bedford Meeting which had been renamed in Bunyan's honour).[44]
There is another statue of him in Kingsway, London, and there are memorial windows in Westminster Abbey, Southwark Cathedral and various churches, including Elstow Abbey (the parish church of Elstow) and the Bunyan Meeting Free Church in Bedford.[45] Bunyan is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the United States Episcopal Church on 29 August. Some other churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the Anglican Church of Australia, honour him on the day of his death (31 August).
Legacy Bunyan is best remembered for The Pilgrim's Progress, a book which gained immediate popularity. By 1692, four year's after the author's death, publisher Charles Doe estimated that 100,000 copies had been printed in England, as well as editions "in France, Holland, New England and Welch".[46] By 1938, 250 years after Bunyan's death, more than 1,300 editions of the book had been printed.[47] During the 18th century Bunyan's unpolished style fell out of favour, but his popularity returned with Romanticism, poet Robert Southey writing an appreciative biography in 1830. Bunyan's reputation was further enhanced by the evangelical revival and he became a favourite author of the Victorians.[48] The tercentenary of Bunyan's birth, celebrated in 1928, elicited praise from his former adversary, the Church of England.[49] Although popular interest in Bunyan waned during the second half of the twentieth century, academic interest in the writer has increased and Oxford University Press brought out a new edition of his works, beginning in 1976.[50] Authors who have been influenced by Bunyan include Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott and George Bernard Shaw.[51] Bunyan’s work, in particular The Pilgrim’s Progress, has reached a wider audience through stage productions, film, TV, and radio. An opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams based on The Pilgrim’s Progress was first performed at the Royal Opera House in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain and revived in 2012 by the English National Opera.[52] John Bunyan had six children, five of whom are known to have married, of which four had children. Moot Hall Museum (in Elstow) has a record of John's descendants, down to the nineteenth century but as of September 2013, no verifiable trace of later descendants has been found.[53][page needed]
Selected bibliography Among Bunyan's many works:
A Few Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul, 1658 A Discourse Upon the Pharisee and the Publican, 1685 A Holy Life Christ a Complete Saviour (The Intercession of Christ And Who Are Privileged in It), 1692 Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ, 1678 Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, 1666 Light for Them that Sit in Darkness
Praying with the Spirit and with Understanding too, 1663 Of Antichrist and His Ruin, 1692 Reprobation Asserted, 1674 Saved by Grace, 1675 Seasonal Counsel or Suffering Saints in the Furnace – Advice to Persecuted Christians in Their Trials & Tribulations, 1684 Solomon's Temple Spiritualized Some Gospel Truths Opened, 1656 The Acceptable Sacrifice The Desire of the Righteous Granted The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded, 1659 The Doom and Downfall of the Fruitless Professor (Or The Barren Fig Tree), 1682 The End of the World, The Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment, 1665 The Fear of God – What it is, and what is it is not, 1679 The Greatness of the Soul and Unspeakableness of its Loss Thereof, 1683 The Heavenly Footman, 1698 The Holy City or the New Jerusalem, 1665 The Holy War – The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Man-soul (The Holy War Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the World), 1682 The Life and Death of Mr Badman, 1680 The Pilgrim's Progress, 1678 The Strait Gate, Great Difficulty of Going to Heaven, 1676 The Saint's Knowledge of Christ's Love, or The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, 1692 The Water of Life or The Richness and Glory of the Gospel, 1688 The Work of Jesus Christ as an Advocate, 1688
See also Christianity portal Biography portal
John Bunyan Museum – Museum dedicated to Bunyan on the same site as his former church. Elstow Moot Hall – A medieval market house in Bunyan's birthplace, now contains a small museum dedicated to his life and works. To Be a Pilgrim – The only hymn John Bunyan is known to have written. English Dissenters The Holy War - by John Bunyan, 1682, tells the story of the battle for the town of Mansoul.
References
Arnold, Clive A (2008), Bunyan family tree, Elstow: Pilgrim House. Brittain, Vera (1950), In the steps of John Bunyan: an excursion into Puritan England, London: Rich and Cowan. Forrest, J.F. and Greaves, R.L. (1982), John Bunyan: a reference guide. Boston: GK Hall & Co. Furlong, Monica (1975), Puritan’s progress: a study of John Bunyan, London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Keeble, Neil (2010), John Bunyan's literary life. In Anne Dunan-Page (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 13-25. Morden, Peter (2013), John Bunyan: the people's pilgrim, Farnham: CWR.
John Flavel (c.1627–1691) was an English Presbyterian clergyman, puritan, and author.
"Providence is like a curious piece of tapestry made of a thousand shreds, which, single, appear useless, but put together, they represent a beautiful history to the eye." — John Flavel (Keeping the Heart (Puritan Classics)) "They that know God will be humble. They that know themselves cannot be proud." — John Flavel "It is the most sweet and comfortable knowledge; to be studying Jesus Christ, what is it but to be digging among all the veins and springs of comfort? And the deeper you dig, the more do these springs flow upon you. How are hearts ravished with the discoveries of Christ in the gospel? what ecstasies, meltings, transports, do gracious souls meet there? Doubtless, Philip’s ecstasy, John 1: 25. 'eurekamen Iesoun,' 'We have found Jesus,' was far beyond that of Archimedes. A believer could sit from morning to night, to hear discourses of Christ; 'His mouth is most sweet', Cant. [i.e., Song of Solomon] 5: 16." — John Flavel (The Fountain Of Life Opened Up (Or, A Display Of Christ In His Essential And Mediatorial Glory)) "There is not such a pleasant history for you to read in all the world as the history of your own lives, if you would sit down and record from the beginning hitherto what God has been to you, and done for you; what evidences and outbreakings of his mercy, faithfulness, and love there have been in all the conditions you have passed through." — John Flavel
Life Flavel, the eldest son of the Rev. Richard Flavel, described as 'a painful and eminent minister,' who was incumbent successively of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, Hasler and
Willersey, Gloucestershire (from which last living he was ejected in 1662), was born in or about 1627 at Bromsgrove.[1] Having received his early education at the schools of the neighbourhood, he entered University College, Oxford, at an early age, and gained a good reputation for talent and diligence.[1] On 27 April 1650, he was sent by 'the standing committee of Devon' to Diptford, a parish on the Avon, five miles from Totnes, where the minister, Mr. Walplate, had become infirm. On 17 October 1650, after examination and the preaching of a 'trial sermon,' he was ordained Mr. Walplate's assistant by the classis at Salisbury. He continued to minister at Diptford for about six years, succeeding the senior minister when he died, and endearing himself greatly to the people, not only by his earnestness, but by his easy dealings with them in the matter of tithes.[1] In 1656 he removed to Dartmouth, though the Diptford emoluments were much greater. On the passing of the Act of Uniformity (1662) he was ejected, but continued to preach in private until the Five Mile Act drove him from Dartmouth. He kept as near it, however, as possible, removing to Slapton, five miles off, and there preached twice each Sunday to all who came, among whom were many of his old parishioners. On the granting of the indulgence of 1671 he returned to Dartmouth, and continued to officiate there even after the liberty to do so was withdrawn. In the end he found himself obliged to remove to London, travelling by sea and narrowly escaping shipwreck in a storm, which is said to have ceased in answer to his prayers. Finding that he would be safer at Dartmouth he returned there, and met with his people nightly in his own house, until in 1687, on the relaxation of the penal laws, they built a meeting-house for him. Just before his death he acted as moderator at a meeting of dissenting ministers held at Topsham. He died suddenly of paralysis at Exeter on 26 June 1691, and was buried in Dartmouth churchyard. Wood bitterly comments on the violence of his dissent.[1] Flavel preached from other unique pulpits, such as Salstone Rock, an island in the Salcombe Estuary that is submerged at high tide. In that refuge, the congregation would “linger in devout assembly till the rising tide drove them to their boats.” In 1672, King Charles II issued the Declaration of Indulgence, giving Nonconformists freedom to worship. Flavel returned to Dartmouth, licensed as a Congregationalist. When the indulgence was canceled the following year, Flavel once more resorted to preaching secretly in private homes, secluded neighborhoods, or remote forests. Flavel’s second wife died during this time and he married Ann Downe, a minister’s daughter. They were happily married for eleven years, and had two sons. In the late 1670s and early 1680s, Flavel carried on his ministry mainly by writing. He published at least nine books in this period. In the summer of 1682, he was forced to seek safety in London, where he joined the congregation of his friend, William Jenkyn, known today for his commentary on Jude. In 1684, soldiers interrupted a prayer service Flavel was conducting with Jenkyn. Flavel narrowly escaped arrest. During his stay in London, Flavel’s
third wife died. He married Dorothy, a widowed daughter of George Jefferies, minister of Kingsbridge; she survived him. In 1685, Flavel returned to Dartmouth, where his ministry was confined to his home. He preached every Sunday and on many weekday evenings to people who crowded into his home. That same year he was burned in effigy by a mob, but he pressed on, praying for his beloved Dartmouth, “O that there were not a prayerless family in this town!” In 1687, King James II issued another indulgence for Nonconformists that allowed Flavel to preach publicly once again. This freedom was later augmented with the coming of William of Orange and the Glorious Revolution in 1688. Flavel’s congregation built a large church upon his return to the pulpit. His last four years of public preaching, which began with his sermons on Revelation 3:20, “Behold I stand at the door and knock,” were greatly blessed. Yet he was aging rapidly. Speaking for himself and his colleagues, he wrote, “We have long borne the burden and heat of the day; we are veteran soldiers almost worn out.” While visiting Exeter to preach on June 6, 1691, Flavel suffered a massive stroke and died that same evening at the age of sixty-three. His final words were, “I know that it will be well with me.” Flavel was humble, godly, and learned. He spent much time in study and prayer. One of his children wrote, “He was always full and copious in prayer, seemed constantly to exceed himself, and rarely made use twice of the same expressions.” He was well versed in church discipline, infant baptism, and a number of Oriental languages. Flavel’s preaching was blessed by the Spirit. Robert Murray M‘Cheyne tells about an American immigrant, Luke Short, who remembered listening to Flavel preach in England when he was fifteen years old. The text was, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha.” Eighty-five years after hearing Flavel preach on the horror of dying under God’s curse, the Spirit of God effectually converted him at the age of one hundred as he meditated on that sermon! Flavel’s power as a preacher came out of his depth of spiritual experience. He spent many hours in meditation and self-examination. As Middleton writes, “He [Flavel] attained to a well-grounded assurance, the ravishing comforts of which were many times shed abroad in his soul; this made him a powerful and successful preacher, as one who spoke from his own heart to those of others. He preached what he felt, and what he had handled, what he had seen and tasted of the word of life and they felt it also” (ibid., p. 58). While meditating on heaven on one occasion, Flavel was so overcome with heavenly joy that he lost sight of this world. Stopping his horse by a spring, he viewed death as the most amiable face he had ever seen, except that of Christ’s, who made it so. When he finally arrived at an inn, the innkeeper said to him, “Sir, what is the matter with you? You look like a dead man.” “Friend,” Flavel replied, “I was never better in my life.” Years later, Flavel said that he understood more of heaven from that experience than from all the books he had ever read and all the sermons he had ever heard on the subject.
Family
Flavel was four times married: first to Jane Randal; secondly, to Elizabeth Morries; thirdly, to Ann Downe; and, lastly, to a daughter of the Rev. George Jeffries.[1] There is a portrait of him in Dr. Williams's library, London.[1]
Written works He was a voluminous and popular author. There is a play of fine fancy in some of them, such as the 'Husbandry Spiritualised.' All display vigorous diction and strong evangelical sentiments. They comprise:
‘Husbandry Spiritualised,’ Lond. 1669. ‘Navigation Spiritualised,’ Lond. 1664. ‘The Fountain of Life Opened, or a Display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory, containing forty-two sermons,’ Lond. 1672. ‘A Saint indeed,’ Lond. 1668. ‘A Token for Mourners,’ Lond. 1674. ‘The Seaman's Companion,’ Lond. 1676. ‘Divine Conduct, or the Mystery of Providence Opened,’ Lond. 1678, 1814, 1822. ‘The Touchstone of Sincerity,’ Lond. 1679. ‘The Method of Grace in the Gospel Redemption,’ Lond. 1680. ‘A Practical Treatise of Fear, wherein the various Kinds, Uses, Causes, Effects, and Remedies thereof are distinctly opened and prescribed,' Lond. 1682. 'The Righteous Man's Refuge,' Lond. 1682. 'Preparations for Sufferings, or the Best Work in the Worst Times,' Lond. 1682. 'England's Duty under the present Gospel Liberty,' Lond. 1689. 'Mount Pisgah, or a Thanksgiving Sermon for England's Delivery from Popery,' Lond. 1689. 'Sacramental Meditations upon divers select places of Scripture,' Lond. 1679. 'The Reasonableness of Personal Reformation and the Necessity of Conversion,' Lond. 1691. 'An Exposition of the Assembly's Catechism,' Lond. 1692. 'Pneumatologia, a Treatise of the Soul of Man,' Lond. 1685. 'Planelogia, a succinct and seasonable Discourse of the Occasions, Causes, Nature, Rise, Growth, and Remedies of Mental Errors.' * 'Vindiciarum Vindex, or a Refutation of the weak and impertinent Rejoinder of Mr. Philip Carey' (a leading anabaptist in Dartmouth). 1691. 'Gospel Unity recommended to the Churches of Christ.' ' A Faithful and Succinct Account of some late and wonderful Sea Deliverances.' 1679. 'Antipharmacum Saluberrimum, or a serious and seasonable Caveat to all the Saints in this Hour of Temptation.' 1664. ' Tydings from Rome, or England's Alarm.' 1667. ' A pathetic and serious Dissuasive from the horrid and detestable Sins of Drunkenness, Swearing, Uncleanness, Forgetfulness of Mercies, Violation of Promises, and Atheistic Contempt of Death.' 1677 'The Balm of the Covenant applied to the Bleeding Wounds of afflicted Saints.' 1688 'Vindiciæ Legis et Fœderis.' 'A Familiar Conference between a Minister and a doubting Christian concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.' 'A Table or Scheme of the Sins and Duties of Believers.' 1679.
Editions of Flavel's writings appeared more than 720 times from 1664 to the present day.
References 1. Hamilton 1889.
External links
Works by John Flavel at Post-Reformation Digital Library The Life of the late Rev. Mr. John Flavel, minister of Dartmouth Flavel, John (c. 1630–1691) John Flavel – brief biography and further links Sermons by John Flavel and others in the Reformed Tradition The Mystery of Providence text Chapter by Chapter Summary of The Mystery of Providence On Keeping the Heart (John Flavel)
John Foxe (1516/17[1] – 18 April 1587) was an English historian and martyrologist, the author of Actes and Monuments (popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs), an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history but emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants and proto-Protestants from the fourteenth century through the reign of Mary I. Widely owned and read by English Puritans, the book helped mould British popular opinion about the Catholic Church for several centuries.[2]
“William Tyndale, and Miles Coverdale, both voluntary exiles from their country for their aversion to popish superstition and idolatry.” ― John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs
“A good Christian is bound to relinquish not only goods and children, but life itself, for the glory of his Redeemer: therefore I am resolved to sacrifice every thing in this transitory world, for the sake of salvation in a world that will last to eternity.” ― John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs “I am persuaded that I am in the right opinion, and I see no cause to recant; for all the filthiness and idolatry lies in the Church of Rome.” ― John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs “I was brought up in a religion by which I was always taught to renounce the devil; but should I comply with your desire, and go to Mass, I should be sure to meet him there in a variety of shapes.” ― John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs “At the martyrdom of Faustines and Jovita, brothers and citizens of Brescia, their torments were so many, and their patience so great, that Calocerius, a pagan, beholding them, was struck with admiration, and exclaimed in a kind of ecstacy, "Great is the God of the christians!" for which he was apprehended, and suffered a similar fate.” ― John Foxe, Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs “Germanicus, a young man, but a true christian, being delivered to the wild beasts on account of his faith, behaved with such astonishing courage, that several pagans became converts to a faith which inspired such fortitude.” ― John Foxe, Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs
Education Foxe was born in Boston, in Lincolnshire, England, of a middlingly prominent family[3] and seems to have been an unusually studious and devout child.[4] In about 1534, when he was about sixteen, he entered Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was the pupil of John Hawarden (or Harding), a fellow of the college.[5] In 1535 Foxe was admitted to Magdalen College School, where he may either have been improving his Latin or acting as a junior instructor. He became a probationer fellow in July 1538 and a full fellow the following July. Foxe took his bachelor's degree on 17 July 1537, his master's degree in July 1543, and was lecturer of logic, 1539–40.[6] A series of letters in Foxe's handwriting dated to 1544–45, shows Foxe to be "a man of friendly disposition and warm sympathies, deeply religious, an ardent student, zealous in making acquaintance with scholars."[7] By the time he was twentyfive, he had read the Latin and Greek fathers, the schoolmen, the canon law, and had "acquired no mean skill in the Hebrew language."[8]
Resignation from Oxford Foxe resigned from his college in 1545 after becoming a Protestant and thereby subscribing to beliefs condemned by the Church of England under Henry VIII.[9] After a year of "obligatory regency" (public lecturing), Foxe would have been obliged to take holy orders by Michaelmas 1545, and the primary reason for his resignation was probably his opposition to clerical celibacy—which he described in letters to friends as self-castration.[10] Foxe may have been forced from the college in a general purge of its Protestant members, although
college records state that he resigned of his own accord and "ex honesta causa."[11] Foxe's change of religious opinion may have temporarily broken his relationship with his stepfather and may even have put his life in danger. Foxe personally witnessed the burning of William Cowbridge in September 1538.[12] After being forced to abandon what might have been a promising academic career, Foxe experienced a period of dire need. Hugh Latimer invited Foxe to live with him, but Foxe eventually became a tutor in the household of Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, near Stratford-onAvon. Before leaving the Lucys, Foxe married Agnes Randall on 3 February 1547.[13] They had six children.[14]
In London under Edward VI Foxe's prospects, and those of the Protestant cause generally, improved after the accession of Edward VI in January 1547 and the formation of a Privy Council dominated by pro-reform Protestants. In the middle or latter part of 1547, Foxe moved to London and probably lived in Stepney. There he completed three translations of Protestant sermons published by the "stout Protestant" Hugh Singleton.[15] During this period Foxe also found a patron in Mary Fitzroy, Duchess of Richmond, who hired him as tutor to the orphan children of her brother, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, a Catholic who had been executed for treason in January 1547.[16] (The children were Thomas, who would become the fourth duke of Norfolk and a valuable friend of Foxe's; Jane, later Countess of Westmorland; Henry, later earl of Northampton; and their cousin Charles, who would later command the English fleet against the Spanish Armada.) Foxe lived in the duchess's London household at Mountjoy House and later at Reigate Castle, and the duchess's patronage "facilitated Foxe's entry into the ranks of England's Protestant elite."[17] During his stay at Reigate, Foxe helped suppress a cult that had arisen around the shrine of the Virgin Mary at Ouldsworth, which had been credited with miraculous healing powers.[18] Foxe was ordained deacon by Nicholas Ridley on 24 June 1550, and his circle of friends, associates, and supporters included John Hooper, William Turner, John Rogers, William Cecil, and most importantly John Bale, who was to become a close friend and "certainly encouraged, very probably guided, Foxe in the composition of his first martyrology.[17] From 1548 to 1551, Foxe brought out one tract opposing the death penalty for adultery and another supporting ecclesiastical excommunication of those who he thought "veiled ambition under the cloak of Protestantism." He also worked unsuccessfully to prevent the two burnings for religion that occurred during the reign of Edward VI.[19]
Marian Exile On the accession of Mary I in July 1553, Foxe lost his tutorship when the children's grandfather, the Duke of Norfolk was released from prison. Foxe walked warily as befitted one who had published Protestant books in his own name. As the political climate worsened, Foxe believed himself personally threatened by Bishop Stephen Gardiner. Just ahead of officers sent to arrest him, he sailed with his pregnant wife from Ipswich to Nieuwpoort.[20] He then traveled to Antwerp, Rotterdam, Frankfurt and Strasbourg, which he reached by July 1554. In Strasbourg Foxe published a Latin history of the Christian persecutions, the draft of which he had brought from England and "which became the first shadowy draft of his Acts and Monuments."[21]
In the autumn of 1554 Foxe moved to Frankfurt, where he served as a preacher for the English church ministering to refugees in the city. There he was unwillingly drawn into a bitter theological controversy. One faction favored the church polity and liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer while the other advocated Reformed models promoted by John Calvin's Genevan church. The latter group, led by John Knox, was supported by Foxe; the former was led by Richard Cox. (In other words, the exiles were divided into Knoxians and Coxians.) Eventually Knox—who seems to have acted with the greater magnanimity—was expelled, and in the fall of 1555, Foxe and about twenty others also left Frankfurt.[22] Although Foxe clearly favored Knox, he was irenic by temperament and expressed his disgust at "the violence of the warring factions."[23] Moving to Basel, Foxe worked with his fellow countrymen John Bale and Lawrence Humphrey at the drudgery of proofreading. (Educated Englishmen were noted for their learning, industry, and honesty and "would also be the last persons to quarrel with their bread and butter." No knowledge of German or French was required because the English tended to socialize with each other and could communicate with scholars in Latin.)[24] Foxe also completed and had printed a religious drama, Christus Triumphans (1556), in Latin verse. Yet despite receiving occasional financial contributions from English merchants on the continent, Foxe seems to have lived very close to the margin and been "wretchedly poor."[25] When Foxe received reports from England about the ongoing religious persecution there, he wrote a pamphlet urging the English nobility to use their influence with the queen to halt it. Foxe feared that the appeal would be useless, and his fears proved correct.[26] When his friend Knox attacked Mary Stuart in his now famous The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, Foxe apparently criticized Knox's "rude vehemency," although their friendship seems to have remained unimpaired.[27]
Return to England
A page from the first edition of Actes and Monuments, also known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, published in 1563.
After the death of Mary I in 1558, Foxe was in no hurry to return home, and he waited to see if religious changes instituted by her successor, Elizabeth I, would take root. Foxe was also so poor that he was unable to travel with his family until money was sent to him.[28] Back in England, he seems to have lived for ten years at Aldgate, London, in the house of his former pupil, Thomas Howard, now Fourth Duke of Norfolk.[29] Foxe quickly became associated with John Day the printer and published works of religious controversy while working on a new martyrology that would eventually become the Actes and Monuments. Foxe was ordained a priest by his friend Edmund Grindal, now Bishop of London, but he "was something of a puritan, and like many of the exiles, had scruples about wearing the clerical vestments laid down in the queen's injunctions of 1559." Many of his friends eventually conformed, but Foxe was "more stubborn or single-minded." Some tried to find him preferments in the new regime, but it "was not easy to help a man of so singularly unworldly a nature, who scorned to use his powerful friendships to advance himself."[30]
Actes and Monuments Foxe began his Book of Martyrs in 1552, during the reign of Edward VI, with the Marian Persecutions still in the future. In 1554, while still in exile, Foxe published in Latin at Strasbourg the first shadow of his great book, emphasizing the persecution of the English Lollards during the fifteenth century. But as word of the contemporary English persecution made its way to the continent, Foxe began to collect materials to continue his story to the present. He published the first true Latin edition of his famous book at Basel in August 1559, although the segment dealing with the Marian martyrs was "no more than a fragment."[31] Of
course, it was difficult to write contemporary English history while living (as he later said) "in the far parts of Germany, where few friends, no conference, [and] small information could be had."[32] Nevertheless, Foxe who had left England poor and unknown, returned only poor. He had gained "a substantial reputation" through his Latin work.[33]
First edition On 20 March 1563, Foxe published the first English edition of the Actes and Monuments from the press of John Day.[34] It was a "gigantic folio volume" of about 1800 pages, about three times the length of the 1559 Latin book.[35] As is typical for the period, the full title was a paragraph long and is abbreviated by scholars as Acts and Monuments,[36] although the book was popularly known then, as it is now, as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Publication of the book made Foxe instantly famous—"England's first literary celebrity"—although because there were then no royalties, Foxe remained as poor as ever despite the fact that the book sold for more than ten shillings, three week's pay for a skilled craftsman.[37]
Second edition Actes and Monuments was immediately attacked by Catholics such as Thomas Harding, Thomas Stapleton, and Nicholas Harpsfield.[38] In the next generation, Robert Parsons, an English Jesuit, also struck at Foxe in A Treatise of Three Conversions of England (1603–04). Harding, in the spirit of the age, called Actes and Monuments ' "that huge dunghill of your stinking martyrs," full of a thousand lies'.[39] Intending to strengthen his book against his critics, and being flooded by new material brought to light by the publication of the first edition,[40] Foxe put together a second edition in 1570 and where the charges of his critics had been reasonably accurate, Foxe removed the offending passages. Where he could rebut the charges, "he mounted a vigorous counterattack, seeking to crush his opponent under piles of documents."[41] Even though he deleted material that had been included in the first edition, the second edition was nearly double the size of the first, "two gigantic folio volumes, with 2300 very large pages" of doublecolumned text.[42] The edition was well received by the English church, and the upper house of the convocation of Canterbury meeting in 1571, ordered that a copy of the Bishop's Bible and "that full history entitled Monuments of Martyrs" be installed in every cathedral church and that church officials place copies in their houses for the use of servants and visitors. The decision was of certain benefit to Foxe's printer Day because he had taken great financial risks printing such a mammoth work.[43]
Third and fourth editions
Dual martyrdom by burning, 1558; from a 1641 edition of Foxe.
Foxe published a third edition in 1576, but it was virtually a reprint of the second, although printed on inferior paper and in smaller type.[44] The fourth edition, published in 1583, the last in Foxe's lifetime, had larger type and better paper and consisted of "two volumes of about two thousand folio pages in double columns." Nearly four times the length of the Bible, the fourth edition was "the most physically imposing, complicated, and technically demanding English book of its era. It seems safe to say that it is the largest and most complicated book to appear during the first two or three centuries of English printing history."[45] The title page included the poignant request that the author "desireth thee, good reader, to help him with thy prayer."[46]
Accuracy Foxe based his accounts of martyrs before the early modern period on previous writers, including Eusebius, Bede, Matthew Paris, and many others. Foxe's own contribution was his compilation of the English martyrs from the period of the Lollards through the persecution of Mary I. Here Foxe had primary sources of all kinds to draw on: episcopal registers, reports of trials, and the testimony of eyewitnesses, a remarkable range of sources for English historical writing of the period.[47] Foxe's material is more accurate when he deals with his own period, although it is selectively presented, and the book is not an impartial account. Sometimes Foxe copied documents verbatim; sometimes he adapted them to his own use. Although both he and his contemporary readers were more credulous than most moderns, Foxe presented "lifelike and vivid pictures of the manners and feelings of the day, full of details that could never have been invented by a forger."[48] Foxe's method of using his sources "proclaims the honest man, the sincere seeker after truth."[49] Foxe often treated his material casually, and any reader "must be prepared to meet plenty of small errors and inconsistencies."[50] Furthermore, Foxe did not hold to later notions of neutrality or objectivity. He made unambiguous side glosses on his text, such as "Mark the
apish pageants of these popelings" and "This answer smelleth of forging and crafty packing",[51] as Foxe's age was one of strong language as well as of cruel deeds.[52] The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica went so far as to accuse Foxe of "wilful falsification of evidence."[53] Nevertheless, Foxe is "factually detailed and preserves much firsthand material on the English Reformation unobtainable elsewhere."[54] According to J.F. Mozley, Foxe presented "lifelike and vivid pictures of the manners and feelings of the day, full of details that could never have been invented by a forger."[48]
Life under Elizabeth I Salisbury and London Foxe had dedicated Acts and Monuments to the queen,[55] and on 22 May 1563, he was appointed prebend of Shipton in Salisbury Cathedral, in recognition of his championship of the English church.[56] Foxe never visited the cathedral or performed any duties associated with the position except to appoint a vicar, William Masters, a highly educated fellow Protestant and former Marian exile. Foxe's inaction as a canon of the cathedral led him to him being declared contumacious, and he was charged with failing to give a tithe for repairs to the cathedral. Perhaps his poverty made him unwilling to spare the time or money to make visits or contributions. In any case, he retained the position until his death.[57] By 1565 Foxe had been caught up in the vestments controversy led at that time by his associate Crowley. Foxe's name was on a list of "godly preachers which have utterly forsaken Antichrist and all his Romish rags" that was presented to Lord Robert Dudley some time between 1561 and 1564.[58] He was also one of the twenty clergymen who on 20 March 1565 petitioned to be allowed to choose not to wear vestments; but unlike many of the others, Foxe did not have a London benefice to lose when Archbishop Parker enforced conformity. Rather, when Crowley lost his position at St Giles-without-Cripplegate, Foxe may have preached in his stead.[59] At some point before 1569, Foxe left Norfolk's house and moved to his own on Grub Street. Perhaps his move was motivated by his concerns about Norfolk's exceptionally poor judgment in attempting to marry Mary Stuart, which led to his imprisonment in the Tower in 1569 and his condemnation in 1572 following the Ridolfi Plot. Although Foxe had written Norfolk "a remarkably frank letter" about the injudiciousness of his course, after Norfolk's condemnation, he and Alexander Nowell ministered to the prisoner until his execution, which Foxe attended, on 2 June 1572.[60] In 1570, at the request of Edmund Grindal, Bishop of London, Foxe preached the Good Friday sermon at Paul's Cross. This lofty exposition of the Protestant doctrine of redemption and attack on the doctrinal errors of the Roman Catholic Church was enlarged and published that year as A Sermon of Christ Crucified.[61] Another sermon Foxe preached seven years later at Paul's Cross resulted in his denunciation to the Queen by the French ambassador on grounds that Foxe had advocated the right of the Huguenots to take arms against their king. Foxe replied he had been misunderstood, that he had argued only that if the French king permitted no foreign power (i.e. the Pope) to rule over him, the French Protestants would immediately lay down their arms.[62]
In 1571, Foxe edited an edition of the Anglo-Saxon gospels, in parallel with the Bishops' Bible translation, under the patronage of Archbishop Parker, who was interested in AngloSaxon and whose chaplain, John Jocelyn was an Anglo-Saxon scholar. Foxe's introduction argues that the vernacular scripture was an ancient custom in England.[63]
Death and legacy Foxe died on 18 April 1587 and was buried at St. Giles's, Cripplegate. His widow, Agnes, probably died in 1605. Foxe's son, Samuel Foxe (1560–1630) prospered after his father's death and "accumulated a substantial estate." Fortunately for posterity, he also preserved his father's manuscripts, and they are now in the British Library.
Personality Foxe was so bookish that he ruined his health by his persistent study.[64] Yet, he had "a genius for friendship," served as a spiritual counselor, and was a man of private charity. He even took part in matchmaking.[65] Foxe was so well known as a man of prayer that Francis Drake credited his victory at Cadiz in part to Foxe's praying.[66] Furthermore, Foxe's extreme unworldliness caused others to claim that he had prophetic powers and could heal the sick.[67] Certainly Foxe had a hatred of cruelty in advance of his age. When a number of Flemish Anabaptists were taken by Elizabeth's government in 1572 and sentenced to be burnt, Foxe first wrote letters to the Queen and her council asking for their lives and then wrote the prisoners themselves (having his Latin draft translated into Flemish) pleading with them to abandon what he considered their theological errors. Foxe even visited the Anabaptists in prison. (The attempted intercession was in vain; two were burnt at Smithfield "in great horror with roaring and crying.")[68] John Day's son Richard, who knew Foxe well, described him in 1607 as an "excellent man...exceeding laborious in his pen...his learning inferior to none of his age and time; for his integrity of life a bright light to as many as knew him, beheld him, and lived with him."[69] Foxe's funeral was accompanied "by crowds of mourners."[70]
Foxe's historical reputation After his death, Foxe's Acts and Monuments continued to be published and appreciatively read. John Burrow refers to it as, after the Bible, "the greatest single influence on English Protestant thinking of the late Tudor and early Stuart period."[71] By the end of the seventeenth century, however, the work tended to be abbreviated to include only "the most sensational episodes of torture and death" thus giving to Foxe's work "a lurid quality which was certainly far from the author's intention."[47] Because Foxe was used to attack Catholicism and a rising tide of high-church Anglicanism, the book's credibility was challenged in the early nineteenth century by a number of authors, most importantly, Samuel R. Maitland.[72] In the words of one Catholic Victorian, after Maitland's critique, "no one with any literary pretensions...ventured to quote Foxe as an authority."[73] Further analysis of Maitland's criticism in the twenty-first century has in the words of David Loades, that Maitland "deserves to be treated with genuine, but limited, respect. His demolition of the martyrologist's history of the Waldenses, and of some of his other medieval reconstructions,
was accurate up to a point, but he never addressed those parts of the Acts and Monuments where Foxe was at his strongest, and his general conclusion that the work was nothing but a tissue of fabrications and distortions is not supported by modern analysis."[74] It was not until J. F. Mozley published John Foxe and His Book in 1940 that Foxe's rehabilitation as a historian began, initiating a controversy that has continued to the present.[75] Recently, renewed interest in Foxe as a seminal figure in early modern studies created a demand for a new critical edition of the Actes and Monuments, Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition. In the words of Thomas S. Freeman, one of the most important living Foxe scholars, "current scholarship has formed a more complex and nuanced estimate of the accuracy of Acts and Monuments....Perhaps [Foxe] may be most profitably seen in the same light as a barrister pleading a case for a client he knows to be innocent and whom he is determined to save. Like the hypothetical barrister, Foxe had to deal with the evidence of what actually happened, evidence that he was rarely in a position to forge. But he would not present facts damaging to his client, and he had the skills that enabled him to arrange the evidence so as to make it conform to what he wanted it to say. Like the barrister, Foxe presents crucial evidence and tells one side of a story which must be heard. But he should never be read uncritically, and his partisan objectives should always be kept in mind."[17]
See also Anglicanism portal
John Foxe's apocalyptic thought Make a mountain out of a molehill Religion in the United Kingdom
References
Freeman, Thomas S. (2004) "Foxe, John," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Haller, William (1963) Foxe's First Book of Martyrs and the Elect Nation. London: Jonathan Cape MacLure, Millar (comp.) (1989) Register of Sermons Preached at Paul's Cross 1534–1642; revised and expanded by Peter Pauls and Jackson Campbell Boswell. Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions Mozley, J. F. (1940) John Foxe and His Book. London: SPCK The "Critical apparatus and additional material" of the Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition includes a score of interpretative essays about Foxe and the Book of Martyrs. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
John Newton (/ˈnjuːtən/; 24 July 1725[citation needed] – 21 December 1807) was an English sailor, in the Royal Navy for a period, and later a captain of slave ships. He became ordained as an evangelical Anglican cleric, served Olney, Buckinghamshire for two decades, and also wrote hymns, known for "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken".
Newton started his career at sea at a young age, and worked on slave ships in the slave trade for several years. After experiencing a period of Christian conversion Newton eventually renounced his trade and became a prominent supporter of abolitionism, living to see Britain's abolition of the African slave trade in 1807.
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see.” Slave trader
Newton was nurtured by a Christian mother who taught him the Bible at an early age, but he was raised in his father's image after she died of tuberculosis when Newton was 7. At age 11, Newton went on his first of six sea-voyages with the merchant navy captain. Newton lost his first job, in a merchant's office, because of "unsettled behavior and impatience of restraint"—a pattern that would persist for years. He spent his later teen years at sea before he was press-ganged aboard the H.M.S. Harwich in 1744. Newton rebelled against the discipline of the Royal Navy and deserted. He was caught, put in irons, and flogged. He eventually convinced his superiors to discharge him to a slaver ship. Espousing freethinking principles, he remained arrogant and insubordinate, and he lived with moral abandon: "I sinned with a high hand," he later wrote, "and I made it my study to tempt and seduce others." He took up employment with a slave-trader named Clow, who owned a plantation of lemon trees on an island off of west Africa. But he was treated cruelly by Clow and the slaver's African mistress; soon Newton's clothes turned to rags, and Newton was forced to beg for food to allay his hunger.
Timeline
1678
John Bunyan writes The Pilgrim's Progress
1689
Toleration Act in England
1707
Isaac Watts publishes Hymns and Spiritual Songs
1725
John Newton born
1807
John Newton dies
1811
Alexander Campbell begins Restoration Movement
The sluggish sailor was transferred to the service of the captain of the Greyhound, a Liverpool ship, in 1747, and on its homeward journey, the ship was overtaken by an enormous storm. Newton had been reading Thomas a Kempis's The Imitation of Christ, and was struck by a line about the "uncertain continuance of life." He also recalled the passage in Proverbs, "Because I have called and ye have refused, … I also will laugh at your calamity." He converted during the storm, though he admitted later, "I cannot consider myself to have been a believer, in the full sense of the word." Newton then served as a mate and then as captain of a number of slave ships, hoping as a Christian to restrain the worst excesses of the slave trade, "promoting the life of God in the soul" of both his crew and his African cargo. Amazing hymnal
After leaving the sea for an office job in 1755, Newton held Bible studies in his Liverpool home. Influenced by both the Wesleys and George Whitefield, he adopted mild Calvinist views and became increasingly disgusted with the slave trade and his role in it. He quit, was ordained into the Anglican ministry, and in 1764 took a parish in Olney in Buckinghamshire. Three years after Newton arrived, poet William Cowper moved to Olney. Cowper, a skilled poet who experienced bouts of depression, became a lay helper in the small congregation. In 1769, Newton began a Thursday evening prayer service. For almost every week's service, he wrote a hymn to be sung to a familiar tune. Newton challenged Cowper also to write hymns for these meetings, which he did until falling seriously ill in 1773. Newton later combined 280 of his own hymns with 68 of Cowper's in what was to become the popular Olney Hymns. Among the well-known hymns in it are "Amazing Grace," "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds," "O for a Closer Walk with God," and "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood."
In 1787 Newton wrote Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade to help William Wilberforce's campaign to end the practice—"a business at which my heart now shudders," he wrote. Recollection of that chapter in his life never left him, and in his old age, when it was suggested that the increasingly feeble Newton retire, he replied, "I cannot stop. What? Shall the old African blasphemer stop while he can speak?" (Courtesy of ChristianHistory.net, 2008)
Horsch, John (1867-1941)
John Horsch. Source: Mennonite Encyclopedia, vol. 2, photo section page 19.
John Horsch: a leading historian and writer of the Mennonite Church (MC) in America; born in Giebelstadt near Würzburg, Germany, on 18 December 1867, the fourth of nine children born to Elder Jacob Horsch and his wife Barbara Landes; he married Christine Funck of Neipperg near Heilbronn, Württemberg and was the father of four children—Elizabeth (Mrs. H. S. Bender), Walter, Menno, and Paul; he died 7 October 1941 at his longtime home at Scottdale, Pennsylvania. Intended by his father to be a farmer, John studied for two years at the Bavarian State Agricultural School at Würzburg, securing the diploma in 1886. Having meanwhile come to accept the full nonresistant position he immigrated to America to avoid military service, arriving in New York 3 January 1887.
January to May 1887 Horsch spent at Halstead, Kansas, attending the Indian Mission School conducted by Christian Krehbiel (to learn English), then moved to Elkhart to enter the employ of John F. Funk in the Mennonite Publishing Company, where 1887-1895, with intermittent absences to attend several colleges, he did much of the editorial work on the Herold der Wahrheit, the Familien-Kalender, and the German Sunday school quarterlies. This was the beginning of a long career of 55 years of editorial work, historical research, and historical and theological writing. During these eight years at Elkhart he also collected a large Mennonite historical library, and established a lifelong connection with the Hutterites in South Dakota. Between 1888 and 1898 Horsch spent almost four years in study in various colleges and universities (Evangelical Theological Seminary at Naperville, Illinois, Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, Indiana, Baldwin-Wallace College at Berea, Ohio, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin). In 1898-1900 he engaged in a private publishing business at Elkhart, publishing the monthly Farm und Haus (first number September 1898). In 1900-1908 he was associated with J. A. Sprunger, the owner and operator of the Light and Hope Publishing Company, at Berne, Indiana, Cleveland, Ohio, and Birmingham, Ohio. Sprunger, formerly a minister in the Berne Mennonite (GCM) Church, was at this time loosely affiliated with the Missionary Church Association. In May 1908 Horsch moved to Scottdale, where he served the Mennonite Publishing House as German editor of several publications and carried on private research and writing in Mennonite history and the theological field until his death in 1941. The awakening of John Horsch's historical interest was the result of the intellectual movements in the Mennonite Church in Germany during his youth. His father had a not inconsequential library and subscribed to the two German Mennonite periodicals: the Mennonitische Blätter and the Gemeindeblatt der Mennoniten, both of which carried many historical articles in the 1880s, particularly 1885-1886. The first adequate Mennonite history in German had just appeared in 1884, written by Anna Brons. But the decisive influence on Horsch's interest in Mennonite history was the archivist and historian Ludwig Keller, with whom he continued in close touch for ten years (1885-1895), even after his immigration to America, and who directly influenced him to dedicate his life to a revival of the ancient Anabaptist principles in the Mennonite brotherhood, in spite of the fact that Keller considered the principle of nonresistance a handicap to be discarded. Keller had begun to publish his books on Anabaptist history in 1880 with a book on the Münsterites, followed by his biography of Hans Denck in 1882, and was an almost constant contributor to the Mennonitische Blätter. In his early period in America, from 20 to 30 years of age, Horsch had not altogether found himself. During this period he did publish (1890) his valuable brief history of the Mennonites in German, Kurzgefasste Geschichte der Mennoniten-Gemeinden, as well as his English booklet, The Mennonites, Their History, Faith, and Practice (1893), in addition to countless periodical articles. But his program of reviving the church through writing was also partially frustrated due to three factors: (1) his lack of intimate knowledge of the American Mennonite Church, its leadership, and its problems; (2) his want of a complete and independent mastery of Anabaptist history and theology and the full inner meaning of its program, due partly to the dominance of Keller's unbalanced interpretation; and (3) the difficulties with Bishop Funk and his
editorial staff at Elkhart, including a disappointment with the somewhat legalistic program of the church there. The net result of the early years was disheartening, and he found no other connection by which he could effectively work for his program than that which he reluctantly surrendered at Elkhart. Nor was the connection with J. A. Sprunger a solution, for Sprunger had no vital connection with any church body, still less with any Mennonite body. Horsch's library was in Funk's hands at Elkhart, and he had no adequate stimulus to creative scholarship, although he did publish during this time his book, A Short History of Christianity (1903). But with the coming to Scottdale in 1908 Horsch found himself again. Here in the old church, he found inspiration, challenge, and opportunity. In the next 35 years he gave himself without reserve to Mennonite historical research and writing, producing a series of valuable studies: Menno Simons (1916); Infant Baptism, Its Origin Among Protestants (1927); The Principle of Nonresistance as Held by the Mennonite Church, An Historical Survey (1927); The Hutterian Brethren: A Story of Martyrdom and Loyalty, 1528-1931 (1931); and Mennonites in Europe, posthumously published in 1942. In addition many historical articles came from his pen in both scholarly and popular journals, some published in the Mennonite Quarterly Review, 1927-1940. He has the credit of discovering the modern Hutterites and their historical manuscripts and introducing them to modern scholarship, particularly to Wolkan in Vienna. He was the channel through which their large hymnal, Riedemann's Rechenschaft, and the Ehrenpreis Sendbrief were published. For a number of years, 1917-1926, Horsch was deeply stirred by the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy in America and was drawn away somewhat from his historical studies into a position of semi-participation in this controversy. One fruit of this was the writing of an influential book called Modern Religious Liberalism, a scholarly exposé of modernism which became quite popular in Fundamentalist circles, going through three editions (1920, 1924, 1938) with a total sale of over 10,000 copies, and being used as a text in several seminaries and Bible institutes. One edition was published by the Moody Bible Institute Colportage Association. It was preceded in 1917 by a booklet, The Higher Criticism and the New Theology. In this period Horsch also assailed the milder forms of liberalism which had begun to infiltrate into American Mennonite educational circles through a few men trained in liberal seminaries, writing the pamphlets, The Mennonite Church and Modernism (1924), and Is the Mennonite Church of America Free of Modernism? (1926). Being convinced about the same time that the Mennonites of America needed a strengthening of their nonresistant position, Horsch also performed valiant work in this field through publication of booklets and articles, including the book, Die biblische Lehre von der Wehrlosigkeit (1920) which was also published in Germany, and the pamphlets, The Principle of Nonresistance as Held by the Mennonite Church and Symposium on War (1927). Horsch's writing on modernism and nonresistance, intended both to awaken the Mennonite Church (and others) and to ward off theological and historical enemies, was frequently of necessity polemic and controversial. In the last years of his life Horsch again returned fully to his first and major love, Mennonite historical writing. Having received a commission from the Mennonite
General Conference to write a history of the Mennonite Church in Europe, he devoted himself to this task and succeeded in completing the manuscript in 1939 in all essentials before the final illness which cut short his career— Mennonites in Europe, which will remain his greatest monument. One of John Horsch's lasting contributions to historical scholarship was the collection of an unusually rich library on early Anabaptist history. At the age of 17 he was seeking to secure books of Hans Denck, and to the end of his life he sought to assemble the tools necessary to scholarship in a good library. The Horsch Collection, as it is now called, is especially rich in early Swiss, German, and Dutch Anabaptistica. A study of the Catalogue of the Mennonite Historical Library, prepared by Horsch and published at Scottdale in 1929, and of the final contents of the collection as it was incorporated into the Mennonite Historical Library of Goshen College in 1945, reveals its uniqueness. It was for Horsch a working collection; the many marginal notes, underlinings, and indexes of subjects and names on the flyleaves speak of his assiduous use, as do also numerous notebooks and scrapbooks filled with copious extracts; the extensive documentation of his writings with source references likewise proves his thoroughness. The gleaning in the sources which Horsch did will not need to be repeated. Horsch is best known for his outstanding work in the field of Mennonite history, by which he won wide recognition in two continents. He was a thorough and painstaking research scholar, capable of the most intensive and sustained effort in the exploitation of original sources, competent in several languages and an able and prolific writer, although he lacked formal advanced training in history. But the deepest interest and greatest passion of Horsch's life was not history, but the church, the Mennonite Church. He strove to help her to attain and maintain the ideal of a church "without spot or wrinkle," wholly devoted to her Lord. Horsch's historical interest was not merely antiquarian, nor one of pure scholarship. He found in Anabaptism the prototype of his own faith, and he sought with all his heart to revive and make effective this faith in his own Mennonite brotherhood and beyond. History was to be an instrument for evangelism in the truest and best sense. It is this frankly propagandistic strain in his writings, often with a polemical slant, that at times annoyed his readers and irritated his critics. It must be remembered, however, that the ancient perversions of Anabaptist history were still dominant and that a vigorous challenge to this historical error was necessary. Much of Horsch's brilliant energy was devoted to the fight to rehabilitate the Anabaptists in the world of scholarship. He lived to see the verdict largely reversed, a reversal to which he made no small contribution.
Bibliography The July 1947 issue of the Mennonite Quarterly Review was a special John Horsch Memorial Number containing the following articles: Bender, Elizabeth H. "The Letters of Ludwig Keller to John Horsch, 1885-1893": 47-76. Bender, Harold S. "John Horsch, 1867-1941: A Biography": 3-16.
Correll, Ernst. "Notes on John Horsch as a Historian": 17-22. Friedmann, Robert. "John Horsch and Ludwig Keller": 32-46. Wenger, John C. "The Theology of John Horsch": 23-31. Yoder, Edward. "A Bibliography of the Writings of John Horsch": 77-100. These materials were also issued in book form as John Horsch Memorial Papers. Scottdale, 1947.
Early life John Newton was born in Wapping, London, in 1725, the son of Elizabeth (née Scatliff) and John Newton Sr., a shipmaster in the Mediterranean service. Elizabeth was the only daughter of Simon Scatliff, an instrument maker from London (the marriage register records her maiden name as Seatcliffe). Elizabeth was brought up as a Nonconformist.[1] She died of tuberculosis (then called consumption) in July 1732, about two weeks before John’s seventh birthday.[2] Newton spent two years at boarding school before going to live in Aveley in Essex, the home of his father's new wife.[3] At age eleven he first went to sea with his father. Newton sailed six voyages before his father retired in 1742. At that time, Newton’s father made plans for him to work at a sugar plantation in Jamaica. Instead, Newton signed on with a merchant ship sailing to the Mediterranean Sea.
Impressment In 1743, while going to visit friends, Newton was captured and pressed into the naval service by the Royal Navy. He became a midshipman aboard HMS Harwich. At one point Newton tried to desert and was punished in front of the crew of 350. Stripped to the waist and tied to the grating, he received a flogging of eight dozen lashes and was reduced to the rank of a common seaman.[4] Following that disgrace and humiliation, Newton initially contemplated murdering the captain and committing suicide by throwing himself overboard.[5] He recovered, both physically and mentally. Later, while Harwich was en route to India, he transferred to Pegasus, a slave ship bound for West Africa. The ship carried goods to Africa and traded them for slaves to be shipped to the colonies in the Caribbean and North America.
Enslavement Newton did not get along with the crew of Pegasus. They left him in West Africa with Amos Clowe, a slave dealer. Clowe took Newton to the coast and gave him to his wife, Princess Peye, an African duchess. She abused and mistreated Newton equally as much as she did her other slaves. Newton later recounted this period as the time he was "once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in West Africa."[6]
Found and rescued
Early in 1748 he was rescued by a sea captain who had been asked by Newton's father to search for him, and returned to England on the merchant ship Greyhound, which was carrying beeswax and dyer’s wood, now referred to as camwood.[citation needed]
Spiritual conversion During his 1748 voyage to England after his rescue, Newton had a spiritual conversion. The ship encountered a severe storm off the coast of Donegal, Ireland and almost sank. Newton awoke in the middle of the night and, as the ship filled with water, called out to God. The cargo shifted and stopped up the hole, and the ship drifted to safety. Newton marked this experience as the beginning of his conversion to evangelical Christianity. He began to read the Bible and other religious literature. By the time he reached Britain, he had accepted the doctrines of evangelical Christianity. The date was 10 March 1748,[7] an anniversary he marked for the rest of his life. From that point on, he avoided profanity, gambling, and drinking. Although he continued to work in the slave trade, he had gained sympathy for the slaves during his time in Africa. He later said that his true conversion did not happen until some time later: "I cannot consider myself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word, until a considerable time afterwards."[8]
Slave trading
Newton returned to Liverpool, England, a major port for the Triangle Trade. Partly due to the influence of his father’s friend Joseph Manesty, he obtained a position as first mate aboard the slave ship Brownlow, bound for the West Indies via the coast of Guinea. While in west Africa (1748–49), Newton acknowledged the inadequacy of his spiritual life. He became ill with a fever and professed his full belief in Christ, asking God to take control of his destiny. He later said that this was the first time he felt totally at peace with God.[citation needed] He did not renounce working in the slave trade until later in his life. After his return to England in 1750, he made three voyages as captain of the slave ships Duke of Argyle (1750) and African (1752–53 and 1753–54). After suffering a severe stroke in 1754, he gave up seafaring and slave-trading activities. But he continued to invest in Manesty’s slaving operations.[9]
Marriage and family In 1750 Newton married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Catlett, in St. Margaret's Church, Rochester.[10] Newton adopted his two orphaned nieces, Elizabeth and Eliza Catlett, children of one of his brothers-in-law and his wife.[citation needed] Newton's niece Alys Newton later married Mehul, a prince from India.[citation needed]
Anglican priest In 1755 Newton was appointed as tide surveyor (a tax collector) of the Port of Liverpool, again through the influence of Manesty. In his spare time, he studied Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac, preparing for serious religious study. He became well known as an evangelical lay minister. In 1757, he applied to be ordained as a priest in the Church of England, but it was more than seven years before he was eventually accepted. During this period, he also applied to the Methodists, Independents and Presbyterians. He mailed applications directly to the Bishops of Chester and Lincoln and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Eventually, in 1764, he was introduced by Thomas Haweis to Lord Dartmouth, who was influential in recommending Newton to the Bishop of Chester. Haweis suggested Newton for the living of Olney, Buckinghamshire. On 29 April 1764 Newton received deacon's orders, and finally was ordained as a priest on 17 June. As curate of Olney, Newton was partly sponsored by John Thornton, a wealthy merchant and evangelical philanthropist. He supplemented Newton's stipend of £60 a year with £200 a year "for hospitality and to help the poor". Newton soon became well known for his pastoral care, as much as for his beliefs. His friendship with Dissenters and evangelical clergy led to his being respected by Anglicans and Nonconformists alike. He spent sixteen years at Olney. His preaching was so popular that the congregation added a gallery to the church to accommodate the many persons who flocked to hear him. Some five years later, in 1772, Thomas Scott took up the curacy of the neighbouring parishes of Stoke Goldington and Weston Underwood. Newton was instrumental in converting Scott from a cynical ‘career priest’ to a true believer, a conversion which Scott related in his spiritual autobiography The Force Of Truth (1779). Later Scott became a biblical commentator and co-founder of the Church Missionary Society, In 1779 Newton was invited by John Thornton to become Rector of St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, London, where he officiated until his death. The church had been built by Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1727 in the fashionable Baroque style. Newton was one of only two evangelical Anglican priests in the capital, and he soon found himself gaining in popularity amongst the growing evangelical party. He was a strong supporter of evangelicalism in the Church of England. He remained a friend of Dissenters (such as Methodists and Baptists) as well as Anglicans. Young churchmen and people struggling with faith sought his advice, including such wellknown social figures as the writer and philanthropist Hannah More, and the young William Wilberforce, a Member of Parliament who had recently suffered a crisis of conscience and religious conversion while contemplating leaving politics. The younger man consulted with Newton, who encouraged Wilberforce to stay in Parliament and "serve God where he was".[11][12] In 1792, Newton was presented with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).
Abolitionist
Newton in his later years
In 1788, 34 years after he had retired from the slave trade, Newton broke a long silence on the subject with the publication of a forceful pamphlet Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade, in which he described the horrific conditions of the slave ships during the Middle Passage. He apologized for "a confession, which ... comes too late ... It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders." He had copies sent to every MP, and the pamphlet sold so well that it swiftly required reprinting.[13] Newton became an ally of William Wilberforce, leader of the Parliamentary campaign to abolish the African slave trade. He lived to see the British passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which enacted this event. Modern writers have criticised Newton for continuing to participate in the slave trade after his religious conversion, but Christianity did not deter thousands of slaveholders in the colonies from owning other men, nor many others from profiting by the slave trade. Newton later came to believe that, during the first five of his nine years as a slave trader, he had not been a Christian in the full sense of the term: "I was greatly deficient in many respects ... I cannot consider myself to have been a believer in the full sense of the word, until a considerable time afterwards."[8]
Writer and hymnist
The vicarage in Olney where Newton wrote the hymn that would become "Amazing Grace".
In 1767 William Cowper, the poet, moved to Olney. He worshipped in Newton's church, and collaborated with the priest on a volume of hymns; it was published as Olney Hymns in 1779. This work had a great influence on English hymnology. The volume included Newton's wellknown hymns: "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds!," "Let Us Love, and Sing, and Wonder," "Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare," "Approach, My Soul, the Mercy-seat", and "Faith's Review and Expectation," which has come to be known by its opening phrase, "Amazing Grace". Many of Newton's (as well as Cowper's) hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp, a hymnal used in the American South during the Second Great Awakening. Hymns were scored according to the tonal scale for shape note singing. Easily learned and incorporating singers into four-part harmony, shape note music was widely used by evangelical preachers to reach new congregants. Newton also contributed to the Cheap Repository Tracts. He wrote an autobiography entitled An Authentic Narrative of Some Remarkable And Interesting Particulars in the Life of -----Communicated, in a Series of Letters, to the Reverend T. Haweiss, which he published anonymously. It was later described as 'written in an easy style, distinguished by great natural shrewdness, and sanctified by the Lord God and prayer'.[14]
Final years Newton's wife Mary Catlett died in 1790, after which he published Letters to a Wife (1793), in which he expressed his grief.[citation needed] Plagued by ill health and failing eyesight, Newton died on 21 December 1807 in London. He was buried beside his wife in St. Mary Woolnoth. Both were reinterred at Olney in 1893.[citation needed]
Commemoration
Newton's gravestone at Olney, Buckinghamshire, bearing his self-penned epitaph.
As depicted, Newton and his wife are memorialized on their gravestone at Olney. A memorial plaque to Newton was installed on the wall of St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, London. Below the plaque are the words: "The above Epitaph was written by the Deceased [John Newton] who directed it to be inscribed on a plain Marble Tablet. He died on December the 21st December 1807. Aged 82 Years, and his Mortal Remains are deposited in the Vault beneath the Church."[citation needed] The town of Newton in Sierra Leone is named after him. To this day his former church of Olney provides philanthropy for the African town.[citation needed] In 1982, Newton was recognized for his influential hymns by the Gospel Music Association when he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame.[citation needed]
Portrayals in media Film
The film Amazing Grace (2006) highlights Newton’s influence on William Wilberforce. Starring Albert Finney as Newton and directed by Michael Apted, this film portrays Newton as a penitent haunted by the ghosts of 20,000 slaves. In the Nigerian film The Amazing Grace (2006), the creation of Nigerian director/writer/producer Jeta Amata, provides an African perspective on the slave trade. Nigerian actors Joke Silva, Mbong Odungide, and Fred Amata (brother of the director) portray Africans who are captured and taken away from their homeland by slave traders. Newton’s Grace (2014), based on his autobiography and slated for release in 2014, has many seafaring scenes aboard the tall ship replica Hector, based in Pictou, Nova Scotia.[15] Scenes set in Sierra Leone were filmed at various locations on the North Carolina coast. Erik Nelson plays the young Newton.[16]
Stage productions
African Snow (2007), a play by Murray Watts, takes place in the mind of John Newton. It was first produced at the York Theatre Royal as a co-production with Riding Lights Theatre Company, transferring to the Trafalgar Studios in London's West End and a National Tour. Newton was played by Roger Alborough and Olaudah Equiano by Israel Oyelumade.[citation needed]
The musical Amazing Grace focuses on Newton's life. The 2014 pre-Broadway and 2015 Broadway productions starred Josh Young as Newton.[citation needed]
In 2015, Puritan Productions announced its Premiere of their dramatization of the life of John Newton with ballet & chorus accompaniment called "A Wretch Like Me" in Garland, Texas at the Granville Arts Center on October 30, 31, and November 1st. Jonathan Cole Spivey stars as John Newton. Featuring special musical artist Samuel Wilson.[citation needed]
Television
Newton is portrayed by actor John Castle in the British television miniseries, The Fight Against Slavery (1975). Caryl Phillips's novel, Crossing the River (1993), includes nearly verbatim excerpts from Newton's books.
References 1. Aitken 2007, Sources and Biographical Notes. Aitken 2007, pp. 29–30. Lewis 1976, p. 51. Dunn 1994, p. 7. Dunn 1994, p. 8. , Lombard Street, London: St Mary Woolnoth Church [Memorial epitaph Memorial epitaph] Check |url= scheme (help) Missing or empty |title= (help). Morgan, p. 79. Newton 2003, p. 84. Hochschild 2005, p. 77. St. Margaret's Church, 2014, retrieved 14 August 2014 Pollock 1977, p. 38. Brown 2006, p. 383. Hochschild 2005, pp. 130-132. Thomson 1884, preface. Nemetz 2013. Foss 2013.
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He
wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse. Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and selfdetermination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644)—written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship—is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of free speech and freedom of the press. William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author,"[1] and he remains generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language,"[2] though critical reception has oscillated in the centuries since his death (often on account of his republicanism). Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as "a poem which...with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind," though he (a Tory and recipient of royal patronage) described Milton's politics as those of an "acrimonious and surly republican".[3]
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.." — John Milton (Paradise Lost) "For books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them." — John Milton (Areopagitica) "Freely we serve Because we freely love, as in our will To love or not; in this we stand or fall." — John Milton "Solitude sometimes is best society." — John Milton (Paradise Lost) "I will not deny but that the best apology against false accusers is silence and sufferance, and honest deeds set against dishonest words." — John Milton
Biography The phases of Milton's life parallel the major historical and political divisions in Stuart Britain. Under the increasingly personal rule of Charles I and its breakdown in constitutional confusion and war, Milton studied, travelled, wrote poetry mostly for private circulation, and launched a career as pamphleteer and publicist. Under the Commonwealth of England, from being thought dangerously radical and even heretical, the shift in accepted attitudes in government placed him in public office, and he even acted as an official spokesman in certain of his publications. The Restoration of 1660 deprived Milton, now completely blind, of his public platform, but this period saw him complete most of his major works of poetry. Milton's views developed from his very extensive reading, as well as travel and experience, from his student days of the 1620s to the English Civil War.[4] By the time of his death in 1674, Milton was impoverished and on the margins of English intellectual life, yet famous throughout Europe and unrepentant for his political choices.
Early life Main article: Early life of John Milton
Blue plaque in Bread Street, London, where Milton was born
John Milton was born in Bread Street, London, on 9 December 1608, the son of the composer John Milton and his wife, Sarah Jeffrey. The senior John Milton (1562–1647) moved to London around 1583 after being disinherited by his devout Catholic father, Richard Milton, for embracing Protestantism. In London, the senior John Milton married Sarah Jeffrey (1572– 1637) and found lasting financial success as a scrivener.[5] He lived in, and worked from, a house on Bread Street, where the Mermaid Tavern was located in Cheapside. The elder Milton was noted for his skill as a musical composer, and this talent left his son with a lifelong appreciation for music and friendships with musicians such as Henry Lawes.[6] Milton's father's prosperity provided his eldest son with a private tutor, Thomas Young, a Scottish Presbyterian with an M.A. from the University of St. Andrews. Research suggests that Young's influence served as the poet's introduction to religious radicalism.[7] After Young's tutorship Milton attended St Paul's School in London. There he began the study of Latin and Greek, and the classical languages left an imprint on his poetry in English (he also wrote in Italian and Latin).
John Milton at age 10 by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen
Milton's first datable compositions are two psalms done at age 15 at Long Bennington. One contemporary source is the Brief Lives of John Aubrey, an uneven compilation including first-hand reports. In the work, Aubrey quotes Christopher, Milton's younger brother: "When he was young, he studied very hard and sat up very late, commonly till twelve or one o'clock at night".[8] In 1625 Milton began attending Christ's College, Cambridge. He graduated with a B.A. in 1629,[9] and ranked fourth of 24 honours graduates that year in the University of Cambridge.[10] Preparing to become an Anglican priest, Milton stayed on to obtain his Master of Arts degree on 3 July 1632. Milton was probably rusticated (suspended) for quarrelling in his first year with his tutor, Bishop William Chappell. He was certainly at home in the Lent Term 1626; there he wrote his Elegia Prima, a first Latin elegy, to Charles Diodati, a friend from St Paul's. Based on remarks of John Aubrey, Chappell "whipt" Milton.[8] This story is now disputed, though certainly Milton disliked Chappell.[11] Historian Christopher Hill cautiously notes that Milton was "apparently" rusticated, and that the differences between Chappell and Milton may have been either religious or personal.[12] It is also possible that, like Isaac Newton four decades later, Milton was sent home because of the plague, by which Cambridge was badly affected in 1625. Later, in 1626, Milton's tutor was Nathaniel Tovey. At Cambridge, Milton was on good terms with Edward King, for whom he later wrote Lycidas. He also befriended Anglo-American dissident and theologian Roger Williams. Milton tutored Williams in Hebrew in exchange for lessons in Dutch.[13] At Cambridge Milton developed a reputation for poetic skill and general erudition, but experienced alienation from his peers and university life as a whole. Watching his fellow students attempting comedy upon the college stage, he later observed 'they thought themselves gallant men, and I thought them fools'.[14]
Milton was disdainful of the university curriculum, which consisted of stilted formal debates on abstruse topics, conducted in Latin. His own corpus is not devoid of humour, notably his sixth prolusion and his epitaphs on the death of Thomas Hobson. While at Cambridge he wrote a number of his well-known shorter English poems, among them On the Morning of Christ's Nativity, his Epitaph on the admirable Dramatick Poet, W. Shakespeare, his first poem to appear in print, L'Allegro and Il Penseroso.
Study, poetry, and travel For more details on this topic, see Early life of John Milton.
Commemorative blue plaque 'John Milton lived here 1632-1638' at Berkyn Manor Farm, Horton, Berkshire It appears in all his writings that he had the usual concomitant of great abilities, a lofty and steady confidence in himself, perhaps not without some contempt of others; for scarcely any man ever wrote so much, and praised so few. Of his praise he was very frugal; as he set its value high, and considered his mention of a name as a security against the waste of time, and a certain preservative from oblivion.[15] – Samuel Johnson, Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets
Upon receiving his M.A. in 1632, Milton retired to Hammersmith, his father's new home since the previous year. He also lived at Horton, Berkshire, from 1635 and undertook six years of self-directed private study. Christopher Hill argues that this was not retreat into a rural idyll: Hammersmith was then a "suburban village" falling into the orbit of London, and even Horton was becoming deforested, and suffered from the plague.[16] He read both ancient and modern works of theology, philosophy, history, politics, literature and science, in preparation for a prospective poetical career. Milton's intellectual development can be charted via entries in his commonplace book (like a scrapbook), now in the British Library. As a result of such intensive study, Milton is considered to be among the most learned of all English poets. In addition to his years of private study, Milton had command of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Spanish, and Italian from his school and undergraduate days; he also added Old English to his linguistic repertoire in the 1650s while researching his History of Britain, and probably acquired proficiency in Dutch soon after.[17] Milton continued to write poetry during this period of study: his Arcades and Comus were both commissioned for masques composed for noble patrons, connections of the Egerton
family, and performed in 1632 and 1634 respectively. Comus argues for the virtuousness of temperance and chastity. He contributed his pastoral elegy Lycidas to a memorial collection for one of his Cambridge classmates. Drafts of these poems are preserved in Milton’s poetry notebook, known as the Trinity Manuscript because it is now kept at Trinity College, Cambridge. In May 1638, Milton embarked upon a tour of France and Italy that lasted up to July or August 1639.[18] His travels supplemented his study with new and direct experience of artistic and religious traditions, especially Roman Catholicism. He met famous theorists and intellectuals of the time, and was able to display his poetic skills. For specific details of what happened within Milton's "grand tour", there appears to be just one primary source: Milton's own Defensio Secunda. Although there are other records, including some letters and some references in his other prose tracts, the bulk of the information about the tour comes from a work that, according to Barbara Lewalski, "was not intended as autobiography but as rhetoric, designed to emphasise his sterling reputation with the learned of Europe."[19] In [Florence], which I have always admired above all others because of the elegance, not just of its tongue, but also of its wit, I lingered for about two months. There I at once became the friend of many gentlemen eminent in rank and learning, whose private academies I frequented—a Florentine institution which deserves great praise not only for promoting humane studies but also for encouraging friendly intercourse.[20] – Milton's account of Florence in Defensio Secunda
He first went to Calais, and then on to Paris, riding horseback, with a letter from diplomat Henry Wotton to ambassador John Scudamore. Through Scudamore, Milton met Hugo Grotius, a Dutch law philosopher, playwright and poet. Milton left France soon after this meeting. He travelled south, from Nice to Genoa, and then to Livorno and Pisa. He reached Florence in July 1638. While there, Milton enjoyed many of the sites and structures of the city. His candour of manner and erudite neo-Latin poetry earned him friends in Florentine intellectual circles, and he met the astronomer Galileo, who was under house arrest at Arcetri, as well as others.[21] Milton probably visited the Florentine Academy and the Academia della Crusca along with smaller academies in the area including the Apatisti and the Svogliati. He left Florence in September to continue to Rome. With the connections from Florence, Milton was able to have easy access to Rome's intellectual society. His poetic abilities impressed those like Giovanni Salzilli, who praised Milton within an epigram. In late October, Milton, despite his dislike for the Society of Jesus, attended a dinner given by the English College, Rome, meeting English Catholics who were also guests, theologian Henry Holden and the poet Patrick Cary.[22] He also attended musical events, including oratorios, operas and melodramas. Milton left for Naples toward the end of November, where he stayed only for a month because of the Spanish control.[23] During that time he was introduced to Giovanni Battista Manso, patron to both Torquato Tasso and to Giovanni Battista Marino.[24] Originally Milton wanted to leave Naples in order to travel to Sicily, and then on to Greece, but he returned to England during the summer of 1639 because of what he claimed, in Defensio Secunda,[25] were "sad tidings of civil war in England."[26] Matters became more complicated when Milton received word that Diodati, his childhood friend, had died. Milton in fact stayed another seven months on the continent, and spent time at Geneva with Diodati's uncle after he returned to Rome. In Defensio Secunda, Milton proclaimed he was warned
against a return to Rome because of his frankness about religion, but he stayed in the city for two months and was able to experience Carnival and meet Lukas Holste, a Vatican librarian, who guided Milton through its collection. He was introduced to Cardinal Francesco Barberini who invited Milton to an opera hosted by the Cardinal. Around March Milton travelled once again to Florence, staying there for two months, attending further meetings of the academies, and spent time with friends. After leaving Florence he travelled through Lucca, Bologna, and Ferrara before coming to Venice. In Venice, Milton was exposed to a model of Republicanism, later important in his political writings, but he soon found another model when he travelled to Geneva. From Switzerland, Milton travelled to Paris and then to Calais before finally arriving back in England in either July or August 1639.[27]
Civil war, prose tracts, and marriage
Title page of the 1644 edition of Areopagitica Main article: Milton's antiprelatical tracts
On returning to England, where the Bishops' Wars presaged further armed conflict, Milton began to write prose tracts against episcopacy, in the service of the Puritan and Parliamentary cause. Milton's first foray into polemics was Of Reformation touching Church Discipline in England (1641), followed by Of Prelatical Episcopacy, the two defences of Smectymnuus (a group of Presbyterian divines named from their initials: the "TY" belonged to Milton's old tutor Thomas Young), and The Reason of Church-Government Urged against Prelaty. With frequent passages of real eloquence lighting up the rough controversial style of the period, and deploying a wide knowledge of church history, he vigorously attacked the High-church party of the Church of England and their leader, William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. Though supported by his father's investments, at this time Milton became a private schoolmaster, educating his nephews and other children of the well-to-do. This experience, and discussions with educational reformer Samuel Hartlib, led him to write in 1644 his short tract, Of Education, urging a reform of the national universities. In June 1642, Milton paid a visit to the manor house at Forest Hill, Oxfordshire, and returned with a 16-year-old bride, Mary Powell.[28][29] A month later, finding life difficult with the
severe 35-year-old schoolmaster and pamphleteer, Mary returned to her family. Partly because of the outbreak of the Civil War,[28] she did not return until 1645; in the meantime her desertion prompted Milton, over the next three years, to publish a series of pamphlets arguing for the legality and morality of divorce. (Anna Beer, one of Milton's most recent biographers, points to a lack of evidence and the dangers of cynicism in urging that it was not necessarily the case that the private life so animated the public polemicising.) In 1643, Milton had a brush with the authorities over these writings, in parallel with Hezekiah Woodward, who had more trouble.[30] It was the hostile response accorded the divorce tracts that spurred Milton to write Areopagitica, his celebrated attack on pre-printing censorship. In Areopagitica, Milton not only aligns himself with the parliamentary cause, he also begins to synthesize the ideal of neo-Roman liberty with that of Christian liberty.[31][32]
Secretary for Foreign Tongues With the parliamentary victory in the Civil War, Milton used his pen in defence of the republican principles represented by the Commonwealth. The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) defended popular government and implicitly sanctioned the regicide; Milton's political reputation got him appointed Secretary for Foreign Tongues by the Council of State in March 1649. Though Milton's main job description was to compose the English Republic's foreign correspondence in Latin, he also was called upon to produce propaganda for the regime and to serve as a censor.[33] In October 1649, he published Eikonoklastes, an explicit defence of the regicide, in response to the Eikon Basilike, a phenomenal best-seller popularly attributed to Charles I that portrayed the King as an innocent Christian martyr. A month after Milton had tried to break this powerful image of Charles I (the literal translation of Eikonoklastes is 'the image breaker'), the exiled Charles II and his party published a defence of monarchy, Defensio Regia pro Carolo Primo, written by the leading humanist Claudius Salmasius. By January of the following year, Milton was ordered to write a defence of the English people by the Council of State. Given the European audience and the English Republic's desire to establish diplomatic and cultural legitimacy, Milton worked more slowly than usual, as he drew on the learning marshalled by his years of study to compose a riposte. On 24 February 1652, Milton published his Latin defence of the English People, Defensio pro Populo Anglicano, also known as the First Defence. Milton's pure Latin prose and evident learning, exemplified in the First Defence, quickly made him a European reputation, and the work ran to numerous editions.[34] He also published in 1652 his Sonnet 16 in praise of "Cromwell, our chief of men".
The back of no 19 York Street (1848). In 1651 Milton moved into a "pretty garden-house" in Petty France, Westminster. He lived there until the Restoration. Later it became No. 19 York Street, belonged to Jeremy Bentham, was occupied successively by James Mill and William Hazlitt, and finally demolished in 1877.[35]
In 1654, in response to an anonymous Royalist tract "Regii sanguinis clamor", a work that made many personal attacks on Milton, he completed a second defence of the English nation, Defensio secunda, which praised Oliver Cromwell, now Lord Protector, while exhorting him to remain true to the principles of the Revolution. Alexander Morus, to whom Milton wrongly attributed the Clamor (in fact by Peter du Moulin), published an attack on Milton, in response to which Milton published the autobiographical Defensio pro se in 1655. In addition to these literary defences of the Commonwealth and his character, Milton continued to translate official correspondence into Latin. By 1654, Milton had become totally blind; the cause of his blindness is debated but bilateral retinal detachment or glaucoma are most likely.[36] His blindness forced him to dictate his verse and prose to amanuenses (helpers), one of whom was the poet Andrew Marvell. One of his best-known sonnets, On His Blindness, is presumed to date from this period.
The Restoration Though Cromwell's death in 1658 caused the English Republic to collapse into feuding military and political factions, Milton stubbornly clung to the beliefs that had originally inspired him to write for the Commonwealth. In 1659, he published A Treatise of Civil Power, attacking the concept of a state-dominated church (the position known as Erastianism), as well as Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove hirelings, denouncing corrupt practises in church governance. As the Republic disintegrated, Milton wrote several proposals to retain a non-monarchical government against the wishes of parliament, soldiers and the people.[citation needed]
Milton later in life
A Letter to a Friend, Concerning the Ruptures of the Commonwealth, written in October 1659, was a response to General Lambert's recent dissolution of the Rump Parliament. Proposals of certain expedients for the preventing of a civil war now feared, written in November 1659. The Ready and Easy Way to Establishing a Free Commonwealth, in two editions, responded to General Monck's march towards London to restore the Long Parliament (which led to the restoration of the monarchy). The work is an impassioned, bitter, and futile jeremiad damning the English people for backsliding from the cause of liberty and advocating the establishment of an authoritarian rule by an oligarchy set up by unelected parliament.
Upon the Restoration in May 1660, Milton went into hiding for his life, while a warrant was issued for his arrest and his writings burnt. He re-emerged after a general pardon was issued, but was nevertheless arrested and briefly imprisoned before influential friends, such as Marvell, now an MP, intervened. On 24 February 1663, Milton remarried, for a third and final time, Elizabeth (Betty) Minshull, then aged 24, a native of Wistaston, Cheshire. Milton spent the remaining decade of his life living quietly in London, only retiring to a cottage— Milton's Cottage—in Chalfont St. Giles, his only extant home, during the Great Plague of London. During this period, Milton published several minor prose works, such as a grammar textbook, Art of Logic, and a History of Britain. His only explicitly political tracts were the 1672 Of True Religion, arguing for toleration (except for Catholics), and a translation of a Polish tract advocating an elective monarchy. Both these works were referred to in the Exclusion debate—the attempt to exclude the heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the throne of England because he was Roman Catholic—that would preoccupy politics in the 1670s and 1680s and precipitate the formation of the Whig party and the Glorious Revolution. Milton died of kidney failure on 8 November 1674 and was buried in the church of St Giles Cripplegate, Fore Street, London.[37] According to an early biographer, his funeral was attended by “his learned and great Friends in London, not without a friendly concourse of the Vulgar.”[38] A monument by John Bacon the Elder was added in 1793.
Family Milton and his first wife, Mary Powell (1625–1652) had four children:
Anne (born 7 July 1646) Mary (born 25 October 1648) John (16 March 1651 – June 1652) Deborah (2 May 1652 – ?)
Mary Powell died on 5 May 1652 from complications following Deborah's birth. Milton's daughters survived to adulthood, but he had always a strained relationship with them. On 12 November 1656, Milton was married again, to Katherine Woodcock. She died on 3 February 1658, less than four months after giving birth to a daughter, Katherine, who also died. Milton married for a third time on 24 February 1662, to Elizabeth Mynshull (1638–1728), the niece of Thomas Mynshull, a wealthy apothecary and philanthropist in Manchester. Despite a 31-year age gap, the marriage seemed happy, according to John Aubrey, and was to last more than 12 years until Milton's death. (A plaque on the wall of Mynshull's House in Manchester describes Elizabeth as Milton's "3rd and Best wife".) Samuel Johnson, however, claims that Mynshull was "a domestic companion and attendant" and that Milton's nephew, Edward Phillips, relates that Mynshull "oppressed his children in his lifetime, and cheated them at his death".[39] Two nephews (sons of Milton's sister Anne), Edward and John Phillips, were educated by Milton and became writers themselves. John acted as a secretary, and Edward was Milton's first biographer.
Poetry Milton's poetry was slow to see the light of day, at least under his name. His first published poem was On Shakespear (1630), anonymously included in the Second Folio edition of William Shakespeare. In the midst of the excitement attending the possibility of establishing a new English government, Milton collected his work in 1645 Poems. The anonymous edition of Comus was published in 1637, and the publication of Lycidas in 1638 in Justa Edouardo King Naufrago was signed J. M. Otherwise, the 1645 collection was the only poetry of his to see print, until Paradise Lost appeared in 1667.
Paradise Lost Main article: Paradise Lost
Milton's magnum opus, the blank-verse epic poem Paradise Lost, was composed by the blind and impoverished Milton from 1658 to 1664 (first edition) with small but significant revisions published in 1674 (second edition). As a blind poet, Milton dictated his verse to a series of aides in his employ. It has been argued that the poem reflects his personal despair at the failure of the Revolution, yet affirms an ultimate optimism in human potential. Some
literary critics have argued that Milton encoded many references to his unyielding support for the "Good Old Cause".[40]
Milton Dictates the Lost Paradise to His Three Daughters, ca. 1826. Artist: Eugène Delacroix
On 27 April 1667,[41] Milton sold the publication rights to Paradise Lost to publisher Samuel Simmons for £5, equivalent to approximately £7,400 income in 2008,[42] with a further £5 to be paid if and when each print run of between 1,300 and 1,500 copies sold out.[43] The first run, a quarto edition priced at three shillings per copy, was published in August 1667 and sold out in eighteen months.[44] Milton followed up Paradise Lost with its sequel, Paradise Regained, published alongside the tragedy Samson Agonistes, in 1671. Both these works also resonate with Milton's postRestoration political situation. Just before his death in 1674, Milton supervised a second edition of Paradise Lost, accompanied by an explanation of "why the poem rhymes not" and prefatory verses by Marvell. Milton republished his 1645 Poems in 1673, as well a collection of his letters and the Latin prolusions from his Cambridge days. A 1668 edition of Paradise Lost, reported to have been Milton's personal copy, is now housed in the archives of the University of Western Ontario.
Views An unfinished religious manifesto, De doctrina christiana, probably written by Milton, lays out many of his heterodox theological views, and was not discovered and published until 1823. Milton's key beliefs were idiosyncratic, not those of an identifiable group or faction, and often they go well beyond the orthodoxy of the time. Their tone, however, stemmed from the Puritan emphasis on the centrality and inviolability of conscience.[45] He was his own man, but he was anticipated by Henry Robinson in Areopagitica.
Philosophy By the late 1650s, Milton was a proponent of monism or animist materialism, the notion that a single material substance which is "animate, self-active, and free" composes everything in the universe: from stones and trees and bodies to minds, souls, angels, and God.[46] Milton
devised this position to avoid the mind-body dualism of Plato and Descartes as well as the mechanistic determinism of Hobbes. Milton's monism is most notably reflected in Paradise Lost when he has angels eat (5.433–39)[clarification needed] and engage in sexual intercourse (8.622–29)[clarification needed] and the De Doctrina, where he denies the dual natures of man and argues for a theory of Creation ex Deo.
Political thought
Title page of John Milton's 1644 edition of Areopagitica Main article: John Milton's politics
In his political writing, Milton addressed particular themes at different periods. The years 1641–42 were dedicated to church politics and the struggle against episcopacy. After his divorce writings, Areopagitica, and a gap, he wrote in 1649–54 in the aftermath of the execution of Charles I, and in polemic justification of the regicide and the existing Parliamentarian regime. Then in 1659–60 he foresaw the Restoration, and wrote to head it off.[47] Milton's own beliefs were in some cases both unpopular and dangerous, and this was true particularly to his commitment to republicanism. In coming centuries, Milton would be claimed as an early apostle of liberalism.[48] According to James Tully: ... with Locke as with Milton, republican and contraction conceptions of political freedom join hands in common opposition to the disengaged and passive subjection offered by absolutists such as Hobbes and Robert Filmer.[49] A friend and ally in the pamphlet wars was Marchamont Nedham. Austin Woolrych considers that although they were quite close, there is "little real affinity, beyond a broad republicanism", between their approaches.[50] Blair Worden remarks that both Milton and Nedham, with others such as Andrew Marvell and James Harrington, would have taken the problem with the Rump Parliament to be not the republic, but the fact that it was not a proper republic.[51] Woolrych speaks of "the gulf between Milton's vision of the Commonwealth's future and the reality".[52] In the early version of his History of Britain, begun in 1649, Milton was already writing off the members of the Long Parliament as incorrigible.[53]
He praised Oliver Cromwell as the Protectorate was set up; though subsequently he had major reservations. When Cromwell seemed to be backsliding as a revolutionary, after a couple of years in power, Milton moved closer to the position of Sir Henry Vane, to whom he wrote a sonnet in 1652.[54][55] The group of disaffected republicans included, besides Vane, John Bradshaw, John Hutchinson, Edmund Ludlow, Henry Marten, Robert Overton, Edward Sexby and John Streater; but not Marvell, who remained with Cromwell's party.[56] Milton had already commended Overton, along with Edmund Whalley and Bulstrode Whitelocke, in Defensio Secunda.[57] Nigel Smith writes that ... John Streater, and the form of republicanism he stood for, was a fulfilment of Milton's most optimistic ideas of free speech and of public heroism [...][58] As Richard Cromwell fell from power, he envisaged a step towards a freer republic or “free commonwealth”, writing in the hope of this outcome in early 1660. Milton had argued for an awkward position, in the Ready and Easy Way, because he wanted to invoke the Good Old Cause and gain the support of the republicans, but without offering a democratic solution of any kind.[59] His proposal, backed by reference (amongst other reasons) to the oligarchical Dutch and Venetian constitutions, was for a council with perpetual membership. This attitude cut right across the grain of popular opinion of the time, which swung decisively behind the restoration of the Stuart monarchy that took place later in the year.[60] Milton, an associate of and advocate on behalf of the regicides, was silenced on political matters as Charles II returned.
Theology Main article: John Milton's religion
Like many Renaissance artists before him, Milton attempted to integrate Christian theology with classical modes. In his early poems, the poet narrator expresses a tension between vice and virtue, the latter invariably related to Protestantism. In Comus, Milton may make ironic use of the Caroline court masque by elevating notions of purity and virtue over the conventions of court revelry and superstition. In his later poems, Milton's theological concerns become more explicit. Milton embraced many heterodox Christian theological views. He rejected the Trinity, in the belief that the Son was subordinate to the Father, a position known as Arianism; and his sympathy or curiosity was probably engaged by Socinianism: in August 1650 he licensed for publication by William Dugard the Racovian Catechism, based on a non-trinitarian creed.[61][62] A source has interpreted him as broadly Protestant, if not always easy to locate in a more precise religious category. In his 1641 treatise, Of Reformation, Milton expressed his dislike for Catholicism and episcopacy, presenting Rome as a modern Babylon, and bishops as Egyptian taskmasters. These analogies conform to Milton's puritanical preference for Old Testament imagery. He knew at least four commentaries on Genesis: those of John Calvin, Paulus Fagius, David Pareus and Andreus Rivetus.[63] Through the Interregnum, Milton often presents England, rescued from the trappings of a worldly monarchy, as an elect nation akin to the Old Testament Israel, and shows its leader, Oliver Cromwell, as a latter-day Moses. These views were bound up in Protestant views of
the Millennium, which some sects, such as the Fifth Monarchists predicted would arrive in England. Milton, however, would later criticise the "worldly" millenarian views of these and others, and expressed orthodox ideas on the prophecy of the Four Empires.[64] The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in 1660 began a new phase in Milton's work. In Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, Milton mourns the end of the godly Commonwealth. The Garden of Eden may allegorically reflect Milton's view of England's recent Fall from Grace, while Samson's blindness and captivity—mirroring Milton's own lost sight—may be a metaphor for England's blind acceptance of Charles II as king. Illustrated by Paradise Lost is mortalism, the belief that the soul lies dormant after the body dies.[65] Despite the Restoration of the monarchy, Milton did not lose his personal faith; Samson shows how the loss of national salvation did not necessarily preclude the salvation of the individual, while Paradise Regained expresses Milton's continuing belief in the promise of Christian salvation through Jesus Christ. Though he may have maintained his personal faith in spite of the defeats suffered by his cause, the Dictionary of National Biography recounted how he had been alienated from the Church of England by Archbishop William Laud, and then moved similarly from the Dissenters by their denunciation of religious tolerance in England. Milton had come to stand apart from all sects, though apparently finding the Quakers most congenial. He never went to any religious services in his later years. When a servant brought back accounts of sermons from nonconformist meetings, Milton became so sarcastic that the man at last gave up his place.
Religious toleration Milton called in the Areopagitica for "the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties" (applied, however, only to the conflicting Protestant denominations, and not to atheists, Jews, Muslims or Catholics[66]). "Milton argued for disestablishment as the only effective way of achieving broad toleration. Rather than force a man's conscience, government should recognise the persuasive force of the gospel."[67]
Divorce Main article: Milton's divorce tracts
Milton wrote The Doctrine & Discipline of Divorce in 1643, at the beginning of the English Civil War. In August of that year, he presented his thoughts to the Westminster Assembly of divines, which had been created by the Long Parliament to bring greater reform to the Church of England. The Assembly convened on 1 July against the will of King Charles I. Milton's thinking on divorce caused him considerable trouble with the authorities. An orthodox Presbyterian view of the time was that Milton's views on divorce constituted a oneman heresy: The fervently Presbyterian Edwards had included Milton’s divorce tracts in his list in Gangraena of heretical publications that threatened the religious and moral fabric of the
nation; Milton responded by mocking him as “shallow Edwards” in the satirical sonnet “On the New Forcers of Conscience under the Long Parliament”, usually dated to the latter half of 1646.[68] Even here, though, his originality is qualified: Thomas Gataker had already identified "mutual solace" as a principal goal in marriage.[69] Milton abandoned his campaign to legitimise divorce after 1645, but he expressed support for polygamy in the De Doctrina Christiana, the theological treatise that provides the clearest evidence for his views.[70] Milton wrote during a period when thoughts about divorce were anything but simplistic; rather, there was active debate among thought-leaders. However, Milton's basic approval of divorce within strict parameters set by the biblical witness was typical of many influential Christian intellectuals, particularly the Westminster divines. Milton addressed the Assembly on the matter of divorce in August 1643,[71] at a moment when the Assembly was beginning to form its opinion on the matter. In the Doctrine & Discipline of Divorce, Milton argued that divorce was a private matter, not a legal or ecclesiastical one. Neither the Assembly nor Parliament condemned Milton or his ideas. In fact, when the Westminster Assembly wrote the Westminster Confession of Faith they allowed for divorce ('Of Marriage and Divorce,' Chapter 24, Section 5) in cases of infidelity or abandonment. Thus, the Christian community, at least a majority within the 'Puritan' sub-set, approved of Milton's views. Nevertheless, reaction among Puritans to Milton's views on divorce was mixed. Herbert Palmer (Puritan) condemned Milton in the strongest possible language. Palmer, who was a member of the Westminster Assembly, wrote: If any plead Conscience ... for divorce for other causes then Christ and His Apostles mention; Of which a wicked booke is abroad and uncensured, though deserving to be burnt, whose Author, hath been so impudent as to set his Name to it, and dedicate it to your selves ... will you grant a Toleration for all this? (The Glasse of God’s Providence Towards His Faithfull Ones, 1644, p. 54).[72] Palmer expressed his disapproval in a sermon addressed to the Westminster Assembly. The Scottish commissioner Robert Baillie described Palmer's sermon as one “of the most Scottish and free sermons that ever I heard any where.”[73]
History History was particularly important for the political class of the period, and Lewalski considers that Milton "more than most illustrates" a remark of Thomas Hobbes on the weight placed at the time on the classical Latin historical writers Tacitus, Livy, Sallust and Cicero, and their republican attitudes.[74] Milton himself wrote that "Worthy deeds are not often destitute of worthy relaters", in Book II of his History of Britain. A sense of history mattered greatly to him:[75] The course of human history, the immediate impact of the civil disorders, and his own traumatic personal life, are all regarded by Milton as typical of the predicament he describes as "the misery that has bin since Adam".[76]
Legacy and influence
Once Paradise Lost was published, Milton's stature as epic poet was immediately recognised. He cast a formidable shadow over English poetry in the 18th and 19th centuries; he was often judged equal or superior to all other English poets, including Shakespeare. Very early on, though, he was championed by Whigs, and decried by Tories: with the regicide Edmund Ludlow he was claimed as an early Whig,[77] while the High Tory Anglican minister Luke Milbourne lumped Milton in with other "Agents of Darkness" such as John Knox, George Buchanan, Richard Baxter, Algernon Sidney and John Locke.[78] The political ideas of Milton, Locke, Sidney, and James Harrington strongly influenced the Radical Whigs, whose ideology in turn was central to the American Revolution.[79]
Early reception of the poetry John Dryden, an early enthusiast, in 1677 began the trend of describing Milton as the poet of the sublime.[80] Dryden's The State of Innocence and the Fall of Man: an Opera (1677) is evidence of an immediate cultural influence. In 1695, Patrick Hume became the first editor of Paradise Lost, providing an extensive apparatus of annotation and commentary, particularly chasing down allusions.[81]
Title page of a 1752–1761 edition of "The Poetical Works of John Milton with Notes of Various Authors by Thomas Newton" printed by J. & R. Tonson in the Strand
In 1732, the classical scholar Richard Bentley offered a corrected version of Paradise Lost.[82] Bentley was considered presumptuous, and was attacked in the following year by Zachary Pearce. Christopher Ricks judges that, as critic, Bentley was both acute and wrongheaded, and "incorrigibly eccentric"; William Empson also finds Pearce to be more sympathetic to Bentley's underlying line of thought than is warranted.[83][84] There was an early, partial translation of Paradise Lost into German by Theodore Haak, and based on that a standard verse translation by Ernest Gottlieb von Berge. A subsequent prose translation by Johann Jakob Bodmer was very popular; it influenced Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. The German-language Milton tradition returned to England in the person of the artist Henry Fuseli.
Many enlightenment thinkers of the 18th century revered and commented on Milton's poetry and non-poetical works. In addition to John Dryden, among them were Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison, Thomas Newton, and Samuel Johnson. For example, in The Spectator,[85] Joseph Addison wrote extensive notes, annotations, and interpretations of certain passages of Paradise Lost. Jonathan Richardson, senior, and Jonathan Richardson, the younger, co-wrote a book of criticism.[86] In 1749, Thomas Newton published an extensive edition of Milton's poetical works with annotations provided by himself, Dryden, Pope, Addison, the Richardsons (father and son) and others. Newton's edition of Milton was a culmination of the honour bestowed upon Milton by early Enlightenment thinkers; it may also have been prompted by Richard Bentley's infamous edition, described above. Samuel Johnson wrote numerous essays on Paradise Lost, and Milton was included in his Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779–1781).
Blake
Frontispiece to Milton a Poem
William Blake considered Milton the major English poet. Blake placed Edmund Spenser as Milton's precursor, and saw himself as Milton's poetical son.[87] In his Milton a Poem, Blake uses Milton as a character.
Romantic theory Edmund Burke was a theorist of the sublime, and he regarded Milton's description of Hell as exemplary of sublimity as an aesthetic concept. For Burke, it was to set alongside mountaintops, a storm at sea, and infinity.[88] In The Beautiful and the Sublime, he wrote: "No person seems better to have understood the secret of heightening, or of setting terrible things, if I may use the expression, in their strongest light, by the force of a judicious obscurity than Milton."[89] The Romantic poets valued his exploration of blank verse, but for the most part rejected his religiosity. William Wordsworth began his sonnet "London, 1802" with "Milton! thou
should'st be living at this hour"[90] and modelled The Prelude, his own blank verse epic, on Paradise Lost. John Keats found the yoke of Milton's style uncongenial;[91] he exclaimed that "Miltonic verse cannot be written but in an artful or rather artist's humour."[92] Keats felt that Paradise Lost was a "beautiful and grand curiosity", but his own unfinished attempt at epic poetry, Hyperion, was unsatisfactory to the author because, amongst other things, it had too many "Miltonic inversions".[92] In The Madwoman in the Attic, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar note that Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is, in the view of many critics, "one of the key 'Romantic' readings of Paradise Lost."[93]
Later legacy The Victorian age witnessed a continuation of Milton's influence, George Eliot[94] and Thomas Hardy being particularly inspired by Milton's poetry and biography. Hostile 20thcentury criticism by T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound did not reduce Milton's stature.[95] F. R. Leavis, in The Common Pursuit, responded to the points made by Eliot, in particular the claim that "the study of Milton could be of no help: it was only a hindrance," by arguing, "As if it were a matter of deciding not to study Milton! The problem, rather, was to escape from an influence that was so difficult to escape from because it was unrecognized, belonging, as it did, to the climate of the habitual and 'natural'."[96] Harold Bloom, in The Anxiety of Influence, wrote that "Milton is the central problem in any theory and history of poetic influence in English [...]".[97] Milton's Areopagitica is still cited as relevant to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[98] A quotation from Areopagitica—"A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life"—is displayed in many public libraries, including the New York Public Library. The title of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is derived from a quotation, "His dark materials to create more worlds", line 915 of Book II in Paradise Lost. Pullman was concerned to produce a version of Milton's poem accessible to teenagers,[99] and has spoken of Milton as "our greatest public poet".[100] T. S. Eliot believed that "of no other poet is it so difficult to consider the poetry simply as poetry, without our theological and political dispositions... making unlawful entry".[101]
Literary legacy Milton's use of blank verse, in addition to his stylistic innovations (such as grandiloquence of voice and vision, peculiar diction and phraseology) influenced later poets. At the time, poetic blank verse was considered distinct from its use in verse drama, and Paradise Lost was taken as a unique examplar.[102] Said Isaac Watts in 1734, "Mr. Milton is esteemed the parent and author of blank verse among us".[103] "Miltonic verse" might be synonymous for a century with blank verse as poetry, a new poetic terrain independent from both the drama and the heroic couplet. Lack of rhyme was sometimes taken as Milton's defining innovation. He himself considered the rhymeless quality of Paradise Lost to be an extension of his own personal liberty: This neglect then of Rhime ... is to be esteem'd an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recover'd to heroic Poem from the troublesom and modern bondage of Rimeing.[104]
This pursuit of freedom was largely a reaction against conservative values entrenched within the rigid heroic couplet.[105] Within a dominant culture that stressed elegance and finish, he granted primacy to freedom, breadth and imaginative suggestiveness, eventually developed into the romantic vision of sublime terror. Reaction to Milton's poetic worldview included, grudgingly, acknowledgement that of poet's resemblance to classical writers (Greek and Roman poetry being unrhymed). Blank verse came to be a recognised medium for religious works and for translations of the classics. Unrhymed lyrics like Collins' Ode to Evening (in the meter of Milton's translation of Horace's Ode to Pyrrha) were not uncommon after 1740.[106]
Statue of Milton in Temple of British Worthies, Stowe
A second aspect of Milton's blank verse was the use of unconventional rhythm: His blank-verse paragraph, and his audacious and victorious attempt to combine blank and rhymed verse with paragraphic effect in Lycidas, lay down indestructible models and patterns of English verse-rhythm, as distinguished from the narrower and more strait-laced forms of English metre.[107] Before Milton, "the sense of regular rhythm ... had been knocked into the English head so securely that it was part of their nature".[108] The "Heroick measure", according to Samuel Johnson, "is pure ... when the accent rests upon every second syllable through the whole line The repetition of this sound or percussion at equal times, is the most complete harmony of which a single verse is capable",[109] Caesural pauses, most agreed, were best placed at the middle and the end of the line. In order to support this symmetry, lines were most often octoor deca-syllabic, with no enjambed endings. To this schema Milton introduced modifications, which included hypermetrical syllables (trisyllabic feet), inversion or slighting of stresses, and the shifting of pauses to all parts of the line.[110] Milton deemed these features to be reflective of "the transcendental union of order and freedom".[111] Admirers remained hesitant to adopt such departures from traditional metrical schemes: “The English ... had been writing separate lines for so long that they could not rid themselves of the habit”.[112] Isaac Watts
preferred his lines distinct from each other, as did Oliver Goldsmith, Henry Pemberton, and Scott of Amwell, whose general opinion it was that Milton's frequent omission of the initial unaccented foot was "displeasing to a nice ear".[113] It was not until the late 18th century that poets (beginning with Gray) began to appreciate "the composition of Milton's harmony ... how he loved to vary his pauses, his measures, and his feet, which gives that enchanting air of freedom and wilderness to his versification".[114] While neo-classical diction was as restrictive as its prosody, and narrow imagery paired with uniformity of sentence structure resulted in a small set of 800 nouns circumscribing the vocabulary of 90% of heroic couplets ever written up to the eighteenth century,[115] and tradition required that the same adjectives attach to the same nouns, followed by the same verbs, Milton's pursuit of liberty extended into his vocabulary as well. It included many Latinate neologisms, as well as obsolete words already dropped from popular usage so completely that their meanings were no longer understood. In 1740, Francis Peck identified some examples of Milton's "old" words (now popular).[116] The “Miltonian dialect” as it was called, was emulated by later poets; Pope used the diction of Paradise Lost in his Homer translation, while the lyric poetry of Gray and Collins was frequently criticised for their use of “obsolete words out of Spenser and Milton”.[117] The language of Thomson's finest poems (e.g. The Seasons, Castle of Indolence) was self-consciously modelled after the Miltonian dialect, with the same tone and sensibilities as Paradise Lost. Following to Milton, English poetry from Pope to John Keats exhibited a steadily increasing attention to the connotative, the imaginative and poetic, value of words.[118]
Musical settings Milton's ode At a solemn Musick was set for choir and orchestra as Blest Pair of Sirens by Hubert Parry (1848-1918). Milton also wrote the hymn Let us with a gladsome mind, a versification of Psalm 136.
Works
Memorial in St Giles-without-Cripplegate, London
Poetry and drama
1631: L'Allegro 1631: Il Penseroso 1634: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634 commonly known as Comus (a masque) 1638: Lycidas 1645: Poems of Mr John Milton, Both English and Latin 1655: On the Late Massacre in Piedmont 1667: Paradise Lost 1671: Paradise Regained 1671: Samson Agonistes 1673: Poems, &c, Upon Several Occasions
Prose
Of Reformation (1641) Of Prelatical Episcopacy (1641) Animadversions (1641) The Reason of Church-Government Urged against Prelaty (1642) Apology for Smectymnuus (1642) Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643) Judgement of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce (1644) Of Education (1644) Areopagitica (1644) Tetrachordon (1645) Colasterion (1645) The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) Eikonoklastes (1649) Defensio pro Populo Anglicano [First Defence] (1651) Defensio Secunda [Second Defence] (1654) A Treatise of Civil Power (1659) The Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings from the Church (1659) The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth (1660) Brief Notes Upon a Late Sermon (1660) Accedence Commenced Grammar (1669) History of Britain (1670) Artis logicae plenior institutio [Art of Logic] (1672) Of True Religion (1673) Epistolae Familiaries (1674) Prolusiones (1674) A brief History of Moscovia, and other less known Countries lying Eastward of Russia as far as Cathay, gathered from the writings of several Eye-witnesses (1682)[119] De Doctrina Christiana (1823)
References
Beer, Anna. Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer, and Patriot. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2008. Campbell, Gordon and Corns, Thomas. John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Chaney, Edward, The Grand Tour and the Great Rebellion: Richard Lassels and 'The Voyage of Italy' in the Seventeenth Century (Geneva, CIRVI, 1985) and "Milton's Visit to Vallombrosa: A literary tradition", The Evolution of the Grand Tour, 2nd ed (Routledge, London, 2000). Dexter, Raymond. The Influence of Milton on English Poetry. London: Kessinger Publishing. 1922 Dick, Oliver Lawson. Aubrey's Brief Lives. Harmondsworth, Middl.: Penguin Books, 1962. Eliot, T. S. "Annual Lecture on a Master Mind: Milton", Proceedings of the British Academy 33 (1947). Fish, Stanley. Versions of Antihumanism: Milton and Others. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-107-00305-7. Gray, Thomas. Observations on English Metre. "The Works of Thomas Gray". ed. Mitford. London: William Pickering, 1835. Hawkes, David, John Milton: A Hero of Our Time (Counterpoint Press: London and New York, 2009) ISBN 1582434379 Hill, Christopher. Milton and the English Revolution. London: Faber, 1977. Hobsbaum, Philip. "Meter, Rhythm and Verse Form". New York: Routledge, 1996. Hunter, William Bridges. A Milton Encyclopedia. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1980. Johnson, Samuel. "Rambler #86" 1751. Johnson, Samuel. Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets. London: Dove, 1826. Leonard, John. Faithful Labourers: A Reception History of Paradise Lost, 1667-1970. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Lewalski, Barbara K. The Life of John Milton. Oxford: Blackwells Publishers, 2003. A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5: Bullingdon Hundred. 1957. pp. 122–134. Masson, David. The Life of John Milton and History of His Time, Vol. 1. Cambridge: 1859. McCalman, Iain. et al., An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age: British Culture, 1776– 1832. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Milner, Andrew. John Milton and the English Revolution: A Study in the Sociology of Literature. London: Macmillan, 1981. Milton, John. Complete Prose Works 8 Vols. gen. ed. Don M. Wolfe. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959. Milton, John. The Verse, "Paradise Lost". London, 1668. Peck, Francis. "New Memoirs of Milton". London, 1740. Pfeiffer, Robert H. "The Teaching of Hebrew in Colonial America", The Jewish Quarterly Review (April 1955). Rosenfeld, Nancy. The Human Satan in Seventeenth-Century English Literature: From Milton to Rochester. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008. Saintsbury, George. "The Peace of the Augustans: A Survey of Eighteenth Century Literature as a Place of Rest and Refreshment". London: Oxford University Press. 1946. Saintsbury, George. "A History of English Prosody: From the Twelfth Century to the Present Day". London: Macmillan and Co., 1908. Scott, John. "Critical Essays". London, 1785. Stephen, Leslie (1902). "New Lights on Milton". Studies of a Biographer 4. London: Duckworth & Co. pp. 86–129. Sullivan, Ceri. Literature in the Public Service: Divine Bureaucracy (2013). Toland, John. Life of Milton in The Early Lives of Milton. Ed. Helen Darbishere. London: Constable, 1932. von Maltzahn, Nicholas. "Milton's Readers" in The Cambridge Companion to Milton. ed. Dennis Richard Danielson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Watts, Isaac. "Miscellaneous Thoughts" No. lxxiii. Works 1810 Wedgwood, C. V. Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford 1593–1641. New York: Macmillan, 1961.
Wilson, A. N. The Life of John Milton. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.
The Blessed John of Ruusbroec (Dutch: Jan van Ruusbroec, pronounced [ˈjɑn vɑn ˈryzbruk] or in a recent form Jan (or Johannes) van Ruysbroeck [vɑn ˈrœy̯zbruk]; 1293 or 1294 – 2 December 1381) was one of the Flemish mystics. Some of his main literary works include The Kingdom of the Divine Lovers, The Twelve Beguines, The Spiritual Espousals, A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness, The Little Book of Enlightenment, and The Sparkling Stone. Some of his letters also survive, as well as several short sayings (recorded by some of his disciples, such as Jan van Leeuwen). He wrote in the Dutch vernacular, the language of the common people of the Low Countries, rather than in Latin, the language of the Church liturgy and official texts, in order to reach a wider audience.
“ You are as holy as you wish to be.” “Our work is the love of God. Our satisfaction lies in submission to the Divine Embrace Life” “Knowledge of ourselves teaches us whence we come, where we are, and whither we are going. We come from God, and we are in exile.”
“God's transcending nature must be understood as oneness and simplicity, unscalable height and unfathomable depth, incomprehensible breadth and infinite length, dark silence and ferocious energy.” - The Sparkling Gem, complete works, vol. 3, pp. 6-7
Until his ordination
John had a devout mother, who brought him up in the Catholic faith; of his father we know nothing. John's surname, Van Ruusbroec, is not a surname in the modern sense but a toponym that refers to his native hamlet; modern-day Ruisbroek near Brussels (compare John of Salisbury or Democritus of Abdera). At the age of eleven he left his mother, departing without leave or warning, to place himself under the guidance and tuition of his uncle, Jan Hinckaert, a canon regular of St. Gudule's, Brussels. Hinckaert was living according to his Apostolic views with a fellow-canon, Francis van Coudenberg. This uncle provided for Ruysbroeck's education with a view to the priesthood. In due course, John was presented with a prebend in St. Gudule's church, and ordained in 1318. His mother had followed him to Brussels, entered a Béguinage there, and died shortly before his ordination.
Priest in Brussels From 1318 until 1343 Ruysbroeck served as a parish priest at St Gudula. He continued to lead, together with his uncle Hinckaert and Van Coudenberg, a life of extreme austerity and retirement. At that time the Brethren of the Free Spirit were causing controversy in the Netherlands and one of them, a woman named Heilwige Bloemardinne, was particularly active in Brussels, propagating her beliefs chiefly by means of popular pamphlets. Ruysbroeck responded with pamphlets also written in the native tongue (Middle Dutch). Nothing of these treatises remains. The controversy had a permanent effect on Ruysbroeck: his later writings bear constant reference, direct and indirect, to the heretical views expressed in these times, and he always wrote in the country's native language, chiefly with a view to counteracting these writings which he viewed as heretical.
Priest in Groenendaal
Small chapel in the forest at Groenendaal near the monastery where Ruysbroeck contemplated
The desire for a more retired life, and possibly also the persecution which followed Ruysbroeck's attack on Bloemardinne, induced Ruysbroeck, Jan Hinckaert (d. 1350) and Vrank van Coudenberg (d. 1386) to leave Brussels in 1343 for the hermitage of Groenendaal, in the neighbouring Sonian Forest, which was made over to them by John III, Duke of Brabant. The ruins of the monastery are still present in the forest of Soignes.[1] But here so many disciples joined the little company that it was found expedient to organize into a duly-authorized religious body. The hermitage was erected into a community of canons regular on 13 March 1349, and eventually it became the motherhouse of a congregation, which bore its name of Groenendaal. Francis van Coudenberg was appointed first provost, and Blessed John Ruysbroeck prior. Hinckaert refrained from making the canonical profession lest the discipline of the house should suffer from the exemptions required by the infirmities of his old age; he dwelt, therefore, in a cell outside the cloister and there a few years later died. This period, from his religious profession (1349) to his death (1381), was the most active and fruitful of Ruysbroeck's career. During this time, his fame as a man of God, as a sublime contemplative and a skilled director of souls, spread beyond the bounds of Flanders and Brabant to Holland, Germany, and France.[2] He had relations with the nearby Carthusian house at Herne, and also with several communities of Poor Clare Franciscans. We know that he had connections with the Friends of God in Strasbourg, and also that in about 1378 he was visited by Geert Groote, the founder of the devotio moderna. It is possible, though disputed, that John Tauler came to see him.[3] John died at Groenendaal, aged 82, on 2 December 1381.
Works In total, Ruysbroeck wrote twelve books, seven epistles, two hymns and a prayer. All were written in Middle Dutch. Around 1340, Ruysbroeck wrote his masterpiece, The Spiritual Espousals. The 36 surviving Dutch manuscripts, as well as translations into Latin and Middle High German, are evidence of the book’s popularity. Some of the text was also translated into Middle English (via the Latin translation) as The Chastising of God's Children (which was later printed by Wynkyn de Worde).[4] Around the same time, he also wrote a short treatise, The Sparkling Stone,[5] which was also translated into Middle English.[6]
Ruysbroeck’s most famous writings were composed during his time in Groenendaal. His longest and most popular work (surviving today in 42 manuscripts), The Spiritual Tabernacle, was began in Brussels but finished at Groenendaal, presumably early on in his time there. Two brief works, The Christian Faith (an explanation of the Creed) and a treatise on The Four Temptations, also date from around the time of Ruysbroeck’s arrival in Groenendaal.[7] His later works include four writings to Margareta van Meerbeke, a Franciscan nun of Brussels. These are The Seven Enclosures (c1346-50), the first of his seven surviving letters, The Seven Rungs (c1359-60), and A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness. Around 1363 the Carthusians at Herne dispatched a deputation to Groenendaal presenting Ruysbroeck with questions on his first book, The Realm of Lovers. Ruysbroeck went to Herne to clarify his teaching, and afterwards put this in writing in his work The Little Book of Enlightenment.[8]
A depiction of Jan van Ruysbroeck
Thought
Jan Ruysbroeck Weg sign on walls of his old monastery at Groenendaal.
Of Ruysbroeck's works, the treatise The Seven Steps of the Ladder of Spiritual Love is the one that is currently most-readily available. Of the various treatises preserved, the best-known
and the most characteristic is that entitled The Spiritual Espousals. It is divided into three books, treating respectively of the active, the interior, and the contemplative life. Literally, Ruysbroeck wrote as the spirit moved him. He loved to wander and meditate in the solitude of the forest adjoining the cloister; he was accustomed to carry a tablet with him, and on this to jot down his thoughts as he felt inspired so to do. Late in life he was able to declare that he had never committed aught to writing save by the motion of the Holy Ghost. In none of his treatises do we find anything like a complete or detailed account of his system; perhaps, it would be correct to say that he himself was not conscious of elaborating any system. In his dogmatic writings he explains, illustrates, and enforces traditional teachings with remarkable force and lucidity. In his ascetic works, his favourite virtues are detachment, humility and charity; he loves to dwell on such themes as flight from the world, meditation upon the Life, especially the Passion of Christ, abandonment to the Divine Will, and an intense personal love of God. In common with most of the German mystics, Ruysbroeck starts from divine matters before describing humanity. His work often then returns to discussing God, showing how the divine and the human are so closely united as to become one. He demonstrates inclinations towards Christian universalism in writing that "Man, having proceeded from God is destined to return, and become one with Him again." But here he is careful to clarify his position: "There where I assert that we are one in God, I must be understood in this sense that we are one in love, not in essence and nature." Despite this declaration, however, and other similar saving clauses scattered over his pages, some of Ruysbroeck's expressions are certainly rather unusual and startling. The sublimity of his subject-matter was such that it could scarcely be otherwise. His devoted friend, Gerard Groote, a trained theologian, confessed to a feeling of uneasiness over certain of his phrases and passages, and begged him to change or modify them for the sake at least of the weak. Later on, Jean Gerson and then Bossuet both professed to find traces of unconscious pantheism in his works. But as an offset we may mention the enthusiastic commendations of his contemporaries, Groote, Johannes Tauler, Thomas à Kempis, John of Schoonhoven, and in subsequent times of the Franciscan Henry van Herp, the Carthusians Denis and Laurentius Surius, the Carmelite Thomas of Jesus, the Benedictine Louis de Blois, and the Jesuit Leonardus Lessius. Ernest Hello and especially Maurice Maeterlinck have done much to make his writings known. Ruysbroeck was a powerful influence in developing United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld's conception of spiritual growth through selfless service to humanity, as expressed in his book of contemplations called Vägmärken ('Markings').[9] Ruysbroeck insisted that the soul finds God in its own depths, and noted three stages of progress in what he called the spiritual ladder of Christian attainment: (1) the active life, (2) the inward life, (3) the contemplative life. He did not teach the fusion of the self in God, but held that at the summit of the ascent the soul still preserves its identity.[10] In the Kingdom of the Lovers of God he explains that those seeking wisdom must "flow forth on the waters to all the boundaries of the earth, that is, on compassion, pity and mercy shown to the needs of all men", must "fly in the air of the Rational faculty" and "refer all actions and virtues to the honour of God"; thence (through grace) they will find an "immense and boundless clearness" bestowed upon their mind.[11] In relation to the contemplative life, he held that three attributes should be acquired: The first is spiritual freedom from worldly desires ("as empty of every outward work as if he did not work at all"), the second is a mind unencumbered with images ("inward silence"),and the third is a feeling of inward union with God ("even as a burning and
glowing fire which can never more be quenched").[12] His works, of which the most important were De vera contemplatione ("On true contemplation") and De septem gradibus amoris ("On the seven steps of love"), were published in 1848 at Hanover; also Reflections from the Mirror of a Mystic (1906) and Die Zierde der geistlichen Hochzeit (1901).
Veneration After John’s death in 1381, his relics were carefully preserved and his memory honoured as that of a saint. After his death, stories called him the Ecstatic Doctor or Divine Doctor, and his views formed a link between the Friends of God and the Brethren of the Common Life, the ideas which may have helped to bring about the Reformation. When Groenendaal Priory was suppressed by Joseph II in 1783, his relics were transferred to St. Gudule's, Brussels, where, however, they were lost during the French Revolution. John was beatified on 1 December 1908, by Pope St. Pius X. No authentic portrait of John is known to exist; but the traditional picture represents him in the canonical habit, seated in the forest with his writing tablet on his knee, as he was in fact found one day by the brethren—rapt in ecstasy and enveloped in flames, which encircle without consuming the tree under which he is resting.
References in popular culture Larry Darrell, the main character in W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge, says: "There are more answers than questions, and lots of people have found answers that were perfectly satisfactory for them. Old Ruysbroeck for one." Maugham, who appears as a character in the novel, says that the mention of Ruysbroeck was his first indication of the kind of journey that Darrell had embarked upon: the search for God.
See also
List of Latin nicknames of the Middle Ages: Doctors in theology Evelyn Underhill's Ruysbroeck
References Michel Erkins. De Priorij van Groenendaal. Gemeentehuis. Jan van Ruusbroecpark. Hoeilaart. 2007. A characteristic story was that one day two priests came from Paris to ask his opinion of their spiritual state, to be told: "You are as holy as you wish to be!" (Evelyn Underhill introduction to The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage; The Sparkling Stone; The Book of the Supreme Truth. Translation by C. A. Wynschenk. London: J. M. Dent, 1916. p3) Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p7. Rozenski, Steven (2013). "The Chastising of God’s Children from manuscript to print". Études anglaises 66 (3): 369–78. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p7. Arblaster, Rob; Faesen, John (2014). A Companion to John of Ruusbroec. Brill. pp. 243–4. Retrieved 24 July 2015. Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p7. Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p7. "[t]he counterpoint to this enormously exposed and public life is Eckhart and Jan van Ruysbroek. They really give me balance and-a more necessary sense of humor." Henry P van Dusen. Dag Hammarskjöld. A Biographical Interpretation of Markings. Faber and Faber. London, 1967. pp49-50 "Nevertheless neither is this unity one, but each of those established in singular grace and glory hold in themselves unity and their own function in accordance with their own dignity and nobility. But this unity is situated in the mind and in the form of all powers by means of the bond of love." Jan Ruysbroeck. The Kingdom of the Lovers of God. T. Arnold Hyde (trans) Kegan Paul. London, 1919. p134. Jan Ruysbroeck. The Kingdom of the Lovers of God. T. Arnold Hyde (trans) Kegan Paul. London, 1919. pp 82-83 and 163 12. The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage; The Sparkling Stone; The Book of the Supreme Truth. Translation by C. A. Wynschenk. Introduction and Notes by Evelyn Underhill. London: J. M. Dent, 1916. pp 89, 94 and 110
Further reading Modern editions
Jan van Ruusbroec: Opera Omnia, ed. G. de Baere, 10 vols, (Turnhout: Brepols, 1981-2006) [the modern critical edition, with the sixteenth-century Latin edition of Laurentius Surius alongside a facing English translation]
Older translations:
The Spiritual Espousals. Trans. by H. Rolfson, intro. by P. Mommaers, edited by J. Alaerts. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1995. John Ruusbroec. The Spiritual Espousals and other works. Introduction and translation by James A. Wiseman, O.S.B., preface by Louis Dupré. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 1985. [Classics of Western Spirituality] {Includes also: The Sparkling Stone, A Mirror of Eternal Blessedness, and The Little Book of Clarification.} Pages: xvii, 286. The Spiritual Espousals. Translation by Eric Colledge. (London: Faber and Faber, 1952) (Reprint 1983 by Christian Classics.) The Seven Steps of the Ladder of Spiritual Love. Translated by F. Sherwood Taylor, introduced by Joseph Bolland, S.J. London: Dacre Press 1944. Pages: viii, 63. The Kingdom of the Lovers of God. Trans. by T. Arnold Hyde. London: Kegan paul, Trench, Trubner, 1919. Pages: xvi, 216.
The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage; The Sparkling Stone; The Book of the Supreme Truth. Translation by C. A. Wynschenk. Introduction and Notes by Evelyn Underhill. London: J. M. Dent, 1916. {reprinted as (London: J.M. Watkins, 1951), and also in facsimile of the 1916 edition as (Felinfach: Llanerch, 1994)} The Book of the Twelve Béguines. Trans. from Flemish by John Francis. London, 1913. {First sixteen chapters only.} Reflections from the mirror of a mystic, trans. by E.Baillie. London: Thomas Baker, 1905. {Per E.Underhill: short passages paraphrased into Latin by Laurentius Surius (c.1552); however, the better version is Flowers of a Mystic Garden, transl. by 'C.E.S.' London: Watkins, 1912, which was reprinted as Flowers of a Mystic Garden, translated from the French of Ernest Hello by C.E.S., (Felinfach: Llanerch, 1994)} see Paul Verdeyen below.
Commentary
Louis Dupré, The Common Life. Origins of Trinitarian Mysticism & Its Development by Jan van Ruusbroec. New York: Crossroad, 1984. Paul Mommaers, The Land Within. The Process of Possessing & Being Possessed by God according to the Mystic Jan Van Ruysbroeck. Translated from the Dutch by David N. Smith. Chicago: Fransican Herald Press, 1975. Vincent Joseph Scully, A Mediaeval Mystic. A short account of the life and writings of Blessed John Rysbroeck, Canon regular of Groenendael A.D. 1293–1381.... New York: Benziger Brothers, 1911. Pages: xii, 131. Evelyn Underhill, Ruysbroeck. London: G. Bell, 1915. Reprint: Kessinger 2003. Pages: ii, 191. Online Rik Van Nieuwenhove, Jan Van Ruusbroec. Mystical Theologian of the Trinity, University of Notre Dame, 2003. Paul Verdeyen, Ruusbroec and his Mysticism, Collegeville: Liturgical Press/Michael Glazier, 1994, includes a short anthology of his writings; being Ruusbroec en zijn mystiek (Leuven: Davidfonds 1981) as transl. by Andre Lefevere. Geert Warnar (2007), Ruusbroec. Literature and Mysticism in the Fourteenth Century, Brill Alfred Wautier d'Aygalliers, Ruysbroeck the Admirable. Transl. by Fred Rothwell. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1925, & E. P. Dutton, New York, 1925. Reprint: Port Washington, New York: Kennikat, 1969. Pages: xliii, 326. Paul Mommaers and Norbert De Paepe (editors), Jan van Ruusbroec: The Sources, Content, and Sequels of his Mysticism. Louvain: Leuven University Press, 1984. [Mediaevalia Lovaniensia, ser.1, stud.12] Stephanus Axters, The spirituality of the old Low Countries, London: Blackfriars 1954; being La spiritualité des Pays-Bas: l'evloution d'une doctrine mystique (Louvain 1948), transl. by Donald Attwater. {Axters focuses on Ruusbroec.} Paul Mommaers & Jan van Bragt, Mysticism, Buddhist and Christian. Encounters with Jan van Ruusbroec. New York: Crossroad, 1995. [Nanzan studies in religion and culture (Nagoya)] Helmut Hatzfeld, "Influence of Ramon Lull & Jan van Ruysbroeck on the Language of Spanish Mystics" Traditio 4: 337–397 (1946). Wayne Teasdale, "Ruysbroeck's Mystical Theology" Parts 1 and 2. American Benedictine Review 35:82–96, 35:176–193 (1984).
John Owen (1616 – 24 August 1683) was an English Nonconformist church leader, theologian, and academic administrator at the University of Oxford.
He was briefly a member of parliament for the University, sitting in the First Protectorate Parliament of 1654 to 1655.
“Let no man pretend to fear sin that does not fear temptation also! These two are too closely united to be separated. He does not truly hate the fruit who delights in the root.” “If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: ‘God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled.’ When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage.” “The vigor and power and comfort of our spiritual life depends on our mortification of deeds of the flesh.” “How can we possibly believe the promises concerning Heaven, immortality, and glory, when we do not believe the promises concerning our present life? And how can we be trusted when we say we believe these promises but make no effort to experience them ourselves? It is just here that men deceive themselves. It is not that they do not want the Gospel privileges of joy, peace and assurance, but they are not prepared to repent of their evil attitudes and careless life-styles. Some have even attempted to reconcile these things and ruined their souls. But without the diligent exercise of the grace of obedience, we shall never enjoy the graces of joy, peace and assurance.”
Early life Of Welsh descent, Owen was born at Stadhampton in Oxfordshire, and was educated at Queen's College, Oxford (B.A. 1632, M.A. 1635); at the time the college was noted, according to Thomas Fuller, for its metaphysicians. A Puritan by upbringing, in 1637 Owen was driven from Oxford by Laud's new statutes, and became chaplain and tutor in the family of Sir Robert Dormer and then in that of Lord Lovelace. At the outbreak of the English Civil War he sided with the parliament, and thus lost both his place and the prospects of succeeding to his Welsh Royalist uncle's fortune. For a while he lived in Charterhouse Yard, troubled by religious questions. His doubts were removed by a sermon preached by a stranger in Aldermanbury Chapel where he had gone intending to hear Edmund Calamy the Elder. His
first publication, The Display of Arminianism (synergism) (1642), was a spirited defence of Calvinism (monergism). It was dedicated to the committee of religion, and gained him the living of Fordham in Essex, from which a "scandalous minister" had been ejected. At Fordham he remained engrossed in the work of his parish and writing only The Duty of Pastors and People Distinguished until 1646, when, the old incumbent dying, the presentation lapsed to the patron, who gave it to someone else. In 1644, Owen married Mary Rooke (d. 1675). The couple had 11 children, ten of whom died in infancy. One daughter survived to adulthood, married, and shortly thereafter died of consumption.
Career On 29 April he preached before the Long Parliament. In this sermon, and in his Country Essay for the Practice of Church Government, which he appended to it, his tendency to break away from Presbyterianism to the Independent or Congregational system is seen. Like John Milton, he saw little to choose between "new presbyter" and "old priest." He became pastor at Coggeshall in Essex, with a large influx of Flemish tradesmen. His adoption of Congregational principles did not affect his theological position, and in 1647 he again argued against Arminianism in The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, which drew him into long debate with Richard Baxter. He made the friendship of Fairfax while the latter was besieging Colchester, and addressed the army there against religious persecution. He was chosen to preach to parliament on the day after the execution of King Charles I, and succeeded in fulfilling his task without directly mentioning that event. Another sermon preached on 29 April, a plea for sincerity of religion in high places, won not only the thanks of parliament but the friendship of Oliver Cromwell, who took Owen to Ireland as his chaplain, that he might regulate the affairs of Trinity College, Dublin. He pleaded with the House of Commons for the religious needs of Ireland as some years earlier he had pleaded for those of Wales. In 1650 he accompanied Cromwell on his Scottish campaign. In March 1651, Cromwell, as Chancellor of Oxford University, gave him the deanery of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford,[1][2] and made him Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in September 1652;[3] in both offices he succeeded the Presbyterian, Edward Reynolds. During his eight years of official Oxford life Owen showed himself a firm disciplinarian, thorough in his methods, though, as John Locke testifies, the Aristotelian traditions in education underwent no change. With Philip Nye he unmasked the popular astrologer, William Lilly, and in spite of his share in condemning two Quakeresses to be whipped for disturbing the peace, his rule was not intolerant. Anglican services were conducted here and there, and at Christ Church itself the Anglican chaplain remained in the college. While little encouragement was given to a spirit of free inquiry, Puritanism at Oxford was not simply an attempt to force education and culture into "the leaden moulds of Calvinistic theology." Owen, unlike many of his contemporaries, was more interested in the New Testament than in the Old. During his Oxford years he wrote Justitia Divina (1653), an exposition of the dogma that God cannot forgive sin without an atonement; Communion with God (1657), Doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance (1654), his final attack on Arminianism; Vindiciae Evangelicae, a treatise written by order of the Council of State against Socinianism as expounded by John
Biddle; On the Mortification of Sin in Believers (1656), an introspective and analytic work; Schism (1657), one of the most readable of all his writings; Of Temptation (1658), an attempt to recall Puritanism to its cardinal spiritual attitude from the jarring anarchy of sectarianism and the pharisaism which had followed on popularity and threatened to destroy the early simplicity.
John Owen in a frontispiece.
Political life Besides his academic and literary concerns, Owen was continually involved in affairs of state. In 1651, on 24 October (after Worcester), he preached the thanksgiving sermon before parliament. In 1652 he sat on a council to consider the condition of Protestantism in Ireland. In October 1653 he was one of several ministers whom Cromwell summoned to a consultation as to church union. In December, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Oxford University. In the First Protectorate Parliament of 1654 he sat, for a short time, as the sole member of parliament for Oxford University, and, with Baxter, was placed on the committee for settling the "fundamentals" necessary for the toleration promised in the Instrument of Government. In the same year he was chairman of a committee on Scottish Church affairs. He was, too, one of the Triers, and appears to have behaved with kindness and moderation in that capacity. As vice-chancellor he acted with readiness and spirit when a Royalist rising in Wiltshire broke out in 1655; his adherence to Cromwell, however, was by no means slavish, for he drew up, at the request of Desborough and Pride, a petition against his receiving the kingship. Thus, when Richard Cromwell succeeded his father as chancellor, Owen lost his vice-chancellorship. In 1658 he took a leading part in the conference of Independents which drew up the Savoy Declaration (the doctrinal standard of Congregationalism which was based upon the Westminster Confession of Faith). On Oliver Cromwell's death in 1658, Owen joined the Wallingford House party, and though he denied any share in the deposition of Richard Cromwell, he preferred the idea of a simple republic to that of a protectorate. He assisted in the restoration of the Rump Parliament, and, when George Monck began his march into England, Owen, in the name of the Independent churches, to which Monck was supposed to belong, and who were anxious about his intentions, wrote to dissuade him. In March 1660, the Presbyterian party being uppermost, Owen was deprived of his deanery, which was given back to Reynolds. He retired to
Stadham, where he wrote various controversial and theological works, in particular his laborious Theologoumena Pantodapa, a history of the rise and progress of theology. The respect in which many of the authorities held his intellectual eminence won him an immunity denied to other Nonconformists. In 1661 the celebrated Fiat Lux, a work by the Franciscan monk John Vincent Cane, was published; in it, the oneness and beauty of Roman Catholicism are contrasted with the confusion and multiplicity of Protestant sects. At Clarendon's request Owen answered this in 1662 in his Animadversions; and so great was the success of that work that he was offered preferment if he would conform. Owen's condition was liberty to all who disagreed in doctrine with the Church of England; nothing therefore came of the negotiation. In 1663, Owen was invited by the Congregational churches in Boston, Massachusetts, to become their minister, but declined. The Conventicle and Five Mile Acts drove him to London; and in 1666, after the Great Fire, he, like other leading Nonconformist ministers, set up a room for public service and gathered a congregation, composed chiefly of the old Commonwealth officers. Meanwhile he was incessantly writing; and in 1667 he published his Catechism, which led to a proposal, "more acute than diplomatic", from Baxter for union. Various papers passed, and after a year the attempt was closed by the following laconical note from Owen: "I am still a well-wisher to these mathematics." It was now, too, that he published the first part of his vast work upon the Epistle to the Hebrews, together with his Practical Exposition upon Psalm 130 (1668) and his searching book on Indwelling Sin. In 1669, Owen wrote a spirited remonstrance to the Congregationalists in New England, who, under the influence of Presbyterianism, had shown themselves persecutors. At home, too, he was busy in the same cause. In 1670 Samuel Parker's Ecclesiastical Polity attacked the Nonconformists with clumsy intolerance. Owen answered him (Truth and Innocence Vindicated); Parker replied offensively. Then Andrew Marvell finally disposed of Parker with banter and satire in The Rehearsal Transposed. Owen himself produced a tract On the Trinity (1669), and Christian Love and Peace (1672). On the revival of the Conventicle Acts in 1670, Owen was appointed to draw up a paper of reasons which was submitted to the House of Lords in protest. In this or the following year Harvard College invited him to become its president; he received similar invitations from some of the Dutch universities. When King Charles II issued his Declaration of Indulgence in 1672, Owen drew up an address of thanks; Owen was one of the first preachers at the weekly lectures which the Independents and Presbyterians jointly held at Princes' Hall in Broad Street. He was respected by many of the nobility, and during 1674 both King Charles II and his brother King James II assured him of their good wishes to the dissenters. Charles gave him 1000 guineas to relieve those on whom the severe laws had pressed, and he was able to procure the release of John Bunyan, whose preaching he admired. In 1674 Owen was attacked by William Sherlock, Dean of St Paul's. From this time until 1680, he was engaged on his ministry and writing.
Later life The chief of these were On Apostasy (1676), a sad account of religion under the Restoration; On the Holy Spirit (1677-1678) and The Doctrine of Justification (1677). In 1680, however, Stillingfleet having on 11 May preached his sermon on "The Mischief of Separation," Owen defended the Nonconformists from the charge of schism in his Brief Vindication. Baxter and Howe also answered Stillingfleet, who replied in The Unreasonableness of Separation. Owen again answered this, and then left the controversy to a swarm of eager combatants. From this
time to his death he was occupied with continual writing, disturbed only by suffering from kidney stones and asthma, and by the absurd charge of being concerned in the Rye House Plot. His most important work was his Treatise on Evangelical Churches, in which were contained his latest views regarding church government. He died at Ealing, just twenty-one years after he had gone out with so many others on St Bartholomew's day in 1662, and was buried on 4 September 1683 in Bunhill Fields.
Works in print As of 2007, the majority of Owen's voluminous works are still in print:
Communion with God, Christian Heritage. ISBN 1-84550-209-4. Works of John Owen (2000). On CD-ROM from Ages Software. ISBN 5-550-03299-6. Of the Integrity and Purity of the Hebrew and Greek Text of the Scripture; with Considerations on the Prolegomena and Appendix to the Late “Biblia Polyglotta,” in vol. IX, The Works of John Owen, ed. Gould, William H, & Quick, Charles W., Philadelphia, PA: Leighton Publications, (1865) Collected Works in 16 Volumes from the Banner of Truth Trust. ISBN 0-85151-392-1. Commentary on Hebrews in 7 volumes from the Banner of Truth Trust. ISBN 0-85151-619-X. The Mortification of Sin, Christian Heritage Publishers. ISBN 1-85792-107-0. Biblical Theology: The History of Theology From Adam to Christ or The Nature, Origin, Development, and Study of Theological Truth, In Six Books, Soli Deo Gloria Ministries. ISBN 1877611-83-2. Sin & Temptation: The Challenge to Personal Godliness. An abridgement by James M. Houston for modern readers of two of Owen's works. ISBN 1-55661-830-1. The Glory of Christ: His Office and His Grace. ISBN 1-85792-474-6. John Owen on Temptation - The Nature and Power of it, The Danger of Entering it and the Means of Preventing the Danger, Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-749-2 The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-740-9 The Divine Power of the Gospel, Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-740-9 A Dissertation on Divine Justice, Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-785-0 Gospel Grounds and Evidences of the Faith of God's Elect, Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685757-7 John Owen on The Holy Spirit - The Spirit and Regeneration (Book III of Pneumatologia), Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-810-9 John Owen on The Holy Spirit - The Spirit as a Comforter (Book VIII of Pneumatologia), Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-750-8 John Owen on The Holy Spirit - The Spirit and Prayer (Book VII of Pneumatologia), Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-752-2 John Owen on The Holy Spirit - The Spiritual Gifts (Book IX of Pneumatologia), Diggory Press, ISBN 978-1-84685-751-5 The Oxford Orations of Dr. John Owen. Ed. Peter Toon. Trans. [from the Latin] supervised by John Glucker. Callington (Cornwall): Gospel Communication. 1971. ASIN B003HLGLIY. Online edition. A Brief Declaration and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity, as also of the Person and Satisfaction of Christ (1699) - a refutation of Socinianism, in particular against the teaching of John Biddle.[4]
Secondary works
A number of popular and scholarly analyses of Owen's theology have been published recently, indicating the continued interest in and applicability of his insights. Examples include:
Christopher Cleveland (2013). Thomism in John Owen. ISBN 978-1-4094-5579-0. Lee Gatiss (2008). From Life's First Cry: John Owen on Infant Baptism and Infant Salvation. ISBN 978-0-946307-70-8. Alan Spence (2007). Incarnation and Inspiration: John Owen and the Coherence of Christology. Kelly Kapic (2007). Communion with God: The Divine and the Human in the Theology of John Owen. Carl R. Trueman (2007). John Owen: Reformed Catholic, Renasissance Man. ISBN 9780754614708 Robert W. Oliver, ed. (2002). John Owen: The Man and His Theology. ISBN 0-87552-674-8. Steve Griffiths (2001). Redeem the Time: Sin in the Writings of John Owen. ISBN 1-85792655-2. Carl R. Trueman (1998). The Claims of Truth: John Owen's Trinitarian Theology. ISBN 085364-798-4. J. I. Packer (1994). A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. ISBN 089107-819-3. Contains several chapters related to Owen, whom Packer says was one of the three great influences in his life. Sinclair B. Ferguson (1987). John Owen on the Christian Life. ISBN 0-85151-503-7. Peter Toon (1971). God's Statesman: Life and Work of John Owen. ISBN 0-85364-133-1.
References Salter, H. E. and Lobel, Mary D., ed. (1954). "Christ Church". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford. Victoria County History. pp. 228–238. Retrieved 28 July 2011. Horn, Joyce M., ed. (1996). "Deans of Christ Church, Oxford". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541– 1857: volume 8: Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford and Peterborough dioceses. Institute of Historical Research. pp. 80–83. Retrieved 28 July 2011. "Previous Vice-Chancellors". University of Oxford, UK. Retrieved 18 July 2011. Kevin Giles The Eternal Generation of the Son: Maintaining Orthodoxy in Trinitarian Theology 0830839658 2012 p.188 "John Owen (1616-1683) is widely recognized as the greatest of the seventeenth-century Puritan theologians. ... A Brief Declaration and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity, as also of the Person and Satisfaction of Christ (1669).81 In these two works, one of Owen's primary concerns is to establish by appeal to Scripture the preexistence and eternity of the Son.82 He directs most of his arguments to John Biddle, a Socinian who is often called "the father of English Unitarianism" ."
Johannes Tauler OP (c. 1300 in Strasbourg – 15 June 1361) was a German mystic, a Catholic preacher and a theologian. A disciple of Meister Eckhart, he belonged to the Dominican order. Tauler was known as one of the most important Rhineland Mystics. He promoted a certain neo-platonist dimension in the Dominican spirituality of his time.
“One man can spin; another can make shoes, and all these are gifts of the Holy Spirit. I tell you, if I were not a priest, I should esteem it a great gift that I was able to make shoes, and I would try to make them so well as to be a pattern to all “- Quoted in Ursula King, in "Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies Throughout the Ages" (2001) “So you must be silent. Then God will be born in you, utter his word in you and you shall hear it; but be very sure that if you speak the word will have to be silent. If you go out, he will most surely come in; as much as you go out for him He will come in to you; no more, no less….” “He draws them so mysteriously unto Himself and His own blessedness; their spirits are so lovingly attracted, while they are at the same time so filled and transfused with the Godhead, that they lose all their diversity in the Unity of the Godhead. These are they to whom God makes their work here on earth a delight; so that they have a real foretaste of that which they will enjoy forever.” - Johannes Tauler: Sermons" translated by Maria Shardy
Life He was born about the year 1300 in Strasbourg, entered the Dominican order (probably at the age of about fifteen) and was educated at the Dominican convent in that city. Meister Eckhart, who greatly influenced him, was active in Strasbourg c1313-26, though it is unclear what relationship they may have had.[1] From Strasbourg he went to the Dominican college of Cologne, and perhaps to St James's College, Paris, ultimately returning to Strasbourg.[citation needed] In 1324 Strasbourg, along with other cities, was placed under a papal interdict, and so all Dominican friars left the city.[citation needed] Tauler went to Basel. The legend that he stayed
in Strasbourg and continued to perform religious services for the people is probably due to the desire of the 16th century reformers to enroll the famous preachers of the Middle Ages among their forerunners.[citation needed] Around 1330 Tauler began his preaching career in Strasbourg. The city contained eight convents of Dominican nuns and perhaps seventy smaller beguine communities. It seems likely that (as with Meister Eckhart and Henry Suso), much of his preaching was directed to holy women. Most of Tauler's nearly eighty sermons seem to reflect a convent situation, although this may partly reflect the setting in which such sermons were most likely to be written down and preserved.[2] In 1338 or 1339 the Dominicans were exiled from Strasbourg as a result of the tensions between Pope John XXII and Lewis of Bavaria.[3] Tauler spent his exile (c1339-43) in Basel. Here, he became acquainted with the circles of devout clergy and laity known as the Friends of God (Gottesfreunde). Tauler mentions the Friends of God often in his sermons. Evidence for further connections with this group is found in the letters exchanged between the secular priest Henry of Nördlingen and his spiritual friend, the Dominican nun Margaret Ebner. Through Henry, Tauler also became acquainted with Mechthild of Magdeburg's Flowing Light of the Godhead.[4] Tauler worked with the Friends of God, and it was with them that he taught his belief that the state of the soul was affected more by a personal relationship with God than by external practices.[5] In this way, he was more of a proselytizer than his counterpart, Eckhart.[6] Tauler returned to Strasbourg around 1343, but the following years brought various crises. Strasbourg experienced a devastating earthquake and fire in 1346. From late 1347 until 1349, the city was ravaged by the Black Death.[7] It is said that when the city was deserted by all who could leave it, Tauler remained at his post, encouraging his terror-stricken fellowcitizens with sermons and personal visits.[citation needed] Tauler travelled fairly extensively in the last two and a half decades of his life. He made several trips to Cologne. A number of his sermons were clearly delivered there, as indicated by their survival in the Cologne dialect of Middle High German. A credible tradition suggests he visited John Ruusbroec in Groenendaal at some point in the 1350s.[8] According to tradition, Tauler died on 16 June 1361 in Strasbourg. He was buried in the Dominican church in Strasbourg with an incised gravestone that still survives in the Temple Neuf.[9] The well-known story of Tauler's conversion and discipline by "The Friend of God from the Oberland" cannot be regarded as historical.[10][11]
Sermons
1522 title page of Tauler's sermons, by Holbein.
Tauler leaves no formal treatises, either in Latin or the vernacular. Rather, he leaves around eighty sermons. Tauler's sermons began to be collected in his own lifetime - three fourteenth-century manuscripts date from around the time of Tauler's return to Strasbourg after his exile in Basel.[12] Tauler's sermons were printed first in Leipzig in 1498, reprinted in 1508 at Augsburg, and then again with additions from Eckhart and others at Basel (1521 and 1522), at Halberstadt (1523), at Cologne (1543), and in Lisbon (1551). A Latin translation was printed first at Cologne in 1548 and 1553. In the nineteenth century, editions were produced by Julius Hamberger (Frankfurt, 1864) and Ferdinand Vetter (Berlin, 1910, reprinted Dublin/Zürich, 1968;[13]). Tauler was famous for his sermons, which were considered among the noblest in the German language—not as emotional as Henry Suso's, nor as speculative as Eckhart's, but rather intensely practical, and touching on all sides the deeper problems of the moral and spiritual life. Tauler was one of several notable Christian universalists in the Middle Ages, along with Amalric of Bena, John of Ruysbroeck, and Julian of Norwich.[14] He taught that "All beings exist through the same birth as the Son, and therefore shall they all come again to their original, that is, God the Father."[15]
See also
List of Latin nicknames of the Middle Ages: Doctors in theology Tauler
Hearken: God is infinite and without end, but the soul's desire is an abyss which cannot be filled except by a Good which is infinite; and the more ardently the soul longeth after God, the more she wills to long after Him; for God is a Good without drawback, and a well of
living water without bottom, and the soul is made in the image of God, and therefore it is created to know and love God. - Tauler
Modern editions There are various foreign language editions of the sermons:[16]
Ferdinand Vetter, Die Predigten Taulers, (Berlin: Weidmann, 1910; photomechanical reprint, 1968), is based on only a few manuscripts and does not adhere to the proper liturgical order of the sermons. It lists a few variant readings, but lacks an apparatus of sources. Several of its sermons are not authentic. A complete French translation exists as E Hugueny, G Thery and A-L Corin, Sermons de Tauler: Traduction faite sur les plus anciens mss. allemands, 3 vols, (Paris, 1927–35). Georg Hofmann, Johannes Tauler: Predigten, (Freiburg: Herder, 1961; reprint, Einsiedeln, 1979) provides a helpful German version, but not a critical version of the Middle High German text. Johannes Tauler, De Preken, a complete Dutch translation by Peter Freens (2015), Taulerpreken.nl.
A good English translation of Tauler's sermons is lacking.
Spiritual Conferences by Johann Tauler, OP (1300-1361), trans Eris Colledge and Sister Mary Jane, OP, (New York: Herder, 1961; reprint 1978), contains a rather loose translation of sermons and excerpts of sermons from Vetter. It rearranges that according to theological headings rather than keeping the order of the sermons themselves. Johannes Tauler, sermons, translation by Maria Shrady; introduction by Josef Schmidt, (New York: Paulist Press, 1985), translates 23 sermons, but from the modern German edition of Hofmann, not directly from the Middle High German. The version also contains various omissions and errors, and lacks notes.
Older English translations of Tauler include various inauthentic pieces, and were often made from the Latin version of Laurentius Surius. They are therefore problematic. These include:
Catherine Winkworth, History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler with Twenty-Five of his Sermons, (London, Smith, Elder, and comp., 1857.) [Available at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/winkworth/tauler] Meditations on the life and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, translated by APJ Cruikshank, (London: Thomas Richardson and Son, 1875) [Available at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/tauler/meditations] The following of Christ, translated by JR Morell, (London: T Fisher Unwin, 1886) [Available at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/tauler/following] The Inner Way, being Thirty-Six sermons for festivals by John Tauler, translated from the German, with introduction, by Arthur Wollaston Hutton, (London: Methuen & Co, 1901) [Available at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/tauler/inner_way]
Further reading
Davies, Oliver: God Within: The Mystical Tradition of Northern Europe, (London: DLT, 1988), p71-78. Eck, Suzanne: Gott in uns. Hinführung zu Johannes Tauler. Übersetzt von Viktor Hofstetter OP und Hildegard Stoffels (Dominikanische Quellen und Zeugnisse Bd. 8). Leipzig 2006. Gnädinger, Louise: Johannes Tauler. Lebenswelt und mystische Lehre, (München, 1993). Hamburger, Jeffrey F.: D.Verschiedenartigen Bücher der Menschheit. Johannes Tauler über d. "Scivias" H.s v.B. Trier 2005 (=Mitt. u. Verz. aus d. Bibl. d. Bischöfl. Priesterseminars zu Trier; 20). Leppin, Volker: Artikel „Tauler Johannes“, in: Theologische Realenzyklopädie, Bd. 32, Berlin/ New York 2001, S. 745-748. Mayer, Johannes G.: Die "Vulgata"-Fassung der Predigten Johannes Taulers. Würzburg 1999 (Texte und Wissen. 1). McGinn, Bernard: The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), pp240–296. Mösch, Caroline F.: "Daz disiu geburt geschehe". Meister Eckharts Predigtzyklus von d. ewigen Geburt u. Johannes Taulers Predigten zum Weihnachtsfestkreis. Fribourg 2006. Otto, Henrik: Vor- und frühreformatorische Tauler-Rezeption. Quellen und Forschungen zur Reformationsgeschichte Bd. 75 Gütersloh 2003. Sturlese, Loris: Tauler im Kontext. Die philosophischen Voraussetzungen des "Seelengrundes" in der Lehre des deutschen Neuplatonikers Berthold von Moosburg. In: PBB 109 (1987), S. 390-426. Theißen, J.: Tauler und die Liturgie. In: Deutsche Mystik im abendländischen Zusammenhang. Hg. v. W. Haug und W. Schneider-Lastin, Tübingen 2000, S. 409-423. Weigand, Rudolf Kilian: Predigen und Sammeln. Die Predigtanordnung in frühen TaulerHandschriften. In: Studien zur deutschen Sprache und Literatur. FS Konrad Kunze. Hg. von Werner Williams-Krapp. Hamburg 2004, S. 114-155. Denifle, Dis Buck von geistlicher Armuth (Strassburg, 1877); Carl Schmidt, Johann Tauler von Strassburg (Hamburg, 1841); Vaughan, Robert Alfred, Hours with the Mystics, 3rd ed., vol. i. pp. 214–307; Wilhelm Preger's Gesch. der deutschen Mystik im Mittelalter, vol. iii; W. R. Inge, Christian Mysticism; R. M. Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion (1909). This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Jole D'Anna, Johannes Tauler. Dottore illuminato e sublime, Simmetria, Roma 2006.
References 1. It used to be stated that Eckhart was professor of theology in the monastery school at Strasbourg, but this is entirely supposition with no supporting evidence. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p241. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p242. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p242. Cairns, Earle. Christianity Through the Centuries. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996. Cairns, Earle. Christianity Through the Centuries. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.
Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p242. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p243. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p243. Encyclopedia Britannica 11th ed. vol 26, p452. Catholic Encyclopedia vol 14, page 465. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005). Online im Digitalen Mittelhochdeutschen Textarchiv (mhgta) "Apocatastasis". New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. I. "Johann Tauler". at Tentmaker.org. Accessed Dec. 5, 2007. 16. On what follows, see Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p586.
Jole D'Anna,Johannes Tauler. Dottore illuminato e sublime, Simmetria, Roma 2006. Jole D'Anna, Una introduzione alla mistica di Johannes Tauler, in "Rivista di Ascetica e Mistica", n. 1, 2009, pp. 139–148. Jole D'Anna, La teologia della perfezione in Johannes Tauler, in "Perennia Verba", nn. 6-7, 2002-2003, pp. 181–200.
John Wesley (/ˈwɛsli, ˈwɛzli/;[1] 28 June [O.S. 17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791) was an Anglican minister and theologian who, with his brother Charles Wesley and fellow cleric George Whitefield, is credited with the foundation of the evangelical movement known as Methodism. His work and writings also played a leading role in the development of the Holiness movement and Pentecostalism.[2][3] Educated at Charterhouse School and Oxford University, Wesley was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford in 1726 and ordained a priest two years later. Returning to Oxford in 1729 after serving as curate at his father's parish, he led the Holy Club, a club for the purpose of study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life; it had been founded by his brother Charles, and counted George Whitefield among its members. After an unsuccessful ministry of two years at Savannah in the Georgia Colony, Wesley returned to London and joined a religious society led by Moravian Christians. On 24 May 1738 he experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his "heart strangely warmed". He subsequently departed from the Moravians, beginning his own ministry. A key step in the development of Wesley's ministry was, like Whitefield, to travel and preach outdoors. In contrast to Whitefield's Calvinism, however, Wesley embraced the Arminian doctrines that dominated the Church of England at the time. Moving across Great Britain, North America and Ireland, he helped to form and organise small Christian groups that developed intensive and personal accountability, discipleship and religious instruction. Most importantly, he appointed itinerant, unordained evangelists to travel and preach as he did and to care for these groups of people. Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of the day, including prison reform and the abolition of slavery.
Although he was not a systematic theologian, Wesley argued for the notion of Christian perfection and against Calvinism – and, in particular, against its doctrine of predestination. He held that, in this life, Christians could achieve a state where the love of God "reigned supreme in their hearts", giving them outward holiness. His evangelicalism, firmly grounded in sacramental theology, maintained that means of grace were the manner by which God sanctifies and transforms the believer, encouraging people to experience Jesus Christ personally. Throughout his life, Wesley remained within the established Anglican Church, insisting that the Methodist movement lay well within its tradition.[4] Although sometimes maverick in his interpretation and use of church policy, he became widely respected and, by the end of his life, had been described as "the best loved man in England".[5]
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” ― John Wesley “Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing!” ― John Wesley “What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.” “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth.” “Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?”
Early life
Samuel Wesley
Susanna Wesley
John Wesley was born in 1703 in Epworth, 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Lincoln, as the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna Wesley (née Annesley). Samuel Wesley was a graduate of the University of Oxford and a poet who, since 1696, had been rector of Epworth. He had married Susanna, the twenty-fifth child of Samuel Annesley, a Dissenting minister, in 1689. Ultimately, she bore him nineteen children, of which nine lived beyond infancy. She and Samuel Wesley had both become members of the Church of England as young adults. As in many families at the time, Wesley's parents gave their children their early education. Each child, including the girls, was taught to read as soon as they could walk and talk. They were expected to become proficient in Latin and Greek and to have learned major portions of the New Testament by heart. Susanna Wesley examined each child before the midday meal and prior to evening prayers. Children were not allowed to eat between meals and were interviewed singularly by their mother one evening each week for the purpose of intensive spiritual instruction. In 1714, at age 11, Wesley was sent to the Charterhouse School in London (under the mastership of John King from 1715), where he lived the studious, methodical and—for a while—religious life in which he had been trained at home. Apart from his disciplined upbringing, a rectory fire which occurred on 9 February 1709, when Wesley was five years old, left an indelible impression. Some time after 11:00 p.m., the rectory roof caught on fire. Sparks falling on the children’s beds and cries of "fire" from the street roused the Wesleys who managed to shepherd all their children out of the house except for John who was left stranded on the second floor. With stairs aflame and the roof about to collapse, Wesley was lifted out of the second floor window by a parishioner standing on another man’s shoulders. Wesley later utilized the phrase, "a brand plucked out of the fire", quoting Zechariah 3:2, to describe the incident.[6] This childhood deliverance subsequently became part of the Wesley legend, attesting to his special destiny and extraordinary work.
Education
The Cathedral of Christ Church, Oxford University.
In June 1720, Wesley entered Christ Church, Oxford. In 1724, Wesley graduated as a Bachelor of Arts and decided to pursue a Master of Arts degree. He was ordained a deacon on 25 September 1725, holy orders being a necessary step toward becoming a fellow and tutor at the university. In the year of his ordination he read Thomas à Kempis and Jeremy Taylor, and began to seek the religious truths which underlay the great revival of the 18th century. The reading of Law's Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life gave him, he said, a sublimer view of the law of God; and he resolved to keep it, inwardly and outwardly, as sacredly as possible, believing that in obedience he would find salvation. He pursued a rigidly methodical and abstemious life, studied the Scriptures, and performed his religious duties diligently, depriving himself so that he would have alms to give. He began to seek after holiness of heart and life. In March 1726, Wesley was unanimously elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. This carried with it the right to a room at the college and regular salary. While continuing his studies, Wesley taught Greek, lectured on the New Testament and moderated daily disputations at the university. However, a call to ministry intruded upon his academic career. In August 1727, after taking his master's degree, Wesley returned to Epworth. His father had requested his assistance in serving the neighbouring cure of Wroote. Ordained a priest on 22 September 1728, Wesley served as a parish curate for two years. He returned to Oxford in November 1729 at the request of the Rector of Lincoln College and to maintain his status as junior Fellow.
Holy Club Further information: Holy Club
During Wesley's absence, his younger brother Charles (1707–88) matriculated at Christ College. Along with two fellow students, he formed a small club for the purpose of study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life. On Wesley's return, he became the leader of the group which increased somewhat in number and greatly in commitment. The group met daily from six until nine for prayer, psalms, and reading of the Greek New Testament. They prayed every waking hour for several minutes and each day for a special virtue. While the church's prescribed attendance was only three times a year, they took communion every Sunday. They
fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays until three o'clock as was commonly observed in the ancient church. In 1730, the group began the practice of visiting prisoners in jail. They preached, educated, and relieved jailed debtors whenever possible, and cared for the sick. Given the low ebb of spirituality in Oxford at that time, it was not surprising that Wesley's group provoked a negative reaction. They were considered to be religious "enthusiasts" which in the context of the time meant religious fanatics. University wits styled them the "Holy Club," a title of derision. Currents of opposition became a furor following the mental breakdown and death of a group member, William Morgan.[7] In response to the charge that "rigorous fasting" had hastened his death, Wesley noted that Morgan had left off fasting a year and a half since. In the same letter, which was widely circulated, Wesley referred to the name "Methodist" which "some of our neighbors are pleased to compliment us."[8] That name was used by an anonymous author in a published pamphlet (1733) describing Wesley and his group, "The Oxford Methodists."[9] For all of his outward piety, Wesley sought to cultivate his inner holiness or at least his sincerity as evidence of being a true Christian. A list of "General Questions" which he developed in 1730 evolved into an elaborate grid by 1734 in which he recorded his daily activities hour-by-hour, resolutions he had broken or kept, and ranked his hourly "temper of devotion" on a scale of 1 to 9. Wesley also regarded the contempt with which he and his group were held to be a mark of a true Christian. As he put it in a letter to his father, "Till he be thus contemned, no man is in a state of salvation."[10]
Journey to Savannah, Georgia On 14 October 1735, Wesley and his brother Charles sailed on The Simmonds from Gravesend in Kent for Savannah in the Province of Georgia in the American colonies at the request of James Oglethorpe, who had founded the colony in 1733 on behalf of the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America. Oglethorpe wanted Wesley to be the minister of the newly formed Savannah parish, a new town laid out in accordance with the famous Oglethorpe Plan.
Statue of John Wesley, Savannah, Georgia, United States
It was on the voyage to the colonies that the Wesleys first came into contact with Moravian settlers. Wesley was influenced by their deep faith and spirituality rooted in pietism. At one point in the voyage a storm came up and broke the mast off the ship. While the English panicked, the Moravians calmly sang hymns and prayed. This experience led Wesley to believe that the Moravians possessed an inner strength which he lacked.[11] The deeply
personal religion that the Moravian pietists practised heavily influenced Wesley's theology of Methodism.[12] Wesley arrived in the colony in February 1736. He approached the Georgia mission as a High Churchman, seeing it as an opportunity to revive "primitive Christianity" in a primitive environment. Although his primary goal was to evangelize the Native Americans, a shortage of clergy in the colony largely limited his ministry to European settlers in Savannah. While his ministry has often been judged to have been a failure in comparison to his later success as a leader in the Evangelical Revival, Wesley gathered around him a group of devoted Christians who met in a number of small group religious societies. At the same time, attendance at church services and communion increased over the course of nearly two years in which he served as Savannah's parish priest. Nonetheless, Wesley's High Church ministry was controversial amongst the colonists and it ended in disappointment after Wesley fell in love with a young woman named Sophia Hopkey. Following her marriage to William Williamson, Wesley believed Sophia's former zeal for practising the Christian faith declined. In strictly applying the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer, Wesley denied her communion after she failed to signify to him in advance her intention of taking it. As a result, legal proceedings against him ensued in which a clear resolution seemed unlikely. In December 1737, Wesley fled the colony and returned to England.[citation needed] It is believed from accounts in the Journals of the Methodist minister, John Wesley, that on Friday 26 July 1778 and Thursday, 6 April 1780 that he preached on Kirk Rock to the people of Bircle in Lancashire. It has been widely-recognized that one of the most significant accomplishments of Wesley's Georgia mission was his publication of a Collection of Psalms and Hymns. The Collection was the first Anglican hymnal published in America, and the first of many hymn-books Wesley published. It included five hymns he translated from German.[13][page needed]
Wesley's Aldersgate Experience
A memorial plaque commemorating the place of John Wesley's "Aldersgate experience".
Wesley returned to England depressed and beaten. It was at this point that he turned to the Moravians. Both he and Charles received counsel from the young Moravian missionary Peter Boehler, who was temporarily in England awaiting permission to depart for Georgia himself. John's famous "Aldersgate experience" of 24 May 1738, at a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, in which he heard a reading of Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, revolutionised the character and method of his ministry.[14] The previous week he had been highly impressed by the sermon of John Heylyn, whom he was assisting in the service at St Mary-le-Strand. Earlier that day, he had heard the choir at St. Paul's Cathedral singing Psalm 130, where the Psalmist calls to God "Out of the depths."[15] But it was still a depressed Wesley who attended a service on the evening of 24 May. John Wesley recounted his Aldersgate Experience in his Journal: "In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." [16][17][18] Daniel L. Burnett called this event Wesley's “Evangelical Conversion.”[19] Wesley himself explained in a 1738 letter to his brother Samuel: "By a Christian, I mean one who so believes in Christ, as that sin hath no more dominion over him: And in the obvious sense of the word, I was not a Christian till May the 24th last past. For till then sin had dominion over me, although I fought with it continually; but surely, then, from that time to this it hath not; — such is the free grace of God in Christ.” A few weeks later, Wesley preached a sermon on the doctrine of personal salvation by faith,[20] which was followed by another, on God's grace "free in all, and free for all."[21] Daniel L. Burnett writes: “The significance of Wesley’s Aldersgate Experience is monumental. It is the pivotal point in his life and the Methodist movement. Without it the names of Wesley and Methodism would likely be nothing more than obscure footnotes in the pages of church history.”[citation needed]
After Aldersgate: Working with the Moravians Wesley allied himself with the Moravian society in Fetter Lane. In 1738 he went to Herrnhut, the Moravian headquarters in Germany, to study. On his return to England, Wesley drew up rules for the "bands" into which the Fetter Lane Society was divided and published a collection of hymns for them. He met frequently with this and other religious societies in London but did not preach often in 1738, because most of the parish churches were closed to him. Wesley's Oxford friend, the evangelist George Whitefield, was also excluded from the churches of Bristol upon his return from America. Going to the neighbouring village of Kingswood, in February 1739, Whitefield preached in the open air to a company of miners. Later he preached in Whitefield's Tabernacle. Wesley hesitated to accept Whitefield's call to copy this bold step. Overcoming his scruples, he preached the first time at Whitefield's invitation sermon in the open air, near Bristol, in April 1739. Wesley wrote,
I could scarce reconcile myself to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he [Whitefield] set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life till very lately so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.[22] Wesley was unhappy about the idea of field preaching as he believed Anglican liturgy had much to offer in its practice. Earlier in his life he would have thought that such a method of saving souls was "almost a sin."[23] He recognised the open-air services were successful in reaching men and women who would not enter most churches. From then on he took the opportunities to preach wherever an assembly could be brought together, more than once using his father's tombstone at Epworth as a pulpit. Wesley continued for fifty years – entering churches when he was invited, and taking his stand in the fields, in halls, cottages, and chapels, when the churches would not receive him. Late in 1739 Wesley broke with the Moravians in London. Wesley had helped them organise the Fetter Lane Society, and those converted by his preaching and that of his brother and Whitefield had become members of their bands. But he believed they fell into heresy by supporting quietism, so he decided to form his own followers into a separate society. "Thus," he wrote, "without any previous plan, began the Methodist Society in England." He soon formed similar societies in Bristol and Kingswood, and wherever Wesley and his friends made converts.
Persecutions and lay preaching
Statue of John Wesley on horseback in the courtyard of The New Room chapel in Bristol.
From 1739 onward, Wesley and the Methodists were persecuted by clergy and magistrates for various reasons. Though Wesley had been ordained an Anglican priest, many other Methodist leaders had not received ordination. And for his own part, Wesley flouted many regulations of the Church of England concerning parish boundaries and who had authority to preach. This was seen as a social threat that disregarded institutions. Clergy attacked them in
sermons and in print, and at times mobs attacked them. Wesley and his followers continued to work among the neglected and needy. They were denounced as promulgators of strange doctrines, fomenters of religious disturbances; as blind fanatics, leading people astray, claiming miraculous gifts, attacking the clergy of the Church of England, and trying to reestablish Catholicism. Wesley felt that the church failed to call sinners to repentance, that many of the clergy were corrupt, and that people were perishing in their sins. He believed he was commissioned by God to bring about revival in the church, and no opposition, persecution, or obstacles could prevail against the divine urgency and authority of this commission. The prejudices of his high-church training, his strict notions of the methods and proprieties of public worship, his views of the apostolic succession and the prerogatives of the priest, even his most cherished convictions, were not allowed to stand in the way. Unwilling that people should perish in their sins and unable to reach them from church pulpits, following the example set by George Whitefield, Wesley began field preaching. Seeing that he and the few clergy co-operating with him could not do the work that needed to be done, he was led, as early as 1739, to approve local preachers. He evaluated and approved men who were not ordained by the Anglican Church to preach and do pastoral work. This expansion of lay preachers was one of the keys of the growth of Methodism.
Chapels and organisations The first Methodist chapel called "The Foundry", London.
John Wesley's house, next to Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London
As his societies needed houses to worship in, Wesley began to provide chapels, first in Bristol at the New Room, then in London and elsewhere. The Foundry was an early chapel utilised by Wesley. The location of the Foundry shown on an 18th-century map, where it rests between Tabernacle Street and Worship Street in the Moorfields area of London. When the Wesleys spotted the building atop Windmill Hill, north of Finsbury Fields, the structure which previously cast brass guns and mortars for the Royal Ordnance had been sitting vacant for 23 years; it has been abandoned because of an explosion ton 10 May 1716.[24] The Bristol chapel (built in 1739) was at first in the hands of trustees. A large debt was contracted, and Wesley's friends urged him to keep it under his own control, so the deed was cancelled and he became sole trustee. Following this precedent, all Methodist chapels were committed in trust to him until by a "deed of declaration", all his interests in them were transferred to a body of preachers called the "Legal Hundred".
When disorder arose among some members of the societies, Wesley adopted giving tickets to members, with their names written by his own hand. These were renewed every three months. Those deemed unworthy did not receive new tickets and dropped out of the society without disturbance. The tickets were regarded as commendatory letters. When the debt on a chapel became a burden, it was proposed that one in 12 members should collect offerings regularly from the 11 allotted to him. Out of this grew the Methodist classmeeting system in 1742. In order to keep the disorderly out of the societies, Wesley established a probationary system. He undertook to visit each society regularly in what became the quarterly visitation, or conference. As the number of societies increased, Wesley could not keep personal contact, so in 1743 he drew up a set of "General Rules" for the "United Societies".[25] These were the nucleus of the Methodist Discipline, still the basis. Over time, a shifting pattern of societies, circuits, quarterly meetings, annual Conferences, classes, bands, and select societies took shape.[25] At the local level, there were numerous societies of different sizes which were grouped into circuits to which traveling preachers were appointed for two-year periods. Circuit officials met quarterly under a senior traveling preacher or "assistant." Conferences with Wesley, traveling preachers and others were convened annually for the purpose of coordinating doctrine and discipline for the entire connection. Classes of a dozen or so society members under a leader met weekly for spiritual fellowship and guidance. In early years, there were "bands" of the spiritually gifted who consciously pursued perfection. Those who were regarded to have achieved it were grouped in select societies or bands. In 1744, there were 77 such members. There also was a category of penitents which consisted of backsliders.[25] As the number of preachers and preaching-places increased, doctrinal and administrative matters needed to be discussed; so John and Charles Wesley, along with four other clergy and four lay preachers, met for consultation in London in 1744. This was the first Methodist conference; subsequently, the conference (with Wesley as its president) became the ruling body of the Methodist movement. Two years later, to help preachers work more systematically and societies receive services more regularly, Wesley appointed "helpers" to definitive circuits. Each circuit included at least 30 appointments a month. Believing that the preacher's efficiency was promoted by his being changed from one circuit to another every year or two, Wesley established the "itinerancy" and insisted that his preachers submit to its rules.
Ordination of ministers
Life-size statue at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, United States
As the societies multiplied, they adopted the elements of an ecclesiastical system. The divide between Wesley and the Church of England widened. The question of division from the Church of England was urged by some of his preachers and societies, but most strenuously opposed by his brother Charles. Wesley refused to leave the Church of England, believing that Anglicanism was "with all her blemishes, [...] nearer the Scriptural plans than any other in Europe".[26] In 1745 Wesley wrote that he would make any concession which his conscience permitted, in order to live in peace with the clergy. He could not give up the doctrine of an inward and present salvation by faith itself. He would not stop preaching, nor dissolve the societies, nor end preaching by lay members. As a cleric of the established church he had no plans to go further. When, in 1746, Wesley read Lord King on the primitive church, he became convinced that the concept of apostolic succession in Anglicanism was a "fable".[27] He wrote that he was "a scriptural episkopos as much as many men in England." Many years later, Edward Stillingfleet's Irenicon led him to decide that ordination could be valid when performed by a presbyter rather than a bishop. Nevertheless, many believe that Wesley was consecrated a bishop in 1763 by Erasmus of Arcadia,[28][29] and that Wesley could not openly announce his episcopal consecration without incurring the penalty of the Præmunire Act.[30] In 1784, he believed he could not longer wait for the Bishop of London to ordain someone for the American Methodists, who were without the sacraments after the American War of Independence.[31] The Church of England had been disestablished in the United States, where it had been the state church in most of the southern colonies. The Church of England had not yet appointed a United States bishop to what would become the Protestant Episcopal Church in America. Wesley ordained Thomas Coke by the laying on of hands although Coke was already a priest in the Church of England. Wesley appointed him to be superintendent of Methodists in the United States. He also ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as presbyters. Whatcoat and Vasey sailed to America with Coke. Wesley intended that Coke and
Asbury (whom Coke ordained) should ordain others in the newly founded Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. His brother Charles grew alarmed and begged Wesley to stop before he had "quite broken down the bridge" and not embitter his [Charles'] last moments on earth, nor "leave an indelible blot on our memory."[32] Wesley replied that he had not separated from the church, nor did he intend to, but he must and would save as many souls as he could while alive, "without being careful about what may possibly be when I die."[33] Although Wesley rejoiced that the Methodists in America were free, he advised his English followers to remain in the established church and he himself died within it.
Doctrine and theology The 20th-century Wesley scholar Albert Outler argued in his introduction to the 1964 collection John Wesley that Wesley developed his theology by using a method that Outler termed the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. In this method, Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture; and the Bible was the sole foundational source of theological or doctrinal development. The centrality of Scripture was so important for Wesley that he called himself "a man of one book"—meaning the Bible—although he was well-read for his day. However, he believed that doctrine had to be in keeping with Christian orthodox tradition. So, tradition was considered the second aspect of the Quadrilateral.
Bronze statue at St Paul's Cathedral, London. A marble version exists inside Methodist Central Hall Westminster.
Wesley contended that a part of the theological method would involve experiential faith. In other words, truth would be vivified in personal experience of Christians (overall, not individually), if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended rationally. He did not divorce faith from reason. Tradition, experience and reason, however,
were subject always to Scripture, Wesley argued, because only there is the Word of God revealed "so far as it is necessary for our salvation."[34] The doctrines which Wesley emphasised in his sermons and writings are prevenient grace, present personal salvation by faith, the witness of the Spirit, and sanctification. Prevenient grace was the theological underpinning of his belief that all persons were capable of being saved by faith in Christ. Unlike the Calvinists of his day, Wesley did not believe in predestination, that is, that some persons had been elected by God for salvation and others for damnation. He understood that Christian orthodoxy insisted that salvation was only possible by the sovereign grace of God. He expressed his understanding of humanity's relationship to God as utter dependence upon God's grace. God was at work to enable all people to be capable of coming to faith by empowering humans to have actual existential freedom of response to God. Wesley defined the witness of the Spirit as: "an inward impression on the soul of believers, whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to their spirit that they are the children of God."[35] He based this doctrine upon certain Biblical passages (see Romans 8:15–16 as an example). This doctrine was closely related to his belief that salvation had to be "personal." In his view, a person must ultimately believe the Good News for himself or herself; no one could be in relation to God for another. Sanctification he described in 1790 as the "grand depositum which God has lodged with the people called `Methodists'." Wesley taught that sanctification was obtainable after justification by faith, between justification and death. He did not contend for "sinless perfection"; rather, he contended that a Christian could be made "perfect in love". (Wesley studied Eastern Orthodoxy and particularly the doctrine of Theosis). This love would mean, first of all, that a believer's motives, rather than being self-centred, would be guided by the deep desire to please God. One would be able to keep from committing what Wesley called, "sin rightly so-called." By this he meant a conscious or intentional breach of God's will or laws. A person could still be able to sin, but intentional or wilful sin could be avoided. Secondly, to be made perfect in love meant, for Wesley, that a Christian could live with a primary guiding regard for others and their welfare. He based this on Christ's quote that the second great command is "to love your neighbour as you love yourself." In his view, this orientation would cause a person to avoid any number of sins against his neighbour. This love, plus the love for God that could be the central focus of a person's faith, would be what Wesley referred to as "a fulfilment of the law of Christ."
Wesley preaching, by William Hamilton.
Advocacy of Arminianism Wesley entered controversies as he tried to enlarge church practice. The most notable of his controversies was that on Calvinism. His father was of the Arminian school in the church. Wesley came to his own conclusions while in college and expressed himself strongly against the doctrines of Calvinistic election and reprobation. His system of thought has become known as Wesleyan Arminianism, the foundations of which were laid by Wesley and Fletcher. Whitefield inclined to Calvinism. In his first tour in America, he embraced the views of the New England School of Calvinism. When in 1739 Wesley preached a sermon on Freedom of Grace, attacking the Calvinistic understanding of predestination as blasphemous, as it represented "God as worse than the devil," Whitefield asked him not to repeat or publish the discourse, as he did not want a dispute. Wesley published his sermon anyway. Whitefield was one of many who responded. The two men separated their practice in 1741. Wesley wrote that those who held to unlimited atonement did not desire separation, but "those who held 'particular redemption' would not hear of any accommodation."[36] Whitefield, Harris, Cennick, and others, became the founders of Calvinistic Methodism. Whitefield and Wesley, however, were soon back on friendly terms, and their friendship remained unbroken although they travelled different paths. When someone asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven, Whitefield replied, "I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him."[37] In 1770, the controversy broke out anew with violence and bitterness, as people's view of God related to their views of men and their possibilities. Augustus Montague Toplady, Rowland, Richard Hill and others were engaged on one side, while Wesley and Fletcher stood on the other. Toplady was editor of The Gospel Magazine, which had articles covering the controversy.
In 1778, Wesley began the publication of The Arminian Magazine, not, he said, to convince Calvinists, but to preserve Methodists. He wanted to teach the truth that "God willeth all men to be saved." A "lasting peace" could be secured in no other way.
Support for abolitionism Later in his ministry, Wesley was a keen abolitionist,[38][39] speaking out and writing against the slave trade. He published a pamphlet on slavery, titled Thoughts Upon Slavery, in 1774. To quote from one of his tracts against the slave trade: "Liberty is the right of every human creature, as soon as he breathes the vital air; and no human law can deprive him of that right which he derives from the law of nature".[40] Wesley was a friend of John Newton and William Wilberforce who were also influential in the abolition of slavery in Britain.[41]
Personality and activities
John Wesley by George Romney (1789), National Portrait Gallery, London.
Wesley's Chapel in City Road, London, with courtyard and statue
John Wesley travelled generally on horseback, preaching two or three times each day. Stephen Tomkins writes that he "rode 250,000 miles, gave away 30,000 pounds, ... and preached more than 40,000 sermons... "[42] He formed societies, opened chapels, examined and commissioned preachers, administered aid charities, prescribed for the sick, helped to pioneer the use of electric shock for the treatment of illness,[43] superintended schools and orphanages, and received at least £20,000 for his publications but used little of it for himself. Wesley practiced a vegetarian diet and abstained from wine.[44] After attending a performance in Bristol Cathedral in 1758, Wesley said: "I went to the cathedral to hear Mr. Handel's Messiah. I doubt if that congregation was ever so serious at a sermon as they were during this performance. In many places, especially several of the choruses, it exceeded my expectation."[45] He is described as below medium height, well proportioned, strong, with a bright eye, a clear complexion, and a saintly, intellectual face. Wesley married very unhappily at the age of 48 to a widow, Mary Vazeille, described as "a well-to-do widow and mother of four children."[46] [47] The couple had no children. Vazeille left him 15 years later. John Singleton writes: "By 1758 she had left him—unable to cope, it is said, with the competition for his time and devotion presented by the ever-burgeoning Methodist movement. Molly, as she was known, was to return and leave him again on several occasions before their final separation."[46] Wesley wryly reported in his journal, "I did not forsake her, I did not dismiss her, I will not recall her." In 1770, at the death of George Whitefield, Wesley wrote a memorial sermon which praised Whitefield's admirable qualities and acknowledged the two men's differences: "There are many doctrines of a less essential nature ... In these we may think and let think; we may 'agree to disagree.' But, meantime, let us hold fast the essentials..."[48] Wesley was the first to put the phrase 'agree to disagree' in print.[49] Wesley died on 2 March 1791, in his 87th year. As he lay dying, his friends gathered around him, Wesley grasped their hands and said repeatedly, "Farewell, farewell." At the end, he said, "The best of all is, God is with us", lifted his arms and raised his feeble voice again, repeating the words, "The best of all is, God is with us."[50] He was entombed at Wesley's Chapel, which he built in City Road, London, in England. The site also is now both a place of worship and a visitor attraction, incorporating the Museum of Methodism and John Wesley's House. Because of his charitable nature he died poor, leaving as the result of his life's work 135,000 members and 541 itinerant preachers under the name "Methodist". It has been said that "when John Wesley was carried to his grave, he left behind him a good library of books, a well-worn clergyman's gown" and the Methodist Church.[51][52]
Literary work
Wesley was a logical thinker and expressed himself clearly, concisely and forcefully in writing. His written sermons are characterised by spiritual earnestness and simplicity. They are doctrinal but not dogmatic. His Notes on the New Testament (1755) are enlightening. Both the Sermons (about 140) and the Notes are doctrinal standards. Wesley was a fluent, powerful and effective preacher. He usually preached spontaneously and briefly, though occasionally at great length. As an organiser, a religious leader and a statesman, he was eminent. He knew how to lead and control men to achieve his purposes. He used his power, not to provoke rebellion, but to inspire love. His mission was to spread "Scriptural holiness"; his means and plans were such as Providence indicated. The course thus mapped out for him he pursued with a determination from which nothing could distract him. Wesley's prose Works were first collected by himself (32 vols., Bristol, 1771–74, frequently reprinted in editions varying greatly in the number of volumes). His chief prose works are a standard publication in seven octavo volumes of the Methodist Book Concern, New York. The Poetical Works of John and Charles, ed. G. Osborn, appeared in 13 vols., London, 1868– 72. In addition to his Sermons and Notes are his Journals (originally published in 20 parts, London, 1740–89; new ed. by N. Curnock containing notes from unpublished diaries, 6 vols., vols. i.-ii., London and New York, 1909–11); The Doctrine of Original Sin (Bristol, 1757; in reply to Dr. John Taylor of Norwich); "An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion (originally published in three parts; 2d ed., Bristol, 1743), an elaborate defence of Methodism, describing the evils of the times in society and the church; a Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1766). Wesley adapted the Book of Common Prayer for use by American Methodists.[53] In his Watch Night service, he made use of a pietist prayer now generally known as the Wesley Covenant Prayer, perhaps his most famous contribution to Christian liturgy. He also was a noted hymn-writer, translator and compiler of a hymnal.[54] Wesley also wrote on divine physics, such as in Desideratum, subtitled Electricity made Plain and Useful by a Lover of Mankind and of Common Sense (1759).[55] In spite of the proliferation of his literary output, Wesley was challenged for plagiarism for borrowing heavily from an essay by Samuel Johnson, publishing in March 1775. Initially denying the charge, Wesley later recanted and apologised officially.[56]
Legacy See also: Wesleyanism
"Remember John Wesley", Wroot, near Epworth
Statue of John Wesley outside Wesley Church in Melbourne, Australia
Wesley continues to be the primary theological influence on Methodists and Methodistheritage groups the world over; the largest bodies being the United Methodist Church, the Methodist Church of Great Britain and the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Wesleyan teachings also serve as a basis for the holiness movement, which includes denominations like the Wesleyan Church, the Free Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Church of God (Anderson, IN), and several smaller groups, and from which Pentecostalism and parts of the Charismatic Movement are offshoots.[57] Wesley's call to personal and social holiness continues to challenge Christians who attempt to discern what it means to participate in the Kingdom of God. In addition, he refined Arminianism with a strong evangelical emphasis on the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on 2 March with his brother Charles. The Wesley brothers are also commemorated on 3 March in the Calendar of Saints of the Episcopal Church and on 24 May in the Anglican calendar.
Wesley's legacy is preserved in Kingswood School, which he founded in 1748 in order to educate the children of the growing number of Methodist preachers. Also, one of the four form houses at the St Marylebone Church of England School, London, is named after John Wesley. In 2002, Wesley was listed at number 50 on the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons.[58] In 1831, Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, was the first institution of higher education in the United States to be named after Wesley. The now secular institution was founded as an all-male Methodist college. About 20 unrelated colleges and universities in the US were subsequently named after him.
In film In 1954, the Radio and Film Commission of the Methodist Church in cooperation with J. Arthur Rank produced the film John Wesley. The film was a live-action re-telling of the story of the life of John Wesley, with Leonard Sachs as Wesley. In 2009, a more ambitious feature film, Wesley, was released by Foundery Pictures, starring Burgess Jenkins as John Wesley, with June Lockhart as Susanna Wesley, R. Keith Harris as Charles Wesley, and the Golden Globe winner Kevin McCarthy as Bishop Ryder. The film was directed by the award-winning film-maker John Jackman.[59]
Works
Primitive Physic, Or, An Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases, London: 1744 The Desideratum; or, Electricity Made Plain and Useful (1759) London: Bailliere, Tindall, and Cox. Published 1871. (digital copy) Notes on the New Testament (1755) Works (32 vols., Bristol, 1771–74, frequently reprinted in editions varying greatly in the number of volumes) The Poetical Works of John and Charles, ed. G. Osborn, 13 vols., London, 1868–72 Journals (originally published in 20 parts, London, 1740–89; new ed. by N. Curnock containing notes from unpublished diaries, 6 vols., vols. i.-ii., London and New York, 1909– 11) The Doctrine of Original Sin (Bristol, 1757; in reply to Dr. John Taylor of Norwich) An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion (originally published in three parts; 2d ed., Bristol, 1743) A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1766)
References
Abraham, William J., Wesley for Armchair Theologians, 2005 Blackman, Francis 'Woodie', "John Wesley 300: Pioneers, Preachers and Practitioners", 2003, ISBN 976-8080-61-2 Borgen, Ole E. John Wesley on the Sacraments: a Theological Study. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Francis Asbury Press, 1985, cop. 1972. 307 p. ISBN 0-310-75191-8 Collins, Kenneth J., Wesley on Salvation: A Study in the Standard Sermons, 1989
Collins, Kenneth J., The Scripture Way of Salvation: The Heart of John Wesley's Theology, 1997 Collins, Kenneth J., The Theology of John Wesley: Holy Love and the Shape of Grace, 2007 Hammond, Geordan, John Wesley in America: Restoring Primitive Christianity, 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870160-6 Harper, Steve, The Way to Heaven: The Gospel According to John Wesley, 1983, 2003. Jennings, Daniel R., The Supernatural Occurrences of John Wesley, 2005. Lindström, Harald, Wesley and Sanctification: A Study in the Doctrine of Salvation, 1946, 1980 Maddox, Randy L. and Vickers, Jason E. (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to John Wesley, 2010 Oden, Thomas, John Wesley's Scriptural Christianity: A Plain Exposition of His Teaching on Christian Doctrine, 1994 Synan, Vinson, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century, 1997 Vickers, Jason E., Wesley: A Guide for the Perplexed, 2009.
John Woolman (October 19, 1720 – October 7, 1772) was a North American merchant, tailor, journalist, and itinerant Quaker preacher, and an early abolitionist in the colonial era. Based in Mount Holly, New Jersey, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he traveled through frontier areas of British North America to preach Quaker beliefs, and advocate against slavery and the slave trade, cruelty to animals, economic injustices and oppression, and conscription. From 1755 during the French and Indian War, he urged tax resistance to deny support to the military. In 1772, Woolman traveled to England, where he urged Quakers to support abolition of slavery. Woolman published numerous essays, especially against slavery. He kept a journal throughout his life; it was published posthumously, entitled The Journal of John Woolman (1774). Included in Volume I of the Harvard Classics since 1909, it is considered a prominent American spiritual work. The Journal has been continuously in print since 1774, published in numerous editions; the most recent scholarly edition was published in 1989.
"While I meditate on the gulf towards which I travelled, and reflect on my youthful disobedience, for these things I weep, mine eye runneth down with water."
"These are the People by whose Labour the other Inhabitants are in a great Measure supported, and many of them in the Luxuries of Life: These are the People who have made no Agreement to serve
us, and who have not forfeited their Liberty that we know of: These are Souls for whom Christ died, and, for our Conduct toward them, we must answer before him who is no Respecter of Persons." — John Woolman (John Woolman's Journal) "Dear young people, choose God for your portion; love his truth, and be not ashamed of it; choose for your company such as serve him in uprightness; and shun as most dangerous the conversation of those whose lives are of an ill savor; for by frequenting such company some hopeful young people have come to great loss, and been drawn from less evils to greater, to their utter ruin. In the bloom of youth no ornament is so lovely as that of virtue, nor any enjoyments equal to those which we partake of in fully resigning ourselves to the Divine will. These enjoyments add sweetness to all other comforts, and give true satisfaction in company and conversation, where people are mutually acquainted with it; and as your minds are thus seasoned with the truth, you will find strength to abide steadfast to the testimony of it, and be prepared for services in the church." — Benjamin Franklin (Harvard Classics Volume 1: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; The Journal of John Woolman; Some Fruits of Solitude)
Biography Early life and education John Woolman was born in 1720 into a family belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). His father Samuel Woolman was a farmer. Their estate was between Burlington and Mount Holly Township in the New Jersey colony, near the Delaware River. John's maternal and paternal grandparents were early Quaker settlers in Burlington County, New Jersey.[1] During his youth, he happened upon a robin's nest that held hatchlings. Woolman began throwing rocks at the mother robin to see if he could hit her. After killing the mother bird, he was filled with remorse, thinking of the baby birds who had no chance of survival without her. He got the nest down from the tree and quickly killed the hatchlings—believing it to be the most merciful thing to do. This experience weighed on his heart. He was inspired to love and protect all living things from then on.[2] Woolman married Sarah Ellis Abbott, a fellow Quaker, in a ceremony at the Chesterfield Friends Meeting. They had a daughter Mary.[3] His choice to lead a "life of simplicity" meant sacrifices for his family, as did his frequent travels as an itinerant minister.
Career As a young man, Woolman began work as a clerk for a merchant. When he was 23, his employer asked him to write a bill of sale for a slave. Though he told his employer that he thought that slaveholding was inconsistent with Christianity, he wrote the bill of sale. By the age of 26, he had become an independent and successful tradesman. He refused to write the part of a will that included disposing of a slave and, in that case, convinced the client to set the slave free by manumission. Many Friends believed that slavery was bad— even a sin. Other Friends kept slaves but considered trading in slaves to be sinful. Woolman eventually retired from business (i.e., "merchandising") because he viewed profitmaking as distracting from his religion, although he continued his trade as a tailor.[4]
Testimony of Simplicity Woolman was committed to the Friends' Testimony of Simplicity. While in his 20s, he decided that the retail trade demanded too much of his time. He believed he had a calling to preach "truth and light" among Friends and others. In his Journal, he said that he quit the shop as it was "attended with much outward care and cumber," that his "mind was weaned from the desire of outward greatness," and that "where the heart is set on greatness, success in business did not satisfy the craving."[5] Woolman gave up his career as a tradesman and supported himself as a tailor; he also maintained a productive orchard. He addressed issues of economic injustice and oppression in his Journal and other writings, and knew international trade had local effects. Despite supporting himself as a tailor, Woolman refused to use or wear dyed fabrics, because he had learned that many workers in the dye industry were poisoned by some of the noxious substances used. Concerned about treatment of animals, in later life, Woolman avoided riding in stagecoaches, for he believed operators were too often cruel and injurious to the teams of horses. Woolman decided to minister to Friends and others in remote areas on the frontier. In 1746, he went on his first ministry trip with Isaac Andrews. They traveled about 1,500 miles roundtrip in three months, going as far south as North Carolina. He preached on many topics, including slavery, during this and other such trips.
Anti-slavery activities In 1754 Woolman published Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes. He continued to refuse to draw up wills that bequeathed ownership of slaves to heirs. Over time, and working on a personal level, he individually convinced many Quaker slaveholders to free their slaves. As Woolman traveled, when he accepted hospitality from a slaveholder, he insisted on paying the slaves for their work in attending him. He refused to be served with silver cups, plates, and utensils, as he believed that slaves in other regions were forced to dig such precious minerals and gems for the rich. He observed that some owners used the labor of their slaves to enjoy lives of ease, which he found to be the worst situation not only for the slaves, but for the moral and spiritual condition of the owners. He could condone those owners who treated their slaves gently, or worked alongside them. Woolman worked within the Friends' tradition of seeking the guidance of the Spirit of Christ and patiently waiting to achieve unity in the Spirit. As he went from one Friends' meeting to another, he expressed his concern about slaveholding. Gradually various Quaker Meetings began to see the evils of slavery; their minutes reflected their condemnation of the practice.
Testimony of Peace He lived out the Friends' Peace Testimony by protesting the French and Indian War (1754– 1763), the North American front of the Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France. In 1755, he decided to oppose paying those colonial taxes that supported the war and urged tax resistance among fellow Quakers in the Philadelphia Meeting, even at a time when settlers on the frontier were being attacked by French and allied Native Americans. Some Quakers joined him in his protest, and the Meeting sent a letter on this issue to other groups. In one of his prophetic dreams, recorded in his Journal, Woolman negotiated between two heads of state in an effort to prevent a war.[6]
Final days Woolman's final journey was to England in 1772. During the voyage he stayed in steerage and spent time with the crew, rather than in the better accommodations enjoyed by some passengers. He attended the British London Yearly Meeting. The Friends resolved to include an anti-slavery statement in their Epistle (a type of letter sent to Quakers in other places). Woolman traveled to York, but he had contracted smallpox and died there. He was buried in York on October 9, 1772.[7]
Published works
Essays o o o o
"Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes", 1753 "Some Considerations on Keeping Negroes, Part Second", 1762 "Considerations on Pure Wisdom and Human Policy, on Labor, on Schools, and on the Right Use of the Lord's Outward Gifts", 1768 "Considerations on the True Harmony of Mankind, and How it is to be Maintained", 1770
Books o
o
o o
The Journal of John Woolman, published posthumously in 1774 by Joseph Crukshank, a Philadelphia Quaker printer. Several subsequent editions are available, including the respected Whittier edition of 1871. The modern standard scholarly edition is The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, ed., Phillips P. Moulton, Friends United Press, 1989. Serious Considerations on Various Subjects of Importance by John Woolman, of Mount-Holly, New-Jersey, with some of his dying expressions, published posthumously in 1805 by Collins, Perkins and Co., New York. Gummere, Amelia Mott (1922). The Journal and Essays of John Woolman. New York: The Macmillan Company. Proud, James, ed. (2010). John Woolman and the Affairs of Truth: the Journalist's Essays, Epistles, and Ephemera. San Francisco, CA: Inner Light Books
Legacy and honors In his lifetime, Woolman did not succeed in eradicating slavery even within the Society of Friends in colonial America. However, his personal efforts helped change Quaker viewpoints during the period of the Great Awakening. After the American Revolutionary War and independence, in 1790 the Pennsylvania Society of Friends petitioned the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery. While unsuccessful at the national level, Quakers contributed to Pennsylvania's abolition of slavery. In addition, in the first two decades after the war, they were active together with Methodist and Baptist preachers in the Upper South in persuading many slaveholders to manumit their slaves. The percentage of free people of color rose markedly during those decades, for instance, from less than one to nearly ten percent in Virginia.[8]
The "fair treatment of people of all races" is today an integral part of the Friends' Testimony of Equality.
The John Woolman Memorial, 99 Branch St., Mount Holly, New Jersey
The Journal of John Woolman has been included since the first year of publication in 1909 in Volume I of The Harvard Classics, together with Benjamin Franklin's His Autobiography and William Penn's Fruits of Solitude. This was published by P.F. Collier and Sons of New York. It is considered a prominent American spiritual work and is the longest-published book in the history of North America other than the Bible, having been continuously in print since 1774. The John Woolman Memorial Association was formed in Mount Holly to promote his teachings. It sponsors an annual lecture and has published a volume of Woolman genealogy, with additional volumes planned.[3] The John Woolman Memorial in Mount Holly, New Jersey is located near one of his former orchards. A brick house built between 1771–1783, reportedly for one of Woolman's daughters and her husband, it is operated as a house museum and memorial.[3] 1963, the John Woolman School was founded in his honor in Nevada City, California as a college-preparatory boarding school, serving students in grades 10–12.[9] 2003, a group of scholars of peace and justice studies founded the John Woolman College of Active Peace, which seeks to 'mainstream' many Quaker (and other) concepts of peace and peacemaking into higher education.[10]
Further reading
Cady, Edwin H (1966). John Woolman: The Mind of the Quaker Saint. New York: Washington Square. Clarkson, John (1808). The History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Parliament: In Two Volumes. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orm, 1808; vol. 1, pp. 150–164. Fager, Charles (1993). John Woolman and the Slave Girl. Kimo, children's book. Gross, David M (2008). American Quaker War Tax Resistance, Create Space, documentary history with compilation of primary documents Heller, Mike, ed. (2003). The Tendering Presence: Essays on John Woolman. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill. Plank, Geoffrey. (2012) John Woolman's Path to the Peaceable Kingdom: A Quaker in the British Empire (University of Pennsylvania Press; 2012) Reynolds, Reginald (1948). The Wisdom of John Woolman / With a Selection from His Writings as a Guide to the Seekers of Today. Quaker Home Service (1973, 1980). Some Stories about John Woolman, 1720–1772. Slaughter, Thomas P. (2008). The Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition. New York: Hill and Wang. Swayne, Amelia. (1942). John Woolman. Friends General Conference Committee on Education.
The Descendants of John & Elizabeth (Borton) Woolman, married 1684, of Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington, New Jersey: John Woolman Memorial Association, 1997
Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758) was a revivalist preacher, philosopher, and Protestant theologian. His initial affiliation inside Protestantism was Calvinist and Congregational. His colonial followers later distinguished themselves from other Congregationalists as “New Lights” (endorsing the Great Awakening), as opposed to "Old Lights” (non-revivalists). Edwards is widely regarded as "one of America’s most important and original philosophical theologians,” and one of the greatest intellectuals of his time.[3][4] Edwards’ theological work is broad in scope, but he was rooted in Reformed theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. Recent studies have emphasized how thoroughly Edwards grounded his life’s work on conceptions of beauty, harmony, and ethical fittingness, and how central The Enlightenment was to his mindset.[5] Edwards played a critical role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first revivals in 1733–35 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts.[6][7] Edwards delivered the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, a classic of early American literature, during another revival in 1741, following George Whitefield’s tour of the Thirteen Colonies.[8] Edwards is well known for his many books, The End For Which God Created the World, The Life of David Brainerd, which inspired thousands of missionaries throughout the 19th century, and Religious Affections, which many Reformed Evangelicals still read today.[9] Edwards died from a smallpox inoculation shortly after beginning the presidency at the College of New Jersey (Princeton).[10] He was the grandfather of Aaron Burr,[1] third Vice President of the United States.
"God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean." — Jonathan Edwards (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 17: Sermons and Discourses, 1730-1733) Biography
"Of all the knowledge that we can ever obtain, the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of ourselves, are the most important." — Jonathan Edwards (A careful & strict inquiry into the modern prevailing notions of that freedom of the will, which is supposed to be essential to moral agency, virtue & vice, reward & punishment, praise & blame...) "All truth is given by revelation, either general or special, and it must be received by reason. Reason is the God-given means for discovering the truth that God discloses, whether in his world or his Word. While God wants to reach the heart with truth, he does not bypass the mind." — Jonathan Edwards " “Surely there is something in the unruffled calm of nature that overawes our little anxieties and doubts; the sight of the deep-blue sky and the clustering stars above seems to impart a quiet to the mind." — Jonathan Edwards "A truly humble man is sensible of his natural distance from God; of his dependence on Him; of the insufficiency of his own power and wisdom; and that it is by God's power that he is upheld and provided for, and that he needs God's wisdom to lead and guide him, and His might to enable him to do what he ought to do for Him."
Early life Jonathan Edwards was born on October 5, 1703 and was the son of Timothy Edwards (1668– 1759), a minister at East Windsor, Connecticut (modern day South Windsor), who eked out his salary by tutoring boys for college. His mother, Esther Stoddard, daughter of the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Massachusetts, seems to have been a woman of unusual mental gifts and independence of character.[11][page needed] Jonathan, their only son, was the fifth of 11 children. He was trained for college by his father and elder sisters, all of whom received an excellent education and one of whom, Esther, the eldest, wrote a semi-humorous tract on the immateriality of the soul, often mistakenly attributed to Jonathan.[12]
Edwards, Jonathan (1737), A Faithful Narrative of the Surprizing Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton, London
He entered Yale College in 1716, at just under the age of 13. In the following year, he became acquainted with John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which influenced him profoundly. During his college studies, he kept note books labelled "The Mind," "Natural Science" (containing a discussion of the atomic theory), "The Scriptures" and "Miscellanies," had a grand plan for a work on natural and mental philosophy, and drew up for himself rules for its composition. He was interested in natural history, and as a precocious 11-year-old, observed and wrote an essay detailing the ballooning behavior of some spiders. Edwards would edit this text to match the burgeoning genre of scientific literature, and his "The Flying Spider" fit easily into the then-current scholarship on spiders.[13][14] Even though he would go on to study theology for two years after his graduation, Edwards continued to be interested in science. However, while many European scientists and American clergymen found the implications of science pushing them towards deism, Edwards went the other way, and saw the natural world as evidence of God's masterful design, and throughout his life, Edwards often went into the woods as a favorite place to pray and worship in the beauty and solace of nature.[15] Edwards was fascinated by the discoveries of Isaac Newton and other scientists of his age. Before he undertook full-time ministry work in Northampton, he wrote on various topics in natural philosophy, including flying spiders, light and optics. While he was worried about the materialism and faith in reason alone of some of his contemporaries, he saw the laws of nature as derived from God and demonstrating his wisdom and care. Edwards also wrote sermons and theological treatises that emphasized the beauty of God and the role of aesthetics in the spiritual life, in which he anticipates a 20th-century current of theological aesthetics, represented by figures like Hans Urs von Balthasar.[citation needed] In 1722 to 1723, he was for eight months "stated supply" (a clergyman employed to supply a pulpit for a definite time, but not settled as a pastor) of a small Presbyterian Church in New York City. The church invited him to remain, but he declined the call. After spending two
months in study at home, in 1724–26, he was one of the two tutors at Yale, earning for himself the name of a "pillar tutor", from his steadfast loyalty to the college and its orthodox teaching, at the time when Yale's rector, Timothy Cutler, and one of his tutors had gone over to the Anglican Church.[11][page needed] The years 1720 to 1726 are partially recorded in his diary and in the resolutions for his own conduct which he drew up at this time. He had long been an eager seeker after salvation and was not fully satisfied as to his own conversion until an experience in his last year in college, when he lost his feeling that the election of some to salvation and of others to eternal damnation was "a horrible doctrine," and reckoned it "exceedingly pleasant, bright and sweet." He now took a great and new joy in taking in the beauties of nature, and delighted in the allegorical interpretation of the Song of Solomon. Balancing these mystic joys is the stern tone of his Resolutions, in which he is almost ascetic in his eagerness to live earnestly and soberly, to waste no time, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.[16] On February 15, 1727, Edwards was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his grandfather Solomon Stoddard. He was a scholar-pastor, not a visiting pastor, his rule being 13 hours of study a day. In the same year, he married Sarah Pierpont. Then 17, Sarah was from a storied New England clerical family: her father was James Pierpont (1659–1714), the head founder of Yale College, and her mother was the great-granddaughter of Thomas Hooker.[17] Sarah's spiritual devotion was without peer, and her relationship with God had long proved an inspiration to Edwards. He first remarked on her great piety when she was 13 years old.[18] She was of a bright and cheerful disposition, a practical housekeeper, a model wife and the mother of his 11 children, who included Esther Edwards. Solomon Stoddard died on February 11, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony, and one proud of its morality, its culture and its reputation.[11][page needed] Edwards, as with all of the Reformers and Puritans of his day, held to complementarian views of marriage and gender roles.[19]
Great Awakening On July 7, 1732, Edwards preached in Boston the "Public Lecture" afterwards published under the title "God Glorified in the Work of Redemption, by the Greatness of Man's Dependence upon Him, in the Whole of It," which was his first public attack on Arminianism. The emphasis of the lecture was on God's absolute sovereignty in the work of salvation: that while it behooved God to create man pure and without sin, it was of his "good pleasure" and "mere and arbitrary grace" for him to grant any person the faith necessary to incline him or her toward holiness, and that God might deny this grace without any disparagement to any of his character. In 1733, a Protestant revival began in Northampton and reached an intensity in the winter of 1734 and the following spring, that it threatened the business of the town. In 6 months, nearly 300 were admitted to the church. The revival gave Edwards an opportunity for studying the process of conversion in all its phases and varieties, and he recorded his observations with psychological minuteness and discrimination in A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (1737). A year later, he published Discourses on Various Important Subjects, the five sermons which had proved most effective in the revival, and of these, none was so immediately effective as that on the Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners, from the text, "That every mouth may be stopped." Another sermon,
published in 1734, A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God, set forth what he regarded as the inner, moving principle of the revival, the doctrine of a special grace in the immediate, and supernatural divine illumination of the soul.[20] By 1735, the revival had spread and popped up independently across the Connecticut River Valley, and perhaps as far as New Jersey. However, criticism of the revival began, and many New Englanders feared that Edwards had led his flock into fanaticism.[21] Over the summer of 1735, religious fervor took a dark turn. A number of New Englanders were shaken by the revivals but not converted, and became convinced of their inexorable damnation. Edwards wrote that "multitudes" felt urged—presumably by Satan—to take their own lives.[22] At least two people committed suicide in the depths of their spiritual distress, one from Edwards's own congregation—his uncle Joseph Hawley II. It is not known if any others took their own lives, but the "suicide craze" effectively ended the first wave of revival, except in some parts of Connecticut.[23] However, despite these setbacks and the cooling of religious fervor, word of the Northampton revival and Edwards's leadership role had spread as far as England and Scotland. It was at this time that Edwards was acquainted with George Whitefield, who was traveling the Thirteen Colonies on a revival tour in 1739–40. The two men may not have seen eye to eye on every detail. Whitefield was far more comfortable with the strongly emotional elements of revival than Edwards was, but they were both passionate about preaching the Gospel. They worked together to orchestrate Whitefield's trip, first through Boston and then to Northampton. When Whitefield preached at Edwards's church in Northampton, he reminded them of the revival they had experienced just a few years before.[24] This deeply touched Edwards, who wept throughout the entire service, and much of the congregation too was moved.
Monument in Enfield, Connecticut commemorating the location where Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was preached
Revival began to spring up again, and Edwards preached his most famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", in Enfield, Connecticut in 1741. Though this sermon has been widely reprinted as an example of "fire and brimstone" preaching in the colonial revivals, this is not in keeping with Edward's actual preaching style. Edwards did not shout or speak loudly, but talked in a quiet, emotive voice. He moved his audience slowly from point to point, towards an inexorable conclusion: they were lost without the grace of God. While most 21st-century readers notice the damnation looming in such a sermon text, historian George Marsden reminds us that Edwards' was not preaching anything new or surprising: "Edwards could take for granted... that a New England audience knew well the Gospel remedy. The problem was getting them to seek it.".[25]
The movement met with opposition from conservative Congregationalist ministers. In 1741, Edwards published in its defense The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God, dealing particularly with the phenomena most criticized: the swoonings, outcries and convulsions. These "bodily effects," he insisted, were not distinguishing marks of the work of the Spirit of God one way or another; but so bitter was the feeling against the revival in the more strictly Puritan churches, that in 1742, he was forced to write a second apology, Thoughts on the Revival in New England. His main argument being the great moral improvement of the country. In the same pamphlet, he defends an appeal to the emotions, and advocates preaching terror when necessary, even to children, who in God's sight "are young vipers... if not Christ's." He considers "bodily effects" incidental to the real work of God, but his own mystic devotion and the experiences of his wife during the Awakening (which he gives in detail) make him think that the divine visitation usually overpowers the body, a view in support of which he quotes Scripture. In reply to Edwards, Charles Chauncy wrote Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England in 1743 and anonymously penned The Late Religious Commotions in New England Considered in the same year. In these works he urged conduct as the sole test of conversion; and the general convention of Congregational ministers in the Province of Massachusetts Bay protested "against disorders in practice which have of late obtained in various parts of the land." In spite of Edwards's able pamphlet, the impression had become widespread that "bodily effects" were recognized by the promoters of the Great Awakening as the true tests of conversion. To offset this feeling, Edwards preached at Northampton, during the years 1742 and 1743, a series of sermons published under the title of Religious Affections (1746), a restatement in a more philosophical and general tone of his ideas as to "distinguishing marks." In 1747, he joined the movement started in Scotland called the "concert in prayer," and in the same year published An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God's People in Extraordinary Prayer for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom on Earth. In 1749, he published a memoir of David Brainerd who had lived with his family for several months and had died at Northampton in 1747. Brainerd had been constantly attended by Edwards's daughter Jerusha, to whom he was rumored to have been engaged to be married, though there is no surviving evidence of this. In the course of elaborating his theories of conversion, Edwards used Brainerd and his ministry as a case study, making extensive notes of his conversions and confessions.
Later years
Edwards, Rev. Jonathan (July 8, 1741), Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, A Sermon Preached at Enfield
In 1747 Edwards took in a slave, "a Negro girl named Venus". He purchased the girl for 80 pounds from a man named Richard Perkins of Newport. The Edwards opened their home to those in need on a regular basis. After being dismissed from the pastorate; he ministered to a tribe of Mohican Indians. In 1748, there had come a crisis in his relations with his congregation. The Half-Way Covenant, adopted by the synods of 1657 and 1662, had made baptism alone the condition to the civil privileges of church membership, but not of participation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Edwards's grandfather and predecessor in the pastorate, Solomon Stoddard, had been even more liberal, holding that the Supper was a converting ordinance and that baptism was a sufficient title to all the privileges of the church. As early as 1744 Edwards, in his sermons on Religious Affections, had plainly intimated his dislike of this practice. In the same year, he had published in a church meeting the names of certain young people, members of the church, who were suspected of reading improper books, and also the names of those who were to be called as witnesses in the case. It has often been reported that the witnesses and accused were not distinguished on this list, and so the entire congregation was in an uproar.[citation needed] However, Patricia Tracy's research has cast doubt on this version of the events, noting that in the list he read from, the names were definitely distinguished.[citation needed] Those involved were eventually disciplined for disrespect to the investigators rather than for the original incident. In any case, the incident further deteriorated the relationship between Edwards and the congregation. Edwards's preaching became unpopular. For four years, no candidate presented himself for admission to the church, and when one did, in 1748, he was met with Edwards's formal tests as expressed in the Distinguishing Marks and later in Qualifications for Full Communion, 1749. The candidate refused to submit to them, the church backed him, and the break between the church and Edwards was complete. Even permission to discuss his views in the pulpit was refused. He was allowed to present his views on Thursday afternoons. His sermons were well attended by visitors, but not his own congregation. A council was convened to
decide the communion matter between the minister and his people. The congregation chose half the council, and Edwards was allowed to select the other half of the council. His congregation, however, limited his selection to one county where the majority of the ministers were against him. The ecclesiastical council voted that the pastoral relation be dissolved. The church members, by a vote of more than 200 to 23, ratified the action of the council, and finally a town meeting voted that Edwards should not be allowed to occupy the Northampton pulpit, though he continued to live in the town and preach in the church by the request of the congregation until October 1751. In his "Farewell Sermon" he preached from 2 Corinthians 1:14 and directed the thoughts of his people to that far future when the minister and his people would stand before God. In a letter to Scotland after his dismissal he expresses his preference for Presbyterian to Congregational church government. His position at the time was not unpopular throughout New England. His doctrine that the Lord's Supper is not a cause of regeneration and that communicants should be professing Protestants has since (largely through the efforts of his pupil Joseph Bellamy) become a standard of New England Congregationalism. Edwards was in high demand. A parish in Scotland could have been procured, and he was called to a Virginia church. He declined both, to become in 1751, pastor of the church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and a missionary to the Housatonic Indians, taking over for the recently deceased John Sergeant. To the Indians, he preached through an interpreter, and their interests he boldly and successfully defended by attacking the whites who were using their official positions among them to increase their private fortunes. During this time he got to know Judge Joseph Dwight who was Trustee of the Indian Schools.[26] In Stockbridge, he wrote the Humble Relation, also called Reply to Williams (1752), which was an answer to Solomon Williams (1700–76), a relative and a bitter opponent of Edwards as to the qualifications for full communion. He there composed the treatises on which his reputation as a philosophical theologian chiefly rests, the essay on Original Sin, the Dissertation Concerning the Nature of True Virtue, the Dissertation Concerning the End for which God created the World, and the great work on the Will, written in four and a half months, and published in 1754 under the title, An Inquiry into the Modern Prevailing Notions Respecting that Freedom of the Will which is supposed to be Essential to Moral Agency. Aaron Burr, Sr., Edwards' son-in-law, died in 1757 (he had married Esther Edwards five years before, and they had made Edwards the grandfather of Aaron Burr, later Vice President of the United States). Edwards felt himself in "the decline of life", and inadequate to the office, but was persuaded to replace Burr as president of the College of New Jersey. He arrived in January, and was installed on February 16, 1758. He gave weekly essay assignments in theology to the senior class.[27] Almost immediately after becoming president, Edwards, a strong supporter of smallpox inoculations, decided to get inoculated himself in order to encourage others to do the same. Unfortunately, never having been in robust health, he died of the inoculation on March 22, 1758. He is buried in Princeton Cemetery. Edwards had three sons and eight daughters.
Engraving of Edwards by R Babson & J Andrews
Legacy The followers of Jonathan Edwards and his disciples came to be known as the New Light Calvinist ministers, as opposed to the traditional Old Light Calvinist ministers. Prominent disciples included the New Divinity school's Samuel Hopkins, Joseph Bellamy and Jonathan Edwards's son Jonathan Edwards Jr., and Gideon Hawley. Through a practice of apprentice ministers living in the homes of older ministers, they eventually filled a large number of pastorates in the New England area. Many of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards's descendants became prominent citizens in the United States, including the Vice President Aaron Burr and the College Presidents Timothy Dwight, Jonathan Edwards Jr. and Merrill Edwards Gates. Jonathan and Sarah Edwards were also ancestors of First Lady of the United States Edith Roosevelt, the writer O. Henry, the publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday and the writer Robert Lowell. Edwards's writings and beliefs continue to influence individuals and groups to this day. Early American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions missionaries were influenced by Edwards's writings, as is evidenced in reports in the ABCFM's journal "The Missionary Herald," and beginning with Perry Miller's seminal work, Edwards enjoyed a renaissance among scholars after the end of the Second World War. The Banner of Truth Trust and other publishers continue to reprint Edwards's works, and most of his major works are now available through the series published by Yale University Press, which has spanned three decades and supplies critical introductions by the editor of each volume. Yale has also established the Jonathan Edwards Project online. Author and teacher, Elisabeth Woodbridge Morris, memorialized him, her paternal ancestor (3rd great grandfather) in two books, The Jonathan Papers (1912), and More Jonathan Papers (1915). In 1933, he became the namesake of Jonathan Edwards College, the first of the 12 residential colleges of Yale, and The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University was founded to provide scholarly information about Edwards' writings. In 2009, a classical Protestant school was founded in Nashville, TN bearing his name and dedicated to memorializing Edwards' example of fervent piety and rigorous academics: Jonathan Edwards Classical Academy.[28] Edwards is remembered today as a teacher and missionary by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on March 22. The contemporary poet Susan Howe frequently describes the
composition of Edwards' manuscripts and notebooks held at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in a number of her books of poetry and prose, including Souls of the Labadie Tract, 2007 and That This, 2010. She notes how some of Edwards' notebooks were hand sewn from silk paper that his sisters and wife used for making fans.[29]
Progeny Edwards's many eminent descendants have led some Progressive Era scholars to view Edwards’ progeny as proof of eugenics,[30][page needed][31] Edwards’ descendants have had a disproportionate effect upon American culture: his biographer George Marsden notes that “the Edwards family produced scores of clergymen, thirteen presidents of higher learning, sixty-five professors, and many other persons of notable achievements.”[32]
Works The entire corpus of Edwards’ works, including previously unpublished works, is available online through the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University website.[33] The Works of Jonathan Edwards project at Yale has been bringing out scholarly editions of Edwards based on fresh transcriptions of his manuscripts since the 1950s; there are 26 volumes so far. Many of Edwards’ works have been regularly reprinted. Some of the major works include:
Charity and its Fruits. Protestant Charity or The Duty of Charity to the Poor, Explained and Enforced. 1732. online text at Bible Bulletin Board Concerning the End for Which God Created The World. Contains Freedom of the Will and Dissertation on Virtue, slightly modified for easier reading. Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God. (1734) A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God Freedom of the Will. A History of the Work of Redemption including a View of Church History The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, Missionary to the Indians. The Nature of True Virtue. Original Sin. Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival in New England and the Way it Ought to be Acknowledged and Promoted. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections.
Archival collections The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University holds the majority of Edwards' surviving manuscripts, including over one thousand sermons, notebooks, correspondence, printed materials, and artifacts.[34] Two of Edwards' manuscript sermons, a 1737 letter to Mrs. Hannah Morse, and some original minutes of a town meeting in Northampton are held by The Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[35]
References
Delattre, Roland André. Beauty and Sensibility in the Thought of Jonathan Edwards: An Essay in Aesthetics and Theological Ethics. New Have, CT: Yale University Press, 1989. Fiering, Norman. Jonathan Edwards's Moral Thought and Its British Context. Chapel Hill, NC: 1981. Gerstner, John H (1991–1993). The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards, in three volumes. Powhatan, VA: Berea Publications. ---. Jonathan Edwards: A Mini-Theology. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1987. Hatch, Nathan and Harry O. Stout, eds. Jonathan Edwards and the American Experience. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Kimnach, Wilson, Caleb J. D. Maskell, and Kenneth P. Minkema, eds. Jonathan Edwards’s 'Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God': A Casebook. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009. Lee, Sang Hyun. The Philosophical Theology of Jonathan Edwards. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988. Parkes, Henry Bamford (1930). Jonathan Edwards, the Fiery Puritan. New York: Minton, Balch & Co. Smith, John E (2005), Lee, Sang Hyun, ed., Protestant Virtue and Common Morality in The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Marsden, George M (2003), Jonathan Edwards: A Life, New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-10596-4 McDermott, Gerald Robert. One Holy and Happy Society: The Public Theology of Jonathan Edwards. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 1992. Murray, Iain H (1987). Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth. Piper, John (2004). A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards. New York: Crossway Books. Piper, John (1988). God's Passion for His Glory: Living the Vision of Jonathan Edwards. New York: Crossway Books. Robert Jenson (1988). America's Theologian. New York: Oxford University Press. Stephen R. Holmes (2000). God of Grace, God of Glory: The Theology of Jonathan Edwards. Edinburgh: T & T Clark. Ola Elizabeth Winslow. Jonathan Edwards, 1703–1756: A Biography. 1940 Avihu Zakai, Jonathan Edwards's Philosophy of History: The Reenchantment of the World in the Age of Enlightenment. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. Woo, B. Hoon (2014). "Is God the Author of Sin?—Jonathan Edwards’s Theodicy". Puritan Reformed Journal 6 (1): 98–123. Princeton University. "Jonathan Edwards at the College of New Jersey (Princeton University)".
Joseph Barber Lightfoot (sometimes called J. B. Lightfoot; 13 April 1828 – 21 December 1889) was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham.
“Plant thy foot firmly in the prints which His foot has made before thee.” - Joseph Barber Lightfoot "...let this be your one vow, your one prayer, 'God helping me, I will do His work, because it is His work. God helping me, I will preach His truth, because it is His truth. I will not be discouraged by failure; I will not be elated by success. The success and the failure are not my concern, but His. God helping me, I will help my brothers and sisters in Christ, because they are my brothers and sisters. Do they spurn my advances? Or do they welcome my message? What then? It shall make no difference in me and my work. They and I alike are in God's hands.'”
Life Lightfoot was born in Liverpool, where his father was an accountant. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, under James Prince Lee. His contemporaries included Brooke Foss Westcott and Edward White Benson. In 1847 Lightfoot went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and read for his degree along with Westcott. He graduated senior classic and 30th wrangler, and was elected a fellow of his college.[1] From 1854 to 1859 he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology. In 1857 he became tutor and his fame as a scholar grew. He was made Hulsean professor in 1861, and shortly afterwards chaplain to the Prince Consort and honorary chaplain in ordinary to Queen Victoria. In 1866 he was Whitehall preacher, and in 1871 he became canon of St Paul's Cathedral. The Times wrote after his death that It was always patent that what he was chiefly concerned with was the substance and the life of Christian truth, and that his whole energies were employed in this inquiry because his whole heart was engaged in the truths and facts which were at stake. In 1875 Lightfoot became Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity in succession to William Selwyn. In 1879 he was consecrated bishop of Durham in succession to Charles Baring; he
was enthroned at Durham Cathedral on 15 May. He soon surrounded himself with a band of scholarly young men. Lightfoot was never married. He died at Bournemouth and was succeeded in the episcopate by Westcott, his schoolfellow and lifelong friend. He served as President of the first day of the 1880 Co-operative Congress.[2] The following article was written by (
Dan Graves, MSL, 2007)
“During the nineteenth century, Joseph Barber Lightfoot became the kind of scholar who could answer such questions. He was probably the greatest Bible scholar in England if not all Europe. After years of study, he was ordained as a priest in the Church of England. In 1861, he became Professor of Divinity at Cambridge College. He had worked hard to master Greek and other Bible languages; and he knew the literature of the early church as few men have. What is more, he was recognized as a genuinely godly man. In 1865, he issued a commentary on Paul's letter to the Galatians. He followed this with other commentaries on Paul's letters. He produced a study of the literature of the Apostolic Fathers. These fathers were men, such as Clement of Rome, who had personally known one or more of the apostles. He worked with great care to be sure that any conclusion he presented was accurate. As W. Robertson Nicoll remarked, "The unfortunate man who was too easily persuaded that he had made an end of supernatural religion was taken in hand by the Bishop and hewn in pieces. The lowered and abated tone of skepticism in our day, and the confidence of Christian apologists, is largely due to this victory. Among scholars it was acknowledged that Lightfoot knew more of the early Christian literature than any other man." Because of his outstanding scholarship, Lightfoot was asked to be part of a team that made the first ever official revision of the King James Version of the Bible. He worked on the New Testament. Altogether, the team made about 39,000 changes in the text of the English Version (most of them to accomodate changes in English). This work was finished around 1880. When he was 61, J. B. Lightfoot made a dramatic change of career. He left college to become the bishop of Durham. This was not of his own desire. In fact, he was reluctant to take on this challenge, so different from the work he had been doing, but friends persuaded him he could do more good for the church and nation as bishop. He was consecrated on this day, April 25, 1879. Not every scholar could step straight out of a college setting (where he has busied himself with abstract arguments and writing) and become a leader overnight. But Lightfoot did. Encyclopedia Britannica asserts that his work for social reform, fund raising and education made him one of the greatest Anglican bishops of the 19th century.”
Bibliography: 1. Lightfoot, Joseph Barber. Ordination Addresses and Counsels to Clergy, Given by the Lord Bishop of Durham, The Right Reverend Joseph Barber Lightfoot D.D., D.C.L., LL.D. Delivered in S. Peter's Chapel, Auckland Castle. Project Canterbury. London and New York: Macmillan and Co., 1891. 2. "Lightfoot, Joseph Barber." Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford, 1956. 3. "Lightfoot, Joseph Barber." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. 1968. 4. "Lightfoot, Joseph Barber." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997. 5. Nicoll, W. Robertson. "J. B. Lightfoot." Princes of the Church. http://www.livingwordpub.com/ khway/emag3/lightfoot.htm
Publications Lightfoot wrote commentaries on the Epistle to the Galatians (1865), Epistle to Philippians (1868) and Epistle to the Colossians (1875). In 1874, the anonymous publication of Supernatural Religion, a work speculated by some to be authored by Walter Richard Cassels, attracted attention. In a series of papers in the Contemporary Review, between December 1874 and May 1877, Lightfoot undertook the defense of the New Testament canon. The articles were published in collected form in 1889. About the same time he was engaged in contributions to William Smith's Dictionary of Christian Biography and Dictionary of the Bible, and he also joined the committee for revising the translation of the New Testament. The corpus of Lightfoot's writings include essays on biblical and historical subject matter, commentaries on Pauline epistles, and studies on the Apostolic Fathers. His sermons were posthumously published in four official volumes, and additionally in the Contemporary Pulpit Library series. At Durham he continued to work at his editions of the Apostolic Fathers, and in 1885 published an edition of the Epistles of Ignatius and Polycarp, collecting also materials for a second edition of Clement of Rome, which was published after his death (1st ed., 1869). He defended the authenticity of the Epistles of Ignatius.
Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1890). Apostolic Fathers. Part I. (two vols). London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1885–89). Apostolic Fathers. Part II. (three vols). London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1891). Apostolic Fathers Abridged. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1893). Biblical Essays. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1890). Cambridge Sermons. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1892). Dissertations on the Apostolic Age. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1889). Essays on Supernatural Religion. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1871). Fresh Revision of the English New Testament. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1895). Historical Essays. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1890). Leaders in the Northern Church. London: MacMillan and Co.
Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1895). Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul from Unpublished Commentaries. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1890). Ordination Addresses. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1882). Primary Charge. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1869). St. Clement of Rome. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1865). Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1875). Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1868). Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1868). The Christian Ministry. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1891). Sermons preached in St. Paul's. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1891). Special Sermons. London: MacMillan and Co. Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1892). The Contemporary Pulpit Library: Sermons by Bishop Lightfoot. London: Swan Sonnenschein.
In 2014, it was announced that InterVarsity Press had agreed to publish about 1500 pages of previously unpublished Biblical commentaries and essays by Lightfoot found in Durham Cathedral.[3] The first of the three volume set covers The Acts of the Apostles.[4]
References 1. "Lightfoot, Joseph Barber (LTFT847JB)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. "Congress Presidents 1869-2002" (PDF). February 2002. Retrieved 2008-05-10. Ben Witherington III, "Text Archaeology: The Finding of Lightfoot's Lost Manuscripts," Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol. 40, No. 2 (March/April 2014), pp. 28, 71. "The Acts of the Apostles (hardcover) - InterVarsity Press". August 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
Julian of Norwich (c. 8 November 1342 – c. 1416) was an English anchoress who is regarded as an important Christian mystic. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches. Written around 1395, her work, Revelations of Divine Love, is the first book in the English language known to have been written by a woman.[1] Juliana was also known as a spiritual authority within her community where she has also served as a counselor and advisor.[2]
“The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.” ― Julian of Norwich “If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.” “... so our customary practice of prayer was brought to mind: how through our ignorance and inexperience in the ways of love we spend so much time on petition. I saw that it is indeed more worthy of God and more truly pleasing to him that through his goodness we should pray with full confidence, and by his grace cling to him with real understanding and unshakeable love, than that we should go on making as many petitions as our souls are capable of.” “Truth sees God, and wisdom contemplates God, and from these two comes a third, a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love.”
Personal life Very little is known about Julian's life. Even her name is unknown; the name "Julian" simply derives from the fact that her anchoress's cell was built onto the wall of the Church of St Julian in Norwich. Her writings indicate that she was probably born around 1342 and died around 1416.[3][4][5] She may have been from a privileged family that lived in Norwich, or nearby. Norwich was at the time the second largest city in England. Plague epidemics were rampant during the 14th century and, according to some scholars, Julian may have become an anchoress whilst still unmarried or, having lost her family in the Plague, as a widow.[6] Becoming an anchoress may have served as a way to quarantine her from the rest of the
population. There is scholarly debate as to whether Julian was a nun in a nearby convent or even a laywoman.[6]
Image of the original Church of St Julian, Norwich
When she was 30 and living at home, Julian suffered from a serious illness. Since she was presumed to be near death, her curate came to administer the last rites of the Catholic church on May 8, 1373. As part of the ritual, he held a crucifix in the air above the foot of her bed. Julian reported that she was losing her sight and felt physically numb, but as she gazed on the crucifix she saw the figure of Jesus begin to bleed. Over the next several hours, Julian had a series of sixteen visions of Jesus Christ, which ended by the time she recovered from her illness on 13 May 1373.[7][8] Julian wrote about her visions immediately after they had happened (although the text may not have been finished for some years), in a version of the Revelations of Divine Love now known as the Short Text; this narrative of 25 chapters is about 11,000 words long.[9] It is believed to be the earliest surviving book written in the English language by a woman.[10] Twenty to thirty years later, perhaps in the early 1390s, Julian began to write a theological exploration of the meaning of the visions, known as The Long Text, which consists of 86 chapters and about 63,500 words.[11] This work seems to have gone through many revisions before it was finished, perhaps in the first or even second decade of the fifteenth century.[9] The English mystic Margery Kempe, who was the author of the first known autobiography written in England, mentioned going to Norwich to speak with her in around 1414.[12] The Norwich Benedictine and Cardinal, Adam Easton, may have been Julian of Norwich's spiritual director and edited her Long Text Showing of Love. Birgitta of Sweden's spiritual director, Alfonso Pecha, the Bishop Hermit of Jaen, edited her Revelations. Catherine of Siena's confessor and executor was William Flete, the Cambridge-educated Augustinian Hermit of Lecceto.[relevant? – discuss] Easton's Defense of St Birgitta echoes Alfonso of Jaen's Epistola Solitarii and William Flete's Remedies against Temptations, all of which are referred to in Julian's text.[13]
Revelations of Divine Love The Short Text survives in only one manuscript, the mid-15th century Amherst Manuscript, which was copied from an original written in 1413 in Julian’s own lifetime.[14] The Short Text does not appear to have been widely read, and it was not edited until 1911.[9]
The Long Text appears to have been slightly better known, but still does not seem to have been widely circulated in late medieval England. The one surviving manuscript from this period is the mid- to late-fifteenth century Westminster Manuscript, which contains a portion of the Long Text (not naming Julian as its author), refashioned as a didactic treatise on contemplation.[15] The surviving manuscripts of the whole Long Text fall into two groups, with slightly different readings. On the one hand, there exists the late sixteenth century Brigittine Long Text manuscript, produced in exile in the Antwerp region, and now known as the Paris Manuscript. The other set of readings may be found in two manuscripts, now in the British Library's Sloane Collection.[16] It is believed these nuns had an original, perhaps a holograph, manuscript of the Long Text, written in Julian's Norwich dialect.[16] which were written out and preserved in the Cambrai and Paris houses of the English Benedictine nuns in exile in the mid-seventeenth century.[17] The first printed version of the Revelations was edited by the Benedictine Serenus Cressy in 1670, and was reprinted in 1843, 1864 and again in 1902. Modern interest in the text increased with the 1877 publication of a new edition of the Long Text by Henry Collins. An important moment was the publication of Grace Warrack's 1901 version of the book, with its "sympathetic informed introduction" and modernised language, which introduced most early 20th century readers to Julian's writings.[18] Following the publication of the Warrack edition, Julian's name spread rapidly and she became a topic in many lectures and writings. Many editions of the works have been published in the last forty years (see below for further details), with translations into French (five times), German (four times), Italian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Catalan, Greek and Russian.[15] Revelations is a celebrated work in Catholicism and Anglicanism because of the clarity and depth of Julian's visions of God.[19] Julian of Norwich is now recognised as one of England's most important mystics.[20]
Theology
Statue of Julian on the front of Norwich Cathedral, holding the book, Revelations of Divine Love.
Julian of Norwich lived in a time of turmoil, but her theology was optimistic and spoke of God's love in terms of joy and compassion, as opposed to law and duty. For Julian, suffering was not a punishment that God inflicted, as was the common understanding. She believed that God loved everyone and wanted to save them all. Popular theology, magnified by catastrophic contemporary events such as the Black Death and a series of peasant revolts, asserted that God punished the wicked. Julian suggested a more merciful theology, which some[21] say leaned towards universal salvation.[22] She believed that behind the reality of hell is a greater mystery of God's love. In modern times, she has been classified[22] as a protouniversalist, although she did not claim more than hope that all might be saved.[23] Although Julian's views were not typical, the authorities might not have challenged her theology because of her status as an anchoress. A lack of references to her work during her own time may indicate that the religious authorities did not count her worthy of refuting, since she was a woman. Her theology was unique in three aspects: her view of sin; her belief that God is all-loving and without wrath; and her view of Christ as mother.[22] Julian believed that sin was necessary because it brings someone to self-knowledge, which leads to acceptance of the role of God in their life.[24] She taught that humans sin because they are ignorant or naive, and not because they are evil, the reason commonly given by the mediaeval church to explain sin.[25] Julian believed that to learn we must fail, and to fail we must sin. She also believed that the pain caused by sin is an earthly reminder of the pain of the passion of Christ and that as people suffer as Christ did they will become closer to him by their experiences.
Church of St Julian in Norwich
Julian saw no wrath in God. She believed wrath existed in humans, but that God forgives us for this. She wrote, "For I saw no wrath except on man's side, and He forgives that in us, for wrath is nothing else but a perversity and an opposition to peace and to love."[26] Julian believed that it was inaccurate to speak of God's granting forgiveness for sins, because forgiving would mean that committing the sin was wrong. She preached that sin should be seen as a part of the learning process of life, not a malice that needed forgiveness. She wrote that God sees us as perfect and waits for the day when human souls mature so that evil and sin will no longer hinder us.[27] Julian's belief in God as mother was controversial. According to Julian, God is both our mother and our father. As Caroline Walker Bynum showed, this idea was also developed by Bernard of Clairvaux and others from the 12th century onward.[28] Some scholars think this is a metaphor rather than a literal belief or dogma. For example, in her fourteenth revelation, Julian writes of the Trinity in domestic terms, comparing Jesus to a mother who is wise,
loving and merciful. F. Beer asserted that Julian believed that the maternal aspect of Christ was literal and not metaphoric: Christ is not like a mother, he is literally the mother.[29] Julian believed that the mother's role was the truest of all jobs on earth. She emphasised this by explaining how the bond between mother and child is the only earthly relationship that comes close to the relationship a person can have with Jesus.[30] She also connected God with motherhood in terms of "the foundation of our nature's creation", "the taking of our nature, where the motherhood of grace begins" and "the motherhood at work". She wrote metaphorically of Jesus in connection with conception, nursing, labour and upbringing, but saw him as our brother as well.
Legacy The 20th-century poet T.S. Eliot incorporated the saying that "…All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well", as well as Julian's "the ground of our beseeching" from the 14th Revelation, into Little Gidding, the fourth of his Four Quartets:[31] Whatever we inherit from the fortunate We have taken from the defeated What they had to leave us—a symbol: A symbol perfected in death. And all shall be well and All manner of thing shall be well By the purification of the motive In the ground of our beseeching.
Julian's feast day in the Roman Catholic tradition is on 13 May.[6] In the Anglican and Lutheran traditions, her feast day is on 8 May. In 1981 Sydney Carter wrote the song "Julian of Norwich" (sometimes called "The Bells of Norwich"), based on words of Julian. The University of East Anglia honoured Julian in 2013 by naming the new study centre (with 280 seat lecture theatre, seminar rooms, and high ecological standards) the "Julian Study Centre."[32] Each year, beginning in 2013, there has been a week-long celebration of Julian of Norwich in her home city, Norwich England. With concerts, lectures, workshops, and tours, the week aims to educate all interested people about Julian of Norwich, presenting Julian as a cultural, historical, literary, spiritual, and religious figure of international significance.
References "10 things to know about Norwich" (PDF). UNESCO. November 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
"Juliana of Norwich -". www.projectcontinua.org (in en-US). Retrieved 2015-10-12. Ritchie, Ronald, Joy, Kate (2001). Available Means: An Anthology of Women's Rhetoric. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 25–28. Beer, F., Women and Mystical Experience in the Middle Ages, page 130. Boydell Press, 1992
Modern editions and translations Editions:
The Writings of Julian of Norwich, ed. Nicholas Watson and Jacqueline Jenkins. Penn State University Press, 2006. [An edition and commentary of both the Short Text and Long Text. The Long Text is here generally based on the Paris manuscript] Denise N. Baker (2005), of the Long Text, based on the Paris manuscript Showing of Love: Extant Texts and Translation, ed. Sister Anna Maria Reynolds, C.P., and Julia Bolton Holloway. Florence: SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2001. ISBN 88-8450-095-8. [A “quasi-fascimile” of each version of the Showing of Love in the Westminster, Paris, Sloane and Amherst Manuscripts.] The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, ed. Georgia Crampton. (Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University, 1994). [Of the Long Text, based largely on one of the two Sloane manuscripts.] Colledge, Edmund, and James Walsh, Julian of Norwich: Showings, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1978. (a fully annotated edition of both the Short Text and Long Text, basing the latter on the Paris manuscript but using alternative readings from the Sloane manuscript when these were judged to be superior)
Translations:
Fr. John-Julian, "The Complete Julian of Norwich". Orleans,MA; Paraclete Press, 2009 Dutton, Elisabeth. A Revelation of Love (Introduced, Edited & Modernized). Rowman & Littlefield, 2008 Showing of Love, Trans. Julia Bolton Holloway. Collegeville: Liturgical Press; London; Darton, Longman and Todd, 2003. [Collates all the extant manuscript texts] Wolters, Clifton, Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love, (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966) (the Long Text, based on the Sloane manuscripts)
Bibliography
Dutton, E.M. (2008). Julian of Norwich: The Influence of Late-medieval Devotional Compilations. Boydell & Brewer. Holloway, J.B., Anchoress and Cardinal: Julian of Norwich and Adam Easton, O.S.B., Analecta Cartusiana, 2008; ISBN 978-3-902649-01-0. Jantzen, Grace. Julian of Norwich: Mystic and Theologian. London: SPCK. 1987.
McAvoy, L. H., ed., A Companion to Julian of Norwich, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2008. McEntire, S., ed., Julian of Norwich: A Book of Essays, Taylor & Francis, 1998. Turner, D., Julian of Norwich, Theologian, Yale University Press, 2011 Nicholas Watson (1992). "The Trinitarian Hermeneutic in Julian of Norwich's Revelation of Love". In Glasscoe, M. The Medieval Mystical Tradition in England V: Papers read at Dartington Hall, July 1992. D.S. Brewer. pp. 79–100.
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (/ˈtoʊlstɔɪ, ˈtɒl-/;[1] Russian: Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й, pronounced [lʲɛf nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ tɐlˈstoj] ( listen); 9 September [O.S. 28 August] 1828 – 20 November [O.S. 7 November] 1910), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian novelist. He is regarded as one of the greatest in the canon of world literature. His best known works are War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877). He first achieved literary acclaim in his 20s with the semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852–1856), and Sevastopol Sketches (1855), the latter based upon his experiences in the Crimean War. Tolstoy's fiction includes dozens of short stories and several novellas such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Family Happiness, and Hadji Murad. He also wrote plays and numerous philosophical essays. In the 1870s Tolstoy experienced a moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as a profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work A Confession. His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist. His new-found asceticism and determination to renounce his considerable wealth tipped his marriage into turmoil, which continued right up to his death at the age of 82, in the waiting room of an, until then, obscure Russian railway station. Tolstoy's ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You, were to have a significant impact on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mohandas Gandhi,[2] Martin Luther King, Jr.,[3] and James Bevel. “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” ― Leo Tolstoy “If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Essays, Letters and Miscellanies “Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking...” ― Leo Tolstoy “A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Family Happiness
Life and career
Tolstoy at age 20, 1848
Tolstoy was born at Yasnaya Polyana, a family estate located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southwest of Tula, Russia and 200 kilometers (120 mi) south of Moscow. The Tolstoys were a well-known family of old Russian nobility, tracing their ancestry to a mythical Lithuanian noble Indris.[4][5] He was the fourth of five children of Count Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, a veteran of the Patriotic War of 1812, and Countess Mariya Tolstaya (Volkonskaya). Tolstoy's parents died when he was young, so he and his siblings were brought up by relatives. In 1844, he began studying law and oriental languages at Kazan University. His teachers described him as "both unable and unwilling to learn."[6] Tolstoy left the university in the middle of his studies, returned to Yasnaya Polyana and then spent much of his time in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In 1851, after running up heavy gambling debts, he went with his older brother to the Caucasus and joined the army. It was about this time that he started writing. His conversion from a dissolute and privileged society author to the non-violent and spiritual anarchist of his latter days was brought about by his experience in the army as well as two trips around Europe in 1857 and 1860–61. Others who followed the same path were Alexander Herzen, Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin. During his 1857 visit, Tolstoy witnessed a public execution in Paris, a traumatic experience that would mark the rest of his life. Writing in a letter to his friend Vasily Botkin: "The truth is that the State is a conspiracy designed not only to exploit, but above all to corrupt its citizens ... Henceforth, I shall never serve any government anywhere."[7] His European trip in 1860–61 shaped both his political and literary development when he met Victor Hugo, whose literary talents Tolstoy praised after reading Hugo's newly finished Les Misérables. The similar evocation of battle scenes in Hugo's novel and Tolstoy's War and Peace indicates this influence. Tolstoy's political philosophy was also influenced by a March 1861 visit to French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, then living in exile under an assumed
name in Brussels. Apart from reviewing Proudhon's forthcoming publication, La Guerre et la Paix (War and Peace in French), whose title Tolstoy would borrow for his masterpiece, the two men discussed education, as Tolstoy wrote in his educational notebooks: "If I recount this conversation with Proudhon, it is to show that, in my personal experience, he was the only man who understood the significance of education and of the printing press in our time." Fired by enthusiasm, Tolstoy returned to Yasnaya Polyana and founded 13 schools for children of Russia's peasants, who had just been emancipated from serfdom in 1861. Tolstoy described the school's principles in his 1862 essay "The School at Yasnaya Polyana".[8] Tolstoy's educational experiments were short-lived, partly due to harassment by the Tsarist secret police. However, as a direct forerunner to A. S. Neill's Summerhill School, the school at Yasnaya Polyana[9] can justifiably be claimed the first example of a coherent theory of democratic education.
Death
Tolstoy's grave with flowers at Yasnaya Polyana.
Tolstoy died in 1910, at the age of 82. Prior to this, his health had been a concern of his family, who were actively engaged in his care on a daily basis. During his last few days, he had spoken and written about dying. Renouncing his aristocratic lifestyle, he had separated from his wife and left home during the night and in the middle of winter.[10] His secretive departure was an apparent attempt to escape unannounced from his wife's attention. She was outspokenly opposed to many of his teachings, and in recent years had grown envious of the attention which, it seemed to her, Tolstoy gave to his Tolstoyan followers. Tolstoy died of pneumonia[11] at Astapovo train station, after a day's rail journey south.[12] The station master took Tolstoy to his apartment, and his personal doctors were called to the scene. He was given injections of morphine and camphor. The police tried to limit access to his funeral procession, but thousands of peasants lined the streets, though many knew little about Tolstoy.[13] According to some sources, Tolstoy spent the last hours of his life preaching love, nonviolence, and Georgism to his fellow passengers on the train.[14]
Personal life On September 23, 1862, Tolstoy married Sophia Andreevna Behrs, who was 16 years his junior and the daughter of a court physician. She was called Sonya, the Russian diminutive of Sofia, by her family and friends.[15] They had 13 children, eight of whom survived childhood:[16]
Tolstoy's wife Sophia and their daughter Alexandra
Count Sergei Lvovich Tolstoy (July 10, 1863 – December 23, 1947), composer and ethnomusicologist Countess Tatyana Lvovna Tolstaya (October 4, 1864 – September 21, 1950), wife of Mikhail Sergeevich Sukhotin Count Ilya Lvovich Tolstoy (May 22, 1866 – December 11, 1933), writer Count Lev Lvovich Tolstoy (June 1, 1869 – October 18, 1945), writer and sculptor Countess Maria Lvovna Tolstaya (1871–1906), wife of Nikolai Leonidovich Obolensky Count Peter Lvovich Tolstoy (1872–1873), died in infancy Count Nikolai Lvovich Tolstoy (1874–1875), died in infancy Countess Varvara Lvovna Tolstaya (1875–1875), died in infancy Count Andrei Lvovich Tolstoy (1877–1916), served in the Russo-Japanese War Count Michael Lvovich Tolstoy (1879–1944) Count Alexei Lvovich Tolstoy (1881–1886) Countess Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya (July 18, 1884 – September 26, 1979) Count Ivan Lvovich Tolstoy (1888–1895)
The marriage was marked from the outset by sexual passion and emotional insensitivity when Tolstoy, on the eve of their marriage, gave her his diaries detailing his extensive sexual past and the fact that one of the serfs on his estate had borne him a son.[15] Even so, their early married life was ostensibly happy and allowed Tolstoy much freedom to compose War and Peace and Anna Karenina with Sonya acting as his secretary, proofreader and financial manager.[15] However, their later life together has been described by A. N. Wilson as one of the unhappiest in literary history. Tolstoy's relationship with his wife deteriorated as his beliefs became increasingly radical. This saw him seeking to reject his inherited and earned wealth, including the renunciation of the copyrights on his earlier works.
The Tolstoy family left Russia in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, and Leo Tolstoy's descendants today live in Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the United States. Among them are Swedish singer Viktoria Tolstoy and Swedish landowner Christopher Paus, Herresta.
Novels and fictional works
Leo Tolstoy 1897
Tolstoy is one of the most significant figures in Russian literature; his works include the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina and novellas such as Hadji Murad and The Death of Ivan Ilyich. His contemporary Fyodor Dostoyevsky thought him the best of all then living novelists; Gustave Flaubert praised the artistry and psychology of War and Peace. Anton Chekhov, who often visited Tolstoy at his country estate, wrote, "When literature possesses a Tolstoy, it is easy and pleasant to be a writer; even when you know you have achieved nothing yourself and are still achieving nothing, this is not as terrible as it might otherwise be, because Tolstoy achieves for everyone. What he does serves to justify all the hopes and aspirations invested in literature." Later critics and novelists continued to praise Tolstoy's art. Virginia Woolf declared him the greatest of all novelists. James Joyce noted that, "He is never dull, never stupid, never tired, never pedantic, never theatrical!". Thomas Mann wrote of Tolstoy's seemingly guileless artistry: "Seldom did art work so much like nature". Such sentiments were shared by Proust, Faulkner and Nabokov. Tolstoy's earliest works, the autobiographical novels Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852– 1856), tell of a rich landowner's son and his slow realization of the chasm between himself and his peasants. Though he later rejected them as sentimental, they deal with Tolstoy's own life. Tolstoy served as a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment during the Crimean War, recounted in his Sevastopol Sketches. His experiences in battle influenced his subsequent pacifism and gave him material for the realistic depiction of war in his later work.[17]
His fiction consistently attempts to convey realistically the Russian society in which he lived.[18] The Cossacks (1863) describes the Cossack life and people through a story of a Russian aristocrat in love with a Cossack girl. Anna Karenina (1877) tells parallel stories of an adulterous woman trapped by the conventions and falsities of society and of a philosophical landowner (much like Tolstoy), who works alongside the peasants in the fields and seeks to reform their lives. Tolstoy not only drew from his own life experiences but also created characters in his own image, such as Pierre Bezukhov and Prince Andrei in War and Peace, Levin in Anna Karenina and to some extent, Prince Nekhlyudov in Resurrection. The Power of Darkness
2015 at Vienna's Akademietheater Photographs: Francisco Peralta Torrejón
War and Peace is generally thought to be one history's greatest novels, remarkable for its dramatic breadth and unity. Its canvas includes 580 characters, many historical while others are fictional. The story moves from family life to the headquarters of Napoleon, from the court of Alexander I of Russia to the battlefields of Austerlitz and Borodino. Tolstoy's original idea for the novel was to investigate the causes of the Decembrist revolt, to which it refers only in the last chapters, from which can be deduced that Andrei Bolkonsky's son will become one of the Decembrists. The novel explores Tolstoy's theory of history, and in particular the insignificance of individuals such as Napoleon and Alexander. Tolstoy did not consider War and Peace to be a novel (nor did he consider many of the great Russian fictions written at that time to be novels): Tolstoy was a novelist of the realist school who considered the novel to be a framework for the examination of social and political issues in nineteenth-
century life.[19] War and Peace (which is to Tolstoy really an epic in prose) therefore did not qualify. Tolstoy thought that Anna Karenina was his first true novel.[20] After Anna Karenina, Tolstoy concentrated on Christian themes, and his later novels such as The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) and What Is to Be Done? develop a radical anarcho-pacifist Christian philosophy which led to his excommunication from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1901.[21] Despite the acclaim for Anna Karenina and War and Peace, Tolstoy rejected the two works later in his life as something not as true of reality.[22] In his novel Resurrection, Tolstoy attempts to expose the injustice of man-made laws and the hypocrisy of the institutionalized church. Tolstoy also explores and explains the economic philosophy of Georgism, of which he had become a very strong advocate towards the end of his life.
Religious and political beliefs
Tolstoy dressed in peasant clothing, by Ilya Repin (1901)
After reading Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation, Tolstoy gradually became converted to the ascetic morality upheld in that work as the proper spiritual path for the upper classes: "Do you know what this summer has meant for me? Constant raptures over Schopenhauer and a whole series of spiritual delights which I've never experienced before. ... no student has ever studied so much on his course, and learned so much, as I have this summer"[23]
In Chapter VI of A Confession, Tolstoy quoted the final paragraph of Schopenhauer's work. It explained how the nothingness that results from complete denial of self is only a relative nothingness, and is not to be feared. The novelist was struck by the description of Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu ascetic renunciation as being the path to holiness. After reading passages such as the following, which abound in Schopenhauer's ethical chapters, the Russian nobleman chose poverty and formal denial of the will: But this very necessity of involuntary suffering (by poor people) for eternal salvation is also expressed by that utterance of the Savior (Matthew 19:24): "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Therefore those who were greatly in earnest about their eternal salvation, chose voluntary poverty when fate had denied this to them and they had been born in wealth. Thus Buddha Sakyamuni was born a prince, but voluntarily took to the mendicant's staff; and Francis of Assisi, the founder of the mendicant orders who, as a youngster at a ball, where the daughters of all the notabilities were sitting together, was asked: "Now Francis, will you not soon make your choice from these beauties?" and who replied: "I have made a far more beautiful choice!" "Whom?" "La povertà (poverty)": whereupon he abandoned every thing shortly afterwards and wandered through the land as a mendicant.[24] In 1884, Tolstoy wrote a book called "What I Believe", in which he openly confessed his Christian beliefs. He affirmed his belief in Jesus Christ's teachings and was particularly influenced by the Sermon on the Mount, and the injunction to turn the other cheek, which he understood as a "commandment of non-resistance to evil by force" and a doctrine of pacifism and nonviolence. In his work The Kingdom of God Is Within You, he explains that he considered mistaken the Church's doctrine because they had made a "perversion" of Christ's teachings. Tolstoy also received letters from American Quakers who introduced him to the non-violence writings of Quaker Christians such as George Fox, William Penn and Jonathan Dymond. Tolstoy believed being a Christian required him to be a pacifist; the consequences of being a pacifist, and the apparently inevitable waging of war by government, are the reason why he is considered a philosophical anarchist. Later, various versions of "Tolstoy's Bible" would be published, indicating the passages Tolstoy most relied on, specifically, the reported words of Jesus himself.[25]
Mohandas K. Gandhi and other residents of Tolstoy Farm, South Africa, 1910
Tolstoy believed that a true Christian could find lasting happiness by striving for inner selfperfection through following the Great Commandment of loving one's neighbor and God rather than looking outward to the Church or state for guidance. His belief in nonresistance when faced by conflict is another distinct attribute of his philosophy based on Christ's teachings. By directly influencing Mahatma Gandhi with this idea through his work The Kingdom of God Is Within You (full text of English translation available on Wikisource),
Tolstoy's profound influence on the nonviolent resistance movement reverberates to this day. He believed that the aristocracy were a burden on the poor, and that the only solution to how we live together is through anarchism.[citation needed] He also opposed private property in land ownership[26] and the institution of marriage and valued the ideals of chastity and sexual abstinence (discussed in Father Sergius and his preface to The Kreutzer Sonata), ideals also held by the young Gandhi. Tolstoy's later work derives a passion and verve from the depth of his austere moral views.[27] The sequence of the temptation of Sergius in Father Sergius, for example, is among his later triumphs. Gorky relates how Tolstoy once read this passage before himself and Chekhov and that Tolstoy was moved to tears by the end of the reading. Other later passages of rare power include the personal crises that were faced by the protagonists of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and of Master and Man, where the main character in the former or the reader in the latter are made aware of the foolishness of the protagonists' lives. Tolstoy had a profound influence on the development of Christian anarchist thought.[28] The Tolstoyans were a small Christian anarchist group formed by Tolstoy's companion, Vladimir Chertkov (1854–1936), to spread Tolstoy's religious teachings. Philosopher Peter Kropotkin wrote of Tolstoy in the article on anarchism in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica: Without naming himself an anarchist, Leo Tolstoy, like his predecessors in the popular religious movements of the 15th and 16th centuries, Chojecki, Denk and many others, took the anarchist position as regards the state and property rights, deducing his conclusions from the general spirit of the teachings of Jesus and from the necessary dictates of reason. With all the might of his talent, Tolstoy made (especially in The Kingdom of God Is Within You) a powerful criticism of the church, the state and law altogether, and especially of the present property laws. He describes the state as the domination of the wicked ones, supported by brutal force. Robbers, he says, are far less dangerous than a well-organized government. He makes a searching criticism of the prejudices which are current now concerning the benefits conferred upon men by the church, the state, and the existing distribution of property, and from the teachings of Jesus he deduces the rule of non-resistance and the absolute condemnation of all wars. His religious arguments are, however, so well combined with arguments borrowed from a dispassionate observation of the present evils, that the anarchist portions of his works appeal to the religious and the non-religious reader alike.[29]
Tolstoy organising famine relief in Samara, 1891
During the Boxer Rebellion in China, Tolstoy praised the Boxers. He was harshly critical of the atrocities committed by the Russians, Germans, and other western troops. He accused them of engaging in slaughter when he heard about the lootings, rapes, and murders, in what he saw as Christian brutality. Tolstoy also named the two monarchs most responsible for the
atrocities; Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany.[30][31] Tolstoy, a famous sinophile, also read the works of Chinese thinker and philosopher, Confucius.[32][33][34] Tolstoy corresponded with the Chinese intellectual Gu Hongming and recommended that China remain an agrarian nation and warned against reform like what Japan implemented.
Play media Film footage of Tolstoy's 80th birthday at Yasnaya Polyana. Footage shows his wife Sofya (picking flowers in the garden), daughter Aleksandra (sitting in the carriage in the white blouse), his aide and confidante, V. Chertkov (bald man with the beard and mustache) and students. Filmed by Aleksandr Osipovich Drankov, 1908.
In hundreds of essays over the last 20 years of his life, Tolstoy reiterated the anarchist critique of the state and recommended books by Kropotkin and Proudhon to his readers, whilst rejecting anarchism's espousal of violent revolutionary means. In the 1900 essay, "On Anarchy", he wrote; "The Anarchists are right in everything; in the negation of the existing order, and in the assertion that, without Authority, there could not be worse violence than that of Authority under existing conditions. They are mistaken only in thinking that Anarchy can be instituted by a revolution. But it will be instituted only by there being more and more people who do not require the protection of governmental power ... There can be only one permanent revolution—a moral one: the regeneration of the inner man." Despite his misgivings about anarchist violence, Tolstoy took risks to circulate the prohibited publications of anarchist thinkers in Russia, and corrected the proofs of Kropotkin's "Words of a Rebel", illegally published in St Petersburg in 1906.[35]
Tolstoy in his study in 1908
Tolstoy was enthused by the economic thinking of Henry George, incorporating it approvingly into later works such as Resurrection (1899), the book that played a major factor in his excommunication.[36] In 1908, Tolstoy wrote A Letter to a Hindu[37] outlining his belief in non-violence as a means for India to gain independence from British colonial rule. In 1909, a copy of the letter was read by Mohandas Gandhi, who was working as a lawyer in South Africa at the time and just becoming an activist. Tolstoy's letter was significant for Gandhi, who wrote Tolstoy seeking proof that he was the real author, leading to further correspondence between them.[38] Reading Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You also convinced Gandhi to avoid violence and espouse nonviolent resistance, a debt Gandhi acknowledged in his autobiography, calling Tolstoy "the greatest apostle of non-violence that the present age has produced". The correspondence between Tolstoy and Gandhi would only last a year, from October 1909 until Tolstoy's death in November 1910, but led Gandhi to give the name Tolstoy Colony to his second ashram in South Africa.[39] Besides nonviolent resistance, the two men shared a common belief in the merits of vegetarianism, the subject of several of Tolstoy's essays.[40] Tolstoy also became a major supporter of the Esperanto movement. Tolstoy was impressed by the pacifist beliefs of the Doukhobors and brought their persecution to the attention of the international community, after they burned their weapons in peaceful protest in 1895. He aided the Doukhobors in migrating to Canada.[41] In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, Tolstoy condemned the war and wrote to the Japanese Buddhist priest Soyen Shaku in a failed attempt to make a joint pacifist statement. Towards the end of his life, Tolstoy become more and more occupied with the economic theory and social philosophy of Georgism.[42][43][44][45] He spoke of great admiration of Henry George, stating once that "People do not argue with the teaching of George; they simply do not know it. And it is impossible to do otherwise with his teaching, for he who becomes acquainted with it cannot but agree."[46] He also wrote a preface to George's Social Problems.[47] Tolstoy and George both rejected private property in land (the most important source of income of the passive Russian aristocracy that Tolstoy so heavily criticized) whilst simultaneously both rejecting a centrally planned socialist economy. Some assume that this development in Tolstoy's thinking was a move away from his anarchist views, since Georgism requires a central administration to collect land rent and spend it on infrastructure. However, anarchist versions of Georgism have also been proposed since.[48] Tolstoy's 1899 novel Resurrection explores his thoughts on Georgism in more detail and hints that Tolstoy indeed had such a view. It suggests the possibility of small communities with some form of local governance to manage the collective land rents for common goods; whilst still heavily criticising institutions of the state such as the justice system.
In films A 2009 film about Tolstoy's final year, The Last Station, based on the novel by Jay Parini, was made by director Michael Hoffman with Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as Sofya Tolstoya. Both performers were nominated for Oscars for their roles. There have been other films about the writer, including Departure of a Grand Old Man, made in
1912 just two years after his death, How Fine, How Fresh the Roses Were (1913), and Leo Tolstoy, directed by and starring Sergei Gerasimov in 1984. There is also a famous lost film of Tolstoy made a decade before he died. In 1901, the American travel lecturer Burton Holmes visited Yasnaya Polyana with Albert J. Beveridge, the U.S. senator and historian. As the three men conversed, Holmes filmed Tolstoy with his 60-mm movie camera. Afterwards, Beveridge's advisers succeeded in having the film destroyed, fearing that documentary evidence of a meeting with the Russian author might hurt Beveridge's chances of running for the U.S. presidency.[49]
References "Tolstoy". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Martin E. Hellman, Resist Not Evil in World Without Violence (Arun Gandhi ed.), M.K. Gandhi Institute, 1994, retrieved on December 14, 2006 King, Jr., Martin Luther; Clayborne Carson; et al. (2005). The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume V: Threshold of a New Decade, January 1959 – December 1960. University of California Press. pp. 149, 269, 248. ISBN 0-520-24239-4. http://books.google.be/books?id=7kDJ3s1mcZcC&lpg=PA8&ots=pm4usaLFH&dq=tolstoy%20lithuanian&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q=tolstoy%20lithuanian&f=false http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/06/books/six-centuries-of-tolstoys.html "Author Data Sheet, Macmillan Readers" (PDF). Macmillan Publishers Limited. Retrieved October 22, 2010. A. N. Wilson, Tolstoy (1988), p. 146 Tolstoy, Lev N.; Leo Wiener; translator and editor (1904). The School at Yasnaya Polyana – The Complete Works of Count Tolstoy: Pedagogical Articles. Linen-Measurer, Volume IV. Dana Estes & Company. p. 227. Wilson, A.N. (2001). Tolstoy. Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc. p. xxi. ISBN 0-393-32122-3. The last days of Tolstoy. VG Chertkov. 1922. Heinemann Leo Tolstoy. EJ Simmons – 1946 – Little, Brown and Company The Death of Tolstoy Tolstaya, S.A. The Diaries of Sophia Tolstoy, Book Sales, 1987; Chertkov, V. "The Last Days of Leo Tolstoy," http://www.linguadex.com/tolstoy/index.html, translated by Benjamin Scher Kenneth C. Wenzer, "Tolstoy's Georgist spiritual political economy: anarchism and land reform -1897-1910," Special Issue: Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Death of Henry George, The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Oct, 1997.; http://www.ditext.com/wenzer/tolstoy.html
Susan Jacoby, "The Wife of the Genius" (April 19, 1981) The New York Times Feuer,Kathryn B. Tolstoy and the Genesis of War and Peace, Cornell University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-8014-1902-6 Government is Violence: essays on anarchism and pacifism. Leo Tolstoy – 1990 – Phoenix Press Tolstoy: the making of a novelist. E Crankshaw – 1974 – Weidenfeld & Nicolson Tolstoy and the Development of Realism. G Lukacs. Marxists on Literature: An Anthology, London: Penguin, 1977 Tolstoy and the Novel. J Bayley – 1967 – Chatto & Windus Church and State. L Tolstoy – On Life and Essays on Religion, 1934 Women in Tolstoy: the ideal and the erotic R.C. Benson – 1973 – University of Illinois Press Tolstoy's Letter to A.A. Fet, August 30, 1869 Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena, Vol. II, §170 Orwin, Donna T. The Cambridge Companion to Tolstoy. Cambridge University Press, 2002 I Cannot Be Silent. Leo Tolstoy. Recollections and Essays, 1937. editor on September 8, 2009 (September 8, 2009). "Sommers, Aaron (2009) ''Why Leo Tolstoy Wouldn't Supersize It''". Coastlinejournal.com. Retrieved May 16, 2010. Christoyannopoulos, Alexandre (2009). "The Contemporary Relevance of Leo Tolstoy's Late Political Thought". Tolstoy articulated his Christian anarchist political thought between 1880 and 1910, yet its continuing relevance should have become fairly self-evident already. Kropotkin, Peter (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. p. 918. Anarchism William Henry Chamberlin, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, Ohio State University (1960). Michael Karpovich, Dimitri Sergius Von Mohrenschildt, ed. The Russian review, Volume 19. Blackwell. p. 115.(Original from the University of Michigan) Walter G. Moss (2008). An age of progress?: clashing twentieth-century global forces. Anthem Press. p. 3. ISBN 1-84331-301-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=3YPAaFfUp9oC&pg=PA314&lpg=PA314&dq=lev+tolstoy+sinophil e Donna Tussing Orwin (2002). The Cambridge companion to Tolstoy. Cambridge University Press. p. 37. ISBN 0-521-52000-2. Derk Bodde (1950). Tolstoy and China. Princeton University Press. p. 25.(Original from the University of Michigan)
Peter Kropotkin: from prince to rebel. G Woodcock, I Avakumović.1990. Wenzer, Kenneth C. (1997). "Tolstoy's Georgist Spiritual Political Economy (1897–1910): Anarchism and Land Reform". The American Journal of Economics and Sociology 56 (4, Oct). JSTOR 3487337. Parel, Anthony J. (2002), "Gandhi and Tolstoy", in M. P. Mathai, M. S. John, Siby K. Joseph, Meditations on Gandhi : a Ravindra Varma festschrift, New Delhi: Concept, pp. 96–112 Parel, Anthony J. (2002), "Gandhi and Tolstoy", in M. P. Mathai, M. S. John, Siby K. Joseph, Meditations on Gandhi : a Ravindra Varma festschrift, New Delhi: Concept, pp. 96–112 Tolstoy and Gandhi, men of peace: a biography. MB Green – 1983 – Basic Books Leo Tolstoy, The First Step, Preface to the Russian translation of Howard William's The Ethics of Diet, 1892. Mays, H.G. "Resurrection:Tolstoy and Canada's Doukhobors." The Beaver 79.October/November 1999:38–44 Tolstoy: Principles For A New World Order, David Redfearn http://www.wealthandwant.com/auth/Tolstoy.htm http://www.prosper.org.au/about/geoists-in-history/leo-tolstoy/ http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/tolstoy-leo_on-the-doctrine-of-henry-george1898.html “A Great Iniquity,” letter to The London Times (1905) http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/tolstoy-leo_preface-to-henry-george-socialproblems-1883.html Foldvary, Fred E. (2001-07-15). "Geoanarchism". anti-state.com. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 49. Wallace, Irving, 'Everybody's Rover Boy', in The Sunday Gentleman. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965. p. 117.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Further reading
Craraft, James. Two Shining Souls: Jane Addams, Leo Tolstoy, and the Quest for Global Peace (Lanham: Lexington, 2012). 179 pp. Trotsky’s 1908 tribute to Leo Tolstoy Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The Life of Tolstoy: Later years by Aylmer Maude, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1911 at Internet Archive
Why We Fail as Christians by Robert Hunter, The Macmillan Company, 1919 at Wikiquote Why we fail as Christians by Robert Hunter, The Macmillan Company, 1919 at Google Books
Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon (commonly known as Madame Guyon) (18 April 1648:6 – 9 June 1717) was a French mystic and one of the key advocates of Quietism, although she never called herself a Quietist. Quietism was considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church, and she was imprisoned from 1695 to 1703 after publishing a book on the topic, A Short and Easy Method of Prayer.
“Let this, then, be done in you; and suffer not yourself to be attached to anything, however good it may appear; it is no longer such to you, if it in any measure turns you aside from what God desires of you. For the divine will is preferable to every other good. Shake off, then, all self-interest, and live by faith and abandonment; here it is that genuine faith begins truly to operate.” ― Madame Jeanne Guyon, Works of Madame Jeanne Guyon [7-in-1]. Autobiography, Method of Prayer, Way to God, Song of Songs, Spiritual Torrents, Letters, Poems “63. In this state of Resurrection comes that ineffable silence, by which we not only subsist in God, but commune with Him, and which, in a Soul thus dead to its own working, and general and fundamental Self-appropriation, becomes a flux and reflux of Divine Communion, with nothing to sully its purity; for there is nothing to hinder it. 64. The Soul then becomes a partaker of the ineffable communion of the Trinity, where the Father of Spirits imparts his spiritual fecundity, and makes it one Spirit with Himself.” ― Madame Jeanne Guyon, Works of Madame Jeanne Guyon [7-in-1]. Autobiography, Method of Prayer, Way to God, Song of Songs, Spiritual Torrents, Letters, Poems
Early life and marriage Guyon was the daughter of Claude Bouvier, a procurator of the tribunal of Montargis, south of Paris and east of Orléans. Of a sensitive and delicate constitution, she was sickly in her childhood and her education was neglected. Her childhood was spent between the convent, and the home of her well–to–do parents, moving nine times in ten years. Guyon's parents were very religious people, and they gave her an especially pious training. Other important
impressions from her youth that remained with her came from reading the works of St. Francis de Sales, and from certain nuns, her teachers. Prior to her marriage she had wanted to become a nun, but was denied by her parents. In 1664, when she was 15 years old, after turning down many other proposals, she was forced into an arranged marriage to a wealthy gentleman of Montargis, Jacques Guyon, aged thirty eight. During her twelve years of marriage, Guyon suffered terribly at the hands of her mother-in-law and maidservant. Adding to her misery were the deaths of her half-sister, followed by her mother, and her son. Her daughter and father then died within days of each other in July 1672. Guyon continued belief in God's perfect plan and that she would be blessed in suffering. To this end she was, when she bore another son and daughter shortly before her husband's death in 1676. After twelve years of an unhappy marriage (in which she had borne five children, of whom three had survived), Madame Guyon had become a widow at the age of 28.[1] During her marriage, Guyon became introduced to mysticism by Fr. François La Combe, a Barnabite, and was instructed by him.[1]
Life after marriage After her husband's death, Madame Guyon initially lived quietly as a wealthy widow in Montargis. In 1679, through circumstances, she re-established contact with François La Combe, the superior of the Barnabite house in Thonon in Savoy.[2] After a third mystical experience in 1680, Madame Guyon felt herself drawn to Geneva. The Bishop of Geneva, Jean d’Arenthon d’Alex, persuaded her to use her money to set up a house for “new Catholics” in Gex, in Savoy, as part of broader plans to convert Protestants in the region. In July 1680, Madame Guyon left Montargis with her young daughter and travelled to Gex.[2] The project was problematic, however, and Madame Guyon clashed with the sisters who were in charge of the house. The Bishop of Geneva sent Father La Combe to intervene. At this point, Guyon introduced La Combe to a mysticism of interiority. While her daughter was in an Ursuline convent in Thonon as a pensioner, Madame Guyon continued in Gex, experiencing illness and great difficulties, including opposition from her family. She gave over guardianship of her two sons to her mother-in-law and renounced her personal possessions, keeping a sizeable annuity for herself.[2] In consequence of the effects her mystical ideas produced, however, the Bishop of Geneva, D'Aranthon d'Alex, who had at first viewed her coming with satisfaction, asked her to leave his diocese, and at the same time expelled Father Lacombe, who moved to the Bishop of Vercelli. Madame Guyon followed her director to Turin, then returned to France and stayed at Grenoble, where she spread her doctrine more widely with the publication of "Moyen court et facile de faire oraison" in January, 1685. The Bishop of Grenoble, Cardinal Le Camus, was perturbed by the appeal her ideas aroused and she left the city at his request, rejoining Father Lacombe at Vercelli. In July the following year the pair returned to Paris, where Madame Guyon set about to gain adherents for her mystical theories. The timing was ill-chosen; Louis
XIV, who had recently been exerting himself to have the Quietism of Molinos condemned at Rome, was by no means pleased to see gaining ground, even in his own capital, a form of mysticism, which, to him, resembled that of Molinos in many of its aspects. By his order Father Lacombe was shut up in the Bastille, and afterwards in the castles of Oloron and of Lourdes. The arrest of Madame Guyon, delayed by illness, followed on 29 January 1688; brought about, she claimed, by Father de La Motte, her brother, and a Barnabite. She was not released until seven months later, after she had placed in the hands of the theologians, who had examined her book, a retraction of the propositions which it contained. Some days later she met, at Beyne, in the Duchess de Béthune-Charrost's country house, François Fénelon, who was to be the most famous of her disciples. She won him by her piety and her understanding of the paths of spirituality. Between them there was established a union of piety and of friendship into which no element ever insinuated itself that could possibly be taken to resemble carnal love, even unconscious. Through Fénelon the influence of Madame Guyon penetrated, or was increased in, religious circles powerful at court—among the Beauvilliers, the Chevreuses, the Montemarts—who were under his spiritual direction. Madame de Maintenon, and through her, the young ladies of Saint-Cyr, were soon gained over to the new mysticism. This was the height of Madame Guyon's fortune, most of all when Fénelon was appointed on 18 August 1688 as the tutor to the Duke of Burgundy, the king's grandson. Before long, however, the Bishop of Chartres, in whose diocese Saint-Cyr happened to be, took alarm at the spiritual ideas which were spreading there. Warned by him, Madame de Maintenon sought the advice of persons whose piety and prudence recommended them to her, and these advisers were unanimous in their reprobation of Madame Guyon's ideas. Madame Guyon then asked for an examination of her conduct and her writings by civil and ecclesiastical judges. The king consented that her writings should be submitted to the judgment of Bossuet, Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles, and of Tronson, superior of the Society of Saint-Sulpice. After a certain number of secret conferences held at Issy, where Tronson was detained by a sickness, the commissioners presented in thirty-four articles the principles of Catholic teaching as to spirituality and the interior life (four of these articles were suggested by Fénelon, who in February had been nominated to the Archbishopric of Cambrai). But on 10 October 1694 François de Harlay de Champvallon, the Archbishop of Paris, who had been excluded from the conferences at Issy, anticipated their results by condemning the published works of Madame Guyon. She, fearing another arrest, took refuge for some months at Meaux, with the permission of Bossuet, then bishop of that see. After placing in his hands her signed submission to the thirty-four articles of Issy, she returned secretly to Paris. At Paris, the police, however, arrested her on 24 December 1695 and imprisoned her, first at Vincennes, then in a convent at Vaugirard, and then in the Bastille, where on 23 August 1699, she again signed a retraction of her theories and an undertaking to refrain from further spreading them. From that time she took no part, personally, in public discussions, but the controversy about her ideas only grew all the more heated between Bossuet and Fénelon. Madame Guyon remained imprisoned in the Bastille until 21 March 1703, when she went, after more than seven years of her final captivity, to live with her son in a village in the Diocese of Blois. There she passed some fifteen years surrounded by a stream of pilgrims, many from England and Scotland, and spending her time writing volumes of correspondence and poetry.[3] She was also still venerated by the Beauvilliers, the Chevreuses, and Fénelon, who never failed to communicate with her whenever safe and discreet intermediaries were to
be found. Among the pilgrims, Milord Chewinkle stayed in Blois with Guyon for 7 years. One visitor, Pierre Poiret, went on to publish many of Guyon's works. One of her greatest works, published in 1717 by Pierre Poiret as: Ame Amante de son Dieu, representée dans les emblems de Hermannus Hugo sur ses pieux desirs - features her poetry written to the striking and popular emblem images of the Jesuit Herman Hugo and the Dutch master Otto von Veen.[4] Guyon herself states that she took these emblems into the Bastille.[5] This poetry appears unabridged and in English for the first time in: The Soul, Lover of God by Nancy James.
Mme Guyon
Beliefs about prayer Guyon believed that one should pray all the time, and that in whatever one does, one should be spending time with God. "Prayer is the key of perfection and of sovereign happiness; it is the efficacious means of getting rid of all vices and of acquiring all virtues; for the way to become perfect is to live in the presence of God. He tells us this Himself: "walk before me, and be thou perfect" Genesis 17:1. Prayer alone can bring you into His presence, and keep you there continually."[6] As she wrote in one of her poems: "There was a period when I chose, A time and place for prayer ... But now I seek that constant prayer, In inward stillness known ..."
Grace vs. works In the Christian dispute regarding grace and works, Guyon defended the belief[dubious – discuss] that salvation is the result of grace rather than works. Like St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Calvin, and Martin Luther, she thought that a person's deliverance can only come
from God as an outside source, never from within the person himself or herself. Accordingly, God is supposed to decide who is to be saved, regardless of anyone's efforts or industry. He then, as a result of His own free will, bestows his favour as a gift. This predestination was opposed by the Pelagians, who considered it to be irrational in that God would favour a wicked sinner over a good person. However, according to Schopenhauer, "if it were works, springing from motives and deliberate intention, that led to the blissful state, then, however we may turn it, virtue would always be only a prudent, methodical, far–seeing egoism. … Works …can never justify, because they are always an action from motives."[7] In her autobiography, for example, Madame Guyon criticized self–righteous people who try to gain heaven through their works. She praised lowly sinners who merely submitted themselves to God's will. Of the righteous, she wrote: …the righteous, supported by the great number of works of righteousness he presumes to have done, seems to hold his salvation in his own hands, and regards heaven as the recompense due to his merits.… His Saviour is, for him, almost useless.[1] These righteous persons expect God to deliver and save them as payment for their good works. In contrast to the self–sufficient, righteous egoists, the sinners who have selflessly submitted to God "are carried swiftly by the wings of love and confidence into the arms of their Saviour, who gives them gratuitously what He has infinitely merited for them."[1] God's "bounties are effects of His will, and not the fruits of our merits."[1]
Death and influence In 1704, her works were published in the Netherlands,[8] becoming very popular. Many English and Germans visited her at Blois, among them Johann Wettstein, and Lord Forbes. She died at the age of 68, in Blois, believing that she had died submissive to the Catholic Church, from which she had never had any intention of separating herself. Her published works, the Moyen Court and the Règles des associées à l'Enfance de Jésus, were both placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1688. Fénelon's Maximes des saints was also branded with the condemnation of both the Pope and the bishops of France.
Supplement to the life of Madame Guyon An 18th-century manuscript, hand-written in French, entitled "Supplement to the life of Madame Guyon" exists in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. This anonymously written manuscript, translated recently by Nancy C. James and placed in an appendix in "The Pure Love of Madame Guyon" - the supplement sets forth many fresh details about the Great Conflict which surrounded Madame Guyon. The author of the manuscript provides new insight into Guyon's theology and life.
Prison autobiography Madame Guyon's prison autobiography was thought to have been lost to history, perhaps destroyed by Louis XIV or his agents in the prison hierarchy or by the church itself. However, in 1992 Marie-Louis Gondal published the first French edition of the handwritten prison memoirs in: "Récits de captivité". This prison autobiography is now available in
English for the very first time in: "Bastille Witness: The Prison Autobiography of Madame Guyon" from Nancy C. James, a reliable Guyon scholar, and Sharon Dahlgren Voros, a professor of French at the US Naval Academy. The autobiography provides fresh insight into Guyon's theology and suffering in her own words.
Bibliography
Vie de Madame Guyon, Ecrite Par Elle-Même (Life of Madame Guyon, Written by Herself)
Opuscules spirituels (Spiritual Opuscules),
Les Torrents et Commentaire au Cantique des cantiques de Salomon, ed Claude Morali, (Grenoble: J Millon, 1992)
Le Moyen Court Et Autres Écrits Spirituels (The Short and Easy Method of Prayer), (1685) Commentaire au Cantique des cantiques de Salomon (A Commentary on the Song of Solomon), (1688)
2 vols, Paris, 1790
Les Torrents Spirituels (Spiritual Torrents), (1682)
3 vols, Paris, 1791 The Autobiography of Madame Guyon, tr Thomas Taylor Allen, (London, 1897) De La Motte Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier (196-?). Autobiography of Madame Guyon. Chicago: Moody Press. ISBN 9781150106705. OCLC 16978800. Check date values in: |date= (help) (date and translator uncertain; additional ISBNs for Moody translation: ISBN 0802451357, ISBN 9780802451354) La Vie de Madame Guyon écrite par elle-même, ed Benjamin Sahler, (Paris: DervyLivres, 1983).
The Song of Songs of Solomon with Explanations and Reflections Having Reference to the Interior Life by Madame Guyon, trans James W Metcalf, (New York: AW Dennett, 1879). Les Torrents et Commentaire au Cantique des cantiques de Salomon, ed Claude Morali, (Grenoble: J Millon, 1992)
Commentaire sur Livre de Job (1714) Règles des assocées à l'Enfance de Jésu Guyon, Jeanne "Ame Amante de son Dieu, representée dans les emblems de Hermannus Hugo sur ses pieux desirs" (Pierre Poiret, Cologne, 1717)
Other modern editions
Madame Guyon, Selected Poems of Madame Guyon. ed. Li Jili, Foreword by Kelli M. Webert, TiLu Press, 2012; (ebook version). Selections from the Autobiography of Madame Guyon, (New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing, Inc.), ISBN 0-87983-234-7 Le Moyen court et autres écrits spirituals, ed Marie-Louis Gondal, (Grenoble: J Millon, 1995)
La Passion de croire, ed Marie-Louis Gondal, (Paris: Nouvelle Cité, 1990) [an anthology of excerpts from the writings of Madame Guyon]
Biographical Biographical publications in English
Nancy C. James, "The Way of the Child Jesus", (Madame Guyon Foundation, 2015) ISBN 9780986197109 Nancy C. James, "I, Jeanne Guyon", (Seed Sowers, 2014) ISBN 978-0-9778033-9-2 Nancy C. James, "The Soul, Lover of God", (University Press of America, 2014) ISBN 978-07618-6337-3 Nancy C. James, Sharon Dahlgren Voros, Bastille Witness: The Prison Autobiography of Madame Guyon, (University Press of America, 2011). Nancy C. James, The Complete Madame Guyon (Paraclete Giants) – (Paraclete Press, 2011) ISBN 978-1-55725-923-3 Nancy C. James, The Pure Love of Madame Guyon: The Great Conflict in King Louis XIV's Court - (University Press of America, 2007) ISBN 0-7618-3757-4 Nancy C. James, The Spiritual Teachings of Madame Guyon - Including Translations into English from Her Writings, (Edward Mellen Press, 2007) ISBN 0-7734-5289-3 Nancy C. James, The Conflict Over the Heresy of “Pure Love” in Seventeenth-Century France: The Tumult Over the Mysticism of Madame Guyon, (Edward Mellen Press, 2008) ISBN 07734-5009-2 Coslet, Dorothy Madame Jeanne Guyon: Child of Another World, (Christian Literature Crusade, 1984), ISBN 0-87508-144-4 Thomas Cogswell Upham, Life, religious opinions and experience of Madame Guyon (New York, 1854) Patricia A Ward, 'Madame Guyon (1648-1717), in Carter Lindberg, ed, The Pietist Theologians, (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005). Patricia A Ward, Experimental theology in America: Madame Guyon, Fénelon, and their readers, (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2009). Jan Johnson, Madame Guyon: Her Autobiography (condensed & modernized) (Jacksonville, FL: Seedsowers, 1998). ISBN 978-0979751523
Biographical publications in French
Henri Delacroix, Études sur le mysticisme [Studies on Mysticism] (Paris, 1908). Louis Guerrier, Madame Guyon, sa vie, sa doctrine, et son influence, (Paris dissertation, 1881), reviewed by Brunetière, Nouvelles Études critiques [New Critical Studies], vol. ii. Françoise Mallet-Joris, Jeanne Guyon. (Paris: Flammarion, 1978). ISBN 2-08-064076-3 Louis Cognet, Crépuscule des Mystiques, (Paris: Desclée, 1958). [la plus grande partie de cet ouvrage devenu classique porte sur le vécu de Madame Guyon avant 1695]. Françoise Mallet-Joris, Jeanne Guyon, (Flammarion, 1978). [vivante évocation de la vie à la Cour, etc.] Pierre-Maurice Masson, Fénelon et Mme Guyon, documents nouveaux et inédits, (Paris: Hachette, 1907). Jean Orcibal, Le Cardinal Le Camus témoin au procès de Madame Guyon (1974) pp. 799– 818 ; Madame Guyon devant ses juges (1975) pp. 819–834; 'Introduction à Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Mothe-Guyon: les Opuscules spirituels' (1978) pp. 899–910, in Études d’histoire et de littérature religieuse, (Paris: Klincksieck, 1997).
Madame Guyon, Rencontres autour de la Vie et l’œuvre de Madame Guyon, (Grenoble: Millon, 1997). [contributions des meilleurs spécialistes] Marie-Louise Gondal, Madame Guyon, 1648-1717, un nouveau visage, (Paris: Beauchesne, 1989). [reprend [L']Acte mystique, Témoignage spirituel de Madame Guyon (1648-1717), Thèse de doctorat en théologie : Facultés catholiques de Lyon : 1985]. Les années d'épreuves de Madame Guyon, Emprisonnements et interrogatoires sous le Roi Très Chrétien, (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2009). [Documents biographiques rassemblés et présentés chronologiquement par Dominique Tronc, Etude par Arlette Lebigre].
References De La Motte Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier. Autobiography of Madame Guyon. Chicago: Moody Press. Ward, Patricia (2005). "Madame Guyon (1648-1717)". In Lindberg, Carter. The Pietist Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Blackwell Publishing. p. 166. ISBN 0-631-23517-5. Nancy C. James, 'Pure Love of Madame Guyon', (University Press of America, 2007), p98. Nancy C. James, 'The Soul, Lover of God', (University Press of America, 2014) Nancy C. James, Sharon D. Voros, 'Bastille Witness', (University Press of America, 2011) Short and Easy Method of Prayer The World as Will and Representation, Vol. I, § 70
Martin Luther (/ˈluːθər/;[1] German: [ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈlʊtɐ] ( listen); 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German friar, priest, professor of theology, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.[2] Initially an Augustinian friar, Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar, with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor. Luther taught that salvation and subsequently eternal life is not earned by good deeds but is received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God[3] and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.[4] Those who identify with these, and all of Luther's wider teachings, are called Lutherans even though Luther insisted on Christian as the only acceptable name for individuals who professed Christ. Today, Lutheranism constitutes a major branch of Protestant Christianity with some 80 million adherents, while Protestantism itself is represented by an estimated more than 800 million people worldwide.[5][6][7] His translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more accessible, which had a tremendous impact on the church and German culture. It fostered the
development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation,[8] and influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible.[9] His hymns influenced the development of singing in churches.[10] His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant priests to marry.[11] In his later works, notably On the Jews and Their Lies, Luther expressed antagonistic views toward Judaism, writing that Jewish synagogues and homes should be destroyed, their money confiscated, and liberty curtailed. These statements and their influence on antisemitism have contributed to his controversial status.[12] Martin Luther died in 1546, still convinced of the correctness of his Reformation theology.
“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” Martin Luther
“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.”
Early life Birth and education
Portraits of Hans and Margarethe Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1527
Martin Luther was born to Hans Luder (or Ludher, later Luther)[13] and his wife Margarethe (née Lindemann) on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, Saxony, then part of the Holy Roman
Empire. He was baptized as a Catholic the next morning on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours. His family moved to Mansfeld in 1484, where his father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters[14] and served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council.[13] The religious scholar Martin Marty describes Luther's mother as a hard-working woman of "trading-class stock and middling means" and notes that Luther's enemies later wrongly described her as a whore and bath attendant.[13] He had several brothers and sisters, and is known to have been close to one of them, Jacob.[15] Hans Luther was ambitious for himself and his family, and he was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer. He sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld, then Magdeburg in 1497, where he attended a school operated by a lay group called the Brethren of the Common Life, and Eisenach in 1498.[16] The three schools focused on the so-called "trivium": grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Luther later compared his education there to purgatory and hell.[17] In 1501, at the age of 19, he entered the University of Erfurt, which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse.[18] He was made to wake at four every morning for what has been described as "a day of rote learning and often wearying spiritual exercises."[18] He received his master's degree in 1505.[19] In accordance with his father's wishes, Luther enrolled in law school at the same university that year but dropped out almost immediately, believing that law represented uncertainty.[19] Luther sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and philosophy, expressing particular interest in Aristotle, William of Ockham, and Gabriel Biel.[19] He was deeply influenced by two tutors, Bartholomaeus Arnoldi von Usingen and Jodocus Trutfetter, who taught him to be suspicious of even the greatest thinkers[19] and to test everything himself by experience.[20] Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying, offering assurance about the use of reason but none about loving God, which to Luther was more important. Reason could not lead men to God, he felt, and he thereafter developed a love-hate relationship with Aristotle over the latter's emphasis on reason.[20] For Luther, reason could be used to question men and institutions, but not God. Human beings could learn about God only through divine revelation, he believed, and Scripture therefore became increasingly important to him.[20] He later attributed his decision to an event: on 2 July 1505, he was returning to university on horseback after a trip home. During a thunderstorm, a lightning bolt struck near him. Later telling his father he was terrified of death and divine judgment, he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna, I will become a monk!"[21][22] He came to view his cry for help as a vow he could never break. He left law school, sold his books, and entered a closed Augustinian friary in Erfurt on 17 July 1505.[23] One friend blamed the decision on Luther's sadness over the deaths of two friends. Luther himself seemed saddened by the move. Those who attended a farewell supper walked him to the door of the Black Cloister. "This day you see me, and then, not ever again," he said.[20] His father was furious over what he saw as a waste of Luther's education.[24]
Early and academic life
Luther as an Augustinian friar
Luther as a friar, with tonsure
Luther dedicated himself to the Augustinian order, devoting himself to fasting, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent confession.[25] Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul."[26] Johann von Staupitz, his superior, pointed Luther's mind away from continual reflection upon his sins toward the merits of Christ. He taught that true repentance does not involve self-inflicted penances and punishments but rather a change of heart.[27] In 1507, he was ordained to the priesthood, and in 1508, von Staupitz, first dean of the newly founded University of Wittenberg, sent for Luther, to teach theology.[28][29] He received a bachelor's degree in Biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and another bachelor's degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509.[30] On 19 October 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology and, on 21 October 1512, was received into the senate of the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg, having been called to the position of Doctor in Bible.[31] He spent the rest of his career in this position at the University of Wittenberg.
Start of the Reformation
According to one account, Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517, sparking the Reformation. The Latin inscription above informs the reader that the original door was destroyed by a fire, and that in 1857, King Frederick William IV of Prussia ordered the replacement be made. Luther's theses were engraved into today's bronze gate (pictured).
In 1516, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.[32] Roman Catholic theology stated that faith alone, whether fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify man;[33] justification rather depends only on such faith as is active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata).[34] The benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money to the church. On 31 October 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albert of Mainz, protesting the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his "Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which came to be known as The Ninety-Five Theses. Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of confronting the church, but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is accordingly "searching, rather than doctrinaire."[35] Hillerbrand writes that there is nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?"[35] Luther objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory (also attested as 'into heaven') springs."[36] He insisted that, since forgiveness was God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on account of such false assurances. However, this oft-quoted saying of Tetzel was by no means representative of contemporary Catholic teaching on indulgences, but rather a reflection of his capacity to exaggerate. Yet if Tetzel overstated the matter in regard to indulgences for the dead, his teaching on indulgences for the living was in line with Catholic dogma of the time.[37]
The sale of indulgences shown in A Question to a Mintmaker, woodcut by Jörg Breu the Elder of Augsburg, ca. 1530.
According to scholars Walter Krämer, Götz Trenkler, Gerhard Ritter, and Gerhard Prause, the story of the posting on the door, even though it has settled as one of the pillars of history, has little foundation in truth.[38][39][40] The story is based on comments made by Philipp Melanchthon, though it is thought that he was not in Wittenberg at the time.[41] It was not until January 1518 that friends of Luther translated the 95 Theses from Latin into German and printed and widely copied them, making the controversy one of the first in history to be aided by the printing press.[42] Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months, they had spread throughout Europe. Luther's writings circulated widely, reaching France, England, and Italy as early as 1519. Students thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther speak. He published a short commentary on Galatians and his Work on the Psalms. This early part of Luther's career was one of his most creative and productive.[43] Three of his best-known works were published in 1520: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and On the Freedom of a Christian.
Justification by faith alone
Portrait of Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1546. Main article: Sola fide
From 1510 to 1520, Luther lectured on the Psalms, the books of Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians. As he studied these portions of the Bible, he came to view the use of terms such as
penance and righteousness by the Catholic Church in new ways. He became convinced that the church was corrupt in its ways and had lost sight of what he saw as several of the central truths of Christianity. The most important for Luther was the doctrine of justification – God's act of declaring a sinner righteous – by faith alone through God's grace. He began to teach that salvation or redemption is a gift of God's grace, attainable only through faith in Jesus as the Messiah.[44] "This one and firm rock, which we call the doctrine of justification," he wrote, "is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine, which comprehends the understanding of all godliness."[45] Luther came to understand justification as entirely the work of God. This teaching by Luther was clearly expressed in his 1525 publication On the Bondage of the Will, which was written in response to On Free Will by Desiderius Erasmus (1524). Luther based his position on predestination on St. Paul's epistle to the Ephesians 2:8–10. Against the teaching of his day that the righteous acts of believers are performed in cooperation with God, Luther wrote that Christians receive such righteousness entirely from outside themselves; that righteousness not only comes from Christ but actually is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to Christians (rather than infused into them) through faith.[46] "That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law," he wrote. "Faith is that which brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ."[47] Faith, for Luther, was a gift from God; the experience of being justified by faith was "as though I had been born again." His entry into Paradise, no less, was a discovery about "the righteousness of God" – a discovery that "the just person" of whom the Bible speaks (as in Romans 1:17) lives by faith.[48] He explained his concept of "justification" in the Smalcald Articles: The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24–25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23–25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us ... Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31).[49] Luther's rediscovery of "Christ and His salvation" was the first of two points that became the foundation for the Reformation. His railing against the sale of indulgences was based on it.[50]
Breach with the papacy
Pope Leo X's Bull against the errors of Martin Luther, 1521, commonly known as Exsurge Domine.
Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz and Magdeburg did not reply to Luther's letter containing the 95 Theses. He had the theses checked for heresy and in December 1517 forwarded them to Rome.[51] He needed the revenue from the indulgences to pay off a papal dispensation for his tenure of more than one bishopric. As Luther later noted, "the pope had a finger in the pie as well, because one half was to go to the building of St Peter's Church in Rome".[52] Pope Leo X was used to reformers and heretics,[53] and he responded slowly, "with great care as is proper."[54] Over the next three years he deployed a series of papal theologians and envoys against Luther, which served only to harden the reformer's anti-papal theology. First, the Dominican theologian Sylvester Mazzolini drafted a heresy case against Luther, whom Leo then summoned to Rome. The Elector Frederick persuaded the pope to have Luther examined at Augsburg, where the Imperial Diet was held.[55] There, in October 1518, under questioning by papal legate Cardinal Cajetan Luther stated that he did not consider the papacy part of the biblical Church because historistical interpretation of Bible prophecy concluded that the papacy was the Antichrist.[50] The prophecies concerning the Antichrist soon became the center of controversy.[56] The hearings degenerated into a shouting match. More than his writing the 95 Theses, Luther's confrontation with the church cast him as an enemy of the pope.[57] Cajetan's original instructions had been to arrest Luther if he failed to recant, but the legate desisted from doing so.[58] Luther slipped out of the city at night, unbeknownst to Cajetan.[59]
The meeting of Martin Luther (right) and Cardinal Cajetan (left, before the book).
In January 1519, at Altenburg in Saxony, the papal nuncio Karl von Miltitz adopted a more conciliatory approach. Luther made certain concessions to the Saxon, who was a relative of
the Elector, and promised to remain silent if his opponents did.[60] The theologian Johann Eck, however, was determined to expose Luther's doctrine in a public forum. In June and July 1519, he staged a disputation with Luther's colleague Andreas Karlstadt at Leipzig and invited Luther to speak.[61] Luther's boldest assertion in the debate was that Matthew 16:18 does not confer on popes the exclusive right to interpret scripture, and that therefore neither popes nor church councils were infallible.[62] For this, Eck branded Luther a new Jan Hus, referring to the Czech reformer and heretic burned at the stake in 1415. From that moment, he devoted himself to Luther's defeat.[63]
Excommunication On 15 June 1520, the Pope warned Luther with the papal bull (edict) Exsurge Domine that he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the 95 Theses, within 60 days. That autumn, Johann Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Karl von Miltitz, a papal nuncio, attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had sent the Pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to the bull and decretals at Wittenberg on 10 December 1520,[64] an act he defended in Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles. As a consequence, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on 3 January 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
Diet of Worms Main article: Diet of Worms
Luther Before the Diet of Worms by Anton von Werner (1843–1915)
The enforcement of the ban on the 95 Theses fell to the secular authorities. On 18 April 1521, Luther appeared as ordered before the Diet of Worms. This was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms, a town on the Rhine. It was conducted from 28 January to 25 May 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding. Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, obtained a safe conduct for Luther to and from the meeting. Johann Eck, speaking on behalf of the Empire as assistant of the Archbishop of Trier, presented Luther with copies of his writings laid out on a table and asked him if the books were his, and whether he stood by their contents. Luther confirmed he was their author, but requested time to think about the answer to the second question. He prayed, consulted friends, and gave his response the next day: Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is
captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.[65] At the end of this speech, Luther raised his arm "in the traditional salute of a knight winning a bout." Michael Mullett considers this speech as a "world classic of epoch-making oratory."[66] Eck informed Luther that he was acting like a heretic: "'Martin,' said he, 'there is no one of the heresies which have torn the bosom of the church, which has not derived its origin from the various interpretation of the Scripture. The Bible itself is the arsenal whence each innovator has drawn his deceptive arguments. It was with Biblical texts that Pelagius and Arius maintained their doctrines. Arius, for instance, found the negation of the eternity of the Word—an eternity which you admit, in this verse of the New Testament—Joseph knew not his wife till she had brought forth her first-born son; and he said, in the same way that you say, that this passage enchained him. When the fathers of the council of Constance condemned this proposition of John Huss—The church of Jesus Christ is only the community of the elect, they condemned an error; for the church, like a good mother, embraces within her arms all who bear the name of Christian, all who are called to enjoy the celestial beatitude.'"[67]
Martin Luther Memorial in Worms. His statue is surrounded by the figures of his lay protectors and earlier Church reformers including John Wycliffe, Jan Hus and Girolamo Savonarola.
Luther refused to recant his writings. He is sometimes also quoted as saying: "Here I stand. I can do no other". Recent scholars consider the evidence for these words to be unreliable, since they were inserted before "May God help me" only in later versions of the speech and not recorded in witness accounts of the proceedings.[68] However, Mullett suggests that given his nature, "we are free to believe that Luther would tend to select the more dramatic form of words."[66] Over the next five days, private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. The Emperor presented the final draft of the Diet of Worms on 25 May 1521, declaring Luther an outlaw, banning his literature, and requiring his arrest: "We want him to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic."[69] It also made it a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter. It permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence.
At Wartburg Castle
Wartburg Castle, Eisenach
Luther's disappearance during his return trip back to Wittenberg was planned. Frederick III had him intercepted on his way home in the forest near Wittenberg by masked horsemen who were made to appear as armed highwaymen. They escorted Luther to the security of the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach.[70] During his stay at Wartburg, which he referred to as "my Patmos",[71] Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German and poured out doctrinal and polemical writings. These included a renewed attack on Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, whom he shamed into halting the sale of indulgences in his episcopates,[72] and a "Refutation of the Argument of Latomus," in which he expounded the principle of justification to Jacobus Latomus, an orthodox theologian from Louvain.[73] In this work, one of his most emphatic statements on faith, he argued that every good work designed to attract God's favor is a sin.[74] All humans are sinners by nature, he explained, and God's grace (which cannot be earned) alone can make them just. On 1 August 1521, Luther wrote to Melanchthon on the same theme: "Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides."[75]
The Wartburg room where Luther translated the New Testament into German. An original first edition is kept in the case on the desk
In the summer of 1521, Luther widened his target from individual pieties like indulgences and pilgrimages to doctrines at the heart of Church practices. In On the Abrogation of the Private Mass, he condemned as idolatry the idea that the mass is a sacrifice, asserting instead that it is a gift, to be received with thanksgiving by the whole congregation.[76] His essay On Confession, Whether the Pope has the Power to Require It rejected compulsory confession and encouraged private confession and absolution, since "every Christian is a confessor."[77] In November, Luther wrote The Judgement of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows. He assured
monks and nuns that they could break their vows without sin, because vows were an illegitimate and vain attempt to win salvation.[78] In 1521 Luther dealt largely with prophecy, in which he broadened the foundations of the Reformation placing them on prophetic faith. His main interest was centered on the prophecy of the Little Horn in Daniel 8:9–12, 23–25. The antichrist of 2 Thessalonians 2 was identified as the power of the Papacy. So too was the Little Horn of Daniel 7, coming up among the divisions of Rome, explicitly applied.[79]
Luther disguised as "Junker Jörg", 1521
Luther made his pronouncements from Wartburg in the context of rapid developments at Wittenberg, of which he was kept fully informed. Andreas Karlstadt, supported by the exAugustinian Gabriel Zwilling, embarked on a radical programme of reform there in June 1521, exceeding anything envisaged by Luther. The reforms provoked disturbances, including a revolt by the Augustinian friars against their prior, the smashing of statues and images in churches, and denunciations of the magistracy. After secretly visiting Wittenberg in early December 1521, Luther wrote A Sincere Admonition by Martin Luther to All Christians to Guard Against Insurrection and Rebellion.[80] Wittenberg became even more volatile after Christmas when a band of visionary zealots, the so-called Zwickau prophets, arrived, preaching revolutionary doctrines such as the equality of man, adult baptism, and Christ's imminent return.[81] When the town council asked Luther to return, he decided it was his duty to act.[82]
Return to Wittenberg and Peasants' War See also: Radical Reformation and German Peasants' War
16th century peasant rebels
Luther secretly returned to Wittenberg on 6 March 1522. He wrote to the Elector: "During my absence, Satan has entered my sheepfold, and committed ravages which I cannot repair by writing, but only by my personal presence and living word."[83] For eight days in Lent, beginning on Invocavit Sunday, 9 March, Luther preached eight sermons, which became known as the "Invocavit Sermons". In these sermons, he hammered home the primacy of core Christian values such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminded the citizens to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change.[84] Do you know what the Devil thinks when he sees men use violence to propagate the gospel? He sits with folded arms behind the fire of hell, and says with malignant looks and frightful grin: "Ah, how wise these madmen are to play my game! Let them go on; I shall reap the benefit. I delight in it." But when he sees the Word running and contending alone on the battle-field, then he shudders and shakes for fear.[85] The effect of Luther's intervention was immediate. After the sixth sermon, the Wittenberg jurist Jerome Schurf wrote to the elector: "Oh, what joy has Dr. Martin's return spread among us! His words, through divine mercy, are bringing back every day misguided people into the way of the truth."[85] Luther next set about reversing or modifying the new church practices. By working alongside the authorities to restore public order, he signalled his reinvention as a conservative force within the Reformation.[86] After banishing the Zwickau prophets, he now faced a battle against not only the established Church but also the radical reformers who threatened the new order by fomenting social unrest and violence.[87] Despite his victory in Wittenberg, Luther was unable to stifle radicalism further afield. Preachers such as Zwickau prophet Nicholas Storch and Thomas Müntzer helped instigate the German Peasants' War of 1524–25, during which many atrocities were committed, often in Luther's name. There had been revolts by the peasantry on a smaller scale since the 15th century.[88] Luther's pamphlets against the Church and the hierarchy, often worded with "liberal" phraseology, now led many peasants to believe he would support an attack on the upper classes in general.[89] Revolts broke out in Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia in 1524, even drawing support from disaffected nobles, many of whom were in debt. Gaining momentum under the leadership of radicals such as Müntzer in Thuringia and Michael Gaismair in Tyrol, the revolts turned into war.[90] Luther sympathised with some of the peasants' grievances, as he showed in his response to the Twelve Articles in May 1525, but he reminded the aggrieved to obey the temporal authorities.[91] During a tour of Thuringia, he became enraged at the widespread burning of convents, monasteries, bishops' palaces, and libraries. In Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants, written on his return to Wittenberg, he gave his interpretation of the Gospel teaching on wealth, condemned the violence as the devil's work, and called for the nobles to put down the rebels like mad dogs: Therefore let everyone who can, smite, slay, and stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or devilish than a rebel ... For baptism does not make men free in body and property, but in soul; and the gospel does not make goods common, except in the case of those who, of their own free will, do what the apostles and disciples did in Acts 4 [:32–37]. They did not demand, as do our insane peasants in their raging, that the goods of others—of Pilate and Herod—should be common, but only their own goods. Our
peasants, however, want to make the goods of other men common, and keep their own for themselves. Fine Christians they are! I think there is not a devil left in hell; they have all gone into the peasants. Their raving has gone beyond all measure.[92] Luther justified his opposition to the rebels on three grounds. First, in choosing violence over lawful submission to the secular government, they were ignoring Christ's counsel to "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's"; St. Paul had written in his epistle to the Romans 13:1–7 that all authorities are appointed by God and therefore should not be resisted. This reference from the Bible forms the foundation for the doctrine known as the Divine Right of Kings, or, in the German case, the divine right of the princes. Second, the violent actions of rebelling, robbing, and plundering placed the peasants "outside the law of God and Empire", so they deserved "death in body and soul, if only as highwaymen and murderers." Lastly, Luther charged the rebels with blasphemy for calling themselves "Christian brethren" and committing their sinful acts under the banner of the Gospel.[93] Without Luther's backing for the uprising, many rebels laid down their weapons; others felt betrayed. Their defeat by the Swabian League at the Battle of Frankenhausen on 15 May 1525, followed by Müntzer's execution, brought the revolutionary stage of the Reformation to a close.[94] Thereafter, radicalism found a refuge in the anabaptist movement and other religious movements, while Luther's Reformation flourished under the wing of the secular powers.[95]
Marriage
Katharina von Bora, Luther's wife, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1528
Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora, one of 12 nuns he had helped escape from the Nimbschen Cistercian convent in April 1523, when he arranged for them to be smuggled out in herring barrels.[96] "Suddenly, and while I was occupied with far different thoughts," he wrote to Wenceslaus Link, "the Lord has plunged me into marriage."[97] At the time of their marriage, Katharina was 26 years old and Luther was 41 years old.
Lutherhaus, Luther's residence in Wittenberg
On 13 June 1525, the couple was engaged with Johannes Bugenhagen, Justus Jonas, Johannes Apel, Philipp Melanchthon and Lucas Cranach the Elder and his wife as witnesses.[98] On the evening of the same day, the couple was married by Bugenhagen.[98] The ceremonial walk to the church and the wedding banquet were left out, and were made up two weeks later on 27 June.[98] Some priests and former religious had already married, including Andreas Karlstadt and Justus Jonas, but Luther's wedding set the seal of approval on clerical marriage.[99] He had long condemned vows of celibacy on Biblical grounds, but his decision to marry surprised many, not least Melanchthon, who called it reckless.[100] Luther had written to George Spalatin on 30 November 1524, "I shall never take a wife, as I feel at present. Not that I am insensible to my flesh or sex (for I am neither wood nor stone); but my mind is averse to wedlock because I daily expect the death of a heretic."[101] Before marrying, Luther had been living on the plainest food, and, as he admitted himself, his mildewed bed was not properly made for months at a time.[102] Luther and his wife moved into a former monastery, "The Black Cloister," a wedding present from the new elector John the Steadfast (1525–32). They embarked on what appeared to have been a happy and successful marriage, though money was often short.[103] Between bearing six children, Hans – June 1526; Elizabeth – 10 December 1527, who died within a few months; Magdalene – 1529, who died in Luther's arms in 1542; Martin – 1531; Paul – January 1533; and Margaret – 1534; Katharina helped the couple earn a living by farming the land and taking in boarders.[104] Luther confided to Michael Stiefel on 11 August 1526: "My Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange my poverty for the riches of Croesus."[105]
Organising the church
Church orders, Mecklenburg 1650
By 1526, Luther found himself increasingly occupied in organising a new church. His Biblical ideal of congregations' choosing their own ministers had proved unworkable.[106] According to Bainton: "Luther's dilemma was that he wanted both a confessional church based on personal faith and experience and a territorial church including all in a given locality. If he were forced to choose, he would take his stand with the masses, and this was the direction in which he moved."[107] From 1525 to 1529, he established a supervisory church body, laid down a new form of worship service, and wrote a clear summary of the new faith in the form of two catechisms. Luther's thought is revolutionary to the extent that it is a theology of the cross, the negation of every affirmation: as long as the cross is at the center, the system building tendency of reason is held in check, and system building does not degenerate into System.[108] To avoid confusing or upsetting the people, Luther avoided extreme change. He also did not wish to replace one controlling system with another. He concentrated on the church in the Electorate of Saxony, acting only as an adviser to churches in new territories, many of which followed his Saxon model. He worked closely with the new elector, John the Steadfast, to whom he turned for secular leadership and funds on behalf of a church largely shorn of its assets and income after the break with Rome.[109] For Luther's biographer Martin Brecht, this partnership "was the beginning of a questionable and originally unintended development towards a church government under the temporal sovereign".[110] The elector authorised a visitation of the church, a power formerly exercised by bishops.[111] At times, Luther's practical reforms fell short of his earlier radical pronouncements. For example, the Instructions for the Visitors of Parish Pastors in Electoral Saxony (1528), drafted by Melanchthon with Luther's approval, stressed the role of repentance in the forgiveness of sins, despite Luther's position that faith alone ensures justification.[112] The Eisleben reformer Johannes Agricola challenged this compromise, and Luther condemned him for teaching that faith is separate from works.[113] The Instruction is a problematic document for those seeking a consistent evolution in Luther's thought and practice.[114]
Evangelical Lutheran church liturgy and sacraments
In response to demands for a German liturgy, Luther wrote a German Mass, which he published in early 1526.[115] He did not intend it as a replacement for his 1523 adaptation of the Latin Mass but as an alternative for the "simple people", a "public stimulation for people to believe and become Christians."[116] Luther based his order on the Catholic service but omitted "everything that smacks of sacrifice"; and the Mass became a celebration where everyone received the wine as well as the bread.[117] He retained the elevation of the host and chalice, while trappings such as the Mass vestments, altar, and candles were made optional, allowing freedom of ceremony.[118] Some reformers, including followers of Huldrych Zwingli, considered Luther's service too papistic; and modern scholars note the conservatism of his alternative to the Catholic mass.[119] Luther's service, however, included congregational singing of hymns and psalms in German, as well as of parts of the liturgy, including Luther's unison setting of the Creed.[120] To reach the simple people and the young, Luther incorporated religious instruction into the weekday services in the form of the catechism.[121] He also provided simplified versions of the baptism and marriage services.[122] Luther and his colleagues introduced the new order of worship during their visitation of the Electorate of Saxony, which began in 1527.[123] They also assessed the standard of pastoral care and Christian education in the territory. "Merciful God, what misery I have seen," Luther wrote, "the common people knowing nothing at all of Christian doctrine ... and unfortunately many pastors are well-nigh unskilled and incapable of teaching."[124]
Catechisms
A stained glass portrayal of Luther
Luther devised the catechism as a method of imparting the basics of Christianity to the congregations. In 1529, he wrote the Large Catechism, a manual for pastors and teachers, as well as a synopsis, the Small Catechism, to be memorised by the people themselves.[125] The catechisms provided easy-to-understand instructional and devotional material on the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, baptism, and the Lord's Supper.[126] Luther incorporated questions and answers in the catechism so that the basics of Christian faith would not just be learned by rote, "the way monkeys do it", but understood.[127] The catechism is one of Luther's most personal works. "Regarding the plan to collect my writings in volumes," he wrote, "I am quite cool and not at all eager about it because, roused by a Saturnian hunger, I would rather see them all devoured. For I acknowledge none of them to be really a book of mine, except perhaps the Bondage of the Will and the Catechism."[128] The Small Catechism has earned a reputation as a model of clear religious teaching.[129] It remains in use today, along with Luther's hymns and his translation of the Bible. Luther's Small Catechism proved especially effective in helping parents teach their children; likewise the Larger Catechism was effective for pastors.[130] Using the German vernacular, they expressed the Apostles' Creed in simpler, more personal, Trinitarian language. He rewrote each article of the Creed to express the character of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Luther's goal was to enable the catechumens to see themselves as a personal object of the work of the three persons of the Trinity, each of which works in the catechumen's life. That is, Luther depicted the Trinity not as a doctrine to be learned, but as persons to be known. The Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Spirit sanctifies, a divine unity with separate personalities. Salvation originates with the Father and draws the believer to the Father. Luther's treatment of the Apostles' Creed must be understood in the context of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) and the Lord's Prayer, which are also part of the Lutheran catechical teaching.[131]
Translation of the Bible
Main article: Luther Bible
Luther's 1534 Bible
Luther had published his German translation of the New Testament in 1522, and he and his collaborators completed the translation of the Old Testament in 1534, when the whole Bible was published. He continued to work on refining the translation until the end of his life.[132] Others had translated the Bible into German, but Luther tailored his translation to his own doctrine.[133] When he was criticised for inserting the word "alone" after "faith" in Romans 3:28,[134] he replied in part: "[T]he text itself and the meaning of St. Paul urgently require and demand it. For in that very passage he is dealing with the main point of Christian doctrine, namely, that we are justified by faith in Christ without any works of the Law. ... But when works are so completely cut away – and that must mean that faith alone justifies – whoever would speak plainly and clearly about this cutting away of works will have to say, 'Faith alone justifies us, and not works'."[135] Luther's translation used the variant of German spoken at the Saxon chancellery, intelligible to both northern and southern Germans.[136] He intended his vigorous, direct language to make the Bible accessible to everyday Germans, "for we are removing impediments and difficulties so that other people may read it without hindrance."[137] Published at a time of rising demand for German-language publications, Luther's version quickly became a popular and influential Bible translation. As such, it made a significant contribution to the evolution of the German language and literature.[138] Furnished with notes and prefaces by Luther, and with woodcuts by Lucas Cranach that contained anti-papal imagery, it played a major role in the spread of Luther's doctrine throughout Germany.[139] The Luther Bible influenced other vernacular translations, such as William Tyndale's English Bible (1525 forward), a precursor of the King James Bible.[140]
Hymns
An early printing of Luther's hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott)
Luther was a prolific hymn-writer, authoring hymns such as "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"), based on Psalm 46, and "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" ("From Heaven Above to Earth I Come"), based on Luke 2:11–12.[141] Luther connected high art and folk music, also all classes, clergy and laity, men, women and children. His tool of choice for this connection was the singing of German hymns in connection with worship, school, home, and the public arena.[142] He often accompanied the sung hymns with a lute, later recreated as the waldzither that became a national instrument of Germany in the 20th century.[143] Luther's hymns were frequently evoked by particular events in his life and the unfolding Reformation. This behavior started with his learning of the execution of Johann Esch and Heinrich Voes, the first individuals to be martyred by the Roman Catholic Church for Lutheran views, prompting Luther to write the hymn "Ein neues Lied wir heben an" ("A new song we raise"), which is generally known in English by John C. Messenger's translation by the title and first line "Flung to the Heedless Winds" and sung to the tune Ibstone composed in 1875 by Maria C. Tiddeman.[144]
Luther's 1524 creedal hymn "Wir glauben all an einen Gott" ("We All Believe in One True God") is a three-stanza confession of faith prefiguring Luther's 1529 three-part explanation of the Apostles' Creed in the Small Catechism. Luther's hymn, adapted and expanded from an earlier German creedal hymn, gained widespread use in vernacular Lutheran liturgies as early as 1525. Sixteenth-century Lutheran hymnals also included "Wir glauben all" among the catechetical hymns, although 18th-century hymnals tended to label the hymn as Trinitarian rather than catechetical, and 20th-century Lutherans rarely use the hymn because of the perceived difficulty of its tune.[142] Luther's 1538 hymnic version of the Lord's Prayer, "Vater unser im Himmelreich", corresponds exactly to Luther's explanation of the prayer in the Small Catechism, with one stanza for each of the seven prayer petitions, plus opening and closing stanzas. The hymn functioned both as a liturgical setting of the Lord's Prayer and as a means of examining candidates on specific catechism questions. The extant manuscript shows multiple revisions,
demonstrating Luther's concern to clarify and strengthen the text and to provide an appropriately prayerful tune. Other 16th- and 20th-century versifications of the Lord's Prayer have adopted Luther's tune, although modern texts are considerably shorter.[145] Luther wrote "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir" ("From depths of woe I cry to you") in 1523 as a hymnic version of Psalm 130 and sent it as a sample to encourage evangelical colleagues to write psalm-hymns for use in German worship. In a collaboration with Paul Speratus, this and seven other hymns were published in the Achtliederbuch, the first Lutheran hymnal. In 1524 Luther developed his original four-stanza psalm paraphrase into a five-stanza Reformation hymn that developed the theme of "grace alone" more fully. Because it expressed essential Reformation doctrine, this expanded version of "Aus tiefer Not" was designated as a regular component of several regional Lutheran liturgies and was widely used at funerals, including Luther's own. Along with Erhart Hegenwalt's hymnic version of Psalm 51, Luther's expanded hymn was also adopted for use with the fifth part of Luther's catechism, concerning confession.[146] Luther wrote "Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein" ("Oh God, look down from heaven"). "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (Now come, Savior of the gentiles), based on Veni redemptor gentium, became the main hymn (Hauptlied) for Advent. He transformed A solus ortus cardine to "Christum wir sollen loben schon" ("We should now praise Christ") and Veni Creator Spiritus to "Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist" ("Come, Holy Spirit, Lord God").[147] He wrote two hymns on the Ten Commandments, "Dies sind die heilgen Zehn Gebot" and "Mensch, willst du leben seliglich". His "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" ("Praise be to You, Jesus Christ") became the main hymn for Christmas. He wrote for Pentecost "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist", and adopted for Easter "Christ ist erstanden" (Christ is risen), based on Victimae paschali laudes. "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin", a paraphrase of Nunc dimittis, was intended for Purification, but became also a funeral hymn. He paraphrased the Te Deum as "Herr Gott, dich loben wir" with a simplified form of the melody. It became known as the German Te Deum. Luther's 1541 hymn "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" ("To Jordan came the Christ our Lord") reflects the structure and substance of his questions and answers concerning baptism in the Small Catechism. Luther adopted a preexisting Johann Walter tune associated with a hymnic setting of Psalm 67's prayer for grace; Wolf Heintz's four-part setting of the hymn was used to introduce the Lutheran Reformation in Halle in 1541. Preachers and composers of the 18th century, including J. S. Bach, used this rich hymn as a subject for their own work, although its objective baptismal theology was displaced by more subjective hymns under the influence of late-19th-century Lutheran pietism.[142] Luther's hymns were included in early Lutheran hymnals and spread the ideas of the Reformation. He supplied four of eight songs of the First Lutheran hymnal Achtliederbuch, 18 of 26 songs of the Erfurt Enchiridion, and 24 of the 32 songs in the first choral hymnal with settings by Johann Walter, Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, all published in 1524. Luther's hymns inspired composers to write music. Johann Sebastian Bach included several verses as chorales in his cantatas and based chorale cantatas entirely on them, namely Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, as early as possibly 1707, in his second annual cycle (1724 to 1725) Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62, Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91, and Aus
tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV 38, later Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80, and in 1735 Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit, BWV 14.
On the soul after death
Luther on the left with Lazarus being raised by Jesus from the dead, painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1558
In contrast to the views of John Calvin[148] and Philipp Melanchthon,[149] throughout his life Luther maintained that it was not false doctrine to believe that a Christian's soul sleeps after it is separated from the body in death;[150] and, accordingly, he disputed traditional interpretations of some Bible passages, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.[151] This also led Luther to reject the idea of torments for the saints: "It is enough for us to know that souls do not leave their bodies to be threatened by the torments and punishments of hell, but enter a prepared bedchamber in which they sleep in peace."[152] He also rejected the existence of Purgatory, which involved Christian souls undergoing penitential suffering after death.[153] He affirmed the continuity of one's personal identity beyond death. In his Smalcald Articles, he described the saints as currently residing "in their graves and in heaven."[154] The Lutheran theologian Franz Pieper observed that Luther's teaching about the state of the Christian's soul after death differed from the later Lutheran theologians such as Johann Gerhard.[155] Lessing (1755) had earlier reached the same conclusion in his analysis of Lutheran orthodoxy on this issue.[156] Luther's Commentary on Genesis contains a passage which concludes that "the soul does not sleep (anima non sic dormit), but wakes (sed vigilat) and experiences visions".[157] Francis Blackburne in 1765 argued that John Jortin misread this and other passages from Luther,[158] while Gottfried Fritschel pointed out in 1867 that it actually refers to the soul of a man "in this life" (homo enim in hac vita) tired from his daily labour (defatigus diurno labore) who at night enters his bedchamber (sub noctem intrat in cubiculum suum) and whose sleep is interrupted by dreams.[159] Henry Eyster Jacobs' English translation from 1898 reads: "Nevertheless, the sleep of this life and that of the future life differ; for in this life, man, fatigued by his daily labour, at nightfall goes to his couch, as in peace, to sleep there, and enjoys rest; nor does he know anything of evil, whether of fire or of murder."[160]
Sacramentarian controversy and the Marburg Colloquy See also: The Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ—Against the Fanatics
Statue of Martin Luther outside St. Mary's Church, Berlin
In October 1529, Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, convoked an assembly of German and Swiss theologians at the Marburg Colloquy, to establish doctrinal unity in the emerging Protestant states.[161] Agreement was achieved on fourteen points out of fifteen, the exception being the nature of the Eucharist – the sacrament of the Lord's Supper—an issue crucial to Luther.[162] The theologians, including Zwingli, Melanchthon, Martin Bucer, and Johannes Oecolampadius, differed on the significance of the words spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper: "This is my body which is for you" and "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" (1 Corinthians 11:23–26).[163] Luther insisted on the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the consecrated bread and wine, which he called the sacramental union,[164] while his opponents believed God to be only spiritually or symbolically present.[165] Zwingli, for example, denied Jesus' ability to be in more than one place at a time but Luther stressed the omnipresence of his human nature.[166] According to transcripts, the debate sometimes became confrontational. Citing Jesus' words "The flesh profiteth nothing" (John 6.63), Zwingli said, "This passage breaks your neck". "Don't be too proud," Luther retorted, "German necks don't break that easily. This is Hesse, not Switzerland."[167] On his table Luther wrote the words "Hoc est corpus meum" ("This is my body") in chalk, to continually indicate his firm stance.[168] Despite the disagreements on the Eucharist, the Marburg Colloquy paved the way for the signing in 1530 of the Augsburg Confession, and for the formation of the Schmalkaldic League the following year by leading Protestant nobles such as John of Saxony, Philip of Hesse, and George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. The Swiss cities, however, did not sign these agreements.[169]
Epistemology
Some scholars have asserted that Luther taught that faith and reason were antithetical in the sense that questions of faith could not be illuminated by reason. He wrote, "All the articles of our Christian faith, which God has revealed to us in His Word, are in presence of reason sheerly impossible, absurd, and false."[170] and "[That] Reason in no way contributes to faith. [...] For reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things."[171] However, though seemingly contradictorily, he also wrote in the latter work that human reason "strives not against faith, when enlightened, but rather furthers and advances it",[172] bringing claims he was a fideist into dispute. Contemporary Lutheran scholarship, however, has found a different reality in Luther. Luther rather seeks to separate faith and reason in order to honor the separate spheres of knowledge that each applies to. Bernhard Lohse, for example, has demonstrated in his classic work "Fides und Ratio" that Luther ultimately sought to put the two together. More recently, Hans-Peter Grosshans has demonstrated that Luther's work on Biblical Criticism stresses the need for external coherence in the right exegetical method. This means that for Luther it is more important that the Bible is reasonable according to the reality outside of the scriptures than that the Bible makes sense to itself, that it has internal coherence. The right tool for understanding the world outside of the Bible for Luther is none other than reason, which for him is the field of science, philosophy, history and empirical observation. Here a different picture is presented of a Luther who deeply valued both faith and reason, and held them in dialectical partnership. Luther's concern thus in separating them is honoring their different epistemological spheres.
On Islam Further information: Protestantism and Islam
The battle between the Turks and Christians, in the 16th century
At the time of the Marburg Colloquy, Suleiman the Magnificent was besieging Vienna with a vast Ottoman army.[173] Luther had argued against resisting the Turks in his 1518 Explanation of the Ninety-five Theses, provoking accusations of defeatism. He saw the Turks as a scourge sent to punish Christians by God, as agents of the Biblical apocalypse that would destroy the antichrist, whom Luther believed to be the papacy, and the Roman Church.[174] He consistently rejected the idea of a Holy War, "as though our people were an army of Christians against the Turks, who were enemies of Christ. This is absolutely contrary to Christ's doctrine and name".[175] On the other hand, in keeping with his doctrine of the two kingdoms, Luther did support non-religious war against the Turks.[176] In 1526, he argued in Whether Soldiers can be in a State of Grace that national defence is reason for a just war.[177] By 1529, in On War against the Turk, he was actively urging Emperor Charles V and the German people to fight a secular war against the Turks.[178] He made clear, however, that the spiritual war against an alien faith was separate, to be waged through prayer and repentance.[179] Around the time of the Siege of Vienna, Luther wrote a prayer for national
deliverance from the Turks, asking God to "give to our emperor perpetual victory over our enemies".[180] In 1542, Luther read a Latin translation of the Qur'an.[181] He went on to produce several critical pamphlets on Islam, which he called "Mohammedanism" or "the Turk".[182] Though Luther saw the Muslim faith as a tool of the devil, he was indifferent to its practice: "Let the Turk believe and live as he will, just as one lets the papacy and other false Christians live."[183] He opposed banning the publication of the Qur'an, wanting it exposed to scrutiny.[184]
Antinomian controversy Early in 1537, Johannes Agricola (1494–1566) – serving at the time as pastor in Luther's birthplace, Eisleben – preached a sermon in which he claimed that God's gospel, not God's moral law (the Ten Commandments), revealed God's wrath to Christians. Based on this sermon and others by Agricola, Luther suspected that Agricola was behind certain anonymous antinomian theses circulating in Wittenberg. These theses asserted that the law is no longer to be taught to Christians but belonged only to city hall.[185] Luther responded to these theses with six series of theses against Agricola and the antinomians, four of which became the basis for disputations between 1538 and 1540.[186] He also responded to these assertions in other writings, such as his 1539 open letter to C. Güttel Against the Antinomians,[187] and his book On the Councils and the Church from the same year.[188] In his theses and disputations against the antinomians, Luther reviews and reaffirms, on the one hand, what has been called the "second use of the law," that is, the law as the Holy Spirit's tool to work sorrow over sin in man's heart, thus preparing him for Christ's fulfillment of the law offered in the gospel.[189] Luther states that everything that is used to work sorrow over sin is called the law, even if it is Christ's life, Christ's death for sin, or God's goodness experienced in creation.[190] Simply refusing to preach the Ten Commandments among Christians – thereby, as it were, removing the three letters l-a-w from the church – does not eliminate the accusing law.[191] Claiming that the law – in any form – should not be preached to Christians anymore would be tantamount to asserting that Christians are no longer sinners in themselves and that the church consists only of essentially holy people.[192] On the other hand, Luther also points out that the Ten Commandments – when considered not as God's condemning judgment but as an expression of his eternal will, that is, of the natural law – also positively teach how the Christian ought to live.[193] This has traditionally been called the "third use of the law."[194] For Luther, also Christ's life, when understood as an example, is nothing more than an illustration of the Ten Commandments, which a Christian should follow in his or her vocations on a daily basis.[195] The Ten Commandments, and the beginnings of the renewed life of Christians accorded to them by the sacrament of baptism, are a present foreshadowing of the believers' future angellike life in heaven in the midst of this life.[196] Luther's teaching of the Ten Commandments, therefore, has clear eschatological overtones, which, characteristically for Luther, do not encourage world-flight but direct the Christian to service to the neighbor in the common, daily vocations of this perishing world.
Bigamy of Philip of Hesse
From December 1539, Luther became implicated in the bigamy of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, who wanted to marry one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting. Philip solicited the approval of Luther, Melanchthon, and Bucer, citing as a precedent the polygamy of the patriarchs. The theologians were not prepared to make a general ruling, and they reluctantly advised the landgrave that if he was determined, he should marry secretly and keep quiet about the matter.[197] As a result, on 4 March 1540, Philip married a second wife, Margarethe von der Sale, with Melanchthon and Bucer among the witnesses. However, Philip was unable to keep the marriage secret, and he threatened to make Luther's advice public. Luther told him to "tell a good, strong lie" and deny the marriage completely, which Philip did during the subsequent public controversy.[198] In the view of Luther's biographer Martin Brecht, "giving confessional advice for Philip of Hesse was one of the worst mistakes Luther made, and, next to the landgrave himself, who was directly responsible for it, history chiefly holds Luther accountable".[199] Brecht argues that Luther's mistake was not that he gave private pastoral advice, but that he miscalculated the political implications.[200] The affair caused lasting damage to Luther's reputation.[201]
Anti-Judaism and antisemitism Main article: Martin Luther and antisemitism See also: Christianity and antisemitism
The original title page of On the Jews and Their Lies, written by Martin Luther in 1543
Luther wrote about the Jews throughout his career, though only a few of his works dealt with them directly.[202] Luther rarely encountered Jews during his life, but his attitudes reflected a theological and cultural tradition which saw Jews as a rejected people guilty of the murder of Christ, and he lived within a local community that had expelled Jews some ninety years earlier.[203] He considered the Jews blasphemers and liars because they rejected the divinity of Jesus, whereas Christians believed Jesus was the Messiah.[204] But Luther believed that all human beings who set themselves against God were equally guilty.[205] As early as 1516, he wrote that many people "are proud with marvelous stupidity when they call the Jews dogs, evildoers, or whatever they like, while they too, and equally, do not realize who or what they are in the sight of God".[206] In 1523, Luther advised kindness toward the Jews in That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew and also aimed to convert them to Christianity.[207] When his efforts at
conversion failed, he grew increasingly bitter toward them.[208] In his 2010 book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, Christian author Eric Metaxas claimed that Luther's attitude towards Jews "unraveled along with his health."[209] Luther's other major works on the Jews were his 60,000-word treatise Von den Juden und Ihren Lügen (On the Jews and Their Lies), and Vom Schem Hamphoras und vom Geschlecht Christi (On the Holy Name and the Lineage of Christ), both published in 1543, three years before his death.[210] Luther argued that the Jews were no longer the chosen people but "the devil's people", and referred to them with violent, vile language.[211][212] Citing Deuteronomy 13, wherein Moses commands the killing of idolaters and the burning of their cities and property as an offering to God, Luther called for a "scharfe Barmherzigkeit" ("sharp mercy") against the Jews "to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames."[213] Luther advocated setting synagogues on fire, destroying Jewish prayerbooks, forbidding rabbis from preaching, seizing Jews' property and money, and smashing up their homes, so that these "envenomed worms" would be forced into labour or expelled "for all time".[214] In Robert Michael's view, Luther's words "We are at fault in not slaying them" amounted to a sanction for murder.[215] "God's anger with them is so intense," Luther concluded, "that gentle mercy will only tend to make them worse, while sharp mercy will reform them but little. Therefore, in any case, away with them!"[213] Luther spoke out against the Jews in Saxony, Brandenburg, and Silesia.[216] Josel of Rosheim, the Jewish spokesman who tried to help the Jews of Saxony in 1537, later blamed their plight on "that priest whose name was Martin Luther—may his body and soul be bound up in hell!—who wrote and issued many heretical books in which he said that whoever would help the Jews was doomed to perdition."[217] Josel asked the city of Strasbourg to forbid the sale of Luther's anti-Jewish works: they refused initially, but did so when a Lutheran pastor in Hochfelden used a sermon to urge his parishioners to murder Jews.[216] Luther's influence persisted after his death. Throughout the 1580s, riots led to the expulsion of Jews from several German Lutheran states.[218] Luther was the most widely read author of his generation, and within Germany he acquired the status of a prophet.[219] According to the prevailing view among historians,[220] his antiJewish rhetoric contributed significantly to the development of antisemitism in Germany,[221] and in the 1930s and 1940s provided an "ideal underpinning" for the Nazis' attacks on Jews.[222] Reinhold Lewin writes that anybody who "wrote against the Jews for whatever reason believed he had the right to justify himself by triumphantly referring to Luther." According to Michael, just about every anti-Jewish book printed in the Third Reich contained references to and quotations from Luther. Heinrich Himmler wrote admiringly of his writings and sermons on the Jews in 1940.[223] The city of Nuremberg presented a first edition of On the Jews and their Lies to Julius Streicher, editor of the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer, on his birthday in 1937; the newspaper described it as the most radically anti-Semitic tract ever published.[224] It was publicly exhibited in a glass case at the Nuremberg rallies and quoted in a 54-page explanation of the Aryan Law by Dr. E.H. Schulz and Dr. R. Frercks.[225] On 17 December 1941, seven Protestant regional church confederations issued a statement agreeing with the policy of forcing Jews to wear the yellow badge, "since after his bitter experience Luther had already suggested preventive measures against the Jews and their expulsion from German territory." According to Daniel Goldhagen, Bishop Martin Sasse, a leading Protestant churchman, published a compendium of Luther's writings shortly after Kristallnacht, for which Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church in the
University of Oxford argued that Luther's writing was a "blueprint."[226] Sasse applauded the burning of the synagogues and the coincidence of the day, writing in the introduction, "On 10 November 1938, on Luther's birthday, the synagogues are burning in Germany." The German people, he urged, ought to heed these words "of the greatest antisemite of his time, the warner of his people against the Jews."[227]
Judensau on the Wittenberg Church, built 1300–1470.
At the heart of scholars' debate about Luther's influence is whether it is anachronistic to view his work as a precursor of the racial antisemitism of the Nazis. Some scholars see Luther's influence as limited, and the Nazis' use of his work as opportunistic. Biographer Martin Brecht points out that "There is a world of difference between his belief in salvation and a racial ideology. Nevertheless, his misguided agitation had the evil result that Luther fatefully became one of the 'church fathers' of anti-Semitism and thus provided material for the modern hatred of the Jews, cloaking it with the authority of the Reformer."[228] Johannes Wallmann argues that Luther's writings against the Jews were largely ignored in the 18th and 19th centuries, and that there was no continuity between Luther's thought and Nazi ideology.[229] Uwe Siemon-Netto agreed, arguing that it was because the Nazis were already anti-Semites that they revived Luther's work.[230][231] Hans J. Hillerbrand agreed that to focus on Luther was to adopt an essentially ahistorical perspective of Nazi antisemitism that ignored other contributory factors in German history.[232] Similarly, Roland Bainton, noted church historian and Luther biographer, wrote "One could wish that Luther had died before ever [On the Jews and Their Lies] was written. His position was entirely religious and in no respect racial."[233][234] Other scholars argue that, even if his views were merely anti-Judaic—that is, opposed to Judaism and its adherence rather than the Jews as an ethnic group—their violence lent a new element to the standard Christian suspicion of Judaism. Ronald Berger writes that Luther is credited with "Germanizing the Christian critique of Judaism and establishing anti-Semitism as a key element of German culture and national identity."[235] Paul Rose argues that he caused a "hysterical and demonizing mentality" about Jews to enter German thought and discourse, a mentality that might otherwise have been absent.[236] Christopher J. Probst in his book Demonizing the Jews: Luther and the Protestant Church in Nazi Germany (2012), shows that a large number of German Lutheran clergy and theologians during the Nazi Third Reich used Luther's hostile publications towards the Jews and their Jewish religion to justify at least in part the anti-Semitic policies of the National Socialists.[237] Some scholars, such as Mark U. Edwards in his book Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics 1531–46 (1983), suggest that since Luther's increasingly antisemitic views developed during the years his health deteriorated, it is possible they were at least partly the
product of a declining state of mind. Edwards also comments that Luther often deliberately used "vulgarity and violence" for effect, both in his writings condemning the Jews and in diatribes against "Turks" (Muslims) and Catholics.[238] Since the 1980s, Lutheran Church denominations have repudiated Martin Luther's statements against the Jews and have rejected the use of them to incite hatred against Lutherans.[239][240] Strommen et al.'s 1970 survey of 4,745 North American Lutherans aged 15–65 found that, compared to the other minority groups under consideration, Lutherans were the least prejudiced toward Jews.[241] Nevertheless, Professor Richard (Dick) Geary, former Professor of Modern History at the University of Nottingham, England, and the author of Hitler and Nazism (Routledge 1993), wrote in the journal History Today an article on who voted for the Nazis in elections held from 1928-1933, where he claimed that from his research he found that the Nazis gained disproportionately more votes from Protestant than Catholic areas of Germany.[242]
Depiction of Luther In the 1530s and 1540s, printed images of Luther that emphasized his monumental size were crucial to the spread of Protestantism. In contrast to images of frail Catholic saints, Luther was presented as a stout man with a "double chin, strong mouth, piercing deep-set eyes, fleshy face, and squat neck." He was shown to be physically imposing, an equal in stature to the secular German princes with whom he would join forces to spread Lutheranism. His large body also let the viewer know that he did not shun earthly pleasures like drinking—behavior that was a stark contrast to the ascetic life of the medieval religious orders. Famous images from this period include the woodcuts by Hans Brosamer (1530) and Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger (1546).[243]
Final years and death
The house where Luther died
Luther on his deathbed by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Luther had been suffering from ill health for years, including Ménière's disease, vertigo, fainting, tinnitus, and a cataract in one eye.[244] From 1531 to 1546, his health deteriorated further. The years of struggle with Rome, the antagonisms with and among his fellow reformers, and the scandal which ensued from the bigamy of the Philip of Hesse incident, in which Luther had played a leading role, all may have contributed. In 1536, he began to suffer from kidney and bladder stones, and arthritis, and an ear infection ruptured an ear drum. In December 1544, he began to feel the effects of angina.[245] His poor physical health made him short-tempered and even harsher in his writings and comments. His wife Katharina was overheard saying, "Dear husband, you are too rude," and he responded, "They are teaching me to be rude."[246] In 1545 and 1546 Luther preached three times in the Market Church in Halle, staying with his friend Justus Jonas during Christmas.[247]
Luther's tombstone in the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
His last sermon was delivered at Eisleben, his place of birth, on 15 February 1546, three days before his death.[248] It was "entirely devoted to the obdurate Jews, whom it was a matter of great urgency to expel from all German territory," according to Léon Poliakov.[249] James Mackinnon writes that it concluded with a "fiery summons to drive the Jews bag and baggage from their midst, unless they desisted from their calumny and their usury and became
Christians."[250] Luther said, "we want to practice Christian love toward them and pray that they convert," but also that they are "our public enemies ... and if they could kill us all, they would gladly do so. And so often they do."[251] Luther's final journey, to Mansfeld, was taken because of his concern for his siblings' families continuing in their father Hans Luther's copper mining trade. Their livelihood was threatened by Count Albrecht of Mansfeld bringing the industry under his own control. The controversy that ensued involved all four Mansfeld counts: Albrecht, Philip, John George, and Gerhard. Luther journeyed to Mansfeld twice in late 1545 to participate in the negotiations for a settlement, and a third visit was needed in early 1546 for their completion. The negotiations were successfully concluded on 17 February 1546. After 8:00 pm, he experienced chest pains. When he went to his bed, he prayed, "Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God" (Ps. 31:5), the common prayer of the dying. At 1:00 am he awoke with more chest pain and was warmed with hot towels. He thanked God for revealing his Son to him in whom he had believed. His companions, Justus Jonas and Michael Coelius, shouted loudly, "Reverend father, are you ready to die trusting in your Lord Jesus Christ and to confess the doctrine which you have taught in his name?" A distinct "Yes" was Luther's reply.
Cast of Luther's face and hands at his death, in the Market Church in Halle[252]
An apoplectic stroke deprived him of his speech, and he died shortly afterwards at 2:45 a.m. on 18 February 1546, aged 62, in Eisleben, the city of his birth. He was buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, beneath the pulpit.[253] The funeral was held by his friends Johannes Bugenhagen and Philipp Melanchthon.[254] A year later, troops of Luther's adversary Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor entered the town, but were ordered by Charles not to disturb the grave.[254] A piece of paper was later found on which Luther had written his last statement. The statement was in Latin, apart from "We are beggars," which was in German. 1. No one can understand Virgil's Bucolics unless he has been a shepherd for five years. No one can understand Virgil's Georgics, unless he has been a farmer for five years. 2. No one can understand Cicero's Letters (or so I teach), unless he has busied himself in the affairs of some prominent state for twenty years.
3. Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles. Do not assail this divine Aeneid; nay, rather prostrate revere the ground that it treads. We are beggars: this is true.[255][256]
Legacy and commemoration
Luther's legacy: Protestantism by country in 2010.
Luther is honoured on 18 February with a commemoration in the Lutheran Calendar of Saints and in the Episcopal (United States) Calendar of Saints. In the Church of England's Calendar of Saints he is commemorated on 31 October.
Works and editions
A 1581 German edition of Luther's "Tabletalks"
The Erlangen Edition (Erlangener Ausgabe: "EA"), comprising the Exegetica opera latina – Latin exegetical works of Luther. The Weimar Edition (Weimarer Ausgabe) is the exhaustive, standard German edition of Luther's Latin and German works, indicated by the abbreviation "WA". This is continued into "WA Br" Weimarer Ausgabe, Briefwechsel (correspondence), "WA Tr" Weimarer Ausgabe, Tischreden (tabletalk) and "WA DB" Weimarer Ausgabe, Deutsche Bibel (German Bible). The American Edition (Luther's Works) is the most extensive English translation of Luther's writings, indicated either by the abbreviation "LW" or "AE". The first 55 volumes were published 1955-1986, and a twenty volume extension (vols. 56-75) is planned of which volumes 58, 60, and 68 have appeared thus far.
References "Luther". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
Plass, Ewald M. (1959). "Monasticism". What Luther Says: An Anthology 2. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. p. 964. Ewald M. Plass, What Luther Says, 3 vols., (St. Louis: CPH, 1959), 88, no. 269; M. Reu, Luther and the Scriptures, (Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg Press, 1944), 23. Luther, Martin. Concerning the Ministry (1523), tr. Conrad Bergendoff, in Bergendoff, Conrad (ed.) Luther's Works. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1958, 40:18 ff. About Us — Lutheran Church of New Zealand: Lutherans in the World Hans J. Hillerbrand: Encyclopedia of Protestantism: 4-volume Set Peter B. Clarke, Peter Beyer: "The World's Religions: Continuities and Transformations" Fahlbusch, Erwin and Bromiley, Geoffrey William. The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003, 1:244. Tyndale's New Testament, trans. from the Greek by William Tyndale in 1534 in a modernspelling edition and with an introduction by David Daniell. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989, ix–x. Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995, 269. Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: a Life of Martin Luther. New York: Penguin, 1995, p. 223. Hendrix, Scott H. "The Controversial Luther", Word & World 3/4 (1983), Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, p. 393: "And, finally, after the Holocaust and the use of his anti-Jewish statements by National Socialists, Luther's anti-semitic outbursts are now unmentionable, though they were already repulsive in the sixteenth century. As a result, Luther has become as controversial in the twentieth century as he was in the sixteenth." Also see Hillerbrand, Hans. "The legacy of Martin Luther", in Hillerbrand, Hans & McKim, Donald K. (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Luther. Cambridge University Press, 2003. In 1523, Luther wrote that Jesus Christ was born a Jew which discouraged mistreatment of the Jews and advocated their conversion by proving that the Old Testament could be shown to speak of Jesus Christ. However, as the Reformation grew, Luther began to lose hope in large-scale Jewish conversion to Christianity, and in the years his health deterioriated he grew more acerbic toward the Jews, writing against them with the kind of venom he had already unleashed on the Anabaptists, Zwingli, and the pope. His Von den Jüden und iren Lügen—in modern German spelling Von den Juden und ihren Lügen (On the Jews and Their Lies)— thus took its place among other anti-Jewish treatises already identified with Rome and Constantinople. Marty, Martin. Martin Luther. Viking Penguin, 2004, p. 1. Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:3–5. Marty, Martin. Martin Luther. Viking Penguin, 2004, p. 3. Rupp, Ernst Gordon. "Martin Luther," Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 2006.
Marty, Martin. Martin Luther. Viking Penguin, 2004, pp. 2–3.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia (the Albany Movement), and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama, that attracted national attention following television news coverage of the brutal police response. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include poverty and speak against the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled "Beyond Vietnam". In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities. Allegations that James Earl Ray, the man convicted of killing King, had been framed or acted in concert with government agents persisted for decades after the shooting. King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. “A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.” ― Martin Luther King Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Early life and education
King's high school alma mater was named after African-American scholar Booker T. Washington.
King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and Alberta Williams King.[1] King's legal name at birth was Michael King,[2] and his father was also born Michael King, but the elder King changed his and his son's names following a 1934 trip to Germany to attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress in
Berlin. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther.[3][4] King had Irish ancestry through his paternal greatgrandfather.[5][6] Martin, Jr., was a middle child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King.[7] King sang with his church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind.[8] King liked singing and music. King's mother, an accomplished organist and choir leader, took him to various churches to sing. He received attention for singing "I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus." King later became a member of the junior choir in his church.[9] King said his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen and a neighbor reported hearing the elder King telling his son "he would make something of him even if he had to beat him to death." King saw his father's proud and unafraid protests in relation to segregation, such as Martin, Sr., refusing to listen to a traffic policeman after being referred to as "boy" or stalking out of a store with his son when being told by a shoe clerk that they would have to move to the rear to be served.[10] When King was a child, he befriended a white boy whose father owned a business near his family's home. When the boys were 6, they attended different schools, with King attending a segregated school for African-Americans. King then lost his friend because the child's father no longer wanted them to play together.[11] King suffered from depression throughout much of his life. In his adolescent years, he initially felt some resentment against whites due to the "racial humiliation" that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South.[12] At age 12, shortly after his maternal grandmother died, King blamed himself and jumped out of a second story window, but survived.[13] King was originally skeptical of many of Christianity's claims.[14] At the age of thirteen, he denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school. From this point, he stated, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly".[15] However, he later concluded that the Bible has "many profound truths which one cannot escape" and decided to enter the seminary.[14] Growing up in Atlanta, King attended Booker T. Washington High School. He became known for his public speaking ability and was part of the school's debate team.[16] King became the youngest assistant manager of a newspaper delivery station for the Atlanta Journal in 1942 at age 13.[17] During his junior year, he won first prize in an oratorical contest sponsored by the Negro Elks Club in Dublin, Georgia. Returning home to Atlanta by bus, he and his teacher were ordered by the driver to stand so white passengers could sit down. King refused initially, but complied after his teacher informed him that he would be breaking the law if he did not go along with the order. He later characterized this incident as "the angriest I have ever been in my life".[16] A precocious student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grades of high school.[18] It was during King's junior year that Morehouse College announced it would accept any high school juniors who could pass its entrance exam. At that time, most of the students had abandoned their studies to participate in World War II. Due to this, the school became desperate to fill in classrooms. At age 15, King passed the exam and entered Morehouse.[16] The summer before his last year at Morehouse, in 1947, an eighteen-year-old King made the choice to enter the ministry after he concluded the church offered the most assuring way to answer "an inner urge to serve humanity". King's "inner
urge" had begun developing and he made peace with the Baptist Church, as he believed he would be a "rational" minister with sermons that were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest."[19] In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a B.A. degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a B.Div. degree in 1951.[20][21] King's father fully supported his decision to continue his education. King was joined in attending Crozer by Walter McCall, a former classmate at Morehouse.[22] At Crozer, King was elected president of the student body.[23] The AfricanAmerican students of Crozer for the most part conducted their social activity on Edwards Street. King was endeared to the street due to a classmate having an aunt that prepared the two collard greens, which they both relished.[24] King once called out a student for keeping beer in his room because of their shared responsibility as African-Americans to bear "the burdens of the Negro race." For a time, he was interested in Walter Rauschenbusch's "social gospel".[23] In his third year there, he became romantically involved with the daughter of an immigrant German woman working as a cook in the cafeteria. The daughter had been involved with a professor prior to her relationship with King. King had plans of marrying her, but was advised not to by friends due to the reaction an interracial relationship would spark from both blacks and whites, as well as the chances of it destroying his chances of ever pastoring a church in the South. King tearfully told a friend that he could not endure his mother's pain over the marriage and broke the relationship off around six months later. He would continue to have lingering feelings, with one friend being quoted as saying, "He never recovered."[23] King married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama.[25] They became the parents of four children: Yolanda King (b. 1955), Martin Luther King III (b. 1957), Dexter Scott King (b. 1961), and Bernice King (b. 1963).[26] During their marriage, King limited Coretta's role in the Civil Rights Movement, expecting her to be a housewife and mother.[27]
Doctoral studies See also: Martin Luther King, Jr. authorship issues
King then began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Ph.D. degree on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation on "A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman". An academic inquiry concluded in October 1991 that portions of his dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly. However, "[d]espite its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an action that the panel said would serve no purpose."[28][29][30] The committee also found that the dissertation still "makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship." However, a letter is now attached to King's dissertation in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate quotations and citations of sources.[31]
Ideas, influences, and political stances Religion
King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1954.[32] As a Christian minister, his main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King's faith was strongly based in Jesus' commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52).[33] In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus' "extremist" love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated: Before I was a civil rights leader, I was a preacher of the Gospel. This was my first calling and it still remains my greatest commitment. You know, actually all that I do in civil rights I do because I consider it a part of my ministry. I have no other ambitions in life but to achieve excellence in the Christian ministry. I don't plan to run for any political office. I don't plan to do anything but remain a preacher. And what I'm doing in this struggle, along with many others, grows out of my feeling that the preacher must be concerned about the whole man. — King, 1967[34][35]
In his speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop", he stated that he just wanted to do God's will.
Nonviolence King at a Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
Veteran African-American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin was King's first regular advisor on nonviolence.[36] King was also advised by the white activists Harris Wofford and Glenn Smiley.[37] Rustin and Smiley came from the Christian pacifist tradition, and Wofford and Rustin both studied Gandhi's teachings. Rustin had applied nonviolence with the Journey of Reconciliation campaign in the 1940s,[38] and Wofford had been promoting Gandhism to Southern blacks since the early 1950s.[37] King had initially known little about Gandhi and rarely used the term "nonviolence" during his early years of activism in the early 1950s. King initially believed in and practiced self-defense, even obtaining guns in his household as a means of defense against possible attackers. The pacifists guided King by showing him the alternative of nonviolent resistance, arguing that this would be a better means to accomplish his goals of civil rights than self-defense. King then vowed to no longer personally use arms.[39][40] In the aftermath of the boycott, King wrote Stride Toward Freedom, which included the chapter Pilgrimage to Nonviolence. King outlined his understanding of nonviolence, which seeks to win an opponent to friendship, rather than to humiliate or defeat him. The chapter draws from an address by Wofford, with Rustin and Stanley Levison also providing guidance and ghostwriting.[41] Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's success with nonviolent activism, King had "for a long time ... wanted to take a trip to India".[42] With assistance from Harris Wofford, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters, he was able to fund the journey in April 1959.[43] [44] The trip to India affected King, deepening his understanding of nonviolent resistance and
his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity". Bayard Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin,[45] which King agreed to do.[46] However, King agreed that Rustin should be one of the main organizers of the 1963 March on Washington.[47] King's admiration of Gandhi's nonviolence did not diminish in later years. He went so far as to hold up his example when receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, hailing the "successful precedent" of using nonviolence "in a magnificent way by Mohandas K. Gandhi to challenge the might of the British Empire ... He struggled only with the weapons of truth, soul force, non-injury and courage."[48] Gandhi seemed to have influenced him with certain moral principles,[49] though Gandhi himself had been influenced by The Kingdom of God Is Within You, a nonviolent classic written by Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy. In turn, both Gandhi and Martin Luther King had read Tolstoy, and King, Gandhi and Tolstoy had been strongly influenced by Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. King quoted Tolstoy's War and Peace in 1959.[50] Another influence for King's nonviolent method was Henry David Thoreau's essay On Civil Disobedience, which King read in his student days. He was influenced by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system.[51] He also was greatly influenced by the works of Protestant theologians Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich,[52] as well as Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis. King also sometimes used the concept of "agape" (brotherly Christian love).[53] However, after 1960, he ceased employing it in his writings.[54] Even after renouncing his personal use of guns, King had a complex relationship with the phenomenon of self-defense in the movement. He publicly discouraged it as a widespread practice, but acknowledged that it was sometimes necessary.[55] Throughout his career King was frequently protected by other civil rights activists who carried arms, such as Colonel Stone Johnson,[56] Robert Hayling, and the Deacons for Defense and Justice.[57][58]
Politics As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: "I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either."[59] In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, "I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party."[60] King did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the "greatest of all senators" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years.[61] King critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality: Actually, the Negro has been betrayed by both the Republican and the Democratic party. The Democrats have betrayed him by capitulating to the whims and caprices of the Southern
Dixiecrats. The Republicans have betrayed him by capitulating to the blatant hypocrisy of reactionary right wing northern Republicans. And this coalition of southern Dixiecrats and right wing reactionary northern Republicans defeats every bill and every move towards liberal legislation in the area of civil rights.[62] Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson or Dwight Eisenhower, but that "In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket."[63] In his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: "I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one." King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying "Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964."[64] In 1964, King urged his supporters "and all people of goodwill" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election "would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world."[65] King supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout America at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the basic necessities of many American people, particularly the African American community.[66]
Compensation King stated that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of $50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups.[67] He posited that "the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils".[68] He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor, but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, "It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races".[69]
The lack of attention given to family planning On being awarded the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Margaret Sanger Award on 5th May, 1966, King said: Recently, the press has been filled with reports of sightings of flying saucers. While we need not give credence to these stories, they allow our imagination to speculate on how visitors from outer space would judge us. I am afraid they would be stupefied at our conduct. They would observe that for death planning we spend billions to create engines and strategies for war. They would also observe that we spend millions to prevent death by disease and other causes. Finally they would observe that we spend paltry sums for population planning, even though its spontaneous growth is an urgent threat to life on our planet. Our visitors from outer
space could be forgiven if they reported home that our planet is inhabited by a race of insane men whose future is bleak and uncertain. There is no human circumstance more tragic than the persisting existence of a harmful condition for which a remedy is readily available. Family planning, to relate population to world resources, is possible, practical and necessary. Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victims. ...[70][71]
Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955 Main articles: Montgomery Bus Boycott and Jim Crow laws § Public arena
Rosa Parks with King, 1955
In March 1955, a fifteen-year-old school girl in Montgomery, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in compliance with Jim Crow laws, laws in the US South that enforced racial segregation. King was on the committee from the Birmingham AfricanAmerican community that looked into the case; because Colvin was pregnant and unmarried, E.D. Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue.[72] On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat.[73] The Montgomery Bus Boycott, urged and planned by Nixon and led by King, soon followed.[74] The boycott lasted for 385 days,[75] and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed.[76] King was arrested during this campaign, which concluded with a United States District Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses.[77][78] King's role in the bus boycott transformed him into a national figure and the best-known spokesman of the civil rights movement.[79]
Southern Christian Leadership Conference In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Joseph Lowery, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct nonviolent protests in the service of civil rights reform. One of the group's inspirations was the crusades of evangelist Billy Graham, who befriended King after he attended a Graham crusade in New York City in 1957.[80] King led the SCLC until his death.[81] The SCLC's 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom was the first time King addressed a national audience.[82] Other civil rights leaders involved in the SCLC with King included: James
Bevel, Allen Johnson, Curtis W. Harris, Walter E. Fauntroy, C. T. Vivian, Andrew Young, The Freedom Singers, Charles Evers, Cleveland Robinson, Randolph Blackwell, Annie Bell Robinson Devine, Charles Kenzie Steele, Alfred Daniel Williams King, Benjamin Hooks, Aaron Henry and Bayard Rustin.[83] On September 20, 1958, while signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store in Harlem,[84] King narrowly escaped death when Izola Curry, a mentally ill black woman who believed he was conspiring against her with communists, stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. After emergency surgery, King was hospitalized for several weeks, while Curry was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.[85][86] In 1959, he published a short book called The Measure of A Man, which contained his sermons "What is Man?" and "The Dimensions of a Complete Life". The sermons argued for man's need for God's love and criticized the racial injustices of Western civilization.[87] Harry Wachtel—who joined King's legal advisor Clarence B. Jones in defending four ministers of the SCLC in a libel suit over a newspaper advertisement (New York Times Co. v. Sullivan)—founded a tax-exempt fund to cover the expenses of the suit and to assist the nonviolent civil rights movement through a more effective means of fundraising. This organization was named the "Gandhi Society for Human Rights". King served as honorary president for the group. Displeased with the pace of President Kennedy's addressing the issue of segregation, King and the Gandhi Society produced a document in 1962 calling on the President to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and use an Executive Order to deliver a blow for Civil Rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation - Kennedy did not execute the order.[88] Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy with Civil Rights leaders, June 22, 1963
The FBI, under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, began tapping King's telephone in the fall of 1963.[89] Concerned that allegations of communists in the SCLC, if made public, would derail the administration's civil rights initiatives, Kennedy warned King to discontinue the suspect associations, and later felt compelled to issue the written directive authorizing the FBI to wiretap King and other SCLC leaders.[90] J. Edgar Hoover feared Communists were trying to infiltrate the Civil Rights movement, but when no such evidence emerged, the bureau used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of the preeminent leadership position.[91] King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the Civil Rights Movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s.[92][93] King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights.[78] Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.[94][95]
King and the SCLC put into practice many of the principles of the Christian Left and applied the tactics of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the method of protest and the places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic standoffs with segregationist authorities. Sometimes these confrontations turned violent.[96] Throughout his participation in the civil rights movement, King was criticized by many groups. This included opposition by more militant blacks such as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X.[97] Stokely Carmichael was a separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture.[98] Omali Yeshitela urged Africans to remember the history of violent European colonization and how power was not secured by Europeans through integration, but by violence and force.[99]
Albany Movement Main article: Albany Movement
The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia, in November 1961. In December, King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel."[100] The following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. According to King, "that agreement was dishonored and violated by the city" after he left town.[100] King returned in July 1962, and was sentenced to forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine. He chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Police Chief Laurie Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail."[101] It was later acknowledged by the King Center that Billy Graham was the one who bailed King out of jail during this time.[102] After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote nonviolence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts.[103] Though the Albany effort proved a key lesson in tactics for Dr. King and the national civil rights movement,[104] the national media was highly critical of King's role in the defeat, and the SCLC's lack of results contributed to a growing gulf between the organization and the more radical SNCC. After Albany, King sought to choose engagements for the SCLC in which he could control the circumstances, rather than entering into pre-existing situations.[105]
Birmingham campaign
King following his arrest in Birmingham
In April 1963, the SCLC began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice in Birmingham, Alabama. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics, developed in part by Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker. Black people in Birmingham, organizing with the SCLC, occupied public spaces with marches and sit-ins, openly violating laws that they considered unjust. King's intent was to provoke mass arrests and "create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation".[106] However, the campaign's early volunteers did not succeed in shutting down the city, or in drawing media attention to the police's actions. Over the concerns of an uncertain King, SCLC strategist James Bevel changed the course of the campaign by recruiting children and young adults to join in the demonstrations.[107] Newsweek called this strategy a Children's Crusade.[108][109] During the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs against protesters, including children. Footage of the police response was broadcast on national television news and dominated the nation's attention, shocking many white Americans and consolidating black Americans behind the movement.[110] Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. But the campaign was a success: Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs came down, and public places became more open to blacks. King's reputation improved immensely.[108] King was arrested and jailed early in the campaign—his 13th arrest[111] out of 29.[112] From his cell, he composed the now-famous Letter from Birmingham Jail which responds to calls on the movement to pursue legal channels for social change. King argues that the crisis of racism is too urgent, and the current system too entrenched: "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."[113] He points out that the Boston Tea Party, a celebrated act of rebellion in the American colonies, was illegal civil disobedience, and that, conversely, "everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal'".[113] King also expresses his frustration with white moderates and clergymen too timid to oppose an unjust system: I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistic-ally believes he can set the timetable for another man's
freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season".[113]
St. Augustine, Florida In March 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with Robert Hayling's then-controversial movement in St. Augustine, Florida. Hayling's group had been affiliated with the NAACP but was forced out of the organization for advocating armed self-defense alongside nonviolent tactics. Ironically, the pacifist SCLC accepted them.[114] King and the SCLC worked to bring white Northern activists to St. Augustine, including a delegation of rabbis and the 72-year-old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, all of whom were arrested.[115][116] During June, the movement marched nightly through the city, "often facing counter demonstrations by the Klan, and provoking violence that garnered national media attention." Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed. During the course of this movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed.[117]
Selma, Alabama In December 1964, King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, where the SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months.[118] A local judge issued an injunction that barred any gathering of 3 or more people affiliated with the SNCC, SCLC, DCVL, or any of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965.[119]
New York City On February 6, 1964, King delivered the inaugural speech of a lecture series initiated at the New School called "The American Race Crisis". No audio record of his speech has been found, but in August 2013, almost 50 years later, the school discovered an audiotape with 15 minutes of a question-and-answer session that followed King's address. In these remarks, King referred to a conversation he had recently had with Jawaharlal Nehru in which he compared the sad condition of many African Americans to that of India's untouchables.[120]
March on Washington, 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
King, representing the SCLC, was among the leaders of the so-called "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer, Jr., of the Congress of Racial Equality.[121] The primary logistical and strategic organizer was King's colleague Bayard Rustin.[122] For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march.[123][124] Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation. However, the organizers were firm that the march would proceed.[125] With the march going forward, the Kennedys decided it was important to work to ensure its success. President Kennedy was concerned the turnout would be less than 100,000. Therefore, he enlisted the aid of additional church leaders and the UAW union to help mobilize demonstrators for the cause.[126]
King is most famous for his "I Have a Dream" speech, given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
The march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern U.S. and an opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to denounce the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks. However, the group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone.[127] As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington", and the Nation of Islam forbade its members from attending the march.[127][128] The march did, however, make specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers; and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee.[129][130][131] Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success.[132] More than a quarter of a million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington, D.C.'s history.[132] King delivered a 17-minute speech, later known as "I Have a Dream". In the speech's most famous passage—in which he departed from his prepared text, possibly at the prompting of Mahalia Jackson, who shouted behind him, "Tell them about the dream!"[133][134]—King said:[135] I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. "I Have a Dream" came to be regarded as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory.[136] The March, and especially King's speech, helped put civil rights at the top of the agenda of reformers in the United States and facilitated passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[137][138] The original, typewritten copy of the speech, including Dr. King's handwritten notes on it, was discovered in 1984 to be in the hands of George Raveling, the first African-American basketball coach of the University of Iowa. In 1963, Raveling, then 26, was standing near the
podium, and immediately after the oration, impulsively asked King if he could have his copy of the speech. He got it.[139]
Selma Voting Rights Movement and "Bloody Sunday", 1965 Acting on James Bevel's call for a march from Selma to Montgomery, King, Bevel, and the SCLC, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize the march to the state's capital. The first attempt to march on March 7, 1965, was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has become known as Bloody Sunday, and was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the Civil Rights Movement. It was the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King's nonviolence strategy. King, however, was not present.[140]
The civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965
King met with officials in the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration on March 5 in order to request an injunction against any prosecution of the demonstrators. He did not attend the march due to church duties, but he later wrote, "If I had any idea that the state troopers would use the kind of brutality they did, I would have felt compelled to give up my church duties altogether to lead the line."[141] Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.[142] King next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement.[143] The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965.[144][145] At the conclusion of the march on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that became known as "How Long, Not Long". In it, King stated that equal rights for African Americans could not be far away, "because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice".[a][146][147]
Chicago Open Housing Movement, 1966
President Lyndon Johnson with King in 1966
In 1966, after several successes in the South, King, Bevel, and others in the civil rights organizations tried to spread the movement to the North, with Chicago as their first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle class, moved into a building at 1550 S. Hamlin Ave., in the slums of North Lawndale[148] on Chicago's West Side, as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.[149] The SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of the Chicago Freedom Movement.[150] During that spring, several white couple / black couple tests of real estate offices uncovered racial steering: discriminatory processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes.[151] Several larger marches were planned and executed: in Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park, Marquette Park, and others.[150][152][153] Abernathy later wrote that the movement received a worse reception in Chicago than in the South. Marches, especially the one through Marquette Park on August 5, 1966, were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs. Rioting seemed very possible.[154][155] King's beliefs militated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result.[156] King was hit by a brick during one march but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger.[157] When King and his allies returned to the South, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization.[158] Jackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks.[159]
Opposition to the Vietnam War External audio You may watch the speech, "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam", by Martin Luther King here.
King long opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War,[160] but at first avoided the topic in public speeches in order to avoid the interference with civil rights goals that criticism
of President Johnson's policies might have created.[160] However, at the urging of SCLC's former Director of Direct Action and now the head of the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, James Bevel,[161] King eventually agreed to publicly oppose the war as opposition was growing among the American public.[160] In an April 4, 1967, appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence".[162] He spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony"[163] and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today".[164] He also connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change: A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just."[165] King also opposed the Vietnam War because it took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare at home. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death".[165] He stated that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands",[166] and accused the U.S. of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children".[167] King also criticized American opposition to North Vietnam's land reforms.[168] King's opposition cost him significant support among white allies, including President Johnson, Billy Graham,[169] union leaders and powerful publishers.[170] "The press is being stacked against me", King said,[171] complaining of what he described as a double standard that applauded his nonviolence at home, but deplored it when applied "toward little brown Vietnamese children".[172] Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi",[165] and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people".[172][173]
King speaking to an anti-Vietnam war rally at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul on April 27, 1967
The "Beyond Vietnam" speech reflected King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with which he was affiliated.[174][175] King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation, and more frequently expressed his
opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice.[176] He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism.[177][178] In a 1952 letter to Coretta Scott, he said "I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic ..."[179] In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism."[180] King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism", he also rejected communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism", and its "political totalitarianism".[181] King also stated in "Beyond Vietnam" that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar ... it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring".[182] King quoted a United States official who said that, from Vietnam to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution".[182] King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America", and said that the U.S. should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.[182] On April 15, 1967, King participated in and spoke at an anti-war march from New York's Central Park to the United Nations organized by the Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam and initiated by its chairman, James Bevel. At the U.N. King also brought up issues of civil rights and the draft. I have not urged a mechanical fusion of the civil rights and peace movements. There are people who have come to see the moral imperative of equality, but who cannot yet see the moral imperative of world brotherhood. I would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. And I believe everyone has a duty to be in both the civil-rights and peace movements. But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both.[183] Seeing an opportunity to unite civil rights activists and anti-war activists,[161] Bevel convinced King to become even more active in the anti-war effort.[161] Despite his growing public opposition towards the Vietnam War, King was also not fond of the hippie culture which developed from the anti-war movement.[184] In his 1967 Massey Lecture, King stated: The importance of the hippies is not in their unconventional behavior, but in the fact that hundreds of thousands of young people, in turning to a flight from reality, are expressing a profoundly discrediting view on the society they emerge from.[184] On January 13, 1968, the day after President Johnson's State of the Union Address, King called for a large march on Washington against "one of history's most cruel and senseless wars".[185][186] We need to make clear in this political year, to congressmen on both sides of the aisle and to the president of the United States, that we will no longer tolerate, we will no longer vote for men who continue to see the killings of Vietnamese and Americans as the best way of advancing the goals of freedom and self-determination in Southeast Asia.[185][186]
Poor People's Campaign, 1968 Main article: Poor People's Campaign
In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an "economic bill of rights" for poor Americans.[187][188] The campaign was preceded by King's final book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, which laid out his view of how to address social issues and poverty. King quoted from Henry George and George's book, Progress and Poverty, particularly in support of a guaranteed basic income.[189][190][191] The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C., demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States. King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity". He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided "poverty funds with miserliness".[188] His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced".[192] The Poor People's Campaign was controversial even within the civil rights movement. Rustin resigned from the march, stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, that its demands were unrealizable, and that he thought that these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black.[193]
After King's death The plan to set up a shantytown in Washington, D.C., was carried out soon after the April 4 assassination. Criticism of King's plan was subdued in the wake of his death, and the SCLC received an unprecedented wave of donations for the purpose of carrying it out. The campaign officially began in Memphis, on May 2, at the hotel where King was murdered.[194] Thousands of demonstrators arrived on the National Mall and established a camp they called "Resurrection City". They stayed for six weeks.[195]
Assassination and aftermath
The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.
On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of the black sanitary public works employees, represented by AFSCME Local 1733, who had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.[196][197][198] On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane.[199] In the close of the last speech of his career, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following: And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.[200] King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis. Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, testified to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often it was known as the "King-Abernathy suite".[201] According to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony before his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."[202] Then, at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, a shot rang out as King stood on the motel's second-floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder.[203][204] Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.[205] Jackson stated after the shooting that he cradled King's head as King lay on the balcony, but this account was disputed by other colleagues of King's; Jackson later changed his statement to say that he had "reached out" for King.[206] After emergency chest surgery, King died at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m.[207] According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only 39 years old, he "had the heart of a 60 year old", which Branch attributed to the stress of 13 years in the Civil Rights Movement.[208]
Aftermath
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of race riots in Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Baltimore; Louisville; Kansas City; and dozens of other cities.[209][210] Presidential candidate Robert F. "Bobby" Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and urging them to continue King's ideal of nonviolence.[211] James Farmer, Jr., and other civil rights leaders also called for nonviolent action, while the more militant Stokely Carmichael called for a more forceful response.[212] The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers.[213] President Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader.[214] Vice President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of the President, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence.[215] At his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral,[216] a recording of his "Drum Major" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity".[217] His good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", at the funeral.[218] Two months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia.[219] Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later.[220] On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pled guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. He was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.[220][221] Ray later claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec, with the alias "Raoul" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy.[222][223] He spent the remainder of his life attempting, unsuccessfully, to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.[221]
Allegations of conspiracy Ray's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists.[224] Supporters of this assertion say that Ray's confession was given under pressure and that he had been threatened with the death penalty.[221][225] They admit Ray was a thief and burglar, but claim he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon.[223] However, prison records in different U.S. cities have shown that he was incarcerated on numerous occasions for charges of armed robbery.[226] In a 2008 interview with CNN, Jerry Ray, the younger brother of James Earl Ray, claimed that James was smart and was sometimes able to get away with armed robbery. Jerry Ray said that he had assisted his brother on one such robbery. "I never been with nobody as bold as he is," Jerry said. "He just walked in and put that gun on somebody, it was just like it's an everyday thing."[226] Those suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point to the two successive ballistics tests which proved that a rifle similar to Ray's Remington Gamemaster had been the murder weapon. Those tests did not implicate Ray's specific rifle.[221][227] Witnesses near King at the moment of his death said that the shot came from another location. They said that it came from behind thick shrubbery near the boarding house—which had been cut away in the days
following the assassination—and not from the boarding house window.[228] However, Ray's fingerprints were found on various objects (a rifle, a pair of binoculars, articles of clothing, a newspaper) that were left in the bathroom where it was determined the gunfire came from.[226] An examination of the rifle containing Ray's fingerprints also determined that at least one shot was fired from the firearm at the time of the assassination.[226]
Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King's sarcophagus, located on the grounds of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia
In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.[229] Two years later, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found in favor of the King family, finding Jowers to be complicit in a conspiracy against King and that government agencies were party to the assassination.[230][231] William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.[232] In 2000, the U.S. Department of Justice completed the investigation into Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented.[233] A sister of Jowers admitted that he had fabricated the story so he could make $300,000 from selling the story, and she in turn corroborated his story in order to get some money to pay her income tax.[234][235] In 2002, The New York Times reported that a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated King. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way." Wilson provided no evidence to back up his claims.[236] King researchers David Garrow and Gerald Posner disagreed with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King.[237] In 2003, William Pepper published a book about the long investigation and trial, as well as his representation of James Earl Ray in his bid for a trial, laying out the evidence and criticizing other accounts.[238] King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, also disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, "There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man."[239] In 2004, Jesse Jackson stated:
The fact is there were saboteurs to disrupt the march. And within our own organization, we found a very key person who was on the government payroll. So infiltration within, saboteurs from without and the press attacks. ... I will never believe that James Earl Ray had the motive, the money and the mobility to have done it himself. Our government was very involved in setting the stage for and I think the escape route for James Earl Ray.[240]
FBI and King's personal life FBI surveillance and wiretapping FBI director J. Edgar Hoover personally ordered surveillance of King, with the intent to undermine his power as a civil rights leader.[170][241] According to the Church Committee, a 1975 investigation by the U.S. Congress, "From December 1963 until his death in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was the target of an intensive campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 'neutralize' him as an effective civil rights leader."[242] The Bureau received authorization to proceed with wiretapping from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the fall of 1963[243] and informed President John F. Kennedy, both of whom unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Stanley Levison, a New York lawyer who had been involved with Communist Party USA.[244][245] Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones "on a trial basis, for a month or so",[246] Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.[247] The Bureau placed wiretaps on Levison's and King's home and office phones, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country.[244][248] In 1967, Hoover listed the SCLC as a black nationalist hate group, with the instructions: "No opportunity should be missed to exploit through counterintelligence techniques the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups ... to insure the targeted group is disrupted, ridiculed, or discredited."[241][249]
NSA monitoring of King's communications In a secret operation code-named "Minaret", the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored the communications of leading Americans, including King, who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam.[250] A review by the NSA itself concluded that Minaret was "disreputable if not outright illegal."[250]
Allegations of communism For years, Hoover had been suspicious about potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights.[251] Hoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC as it was established (it did not have a full-time executive director until 1960).[91] The investigations were largely superficial until 1962, when the FBI learned that one of King's most trusted advisers was New York City lawyer Stanley Levison.[252] The FBI feared Levison was working as an "agent of influence" over King, in spite of its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party and was no longer associated in business dealings with them.[253] Another King lieutenant, Hunter Pitts O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC).[254] However, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.[242] For his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to communism, stating in a 1965 Playboy interview that "there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida".[255] He argued that Hoover was "following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the Civil Rights Movement was meant to "aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements".[242] Hoover did not believe King's pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was "the most notorious liar in the country".[256] After King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as "the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country".[248] It alleged that he was "knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists".[257] The attempt to prove that King was a communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were happy with their lot but had been stirred up by "communists" and "outside agitators".[258] However, the 1950s and '60s Civil Rights Movement arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. King said that "the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations."[259]
Adultery
Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X, March 26, 1964
Having concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, the FBI shifted to attempting to discredit King through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also engaged in numerous extramarital affairs.[248] Lyndon Johnson once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".[260] Ralph Abernathy stated in his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down that King had a "weakness for women", although they "all understood and believed in the biblical
prohibition against sex outside of marriage. It was just that he had a particularly difficult time with that temptation".[261] In a later interview, Abernathy said that he only wrote the term "womanizing", that he did not specifically say King had extramarital sex and that the infidelities King had were emotional rather than sexual.[262] Abernathy criticized the media for sensationalizing the statements he wrote about King's affairs,[262] such as the allegation that he admitted in his book that King had a sexual affair the night before he was assassinated.[262] In his original wording, Abernathy had claimed he saw King coming out of his room with a lady when he awoke the next morning and later claimed that "he may have been in there discussing and debating and trying to get her to go along with the movement, I don't know."[262] In his 1986 book Bearing the Cross, David Garrow wrote about a number of extramarital affairs, including one woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship ... increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings ... of King's travels." He alleged that King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction". Garrow asserted that King's supposed promiscuity caused him "painful and at times overwhelming guilt".[263] King's wife Coretta appeared to have accepted his affairs with equanimity, saying once that "all that other business just doesn't have a place in the very high level relationship we enjoyed."[264] Shortly after Bearing the Cross was released, civil rights author Howell Raines gave the book a positive review but opined that Garrow's allegations about King's sex life were "sensational" and stated that Garrow was "amassing facts rather than analyzing them".[265] The FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family.[266] The Bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work.[267] One anonymous letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part:
The so-called "suicide letter",[268] mailed anonymously by the FBI
The American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it
is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant [sic]). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation.[269] A tape recording of several of King's extramarital liaisons, excerpted from FBI wiretaps, accompanied the letter.[270] King interpreted this package as an attempt to drive him to suicide,[271] although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to "convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC".[242] King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.[248] Judge John Lewis Smith, Jr., in 1977 ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027.[272]
Police observation during the assassination Across from the Lorraine Motel, next to the boarding house in which Ray was staying, was a fire station. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance.[273] Agents were watching King at the time he was shot.[274] Immediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel. Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first aid to King.[275] The antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination.[276]
Legacy
President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Among the guests behind him is Martin Luther King.
Martin Luther King, Jr., statue over the west entrance of Westminster Abbey, installed in 1998
Protesters at the 2012 Republican National Convention display Dr. King's words and image on a banner
King's main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the U.S. Just days after King's assassination, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1968.[277] Title VIII of the Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, prohibited discrimination in housing and housingrelated transactions on the basis of race, religion, or national origin (later expanded to include sex, familial status, and disability). This legislation was seen as a tribute to King's struggle in his final years to combat residential discrimination in the U.S.[277] Internationally, King's legacy includes influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and Civil Rights Movement in South Africa.[278][279] King's work was cited by and served as an inspiration for South African leader Albert Lutuli, who fought for racial justice in his country and was later awarded the Nobel Prize.[280] The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood as they lived in a
predominately white community.[281] King has become a national icon in the history of American liberalism and American progressivism.[282] King's wife, Coretta Scott King, followed in her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, she established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide.[283] Their son, Dexter King, serves as the center's chairman.[284][285] Daughter Yolanda King, who died in 2007, was a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training.[286] Even within the King family, members disagree about his religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta said publicly that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights.[287] However, his youngest child, Bernice King, has said publicly that he would have been opposed to gay marriage.[288] On February 4, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in speaking about how he wished to be remembered after his death, King stated: I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.[212][289]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Main article: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Beginning in 1971, cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, and states established annual holidays to honor King.[290] At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday.[291][292] On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states.[293] Arizona (1992), New Hampshire (1999) and Utah (2000) were the last three states to recognized the holiday. Utah previously celebrated the holiday at the same time but under the name Human Rights Day.[294]
Liturgical commemorations King is remembered as a martyr by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with an annual feast day on the anniversary of his death, April 4.[295] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates King liturgically on the anniversary of his birth, January 15.[296]
UK legacy and The Martin Luther King Peace Committee In the United Kingdom, The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee[297] exists to honour King's legacy, as represented by his final visit to the UK to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University in 1967.[298] The Peace Committee operates out of the chaplaincies of the city's two universities, Northumbria and Newcastle, both of which remain centres for the study of Martin Luther King and the US Civil Rights Movement. Inspired by King's vision, it undertakes a range of activities across the UK as it seeks to "build cultures of peace."
Awards and recognition
Martin Luther King, Jr., showing his medallion received from Mayor Wagner
Statue of King in Birmingham's Kelly Ingram Park
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where King ministered, was renamed Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in 1978.
King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities.[299] On October 14, 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in the U.S.[300] In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty".[299][301] In his acceptance remarks, King said, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free."[302] In 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.[303] Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story.[304] In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the
Margaret Sanger Award for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity".[305] Also in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[306] In November 1967 he made a 24 hour trip to the United Kingdom to receive an honorary degree from Newcastle University, being the first African American to be so honoured by Newcastle.[307] In a moving impromptu acceptance speech,[308] he said There are three urgent and indeed great problems that we face not only in the United States of America but all over the world today. That is the problem of racism, the problem of poverty and the problem of war. In 1971 he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam.[309] In 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter. The citation read: Martin Luther King, Jr., was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet.[310] King and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.[311] King was second in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century.[312] In 1963, he was named Time Person of the Year, and in 2000, he was voted sixth in an online "Person of the Century" poll by the same magazine.[313] King placed third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL.[314]
Memorials and eponymous places and buildings
Martin Luther King Jr. Street at Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem, Israel
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Yerba Buena Gardens
There are numerous memorials to King in the United States, including:
More than 730 cities in the United States have streets named after King.[315] King County, Washington, rededicated its name in his honor in 1986, and changed its logo to an image of his face in 2007.[316] The city government center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of King.[317] In 1980, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated King's boyhood home in Atlanta and several nearby buildings the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site.[318] A bust of King was added to the "gallery of notables" in the United States Capitol in 1986, portraying him in a "restful, nonspeaking pose."[319] The beginning words of King's "I Have a Dream" speech are etched on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, at the place where King stood during that speech.[320] These words from the speech—"five short lines of text carved into the granite on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial"—were etched in 2003, on the 40th anniversary of the march to Washington, by stone carver Andy Del Gallo, after a law was passed by Congress providing authorization for the inscription.[320] In 1996, Congress authorized the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, of which King is still a member, to establish a foundation to manage fund raising and design of a national Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.[321] King was the first African American and the fourth non-president honored with his own memorial in the National Mall area.[322] The memorial opened in August 2011[323] and is administered by the National Park Service.[324] The address of the monument, 1964 Independence Avenue, S.W., commemorates the year that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.[325] The Landmark for Peace Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana[318] The Homage to King sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia[318] The Dream sculpture in Portland, Oregon The National Civil Rights Museum, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where King died[318] Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma, Alabama[318] On October 11, 2015, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a proposed "Freedom Bell" may be installed atop Stone Mountain honoring King and his I Have A Dream speech, specifically the line "Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia."[326]
Numerous other memorials honor him around the world, including:
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Church in Debrecen, Hungary[318] The King-Luthuli Transformation Center in Johannesburg, South Africa[318] The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Forest in Israel's Southern Galilee region (along with the Coretta Scott King Forest in Biriya Forest, Israel)[318] The Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Accra, Ghana[318]
The Gandhi-King Plaza (garden), at the India International Center in New Delhi, India
Bibliography
Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958) ISBN 978-0-06-250490-6 The Measure of a Man (1959) ISBN 978-0-8006-0877-4 Strength to Love (1963) ISBN 978-0-8006-9740-2 Why We Can't Wait (1964) ISBN 978-0-8070-0112-7 Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) ISBN 978-0-8070-0571-2 The Trumpet of Conscience (1968) ISBN 978-0-8070-0170-7 A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1986) ISBN 978-0-06-250931-4 The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson ISBN 978-0-44667650-2 "All Labor Has Dignity" (2011) ed. Michael Honey ISBN 978-0-8070-8600-1 "Thou, Dear God": Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits Collection of Dr. King's prayers. (2011), ed. Dr. Lewis Baldwin ISBN 978-0-8070-8603-2 MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image Photographed by Bob Adelman, introduced by Charles Johnson ISBN 978-0-8070-0316-9
Eckhart von Hochheim O.P. (c. 1260 – c. 1328[1]), commonly known as Meister Eckhart [ˈmaɪ̯ stɐ ˈɛkʰaʀt], was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Gotha, in the Landgraviate of Thuringia in the Holy Roman Empire.[note 1] Eckhart came into prominence during the Avignon Papacy, at a time of increased tensions between monastic orders, diocesan clergy, the Franciscan Order, and Eckhart's Dominican Order of Preachers. In later life, he was accused of heresy and brought up before the local Franciscan-led Inquisition, and tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII.[note 2] He seems to have died before his verdict was received.[citation needed][note 3] He was well known for his work with pious lay groups such as the Friends of God and was succeeded by his more circumspect disciples John Tauler and Henry Suso.[citation needed] Since the 19th century, he has received renewed attention. He has acquired a status as a great mystic within contemporary popular spirituality, as well as considerable interest by scholars situating him within the medieval scholastic and philosophical tradition.[2]
“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.” ― Meister Eckhart, Sermons of Meister Eckhart “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” ― Meister Eckhart “Spirituality is not to be learned by flight from the world, or by running away from things, or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things and find God there.” ― Meister Eckhart “Wisdom consists in doing the next thing you have to do, doing it with your whole heart, and finding delight in doing it.” “Some people prefer solitude. They say their peace of mind depends on this. Others say they would be better off in church. If you do well, you do well wherever you are. If you fail, you fail wherever you are. Your surroundings don't matter. God is with you everywhere -- in the market place as well as in seclusion or in the church. If you look for nothing but God, nothing or no one can disturb you. God is not distracted by a multitude of things. Nor can we be.”
Biography Youth Eckhart was probably born in the village of Tambach, near Gotha, in the Landgraviate of Thuringia,[3] perhaps between 1250 and 1260.[4] It was previously asserted that he was born to a noble family of landowners, but this originated in a misinterpretation of the archives of the period.[5] In reality, little is known about his family and early life. There is no authority for giving him the Christian name of Johannes which sometimes appears in biographical sketches:[6] his Christian name was Eckhart; his surname was von Hochheim.[7]
Church career
Predigerkirche
Eckhart joined the Dominicans at Erfurt, probably when he was about eighteen and it is assumed he studied at Cologne.[8] He may have also studied at the University of Paris, either before or after his time in Cologne.[9] The first solid evidence we have for his life is when on 18 April 1294, as a baccalaureus (lecturer) on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, a post to which he had presumably been appointed in 1293, he preached the Easter Sermon (the Sermo Paschalis) at the Dominican convent of St. Jacques in Paris. In late 1294, Eckhart was made Prior at Erfurt and Provincial of Thuringia. His earliest vernacular work, Reden der Unterweisung (The Talks of Instructions/Counsels on Discernment), a series of talks delivered to Dominican novices, dates from this time (c1295-1298).[10] In 1302, he was sent to Paris to take up the external Dominican chair of theology. He remained there till 1303. The short Parisian Questions date from this time.[11] In late 1303 Eckhart returned to Erfurt, and was made Provincial for Saxony, a province which reached at that time from the Netherlands to Livonia. He therefore had responsibility for forty-seven convents in this region. Complaints made against him and the provincial of Teutonia[disambiguation needed] at the general chapter held in Paris in 1306, concerning irregularities among the ternaries, must have been trivial, because the general, Aymeric of Piacenza, appointed him in the following year his vicar-general for Bohemia with full power to set the demoralized monasteries there in order. Eckhart was Provincial for Saxony until 1311, during which time he founded three convents for women there.[12] On 14 May 1311 Eckhart was appointed by the general chapter held at Naples as teacher at Paris. To be invited back to Paris for a second stint as magister was a rare privilege, previously granted only to Thomas Aquinas.[13] Eckhart stayed in Paris for two academic years, until the summer of 1313, living in the same house as William of Paris. Then follows a long period of which it is known only that he spent part of the time at Strasbourg.[14] It is unclear what specific office he held there: he seems chiefly to have been concerned with spiritual direction and with preaching in convents of Dominicans.[15] A passage in a chronicle of the year 1320, extant in manuscript (cf. Wilhelm Preger, i. 352– 399), speaks of a prior Eckhart at Frankfurt who was suspected of heresy, and some have referred this to Meister Eckhart. It is unusual that a man under suspicion of heresy would have been appointed teacher in one of the most famous schools of the order, but Eckhart's distinctive expository style could well have already been under scrutiny by his Franciscan detractors.
Accusation of heresy
The Meister Eckhart portal of the Erfurt Church
The Meister Eckhart portal of the Erfurt Church, quoting John 1:5
In late 1323 or early 1324 Eckhart left Strasbourg for the Dominican house at Cologne. It is not clear exactly what he did here, though part of his time may have been spent teaching at the prestigious Studium in the city. Eckhart also continued to preach, addressing his sermons during a time of disarray among the clergy and monastic orders, rapid growth of numerous pious lay groups, and the Inquisition's continuing concerns over heretical movements throughout Europe. It appears that some of the Dominican authorities already had concerns about Eckhart's teaching. The Dominican General Chapter held in Venice in the spring of 1325 had spoken out against "friars in Teutonia who say things in their sermons that can easily lead simple and uneducated people into error".[16] This concern (or perhaps concerns held by the archbishop of Cologne, Henry of Virneburg) may have been why Nicholas of Strasburg, to whom the pope had in 1325 given the temporary charge of the Dominican monasteries in Germany, conducted an investigation of Eckhart's orthodoxy. Nicholas presented a list of suspect
passages from the Book of Consolation to Eckhart, who responded sometime between August 1325 and January 1326 with a lost treatise Requisitus, which satisfied his immediate superiors of his orthodoxy.[16] Despite this assurance, however, the archbishop in 1326 ordered an inquisitorial process.[15][17] At this point he issued a Vindicatory Document, providing chapter and verse of what he had been taught.[18] Throughout the difficult months of late 1326 Eckhart had the full support of the local Dominican authorities, as evident in Nicholas of Strasbourg's three official protests against the actions of the inquisitors in January 1327.[19] On 13 February 1327, before the archbishop's inquisitors pronounced their sentence on Eckhart, Eckhart preached a sermon in the Dominican church at Cologne, and then had his secretary read out a public protestation of his innocence. He stated in his protest that he had always detested everything wrong, and should anything of the kind be found in his writings, he now retracts. Eckhart himself translated the text into German, so that his audience, the vernacular public, could understand it. The verdict then seems to have gone against Eckhart. Eckhart denied competence and authority to the inquisitors and the archbishop, and appealed to the Pope against the verdict.[17] He then in the spring of 1327 set off for Avignon. In Avignon, Pope John XXII seems to have set up two tribunals to inquire into the case, one of theologians and the other of cardinals.[19] Evidence of this process is thin. However, it is known that the commissions reduced the 150 suspect articles down to 28; the document known as the Votum Avenionense gives, in scholastic fashion, the twenty-eight articles, Eckhart's defence of each, and the rebuttal of the commissioners.[19] On 30 April 1328, the pope wrote to Bishop Henry of Virneburg that the case against Eckhart was moving ahead, but added that Eckhart had already died (modern scholarship suggests he may have died on 28 January 1328).[20] The papal commission eventually confirmed (albeit in modified form) the decision of the Cologne commission against Eckhart.[15] Pope John XXII issued a bull (In agro dominico), 27 March 1329, in which a series of statements from Eckhart is characterized as heretical; another as suspected of heresy.[21] At the close, it is stated that Eckhart recanted before his death everything which he had falsely taught, by subjecting himself and his writing to the decision of the Apostolic See. It is possible that the Pope's unusual decision to issue the bull, despite the death of Eckhart (and the fact that Eckhart was not being personally condemned as a heretic), was due to the pope's fear of the growing problem of mystical heresy, and pressure from his ally Henry II to bring the case to a definite conclusion.[22]
Influence Eckhart was one of the most influential 13th-century Christian Neoplatonists in his day, and remained widely read in the later Middle Ages.[23] Some early twentieth-century writers believed that Eckhart's work was forgotten by his fellow Dominicans soon after his death. In 1960 however, a manuscript ("in agro dominico") was discovered containing six hundred excerpts from Eckhart, clearly deriving from an original made in the Cologne Dominican convent after the promulgation of the bull condemning Eckhart's writings, as notations from the bull are inserted into the manuscript.[24] The manuscript came into the possession of the Carthusians in Basel, demonstrating that some Dominicans and Carthusians had continued to read Eckhart's work.
It is also clear that Nicholas of Cusa, Archbishop of Cologne in the 1430s and 1440s, engaged in extensive study of Eckhart. He assembled, and carefully annotated a surviving collection of Eckhart's Latin works. [25] As Eckhart was the only medieval theologian tried before the Inquisition as a heretic, the subsequent (1329) condemnation of excerpts from his works cast a shadow over his reputation for some, but followers of Eckhart in the lay group Friends of God existed in communities across the region and carried on his ideas under the leadership of such priests as John Tauler and Henry Suso.[26]
Johannes Tauler and Rulman Merswin Eckhart is considered by some to have been the inspirational "layman" referred to in Johannes Tauler's and Rulman Merswin's later writings in Strasbourg where he is known to have spent time (although it is doubtful that he authored the simplistic "Book of the Nine Rocks" published by Merswin and attributed to the layman knight from the north). On the other hand most scholars consider the "layman" to be a pure fiction invented by Rulman Merswin to hide his authorship because of the intimidating tactics of the Inquisition at the time.[citation needed]
Theologia Germanica and the Reformation It has been suspected that his practical communication of the mystical path is behind the influential 14th-century "anonymous" Theologia Germanica which was disseminated after his disappearance. According to the medieval introduction of the document, its author was an unnamed member of the Teutonic Order of Knights living in Frankfurt.[citation needed] The lack of imprimatur from the Church and anonymity of the author of the Theologia germanica did not lessen its influence for the next two centuries — including Martin Luther at the peak of public and clerical resistance to Catholic indulgences — and was viewed by some historians of the early 20th century as pivotal in provoking Luther's actions and the subsequent Protestant Reformation.[citation needed] The following quote from the Theologia Germanica depicts the conflict between worldly and ecclesiastical affairs:[citation needed] The two eyes of the soul of man cannot both perform their work at once: but if the soul shall see with the right eye into eternity, then the left eye must close itself and refrain from working, and be as though it were dead. For if the left eye be fulfilling its office toward outward things, that is holding converse with time and the creatures; then must the right eye be hindered in its working; that is, in its contemplation. Therefore, whosoever will have the one must let the other go; for ‘no man can serve two masters.’"[27]
Obscurity Eckhart was largely forgotten from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, barring occasional interest from thinkers such as Angelus Silesius (1627-1677).[28] For centuries none of Eckhart's writings were known except a number of sermons, found in the old editions of Johann Tauler's sermons, published by Kachelouen (Leipzig, 1498) and by Adam Petri (Basel, 1521 and 1522).
Rediscovery Interest in Eckhart’s works was revived in the early nineteenth century, especially by German Romantics and Idealist philosophers.[29][30] Franz von Baader, for instance, studied Eckhart in the early 19th century.[31][32] Franz Pfeiffer's publication in 1857 of Eckhart's German sermons and treatises added greatly to this interest.[33] A second important figure in the later nineteenth-century for the recovery of Eckhart's works was Heinrich Seuse Denifle, who was the first to recover Eckhart's Latin works, from 1886 onwards.[34] During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, much Catholic interest in Eckhart was concerned with the consistency of his thought in relation to Neoscholastic thought – in others words, to see whether Eckhart's thought could be seen to be essentially in conformity with orthodoxy as represented by his fellow Dominican Thomas Aquinas.[35] Since the mid nineteenth century scholars have questioned which of the many pieces attributed to Eckhart should be considered genuine, and whether greater weight should be given to works written in the vernacular, or Latin. Although the vernacular works survive today in over 200 manuscripts, the Latin writings are only found in a handful of manuscripts. Denifle and others have proposed that the Latin treatises, which Eckhart prepared for publication very carefully, were essential to a full understanding of Eckhart.[36] In 1923, Eckhart's Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense (also known as the Rechtsfertigung, or Vindicatory Document) was re-published. The Defense recorded Eckhart's responses against two of the of Inquisitional proceedings brought against him at Cologne, and details of the circumstances of Eckhart's trial. The Defense's extracts from vernacular sermons and treatises described by Eckhart as his own, authenticated a number of the vernacular works.[37] Although questions remain about the authenticity of some vernacular works, there is no dispute about the genuine character of the Latin texts presented in the critical edition.[38]
Works
Manuscript Soest, Stadtarchiv und Wissenschaftliche Stadtbibliothek, Codex Nr. 33, folium 57 verso, a–b
The publication of the modern critical edition of Eckhart's German and Latin works began in 1936, and is nearly complete.[39]
Latin works One difficulty with Eckhart's Latin writings is that they clearly represent only a small portion of what he planned to write. Eckhart describes his plans to write a vast Opus Tripartitum (Three-Part Work). Unfortunately, all that exists today of the first Part, the Work of Propositions, is the Prologue illustrating the first proposition (with Eckhart intending the first part alone to consist of over one thousand propositions).[40] The second Part, called the Work of Questions, no longer exists. The third Part, the Work of Commentaries, is the major surviving Latin work by Eckhart, consisting of a Prologue, six commentaries, and fifty-six sermons.[41] It used to be thought that this work was begun while Eckhart was in Paris between 1311 and 1313; however, recent manuscript discoveries mean that much of what survives must be dated to before 1310.[42] The surviving Latin works are therefore:
The early Quaestiones Parisiensis (Parisian Questions).[43]
Prologus generalis in Opus tripartitium (General Prologue to the Three-Part Work).[44] Prologus in Opus propositionum (Prologue to the Work of Propositions).[45] Prologus in Opus expositionum (Prologue to the Work of Commentaries).[46]
Expositio Libri Genesis (Commentary on the Book of Genesis).[47] Liber Parabolorum Genesis (Book of the Parables of Genesis).[48] Expositio Libri Exodi (Commentary on the Book of Exodus).[49] Expositio Libri Sapientiae (Commentary on the Book of Wisdom).[50] Sermones et Lectiones super Ecclesiastici c.24:23-31 (Sermons and Lectures on the Twentyfourth chapter of Ecclesiasticus).[51] Fragments of the Commentary on the Song of Songs survive Expositio sancti Evangelii secundum Iohannem (Commentary on John)[52]
Various sermons,[53] including some preserved in the collection Paradisus anime intelligentis (Paradise of the Intelligent Soul/Paradise of the Intellectual Soul).[54] A brief treatise on the Lord's Prayer, largely an anthology culled from earlier authorities The Defense.[55] Although not composed by Eckhart, also relevant are the Vatican archive materials relating to Eckhart's trial, the Votum theologicum (or Opinion) of the Avignon commission who investigated Eckhart, and the bull In agro dominico.
Vernacular works Questions concerning the authenticity of the Middle High German texts attributed to Eckhart are much greater than for the Latin texts. The problems involve not only whether a particular sermon or treatise is to be judged authentic or pseudonymous, but also, given the large number of manuscripts and the fragmentary condition of many of them, whether it is even
possible to establish the text for some of the pieces accepted as genuine.[56] Eckhart's sermons are versions written down by others from memory or from notes, meaning that the possibility for error was much greater than for the carefully written Latin treatises. The critical edition of Eckhart's works accepts 86 sermons as genuine. Of these, Sermons 116b are proved authentic by direct citation in the Defense. Sermons 17-24 have such close textual affinities with Latin sermons recognised as genuine that they are accepted. Sermons 25-86 are harder to verify, and judgements have been made on the basis of style and content.[57] When Franz Pfeiffer published his edition of Eckhart's works in 1857, he included seventeen vernacular treatises he considered to be written by Eckhart. Modern scholarship is much more cautious, however, and the critical edition accepts only four of Eckhart's vernacular treatises as genuine:
The longest of these, the Reden der Unterweisung (Counsels on Discernment/Discourses on Instruction/Talks of Instruction),[58] is probably Eckhart's earliest surviving work, a set of spiritual instructions that he gave to young Dominicans in the 1290s. It was clearly a popular work, with fifty-one manuscripts known.[59] A second vernacular treatise, the Liber Benedictus (Book 'Benedictus' ), in fact consists of two related treatises - firstly Daz buoch der götlîchen trœstunge(The Book of the Divine Consolation),[60] and secondly a sermon entitled Von dem edeln menschen (Of the Nobleman).[61] The final vernacular treatise accepted as genuine by the critical edition is entitled Vom Abgescheidenheit (On Detachment).[62] However, this treatise is generally today not thought to be written by Eckhart.[63]
Teachings Writings Eckhart wrote on metaphysics and spiritual psychology, drawing extensively on mythic imagery, and was notable for his sermons communicating the metaphorical content of the gospels to laymen and clergy alike. His work has influenced major German philosophers.[citation needed] As Eckhart said in his trial defence, his sermons were meant to inspire in listeners the desire above all to do some good.[citation needed] In this, he frequently used unusual language or seemed to stray from the path of orthodoxy, which made him suspect to the Church during the tension-filled years of the Avignon Papacy.[citation needed]
Sermons Although he was an accomplished academic theologian, Eckhart's best-remembered works are his highly unusual sermons in the vernacular. Eckhart as a preaching friar attempted to guide his flock, as well as monks and nuns under his jurisdiction with practical sermons on spiritual/psychological transformation and New Testament metaphorical content related to the creative power inherent in disinterest (dispassion or detachment).[citation needed]
The central theme of Eckhart's German sermons is the presence of God in the individual soul, and the dignity of the soul of the just man. Although he elaborated on this theme, he rarely departed from it. In one sermon, Eckhart gives the following summary of his message:[citation needed]
When I preach, I usually speak of detachment and say that a man should be empty of self and all things; and secondly, that he should be reconstructed in the simple good that God is; and thirdly, that he should consider the great aristocracy which God has set up in the soul, such that by means of it man may wonderfully attain to God; and fourthly, of the purity of the divine nature.[64]
Theology In Eckhart's vision, God is primarily fecund. Out of overabundance of love the fertile God gives birth to the Son, the Word in all of us. Clearly,[note 4] this is rooted in the Neoplatonic notion of "ebullience; boiling over" of the One that cannot hold back its abundance of Being. Eckhart had imagined the creation not as a "compulsory" overflowing (a metaphor based on a common hydrodynamic picture), but as the free act of will of the triune nature of Deity (refer Trinitarianism). Another bold assertion is Eckhart's distinction between God and Godhead (Gottheit in German, meaning Godhood or Godliness, state of being God). These notions had been present in Pseudo-Dionysius's writings and John the Scot's De divisione naturae, but Eckhart, with characteristic vigor and audacity, reshaped the germinal metaphors into profound images of polarity between the Unmanifest and Manifest Absolute.
Modern popularisation Theology Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (born 1940) is an American theologian.[65] Formerly a priest and a member of the Dominican Order within the Roman Catholic Church, Fox was an early and influential exponent of a movement that came to be known as Creation Spirituality. The movement draws inspiration from the wisdom traditions of Christian scriptures, and the philosophies of such medieval Catholic visionaries as Hildegard of Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Saint Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Dante Alighieri, Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa, and others. Fox has written a number of articles on Eckhart,[citation needed] and a book titled "Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart's Creation Spirituality in New Translation."[66]
Modern philosophy The French philosopher Jacques Derrida distingushes Eckhart's Negative Theology from his own concept of différance although John D. Caputo in his influential 'The Tears and Prayers of Jacques Derrida' emphasises the importance of that tradition for this thought.[67]
Modern spirituality
Meister Eckhart has become one of the timeless heroes of modern spirituality, which thrives on an all-inclusive syncretism.[68] This syncretism started with the colonisation of Asia, and the search of similarities between eastern and western religions.[69] Western monotheism was projected onto eastern religiosity by western orientalists, trying to accommodate eastern religiosity to a western understanding, whereafter Asian intellectuals used these projections as a starting point to propose the superiority of those eastern religions.[69] Early on, the figure of Meister Eckhart has played a role in these developments and exchanges.[69] Renewed academic attention to Eckhart has attracted favorable attention to his work from contemporary non-Christian mystics. Eckhart's most famous single quote, "The Eye with which I see God is the same Eye with which God sees me", is commonly cited by thinkers within neopaganism and ultimatist Buddhism as a point of contact between these traditions and Christian mysticism. The popular writer Eckhart Tolle changed his name in acknowledgement of Eckhart's influence on his philosophy. Schopenhauer
The first translation of Upanishads appeared in two parts in 1801 and 1802.[69] The 19thcentury philosopher Schopenhauer was influenced by the early translations of the Upanishads, which he called "the consolation of my life".[70][note 5] Schopenhauer compared Eckhart's views to the teachings of Indian, Christian and Islamic mystics and ascetics: If we turn from the forms, produced by external circumstances, and go to the root of things, we shall find that Sakyamuni and Meister Eckhart teach the same thing; only that the former dared to express his ideas plainly and positively, whereas Eckhart is obliged to clothe them in the garment of the Christian myth, and to adapt his expressions thereto.[71] Schopenhauer also stated: Buddha, Eckhart and I all teach the same.[72] Theosophical Society
A major force in the mutual influence of eastern and western ideas and religiosity was the Theosophical Society.,[73][74] which also incorporated Eckhart in its notion of Theosophy.[75] It searched for ancient wisdom in the east, spreading eastern religious ideas in the west.[76] One of its salient features was the belief in "Masters of Wisdom"[77][note 6], "beings, human or once human, who have transcended the normal frontiers of knowledge, and who make their wisdom available to others".[77] The Theosophical Society also spread western ideas in the east, aiding a modernisation of eastern traditions, and contributing to a growing nationalism in the Asian colonies.[78] Neo-Vedanta
The Theosophical Society had a major influence on Hindu reform movements.[74][note 7] A major proponent of this "neo-Hinduism", also called "neo-Vedanta",[80] was Vivekananda[81][82] (1863-1902) who popularised his modernised interpretation[83] of Advaita Vedanta in the 19th and early 20th century in both India and the west,[82] emphasising anubhava ("personal experience"[84]) over scriptural authority.[84] Vivekanda's teachings have been compared to Eckhart's teachings.[85][86]
In the 20th century, Eckhart's thoughts were also compared to Shankara's Advaita Vedanta by Rudolf Otto in his Mysticism East and West.[87] According to King, the aim of this work was to redeem Eckhart's mysticism in Protestant circles,[88] attempting "to establish the superiority of the German mysticism of Eckhart over the Indian mysticism of Sankara".[72] Buddhist Modernism
The Theosophical Society also had a major influence on Buddhist modernism,[78] and the spread of this modernised Buddhism in the west.[78] Along with H. S. Olcott and Anagarika Dharmapala, Helena P. Blavatsky was instrumental in the Western transmission and revival of Theravada Buddhism.[89][90][91] In 1891, Karl Eugen Neumann, who translated large parts of the Tripitaka, found parallels between Eckhart and Buddhism,[92] which he published in Zwei buddhistische Suttas und ein Traktat Meister Eckharts ("Two Buddhist Suttas and a treatise of Meister Eckhart"). D.T. Suzuki, who joined the Theosophical Society Adyar and was an active Theosophist,[93][94][95] discerned parallels between Eckhart's teachings and Zen Buddhism in his Mysticism:Christian and Buddhist,[96] drawing similarities between Eckhart's "pure nothingness" (ein bloss niht) and sunyata.[97] Shizuteru Ueda, a third generation Kyoto School philosopher and scholar in medieval philosophy showed similarities between Eckhart's soteriology and Zen Buddhism in an article.[98] Reiner Schurmann, a Professor of Philosophy, while agreeing with Daisetz T. Suzuki that there exist certain similarities between Zen Buddhism and Meister Eckhart's teaching, also disputed Suzuki's contention that the ideas expounded in Eckhart's sermons closely approach Buddhist thought, "so closely indeed, that one could stamp them almost definitely as coming out of Buddhist speculations".[96] Schurmann's several clarifications included: 1. On the question of "Time" and Eckhart's view (claimed as parallel to Buddhism in reducing awakening to instantaneity) that the birth of the Word in the ground of the mind must accomplish itself in an instant, in "the eternal now", that in fact Eckhart in this respect is rooted directly in the catechisis of the Fathers of the Church rather than merely derived from Buddhism;[96] 2. On the question of "Isness" and Suzuki's contention that the "Christian experiences are not after all different from those of the Buddhist; terminology is all that divides us", that in Eckhart "the Godhead's istigkeit [translated as "isness" by Suzuki] is a negation of all quiddities; it says that God, rather than non-being, is at the heart of all things" thereby demonstrating with Eckhart's theocentrism that "the istigkeit of the Godhead and the isness of a thing then refer to two opposite experiences in Meister Eckhart and Suzuki: in the former, to God, and in the latter, to `our ordinary state of the mind'" and Buddhism's attempts to think "pure nothingness";[99] 3. On the question of "Emptiness" and Eckhart's view (claimed as parallel to Buddhist emphasis "on the emptiness of all 'composite things'") that only a perfectly released person, devoid of all, comprehends, "seizes", God, that the Buddhist "emptiness" seems to concern man's relation to things while Eckhart's concern is with what is "at the end of the road opened by detachment [which is] the mind espouses the very movement of the divine dehiscence; it does what the Godhead does: it lets all things be; not only must God also abandon all of his own—names and attributes if he is to reach into the ground of the mind (this is already a step beyond the recognition of the emptiness of all composite things), but God's essential being - releasement - becomes the being of a released man."[100]
Psychoanalysis The notable humanistic psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm was another scholar who brought renewed attention in the west to Eckhart's writings, drawing upon many of the latters themes in his large corpus of work. Eckhart was a significant influence in developing United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld's conception of spiritual growth through selfless service to humanity, as detailed in his book of contemplations called Vägmärken ('Markings').[note 8]
In popular culture Rubin's Jacob's Ladder
In Jacob's Ladder, Louis, the main character's friend, attributes the following quote to Eckhart: You know what he [Eckhart] said? The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life; your memories, your attachments. They burn 'em all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. [...] If you're frightened of dying and holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth.[101][citation needed] Lyacos's Z213: Exit
In Z213: Exit, by Dimitris Lyacos the same quote attributed to Eckhart, appears in a slightly different wording: [...]your own are burning and your memories and you don't want to leave them. Everything will burn to the end, you suffer, but nobody is punishing you, they are just setting your soul free. Don't be afraid because while you fear death they will rend your soul like demons. Only calm down and you will see the angels who are setting you free and then you will be free.[102] Davidson's The Gargoyle
In the book The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, Eckhart is mentioned in a story Marianne Engel recounts to the (unnamed) protagonist about her days in the Engelthal Monastery: [...] Meister Eckhart would not even admit that God was good [...] Eckhart's position was that anything that was good can become better, and whatever may become better may become best. God cannot be referred to as "good", "better", or best because He is above all things. If a man says that God is wise, the man is lying because anything that is wise can become wiser. Anything that a man might say about God is incorrect, even calling Him by the name of God. God is "superessential nothingness" and "transcendent Being" [...] beyond all words and beyond all understanding. The best a man can do is remain silent, because anytime he prates on about God, he is committing the sin of lying. The true master knows that if he had a God he could understand, He would never hold Him to be God.[103]
Salinger's Franny and Zooey
Eckhart is also referenced in J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey. In a letter to Zooey, Buddy says, I can't help thinking you'd make a damn site better-adjusted actor if Seymour and I hadn't thrown in the Upanishads and the Diamond Sutra and Eckhart and all our other old loves with the rest of your recommended reading when you were small.[104] Adams's Harmonielehre
The third movement of John Adams's Harmonielehre symphony (1985) is titled 'Meister Eckhart and Quackie', which imagines the mystic floating through space with the composer's daughter Emily (nicknamed Quackie) on his back whispering secrets of grace in his ear.[105]
Eckhart as a mystic Since the 1960s debate has been going on in Germany whether Eckhart should be called a "mystic".[106] The philosopher Karl Albert had already argued that Eckhart had to be placed in the tradition of philosophical mysticism of Parmenides, Plato, Plotinus, Porphyry, Proclus and other neo-Platonistic thinkers.[107] Heribert Fischer argued in the 1960s that Eckhart was a mediaeval theologian.[107] Kurt Flasch, a member of the so-called Bochum-school of mediaeval philosophy,[107] strongly reacted against the influence of New Age mysticism and "all kinds of emotional subjective mysticism", arguing for the need to free Eckhart from "the Mystical Flood".[107] He sees Eckhart strictly as a philosopher. Flasch argues that the opposition between "mystic" and "scholastic" is not relevant because this mysticism (in Eckhart's context) is penetrated by the spirit of the University, in which it occurred.[citation needed] According to Hackett, Eckhart is to be understood as an "original hermeneutical thinker in the Latin tradition".[107] To understand Eckhart, he has to be properly placed within the western philosophical tradition of which he was a part. [108]
Rehabilitation Eckhart's status in the contemporary Catholic Church has been uncertain. The Dominican Order pressed in the last decade of the 20th century for his full rehabilitation and confirmation of his theological orthodoxy. Pope John Paul II voiced favorable opinion on this initiative, even going as far as quoting from Eckhart's writings, but the affair is still confined to the corridors of the Vatican. In the spring of 2010, it was revealed that there was finally a response from the Vatican in a letter dated 1992. Timothy Radcliffe, then Master of the Dominicans and recipient of the letter, summarized the contents as follows: We tried to have the censure lifted on Eckhart [...] and were told that there was really no need since he had never been condemned by name, just some propositions which he was supposed to have held, and so we are perfectly free to say that he is a good and orthodox theologian.[109]
Professor Winfried Trusen of Würzburg, a correspondent of Radcliffe, wrote in part of a defence of Eckhart to Cardinal Ratzinger, stating Only 28 propositions were censured, but they were taken out of their context and impossible to verify, since there were no manuscripts in Avignon.[109]
Modern editions and translations
Meister Eckhart: Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke. Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft. Stuttgart and Berlin: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 11 Vols., 1936- [This is the critical edition of Meister Eckhart's works. The Latin works comprise six volumes, of which four are complete. The Middle High German works will be in five volumes, of which four are complete] Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981. [Re-published in paperback without notes and a foreword by John O’Donohue as Meister Eckhart, Selections from His Essential Writings, (New York, 2005)] Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Frank Tobin, New York and London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1987. C. de B. Evans, Meister Eckhart by Franz Pfeiffer, 2 vols., London: Watkins, 1924 and 1931. Meister Eckhart: A Modern Translation, trans. Raymond B. Blakney, New York: Harper and Row, 1941, ISBN 0-06-130008-X [a translation of about one-half the works including treatises, 28 sermons, Defense] Otto Karrer Meister Eckhart Speaks The Philosophical Library, Inc. New York, 1957. James M. Clark and John V. Skinner, eds. and trans., Treatises and Sermons of Meister Eckhart, New York: Octagon Books, 1983. (Reprint of Harper and Row ed., 1958 / London: Faber & Faber, 1958.) Armand Maurer, ed., Master Eckhart: Parisian Questions and Prologues, Toronto, Canada: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1974. Meister Eckhart, Sermons and Treatises, trans. by M. O'C. Walshe, 3 vols., (London: Watkins, 1979-1981; later printed at Longmead, Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element Books, 1979-1990). [Now published as The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, trans. and ed. by M. O’C. Walshe, rev. by Bernard McGinn (New York, 2009)] Matthew Fox, Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart's Creation Spirituality in New Translation (Garden City, New York, 1980) Meister Eckhart: Selected Writings, ed. and trans. by Oliver Davies, London: Penguin, 1994.
References "Meister Eckhart". stanford.edu. Hackett 2012. Bernard McGinn, The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart, (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2001), p2, points out that previous scholarship which had placed Eckhart's birth in Hochheim is incorrect: Hochheim is used in the sources to indicate Eckhart's family name, not his birthplace. Walter Senner, ‘Meister Eckhart’s Life, Training, Career, and Trial’ in Jeremiah Hackett (ed.), A Companion to Meister Eckhart (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 7-84.
Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p5. Cairns, Earl (1996), Christianity through the Centuries, Zondervan Clark, James (1957), Meister Eckhart, New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., p. 11 This supposition is founded on Eckhart’s frequent citation, with respect, of Albert the Great, who had taught at Cologne until his death in 1280, and more particularly, his statement in his 1294 Easter Sermon that ‘Albert often used to say: “This I know, as we know things, for we all know very little”.(Bernard McGinn, The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart, (New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2001), p2). The evidence for Eckhart's studies in Cologne is similarly circumstantial as recounted in Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p7. McGinn, Eckhart, p4 The Parisian Questions were first discovered in 1927. They are translated with an introduction in Armand Maurer, ed., Master Eckhart: Parisian Questions and Prologues, (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1974). On the possible dating of the works written in this period, see McGinn, Eckhart, pp5-9. McGinn, Eckhart, p9 cf. Urkundenbuch der Stadt Strassburg, iii. 236. Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p10. McGinn, Eckhart, (2001), p14 cf. the document in Preger, i. 471; more accurately in ALKG, ii. 627 sqq. In the early twentieth century, the suspicion of Eckhart was often put down to tensions between Dominicans and Franciscans. This narrative, however, has been replaced by one which emphasises the broader context of fears concerning the Heresy of the Free Spirit. See Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p103. McGinn, Eckhart, (2001), p17 The general assumption in modern scholarship on Eckhart has been that the date of Eckhart's death is lost. McGinn, Eckhart, (2001), p17, however, trusts the argument of Walter Senner that a seventeenth-century Dominican source noted that Eckhart was remembered in German convents on 28 January - suggesting this day on 1328 was the date of his death. Some early twentieth-century writers suggested Eckhart may have not in fact died, but continued his ministry in anonymity, but there is no single medieval source that supports this suspicion.
The bull is given complete in ALKG, ii. 636–640). McGinn, Eckhart, (2001), p18. As McGinn, Eckhart, p1, points out, about three hundred manuscripts containing Eckhart’s German sermons, both authentic and pseudonymous, survive. Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p19. Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p20. Christianity through the Centuries, Earle E. Cairns, Zondervan, 1996 Theologia Germanica, public domain McGinn, Eckhart, p1 McGinn, Eckhart, p. 1. Hackett 2012, p. xxvii. Ffytche 2011, p. 33. Franz von Baader (1765–1841) was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and theologian. He studied under Abraham Gottlob Werner at Freiberg, travelled through several of the mining districts in north Germany, and for four years, 1792–1796, resided in England. There he became acquainted with the ideas of David Hume, David Hartley and William Godwin, which were all distasteful to him. But he also came into contact with the mystical speculations of Meister Eckhart, Louis Claude de Saint-Martin (1743–1803), and above all those of Jakob Boehme, which were more to his liking. In 1796 he returned from England, and came into contact with Friedrich Schelling, and the works he published during this period were manifestly influenced by that philosopher. This was in the second volume of his Deutsche Mystiker (Stuttgart). Pfeiffer's edition included 111 sermons and 18 treatises, as well as a number of sayings and fragments - but many of these are now recognised to be later works falsely attributed to Eckhart. (Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p62) Mention could also be made of Franz Jostes, Meister Eckhart und seine Junger, ungedruckte Texte zur Geschichte der deutschen Mystik (Collectanea Friburgensia, iv., Freiburg, 1895). McGinn, Eckhart, p. 20. Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p. 62. Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p. 63.
Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p. 64. Meister Eckhart: Die deutschen und lateinischen Werke. Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft. Stuttgart and Berlin: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 11 Vols., 1936-. The Latin works comprise 6 volumes (widely referred to as LW1-6), while the German works comprise 5 volumes (widely referred to as DW1-5). Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p64. This Prologue exists in two manuscripts discovered by Denifle - one discovered in Erfurt in 1880, and the other in Kues in 1886. Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p65. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p98. LW 1:27-83. The English translation is Armand Maurer, ed., Master Eckhart: Parisian Questions and Prologues, Toronto, Canada: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1974. LW 1:148-165. An English translation is in Armand Maurer, ed., Master Eckhart: Parisian Questions and Prologues, Toronto, Canada: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1974, pp77-104. LW 1:166-182. LW 1:183-184. LW 1:185-444. The Prologue and the commentary on Genesis 3 are translated into English in Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, pp82-121. LW 1:447-702. LW 2:1-227. This is translated into English in its entirety in Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Frank Tobin, New York and London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1987, pp41-146. LW 2:301-643. LW 2:29-300. The commentary on Ecclesiasticus 24.29 is translated into English in Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Frank Tobin, New York and London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1987, pp174-181. LW 3. The commentary on John 1:1-14 is translated into English in Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, pp122-173. The commentary on John 14.8 is translated into English in Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Frank Tobin, New York and London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1987, pp182-205.
Markus, Professor (2011-04-22). "LW4. An extensive list of English translations of the sermons". Markusvinzent.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-21. Around half of the 64 sermons in the Paradisus were by Eckhart, with the majority contributed by Dominicans. On the origin and purpose of the Paradisus (with dates around 1330-40 generally suggested), see Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p321-2 (which reverses some of the arguments of McGinn (2001). Selections are translated into English in Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, pp71-76. Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981, p66. Markus, Professor (2011-04-22). "An extensive list of English translations of the sermons". Markusvinzent.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-21. LW 5:137-376. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p95. DW 5:1-105. DW 5:109-119. DW 5:400-434. All four vernacular treatises are translated into English in Meister Eckhart, The Essential Sermons, Commentaries, Treatises and Defense, trans. and ed. by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, New York: Paulist Press, 1981. Bernard McGinn, The Harvest of Mysticism, (2005), p632. Marcus Braybrooke, Beacons of Light: 100 People who Have Shaped The History of Humankind, pages 316-317 (O Books, 2009). ISBN 978-1-84694-185-6 "Peterborough". Peterborough Examiner. Eckhart, Meister (1980). Breakthrough, Meister Eckhart's creation spirituality, in new translation. Translated by Matthew Fox. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. ISBN 0385170459. Retrieved September 2014. Derrida, J: "How to Avoid Speaking: Denials" pages 3-70, in "Languages of the Unsayable: The Play of Negativity in Literature and Literary Theory" Stanley Budick and Wolfgang Iser, eds. 1989 Hanegraaf 1996. King 2002. Renard 2010, p. 178.
Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Vol. II, Ch. XLVIII King 2002, p. 125. Renard 2010, p. 185-188. Sinari 2000. Partridge 2006, p. 3, note 2. Lavoie 2012. Gilchrist 1996, p. 32. McMahan 2008. Johnson 1994, p. 107. King 2002, p. 93. Renard 2010, p. 189-193. Michaelson 2009, p. 79-81. Rambachan 1994. Rambachan 1994, p. 1. Ganapathy 2003, p. 247. Akhilananda Swami 2012. King 2002, p. 125-128. King 2002, p. 126. McMahan 2008, p. 98. Gombrich 1996, p. 185-188. Fields 1992, p. 83-118. Moran 2012, p. 672. Algeo 2005. Algeo 2007. Tweed 2005. Schurmann 2001, p. 217. King 2002, p. 156.
Shizuteru Ueda (1989), Eckhart um zen am problem Schurmann 2001, p. 218. Schurmann 2001, p. 219. Rubin 1990, p. 82 Lyacos 2010, p. 88 Andrew Davidson, The Gargoyle, pp.140-41 Salinger, J.D (1955). Franny and Zooey. Boston: Little Brown and Company. pp. 59–60. ISBN 0316-76949-5. Simon Rattle & City of Birmingham SO (1994) CD booklet Hackett 2012, p. xxii. Hackett 2012, p. xxiii. Hackett 2012, p. xxiv. 109. 21.
"Meister Eckhart rehabilitated by the Pope". Academici.com. Retrieved 2014-02-
Sources
Akhilananda Swami (2012), Hindu Psychology: Its Meaning for the West, Routledge Algeo, Adele S. (July 2005), "Beatrice Lane Suzuki and Theosophy in Japan", Theosophical History XI Algeo, Adele S. (January–February 2007), "Beatrice Lane Suzuki: An American Theosophist in Japan", Quest 95 (1): 13–17 Boyd-MacMillan, Eolene M (2006), Transformation: James Loder, Mystical Spirituality, and James Hillman, Peter Lang Herman Büttner, ed., Schriften und Predigten, vol. 1. Jena: Eugen Diederichs, 1903. Herman Büttner, ed., Schriften und Predigten, vol. 2. Jena: Eugen Diederichs, 1909. Augustine Daniels, O.S.B., ed., "Eine lateinische Rechtfertigungsschrift des Meister Eckharts", Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie des Mittelalters, 23, 5 (Münster, 1923): 1 - 4, 12 - 13, 34 - 35, 65 - 66. Fields, Rick (1992), How the Swans Came to the Lake. A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, Boston & London: Shambhala Ffytche, Matt (2011), The Foundation of the Unconscious: Schelling, Freud and the Birth of the Modern Psyche, Cambridge University Press Ganapathy (2003), The Way of the Siddhas. In: K. R. Sundararajan, Bithika Mukerji (2003), Hindu Spirituality, Motilal Banarsidass Publ. Gilchrist, Cherry (1996), Theosophy. The Wisdom of the Ages, HarperSanFrancisco Gombrich, Richard F. (1996), Theravāda Buddhism. A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo, London and New York: Routledge Hackett, Jeremiah (2012), A Companion to Meister Eckhart, Brill
Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (1996), New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought, Boston, Massachusetts, US: Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 97890-04-10696-3 Johnson, K. Paul (1994), The masters revealed: Madam Blavatsky and the myth of the Great White Lodge, SUNY Press, ISBN 0-7914-2063-9 Franz Jostes, ed., Meister Eckhart und seine Jünger: Ungedruckte Texte zur Geschichte der deutschen Mystik. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1972 (Series: Deutsche Neudrucke Texte des Mittelalters). Thomas Kaepelli, O.P., "Kurze Mitteilungen über mittelalterliche Dominikanerschriftsteller", Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum 10, (1940), pp. 293 – 94. Thomas Kaepelli, O.P., Scriptores ordinis Praedicatorum medii aevi. Vol. I (A-F). Rome, 1970. King, Richard (2002), Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India and "The Mystic East", Routledge Gustav Landauer, ed. and trans. Meister Eckharts mystische Schriften. Berlin: Karl Schnabel, 1903. M.H. Laurent, "Autour du procés de Maître Eckhart. Les documents des Archives Vaticanes", Divus Thomas (Piacenza) 39 (1936), pp. 331 – 48, 430 - 47. Lavoie, Jeffrey D. (2012), The Theosophical Society: The History of a Spiritualist Movement, Universal-Publishers McMahan, David L. (2008), The Making of Buddhist Modernism, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780195183276 Michaelson, Jay (2009), Everything Is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism, Shambhala Moran, Dermot (2012), Meister Eckhart in 20th Century Philosophy. In: Jeremiah Hacket (2012), A Companion to Meister Eckhart, Brill Partridge, Christipher Hugh (2006), Understanding the Dark Side: Western Demonology, Satanic Panics and Alien Abduction, University of Chester Franz Pelster, S.J., ed., Articuli contra Fratrem Aychardum Alamannum, Vat. lat. 3899, f. 123r - 130v, in "Ein Gutachten aus dem Eckehart-Prozess in Avignon", Aus der Geistewelt des Mittelalters, Festgabe Martin Grabmann, Beiträge Supplement 3, Munster, 1935, pp. 1099– 1124. Franz Pfeiffer, ed. Deutsche Mystiker des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. II: Meister Eckhart. 2nd ed. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck, 1906. Josef Quint, ed. and trans. Meister Eckehart: Deutsche Predigten und Traktate, Munich: Carl Hanser, 1955. Josef Quint, ed., Textbuch zur Mystik des deutschen Mittelalters: Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, Heinrich Seuse, Halle/Saale: M. Niemeyer, 1952. Rambachan, Anatanand (1994), The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas, University of Hawaii Press Renard, Philip (2010), Non-Dualisme. De directe bevrijdingsweg, Cothen: Uitgeverij Juwelenschip Rubin, Bruce Joel, Jacob's Ladder. Mark Mixson, general editor, The Applause Screenplay Series, Applause Theatre Book Publishers, 1990. ISBN 1-55783-086-X. Schurmann, Reiner (2001), Wandering Joy: Meister Eckhart's Mystical Philosophy, Lindisfarne Books Sinari, Ramakant (2000), Advaita and Contemporary Indian Philosophy. In: Chattopadhyana (gen.ed.), "History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Volume II Part 2: Advaita Vedanta", Delhi: Centre for Studies in Civilizations Gabriel Théry, O.P., "Édition critique des piéces relatives au procés d'Eckhart continues dans le manuscrit 33b de la Bibliothèque de Soest", Archives d'histoire littéraire et doctrinal du moyen âge, 1 (1926), pp. 129 – 268.
Tweed, Thomas A. (2005), "American Occultism and Japanese Buddhism. Albert J. Edmunds, D. T. Suzuki, and Translocative History" (PDF), Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 32 (2): 249–281 James Midgely Clark, Meister Eckhart: An Introduction to the Study of His Works with an Anthology of His Sermons, Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson, 1957. Shizuteru Ueda, Die Gottesgeburt in der Seele und der Durchbruch zur Gottheit. Die mystische Anthropologie Meister Eckharts und ihre Konfrontation mit der Mystik des ZenBuddhismus, Gütersloh: Mohn, 1965. Reiner Schürmann, Meister Eckhart: Mystic and Philosopher, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978. Matthew Fox, O.P., ed., Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart's Creation Spirituality in New Translation, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1980. Bernard McGinn The Mystical Thought of Meister Eckhart: The Man from whom God Hid Nothing, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2001)
Further reading
Jeanne Ancelet-Hustache, Master Eckhart and the Rhineland Mystics, New York and London: Harper and Row/ Longmans, 1957. Leonardo Vittorio Arena, The Shadows of the Masters, ebook, 2013. James M. Clark, The Great German Mystics, New York: Russell and Russell, 1970 (reprint of Basil Blackwell edition, Oxford: 1949.) James M. Clark, trans., Henry Suso: Little Book of Eternal Wisdom and Little Book of Truth, London: Faber, 1953. Cesare Catà, Il Cardinale e l'Eretico. Nicola Cusano e il problema della eredità "eterodossa" di Meister Eckhart nel suo pensiero, in "Viator. Medieval and Renaissance Studies", UCLA University, Volume 41, No.2 (2010), pp. 269–291. Oliver Davies, God Within: The Mystical Tradition of Northern Europe, London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1988. Oliver Davies, Meister Eckhart: Mystical Theologian, London: SPCK, 1991. Eckardus Theutonicus, homo doctus et sanctus, Fribourg: University of Fribourg, 1993. Robert K. Forman, Meister Eckhart: Mystic as Theologian, Rockport, Massachusetts / Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element Books, 1991. Gundolf Gieraths, O.P., '"Life in Abundance: Meister Eckhart and the German Dominican Mystics of the 14th Century", Spirituality Today Supplement, Autumn, 1986. Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy: An Interpretation of the Great Mystics, East and West, New York: HarperCollins, 1945. Amy Hollywood, The Soul as Virgin Wife: Mechthild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, and Meister Eckhart, Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996. Rufus Jones, The Flowering of Mysticism in the Fourteenth Century, New York: Hafner Publishing Co., 1971 (facsimile of 1939 ed.). Bernard McGinn, "Eckhart's Condemnation Reconsidered" in The Thomist, vol. 44, 1980. Bernard McGinn, ed., Meister Eckhart and the Beguine Mystics Hadewijch of Brabant, Mechthild of Magdeburg, and Marguerite Porete, New York: Continuum, 1994. Ben Morgan. On Becoming God: Late Medieval Mysticism and the Modern Western Self. New York: Fordham UP, 2013. Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Vol. II, ISBN 0-486-21762-0 Cyprian Smith, The Way of Paradox: Spiritual Life as Taught by Meister Eckhart, New York: Paulist Press, 1988. Frank Tobin, Meister Eckhart: Thought and Language, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.
Denys Turner, The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Winfried Trusen, Der Prozess gegen Meister Eckhart, Fribourg: University of Fribourg, 1988. Andrew Weeks, German Mysticism from Hildegard of Bingen to Ludwig Wittgenstein: A Literary and Intellectual History, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Richard Woods, O.P., Eckhart's Way, Wilmington, Delaware: Glazier, 1986 (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1991). Richard Woods, O.P., Meister Eckhart: The Gospel of Peace and Justice, Tape Cassette Program, Chicago: Center for Religion & Society, 1993. Richard Woods, O.P., Meister Eckhart: Master of Mystics (London, Continuum, 2010).
Peter Riedemann (Rideman, Rydeman, Ryedeman), (1506-56), Hutterite bishop, missionary, and outstanding doctrinal writer, by some called the second founder of the Hutterite brotherhood. Because of his height he was also called "the tall Peter," and because of his first imprisonment in Gmunden , Upper Austria, was also known as "Peter of Gmunden."
“To love God with all my heart and soul means that in all my thoughts I praise God, and give no room to sinful thoughts that arise from my flesh, nor listen to them, but fight against them with all my power, and through God's mercy turn to the throne of grace and cry for help and deliverance: "O Lord, free me from this body of death, and do not let the Enemy overcome me! Come quickly to help me!"” - Love is like fire, Peter Riedemann “When love takes hold of a man, he is pleasing to God and approved by man. Where there is need, he walks and abides in God, and God in him, and his life and all his work is accomplished in God; for God's clarity enlightens and surrounds him so that he walks in the light of God's grace and is no more surrounded by darkness.” – Love is like fire, Peter Riedemann Riedemann was born in 1506 in Hirschberg, Silesia, Germany, where he learned the shoemaker's trade. In 1529 he is encountered for the first time, imprisoned in Gmunden for his Anabaptist faith. Apparently he had joined the Anabaptist Brethren in Upper Austria sometime before, where Hans Hut and later Wolfgang Brandhuber had been active as missioners, mainly around the cities of Linz, Steyr, and Gmunden 1527-29.
Riedemann had been ordained as "Diener des Wortes" in 1529. During his three years' imprisonment (1529-32) Riedemann wrote his first great doctrinal work, Rechenschaft unseres Glaubens geschrieben zu Gmunden im Land ob der Enns im Gefencknus, a work of deeply spiritual qualities, which placed Riedemann doctrinally very near to his contemporary brethren Hans Schlaffer and Leonhard Schiemer. (A complete publication of this work is planned for the second volume of Glaubenszeugnisse, to be published in the Täuferakten Series in 1960.) Even though Riedemann at the time of writing this work had not yet joined the Hutterites, they have faithfully preserved this "Account of Our Faith" in numerous manuscript books. Besides its main part, this work contains also two separate pieces of great beauty not strictly belonging to the confession proper: (1) Wie man das Haus Gottes bauen soll und was Haus Gottes sei, and (2) Von den sieben Pfeilern an diesem Hause (Proverbs 9:1). In 1532 Riedemann escaped from prison. He worked first with the Brethren in Linz , but soon thereafter joined the Hutterite brotherhood in Moravia then still in its formative years. In 1533 he was sent out for the first time as a missioner (Sendbote) into Franconia, to spread the Anabaptist message. On his way he revisited the remnants of the older Anabaptist groups in Upper Austria, inviting them to join the Moravian group. In 1533-37 he was again jailed for the sake of his faith in Nürnberg, but little is recorded of him in this period. In July 1537 he was released from prison upon his promise not to preach in Nürnberg, and he now returned home to Moravia, again via Upper Austria. Here he met the remnants of the Philippite Brethren and took them into his care as if he were their bishop. Four epistles from his hand (1537-39) written to these Philippite Brethren in Linz, Steyr, and Gmunden, and two more (1537-38 and 1540) to other Philippites in Germany (Württemberg, Palatinate, etc.) are still extant. These epistles give a strong impression of pastoral care for this almost leaderless group, some of whom later joined the Hutterites in Moravia. About 1532, prior to the above journey, Riedemann married an Anabaptist sister Katharina, called familiarly "Treindl." Among his many letters there are six very lovely ones sent to his "marital sister." In 1539 the Brethren sent him again on a mission trip to Hesse mainly to straighten out an unpleasant affair with Hans Both, a friend of Melchior Rinck and a former Philippite. At Holzhausen Riedemann composed an important epistle. Returning in the same year 1539, he arrived at the brotherhood a few days after the unfortunate government raid at Steinabrunn, Lower Austria. Several letters of comfort written to the imprisoned in Falkenstein are extant, which again show Riedemann as a true pastor, loving and full of concern. Two months later he was again on his way to Hesse through Austria, Tirol, Württemberg , and Swabia (Lauingen), visiting all the groups he could reach. In Hesse he seems to have been very successful, since large numbers (up to 90-100) were now making their way to Moravia. Some of these newly won members were imprisoned in Württemberg en route; Riedemann comforted them too in the genuine fashion of a shepherd. Not long thereafter, most likely toward the end of February 1540, Riedemann himself fell into the hands of the authorities of Hesse and was chained in a dark and severe prison in Marburg. It should be noted that Philip of Hesse did not permit Anabaptists to be put to death. The numerous letters written by Riedemann during this imprisonment (1540 to early 1542) show that his condition was soon eased. He was permitted to help the jailer by making shoes, and then he and another brother were removed to the near-by castle of Wolkersdorf, where the administrator (Vogt) was sympathetic to Anabaptist ideas and
somewhat ashamed of all the imprisonment. Riedemann now had full freedom of movement, but he felt obligated to remain at the castle. His activities were manifold. He received visitors from Hesse and from Moravia (his old friend Hans Gentner, a former Philippite from Austria, but now a Hutterite, was sent to consult him concerning a difficult case at home), and he continued to dispatch newly won brethren and sisters to Moravia. In 1541 his correspondence became more sparse; it may be assumed that at that time he was working on his great doctrinal work, the Rechenschaft. One of the letters (No. 21) indicates that his main motive for writing this confession was to inform Philip of Hesse about the true beliefs and viewpoints of the Anabaptists. (This fact was not known heretofore.) Since he had full leisure, the book became rather lengthy and carefully worked out. More trouble in the Moravian brotherhood and the death of the Vorsteher Hans Amon in February 1542 prompted the Brethren to ask him to come home if he could manage it without hurting his conscience. Late in February 1542 Riedemann was back in Moravia, where after Hans Amon's death Leonhard Lanzenstiel was chosen Vorsteher of the brotherhood. Riedemann was now made co-bishop, and this co-operation worked out very well. Lanzenstiel was more of a practical man, while Riedemann was the great spiritual teacher and leader. From now until his death in 1556 Riedemann remained with the brotherhood, leading it forcefully through years of severe persecution and trial. In 1545 the brotherhood presented to the lords of Moravia a petition (found in Beck, 169-73, incomplete) which can safely be assigned to Riedemann's hand. A copy of the Rechenschaft of 1540 was enclosed with this appeal. The years 1547-51 brought the severest persecution which the brotherhood had to endure before their total expulsion from Moravia in 1622. The Brethren were homeless as hounded game, moving hither and thither, and digging underground tunnels (in Czech called lochy) as temporary abodes. Many fell away, but the strong core remained loyal. In fact the group was augmented by newcomers from Silesia (former Gabrielites). One of Riedemann's letters of this period was addressed to these Silesian brethren and spoke frankly about their suffering. One can almost feel the strong spiritual forces that bound the brotherhood together in those days, Riedemann, Lanzenstiel, and Walpot being responsible leaders. The Rechenschaft may well have added to the strength of their conviction, as the church now had available a statement which was well argued and documented by not less than 1,800 Bible references. One last letter by Riedemann (of 1549-50) was addressed to those brethren who were now scouting for new and safer homes east of the Carpathian Mountains in (then Hungarian) Slovakia. In December 1556 Riedemann died on the Bruderhof of Protzko, Slovakia, at the age of fifty, having been a minister of the Divine Word for 27 years, and having suffered in prison for 9 years. The Hutterite Chronicle contains a lengthy obituary, in which all his achievements are listed with the comment, "For he was rich in all divine secrets and the gift of the spiritual language issued forth from him like a spring which gushes over. All souls who heard him gained peace. . . . On his deathbed he comforted his brethren with the words of Ezra 8:3 and 9" (presumably IV Ezra). Shortly before his passing he composed the hymn "Quitt, ledig, los hat uns gemacht Christus vom Tod, des Teufels Macht" (Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder, 516). Riedemann's written work is quite considerable and has not yet been fully studied. It may be classified in three divisions: doctrinal writings, epistles, and hymns, (a) The doctrinal
writings comprise two large works, (1) the Gmundener Rechenschaft (1529-32), one of the very strong expressions of early Anabaptism, biblicistic and yet thoroughly spiritual (well called "Biblical spiritualism," as over against the general spiritualism of the Sebastian Franck type); and (2) the great Rechenschaft unseres Glaubens, written in 1540-41, one of the few books ever to have been printed by the Hutterian Brethren, published in 1565. (See Rechenschaft unserer Religion.) To this day it has remained the basic doctrinal statement of the Hutterites. (b) The Epistles. Next to nothing was known about Riedemann's epistles until recently. Wolkan refers to them as "a major source of our knowledge of the Hutterite doctrinal position," but only four epistles were incorporated in the Chronicle and were thus known to him. As far as could be ascertained, only one manuscript codex (at a Bruderhof in Montana) and several recent copies of it contain a nearly complete collection of these most valuable documents, 34 in number (six of which are addressed to "Treindl"). To them must be added the epistle to the lords of Moravia (Landesherren) of 1545, mentioned above. The present biographical sketch has been partly drawn from the contents of these epistles. They express a deep and concrete Christian faith, a genuine brotherly love, and a pastoral concern for the fellow brethren and sisters, whom he calls his "dear little children." No prison or persecution could stop him in these acts. The epistles will be published in full in a Täuferakten publication in the near future. (c) Hymns. The Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder (Scottdale, 1914) contain (pp. 450-537) forty-five hymns by Riedemann. One additional hymn, "O Herr, wie reichlich trostest du," composed in 1529, was discovered by Elias Walter, the editor of the Lieder, after the publication was out, and another, the "Glaubensbekenntnis" (Ausbund, No. 2): "Wir glauben all an einen Gott," is likewise ascribed to Riedemann, even though the Brethren think it was composed by Siegmund Wiedemann (Rechenschaft, new edition, Berne, 1902, last page). Hymn 37 in the Ausbund, "Komm Gott Vater vom Himmel," is likewise by Riedemann (Lieder, 483), composed while imprisoned in Gmunden in 1529, which praises the martyr death of Hans Langenmantel. It is possible that still more hymns were written by this outstanding man. Rudolf Wolkan, who carefully studied these hymns (Lieder, 185-206), considers Riedemann the greatest Hutterite hymn writer. The hymns are found in numerous Hutterite codices in both Europe and America. One may safely say that the fact that the brotherhood weathered the critical years of 154551 and kept its spiritual testimony so high that they could continue unspotted until far into later centuries was due not least to the work of this man, a true bishop of his flock. His writings are preserved in numerous codices and are still being copied today by the Hutterian Brethren in America.
Bibliography Anonymous. "Peter Riedemann aus Hirschberg, ein schlesischer Wiedertäufe." Literaturblatt zu den schlesischen Provinzialblättern. September, 1793 (According to S. Calvary, 1870). Beck, Josef. Die Geschichts-Bücher der Wiedertäufer in Oesterreich-Ungarn. Vienna, 1883; reprinted Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1967: 88, 169-73, 195.
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 500-505. Loserth, Johann."Der Communismus der mährischen Wiedertäufer im 16. and 17. Jahrhundert: Beiträge zu ihrer Lehre, Geschichte and Verfassung." Archiv für österreichische Geschichte (1895): 81, 1. Mencik, F. "Ueber ein Wiedertäufergesangbuch." Sitzung Ber. der hgl. Böhmischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften (1896): No. XI (Mentions a hymn by Riedemann which is not found in the Lieder der Hutterischen Brüder (according to Wiswedel, 193). For the several editions of the Rechenschaft, see that article; the recent editions published by the Society of Brothers in England (1938, 1950) contain a brief appreciation of Riedemann. Schirnmelpfennig, "Huterische Wiedertäufer in Mähren und Peter Riedemann, ihr Vorsteher." Jahresbericht der Schlesischen Gesellschaft für vaterländische Kultur (1885): 295-315. Wolkan, Rudolf. Die Lieder der Wiedertäufer. Berlin, 1903. Reprinted Nieuwkoop : B. De Graaf, 1965: 185-205, 483. Wiswedel, Wilhelm. "Peter Riedemann, ein Gefangener Jesu Christi." Bilder I: 169-94, including extensive excerpts from the Rechenschaft: (180-93). Zieglschmid, A. J. F. Die älteste Chronik der Hutterischen Brüder: Ein Sprachdenkmal aus frühneuhochdeutscher Zeit. Ithaca: Cayuga Press, 1943: 194, 356 f. Richard Rolle (1290/1300[1]– late September 1349[2]) was an English hermit, mystic, and religious writer.[3] He is also known as Richard Rolle of Hampole or de Hampole, since at the end of his life he lived near a Cistercian nunnery in Hampole, Yorkshire.[4] In the words of Nicholas Watson, scholarly research has shown that "[d]uring the fifteenth century he was one of the most widely read of English writers, whose works survive in nearly four hundred English...and at least seventy Continental manuscripts, almost all written between 1390 and 1500."[5]
“For love is a willful stirring of our thoughts unto God, so that it receive nothing that is against the love of Jesus Christ, and therewith that it be lasting in sweetness of devotion; and that is the perfection of this life.”
“It behoves thee to love God wisely; and that may thou not do but if thou be wise.” “The commandment of God is, that we love Our Lord in all our heart, in all our soul, in all our thought.”
Life In his works, Rolle provides little explicit evidence about his early life and education. Most, if not all, of our information about him comes from the Office of Lessons and Antiphons that was composed in the 1380s in preparation for his canonisation, although this never came about.[6][7] Born into a small farming family[8] and brought up at Thornton-le-Dale[9] near Pickering, he studied at the University of Oxford, where he was sponsored by Thomas de Neville, the Archdeacon of Durham.[10] While there, he is said to have been more interested in theology and biblical studies than philosophy and secular studies.[11] He left Oxford at age eighteen or nineteen - dropping out before he received his MA - to become a hermit.[12] Leaving the family home, he first went to Pickering, and housed with a squire, John Dalton, for perhaps three years. It was probably while still living with Dalton, two years and eight months after becoming a hermit, Rolle had his first mystical experience. Around a year later, he felt similarly after listening to a choir, and he began to take less interest in all things temporal.[13] Dalton himself was arrested and his lands confiscated in 1322; the lack of mention of this fact in accounts of Rolle's life makes it likely that he was no longer living with Dalton by this point.[14] "I felt within me a merry and unknown heat...I was expert it was not from a creature but from my Maker, as it grew hotter and more glad." —Rolle on his first mystical experience.
It is unclear where Rolle lived from 1321/2 until his death in 1349. One theory is that Rolle spent the early 1320s at the renowned Sorbonne, becoming well-trained in theology, and perhaps being ordained there.[15] This theory is based on the entries in three seventeenthcentury manuscripts at the Sorbonne, assumed to be copies of medieval originals, which record a Ricardus de Hampole as being admitted to the Sorbonne in 1320, entering the prior's register in 1326, and noting that he died in 1349 among the sisters of Hampole near Doncaster in Yorkshire. Scholars, however, are divided on the authenticity of this material.[16] Whether or not Rolle studied in Paris, it is probable that most if not all of this time was spent in Richmondshire, either living with his family at Yafforth, or, given the uncertain political conditions in the region at the time, wandering from patron to patron.[17] Around 1348, Rolle knew the Yorkshire anchoress Margaret Kirkby, who was his principal disciple and the recipient of much of his writings[18] and would be important in establishing his later reputation. Rolle died in Michaelmas 1349 at the Cistercian nunnery at Hampole. Because of his time spent here, where he was director of the inmates, he is sometimes known as Richard Rolle of
Hampole, or de Hampole. It is unclear what his function was there: he was not the nuns' official confessor, who was a Franciscan (in any case, it is unlikely he would have had ecclesiastical sanction for this, since unless the theory about his ordination in Paris is correct, he was probably not ordained, since his name is not in the list of those ordained in the dioceses of York or Durham in the relevant years).[19] However he wrote The Form of Living and his English Psalter for a nun there, Margaret Kirkby (who later took up a similar life to Rolle, as an anchoress), and Ego Dormio for a nun at Yedingham.[20] It is possible that he died of the Black Death,[8][20] but there is no direct evidence for this. He was buried first in the nuns' cemetery at Hampole. Later records of people making offerings of candles at his shrine show that he was moved first to the chancel and then to his own chapel.
Works Rolle probably began writing in the early 1330s, and continued until his death - but there is no certain chronology of his various works. He wrote in both Latin and English, with his English works apparently all dating from after c1340.[21] The precise dating of Rolle’s works is a matter of much modern dispute. The dates set out by Hope Emily Allen in 1927 have been widely used by later writers, but in 1991 Nicholas Watson set out a rather different vision of the chronology of Rolle’s writing.[22] In one of his best-known works, Incendium Amoris (The Fire of Love), Rolle provides an account of his mystical experiences, which he describes as being of three kinds: a physical warmth in his body, a sense of wonderful sweetness, and a heavenly music that accompanied him as he chanted the Psalms. The book was widely read in the Middle Ages, and described the four purgative stages that one had to go through to become closer to God: described as open door, heat, song, and sweetness. His last work was probably the English The Form of Living, written in autumn 1348 at the earliest. It is addressed to Margaret Kirkby, who entered her enclosure as a recluse on 12 December 1348, and is a vernacular guide for her life as an anchorite.[23] His works are often classified into commentaries, treatises and epistles. As such, the commentaries are:[23]
Commentary on the Readings in the Office of the Dead taken from Job. This commentary on nine readings from the book of Job which form part of the readings for the office of the dead was used extensively by York clergy in the fifteenth century. Surviving in forty-two manuscripts, it was the first of Rolle's works to be printed, in Oxford in 1483.[24] Commentary on the Canticles, a commentary on the first two and a half verses of the Song of Songs. It survives in thirty manuscripts.[24] Two Commentaries on the Psalter. One is in Latin, and may belong to the very early period after Rolle left Oxford. The second is an English commentary with translation of the Latin Psalms into English, which was designed to help Margaret Kirkby to understand the doctrines behind the Psalms she was to chant in her anchorage. For nearly 200 years this commentary remained the only authorised translation of the Bible into English; it did not need diocesan permission for its use. It exists in about 20 manuscripts.[25] Treatise on Psalm 20, in Latin Super Thrones, a commentary on the Lamentations of Jeremiah Commentary on the Apocalypse, on the first six chapters of the Book of Revelation.
Other commentaries on the Lord's Prayer, the Magnificat and the Apostles' Creed. An English explication of the Ten Commandments Super Mulierem Fortem, a comment on Proverbs 31:10.
Other works include:
Two English Meditations on the Passion Judica me Deus, probably his first work, written around 1330. This survives in four versions, and is an apologia for his hermit lifestyle, making use of the pastoral manual of a fellow Yorkshireman, William of Pagula.[26] Contra Amatores Mundi (Against the Lovers of the World), which survives in 42 manuscripts.[27] Incendium Amoris (The Fire of Love), written before 1343 (the date of Rolle's marginal note), which survives in 44 manuscripts (15 from the Continent) and one Middle English translation.[28] Melos Amoris (or Melum Contemplativorum) (The Melody of Love), which survives in 10 manuscripts.[24] The Form of Living, his last work, which survives in 30 manuscripts. It contains 12 chapters and was written at Hampole for Margaret Kirkby when she was living in a cell in Richmondshire.[24]
Three letters survive. All are addressed to single recipients, and contain much similar material:[29]
Emendatio Vitae (Emending of Life). This was the most popular work of Rolle, with 110 manuscripts (17 from the Continent), and seven independent Middle English translations.[28] Ego Dormio, a Middle English prosimetrum, one of two letters written for nuns. (the title comes from the incipit of the work, and is from Song of Songs 5.2) The Commandment, one of two letters written for nuns.
Works once thought to be Rolle's:
While the most popular poem in Middle English, The Pricke of Conscience, was once attributed to him, it is now known to have been written by an anonymous Yorkshire author in the 14th century.[30] It is now thought that De Dei Misericordia, a comment on Psalm 88:2, was written by John Waldeby in the later fourteenth century.
Later reputation and veneration Richard Rolle inspired a flourishing cult, especially in the north of England, which was still active at the time of the English Reformation. Part of this may have been due to the efforts of Margaret Kirkby, who moved to the priory, probably between 1381 and 1383, to be near the body of her master, Rolle. Margaret may have spent the last 10 years of her life here,[31] and between 1381 and 1383 a liturgical office for Rolle, including a great deal of biographical information about him, was written; it likely includes stories about him remembered by older members of the community. Rolle's works were widely read in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, more so even than Chaucer.[32] Works of his survive in about 470 manuscripts written between 1390 and 1500,
and in 10 sixteenth and early-seventeenth century printed editions (including the sixteenthcentury edition by Wynkyn de Worde). In some manuscripts, Rolle's Commentary on the Psalter is interpolated with Lollard teaching, providing indications of one group who read his work.[24] Rolle’s work was not uncontroversial. He was criticised by Walter Hilton and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing; a defence of Rolle’s work was written by the hermit Thomas Basset in the late fourteenth century against the attack of an unnamed Carthusian.[33] The shrine and priory at his burial place of Hampole was dissolved on 19 November 1539.[19] The remains can be seen in an old schoolhouse in Hampole.[24]
Richard Rolle Venerated in Anglican Communion Feast
20 January (Church of England) 28 September (Episcopal Church (USA))
Rolle is honoured in the Church of England on 20 January and in the Episcopal Church (USA) together with Walter Hilton and Margery Kempe on 28 September.
Modern editions
Frances Comper, The Life of Richard Rolle, (J.M. Dent, 1928) [Contains an English translation of the Office for Rolle on pp. 301–11. The original Latin text of the Office is in Reginald M. Wooley, The Officium et Miracula of Richard Rolle of Hampole (SPCK, 1919).] English Writings of Richard Rolle Hermit of Hampole, ed. Hope Emily Allen (1931) The Contra amatores mundi of Richard Rolle of Hampole, introduced and trans. Paul F. Theiner, (University of California Press, 1968) [translation into English, alongside Latin text, of Liber de amore Dei contra amatores mundi] Le Chant d'Amour (Melos Amoris), ed. Francois Vandenbroucke, (Cerf, 1971) [This uses the Latin text of the edition of E.J.F. Arnould (1957), alongside a parallel French translation.] The Fire of Love, trans. Clifton Wolters, (Penguin, 1972) Biblical commentaries: Short exposition of Psalm 20, Treatise on the Twentieth Psalm, Comment on the first verses of the Canticle of Canticles, Commentary on the Apocalypse, trans. Robert Boenig, (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Salzburg, 1984) Richard Rolle, the English writings, trans., ed., and introduced by Rosamund Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988) [includes modern editions of The English Psalter and Commentary, The Ten Commandments, Meditations on the Passion, Ghostly Gladness, The Bee and the Stork, Desire and Delight, Ego Dormio, The Commandment, and The Form of Living] Richard Rolle: Prose and Verse, ed. S.J. Ogilvie-Thomson, Early English Text Society 293, (Oxford: OUP, 1988) [This is the standard modern edition of many of Rolle’s Middle English works, with the important exception of the English Psalter.] Malcolm Robert Moyses, Richard Rolle’s Expositio super novem lectiones mortuorum, 2 vols, (Salzburg, 1988) The tractatus super psalmum vicesimum of Richard Rolle of Hampole, ed. and trans. James C. Dolan, (Edwin Mellen Press, 1991)
The fire of love, ed. by Halcyon Backhouse, (Hodder and Stoughton, 1992) [translation of Incendium amoris] Richard Rolle: Emendatio Vitae. Orationes ad honorem nominis Ihesu, ed. Nicholas Watson, (PIMS, 1995) [The Latin text of Emendatio Vitae] Richard Rolle: Uncollected Prose and Verse with related Northern text, ed. by Ralph Hanna for the Early English Text Society, (Oxford University Press, 2008) Spahl, Rüdiger, ed., De emendatione vitae. Eine kritische Ausgabe des lateinischen Textes von Richard Rolle mit einer Übersetzung ins Deutsche und Untersuchungen zu den lateinischen und englischen Handschriften (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009). [critical edition of the Emendatio Vitae] Hudson, Anne, ed., Two Revised Versions of Rolle’s English Psalter Commentary and the related Canticles, vols. 1-3, ISBN 9780199669202. Early English Text Society, o.s. 341-3 (Oxford University Press, 2012-4)
See also
Christian mysticism Mystical theology Henry Suso The Cloud of Unknowing Walter Hilton
References 1. Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p17. Numerous colophons in manuscripts of his work record his death as occurring at Michaelmas 1349, making this a probable date. Watson, Nicholas (1991). Richard Rolle and the Invention of Authority. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 31. ISBN 0521390176. Wooley, Reginald Maxwell (1919). The Officium and Miracula of Richard Rolle, of Hampole. New York: Macmillan. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 21 February 2015. Watson. Richard Rolle and the Invention of Authority. p. 31. Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p9. Woolley. pp. 5–21. Missing or empty |title= (help) "RICHARD ROLLE The Book of Margery Kempe, chapters 17, 58, and 62". Mapping Margery Kempe. Retrieved 2009-07-11. "Learning from the English Mystics, Alison Fry, ISBN 1-85174-395-2".
"Richard Rolle de Hampole". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. This is according to Lesson I of the Office drawn up in the 1380s in preparation for his anticipated canonisation. Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p. 14. He apparently took two of his sister's favourite tunics and ripped them to form them into a homemade hermit's habit. Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p. 13. Maynard Smith, p. 345 Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p. 18. Maynard Smith, p. 346 See Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), pp. 22-3 for a summary of the various scholarly positions on this theory. Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p. 340, dismisses the stories about Paris as ‘legends’. Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p. 23. Pastors and visionaries: religion ... - Google Books Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p. 24. Maynard Smith, p. 347 Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p341. See Hope Emily Allen, Writings Ascribed to Richard Rolle Hermit of Hampole and Materials for his Biography, (New York, 1927); Nicholas Allen, Richard Rolle and the Invention of Authority, (Cambridge: CUP, 1991), pp. 273-294. Some of the difficulties are summarised in John A Alford, 'Richard Rolle and Related Works' in ASG Edwards, ed, Middle English Prose: A Critical Guide to Major Authors and Genres, (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1984), pp. 35-60. Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p41.
Jonathan Hughes, 'Rolle, Richard (1305x10–1349)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008). Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p. 66. Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p343. Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p344. Oddly, Jonathan Hughes, 'Rolle, Richard (1305x10–1349)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008) states that only seven manuscripts of this survive. This appears to be a mistake. Bernard McGinn, The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p344. Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p48. Morey, James (ed.), Prik of Conscience Pastors and visionaries: religion and secular life in late medieval Yorkshire by Jonathan Hughes p87 Richard Rolle, the English writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Rosamund S. Allen. Classics of Western Spirituality, (New York / London: Paulist Press / SPCK, 1988), p33. See Michael G Sargent, 'Contemporary criticism of Richard Rolle', in Kartäusermystik und Mystiker, 5 vols, (Salzburg, 1981-2), vol 1, pp160-205.
Joseph Rudyard Kipling (/ˈrʌdjəd ˈkɪplɪŋ/ RUD-yəd KIP-ling; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)[1] was an English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He wrote tales and poems of British soldiers in India and stories for children. He was born in Bombay, in the Bombay Presidency of British India, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old.[2] Kipling's works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894), Kim (1901), and many short stories, including "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888).[3] His poems include "Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910). He is regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story;[4] his children's books are classics of children's literature; and one critic described his work as exhibiting "a versatile and luminous narrative gift".[5][6] Kipling was one of the most popular writers in England, in both prose and verse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[4] Henry James said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known."[4] In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English-language
writer to receive the prize, and its youngest recipient to date.[7] Among other honours, he was sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and on several occasions for a knighthood, all of which he declined.[8] Kipling's subsequent reputation has changed according to the political and social climate of the age[9][10] and the resulting contrasting views about him continued for much of the 20th century.[11][12] George Orwell called him a "prophet of British imperialism".[13] Literary critic Douglas Kerr wrote: "He [Kipling] is still an author who can inspire passionate disagreement and his place in literary and cultural history is far from settled. But as the age of the European empires recedes, he is recognised as an incomparable, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experienced. That, and an increasing recognition of his extraordinary narrative gifts, make him a force to be reckoned with."[14]
“If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you. The world will be yours and everything in it, what's more, you'll be a man, my son.” “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” “He travels the fastest who travels alone.”
Childhood (1865–1882)
Malabar Point, Bombay, 1865.
Rudyard Kipling was born on 30 December 1865 in Bombay, in the Bombay Presidency of British India, to Alice Kipling (née MacDonald) and John Lockwood Kipling.[15] Alice (one of four remarkable Victorian sisters)[16] was a vivacious woman[17] about whom Lord Dufferin would say, "Dullness and Mrs. Kipling cannot exist in the same room."[4][18][19] Lockwood Kipling, a sculptor and pottery designer, was the Principal and Professor of Architectural Sculpture at the newly founded Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in Bombay.[17] John Lockwood and Alice had met in 1863 and courted at Rudyard Lake in Rudyard, Staffordshire, England. They married, and moved to India in 1865. They had been so moved by the beauty of the Rudyard Lake area that when their first child was born they referenced it when naming him. Alice's sister Georgiana was married to painter Edward Burne-Jones, and her sister Agnes was married to painter Edward Poynter. Kipling's most famous relative was his first cousin, Stanley Baldwin, who was Conservative Prime Minister of the UK three times in the 1920s and 1930s.[20] Kipling's birth home still stands on the campus of the J J School of Art in Bombay and for many years was used as the Dean's residence.[21] Although the cottage bears a plaque stating that this is the site where Kipling was born, the original cottage may have been torn down decades ago and a new one built in its place. The wooden bungalow has been empty and locked up for years and is currently being refurbished and converted into an art museum.[22] Some historians and conservationists are also of the view that the bungalow merely marks a site close to the home of his birth, as the bungalow was built in 1882, about 15 years after Kipling's birth. Kipling seems to have also said so to the dean when he visited JJ School in the 1930s.[23]
Kipling's India: map of British India.
Kipling was to write of Bombay: Mother of Cities to me, For I was born in her gate, Between the palms and the sea, Where the world-end steamers wait.[24] According to Bernice M. Murphy, "Kipling’s parents considered themselves Anglo-Indians (a term used in the 19th century for people of British origin living in India) and so too would their son, though he spent the bulk of his life elsewhere. Complex issues of identity and national allegiance would become prominent features in his fiction."[25] Kipling referred to such conflicts; for example: "In the afternoon heats before we took our sleep, she (the Portuguese ayah, or nanny) or Meeta (the Hindu bearer, or male attendant) would tell us stories and Indian nursery songs all unforgotten, and we were sent into the dining-room after we had been dressed, with the caution 'Speak English now to Papa and Mamma.' So one spoke 'English', haltingly translated out of the vernacular idiom that one thought and dreamed in".[26]
Education in Britain Kipling's days of "strong light and darkness" in Bombay ended when he was five years old.[26] As was the custom in British India, he and his three-year-old sister Alice ("Trix") were taken to England—in their case to Southsea, Portsmouth—to live with a couple who boarded children of British nationals who were serving in India. For the next six years, from October 1871 to April 1877, the two children lived with the couple, Captain Pryse Agar Holloway, once an officer in the merchant navy, and Mrs Sarah Holloway, at their house, Lorne Lodge at 4 Campbell Road, Southsea.[27] In his autobiography, published some 65 years later, Kipling recalled the stay with horror, and wondered ironically if the combination of cruelty and neglect which he experienced there
at the hands of Mrs. Holloway might not have hastened the onset of his literary life: "If you cross-examine a child of seven or eight on his day’s doings (specially when he wants to go to sleep) he will contradict himself very satisfactorily. If each contradiction be set down as a lie and retailed at breakfast, life is not easy. I have known a certain amount of bullying, but this was calculated torture—religious as well as scientific. Yet it made me give attention to the lies I soon found it necessary to tell: and this, I presume, is the foundation of literary effort".[26]
Kipling's England: A map of England showing Kipling's homes.
Trix fared better at Lorne Lodge; Mrs. Holloway apparently hoped that Trix would eventually marry the Holloway son.[28] The two Kipling children, however, did have relatives in England whom they could visit. They spent a month each Christmas with their maternal aunt Georgiana ("Georgy") and her husband at their house, "The Grange," in Fulham, London, which Kipling was to call "a paradise which I verily believe saved me."[26] In the spring of 1877, Alice returned from India and removed the children from Lorne Lodge. Kipling remembers, "Often and often afterwards, the beloved Aunt would ask me why I had never told any one how I was being treated. Children tell little more than animals, for what comes to them they accept as eternally established. Also, badly-treated children have a clear notion of what they are likely to get if they betray the secrets of a prison-house before they are clear of it".[26] In January 1878, Kipling was admitted to the United Services College at Westward Ho!, Devon, a school founded a few years earlier to prepare boys for the British Army. The school proved rough going for him at first, but later led to firm friendships, and provided the setting for his schoolboy stories Stalky & Co. (1899).[28] During his time there, Kipling also met and fell in love with Florence Garrard, who was boarding with Trix at Southsea (to which Trix had returned). Florence was to become the model for Maisie in Kipling's first novel, The Light that Failed (1891).[28]
Return to India Near the end of his time at the school, it was decided that he lacked the academic ability to get into Oxford University on a scholarship[28] and his parents lacked the wherewithal to finance him,[17] so Lockwood obtained a job for his son in Lahore, Punjab (now in Pakistan), where he was Principal of the Mayo College of Art and Curator of the Lahore Museum. Kipling was to be assistant editor of a small local newspaper, the Civil & Military Gazette. He sailed for India on 20 September 1882 and arrived in Bombay on 18 October. He described this moment years later: "So, at sixteen years and nine months, but looking four or five years older, and adorned with real whiskers which the scandalised Mother abolished within one hour of beholding, I found myself at Bombay where I was born, moving among sights and smells that made me deliver in the vernacular sentences whose meaning I knew not. Other Indian-born boys have told me how the same thing happened to them."[26] This arrival changed Kipling, as he explains: "There were yet three or four days’ rail to Lahore, where my people lived. After these, my English years fell away, nor ever, I think, came back in full strength".[26]
Early adult life (1882–1914) Kipling spent nearly a decade, from 1883-89 in India and Pakistan, working for local newspapers such as the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore and The Pioneer in Allahabad.[26]
Lahore Railway Station, 1880s.
Bundi, Rajputana, where Kipling was inspired to write Kim
The Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore, the newspaper which Kipling was to call "mistress and most true love",[26] appeared six days a week throughout the year except for one-day breaks for Christmas and Easter. Stephen Wheeler, the editor, worked Kipling hard, but
Kipling's need to write was unstoppable. In 1886, he published his first collection of verse, Departmental Ditties. That year also brought a change of editors at the newspaper; Kay Robinson, the new editor, allowed more creative freedom and Kipling was asked to contribute short stories to the newspaper.[5] In an article printed in the Chums boys' annual, an ex-colleague of Kipling's stated that ..."he never knew such a fellow for ink—he simply revelled in it, filling up his pen viciously, and then throwing the contents all over the office, so that it was almost dangerous to approach him".[29] The anecdote continues: "In the hot weather, when he (Kipling) wore only white trousers and a thin vest, he is said to have resembled a Dalmatian dog more than a human being, for he was spotted all over with ink in every direction." During the summer of 1883, Kipling visited Shimla (then known as Simla), a well-known hill station and the summer capital of British India. By then it was established practice for the Viceroy of India and the government to move to Simla for six months, and the town became a "centre of power as well as pleasure".[5] Kipling's family became yearly visitors to Simla, and Lockwood Kipling was asked to serve in Christ Church there. Rudyard Kipling returned to Simla for his annual leave each year from 1885 to 1888, and the town featured prominently in many of the stories that he wrote for the Gazette.[5] He describes this time: "My month’s leave at Simla, or whatever Hill Station my people went to, was pure joy—every golden hour counted. It began in heat and discomfort, by rail and road. It ended in the cool evening, with a wood fire in one’s bedroom, and next morn—thirty more of them ahead!—the early cup of tea, the Mother who brought it in, and the long talks of us all together again. One had leisure to work, too, at whatever play-work was in one’s head, and that was usually full."[26] Back in Lahore, some thirty-nine stories appeared in the Gazette between November 1886 and June 1887. Kipling included most of these stories in Plain Tales from the Hills, his first prose collection, which was published in Calcutta in January 1888, a month after his 22nd birthday. Kipling's time in Lahore, however, had come to an end. In November 1887, he was transferred to the Gazette's much larger sister newspaper, The Pioneer, in Allahabad in the United Provinces. In Allahabad, he worked as the Assistant editor of The Pioneer, and lived in Belvedere house, Allahabad from 1888-89.[30][31]
Kipling in his study at Naulakha, US, 1895.
Kipling's writing continued at a frenetic pace; in 1888, he published six collections of short stories: Soldiers Three, The Story of the Gadsbys, In Black and White, Under the Deodars, The Phantom Rickshaw, and Wee Willie Winkie, containing a total of 41 stories, some quite long. In addition, as The Pioneer's special correspondent in the western region of Rajputana, he wrote many sketches that were later collected in Letters of Marque and published in From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, Letters of Travel.[5] Kipling was discharged from The Pioneer in early 1889, after a dispute. By this time, he had been increasingly thinking about the future. He sold the rights to his six volumes of stories for £200 and a small royalty, and the Plain Tales for £50; in addition, from The Pioneer, he received six-months' salary in lieu of notice.[26]
Return to London He decided to use this money to make his way to London, the literary centre of the British Empire. On 9 March 1889, Kipling left India, travelling first to San Francisco via Rangoon, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. He then travelled through the United States, writing articles for The Pioneer that were later published in From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, Letters of Travel.[32] Starting his American travels in San Francisco, Kipling journeyed north to Portland, Oregon; to Seattle, Washington; up into Canada, to Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia; back into the U.S. to Yellowstone National Park; down to Salt Lake City; then east to Omaha, Nebraska, and on to Chicago, Illinois; then to Beaver, Pennsylvania on the Ohio River to visit the Hill family; from there, he went to Chautauqua with Professor Hill, and later to Niagara Falls, Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston.[32] In the course of this journey, he met Mark Twain in Elmira, New York, and was deeply impressed. He then crossed the Atlantic, and reached Liverpool in October 1889. He soon made his début in the London literary world—to great acclaim.[4]
London
A portrait of Kipling by John Collier, ca. 1891.
In London, Kipling had several stories accepted by magazines. He also found a place to live for the next two years at Villiers street, near Charing cross (the building was subsequently named Kipling House): Meantime, I had found me quarters in Villiers Street, Strand, which forty-six years ago was primitive and passionate in its habits and population. My rooms were small, not over-clean or well-kept, but from my desk I could look out of my window through the fanlight of Gatti’s Music-Hall entrance, across the street, almost on to its stage. The Charing Cross trains rumbled through my dreams on one side, the boom of the Strand on the other, while, before my windows, Father Thames under the Shot Tower walked up and down with his traffic.[33] In the next two years, he published a novel, The Light that Failed, had a nervous breakdown, and met an American writer and publishing agent, Wolcott Balestier, with whom he collaborated on a novel, The Naulahka (a title which he uncharacteristically misspelt; see below).[17] In 1891, on the advice of his doctors, Kipling embarked on another sea voyage visiting South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and once again India.[17] He cut short his plans for spending Christmas with his family in India when he heard of Balestier's sudden death from typhoid fever, and immediately decided to return to London. Before his return, he had used the telegram to propose to and be accepted by Wolcott's sister Caroline Starr Balestier (1862–1939), called "Carrie", whom he had met a year earlier, and with whom he had apparently been having an intermittent romance.[17] Meanwhile, late in 1891, his collection of short stories about the British in India, Life's Handicap, was published in London.[34] On 18 January 1892, Carrie Balestier (aged 29) and Rudyard Kipling (aged 26) were married in London, in the "thick of an influenza epidemic, when the undertakers had run out of black horses and the dead had to be content with brown ones."[26] The wedding was held at All Souls Church, Langham Place. Henry James gave the bride away.
United States
Rudyard Kipling's America 1892–1896, 1899.
The couple settled upon a honeymoon that would take them first to the United States (including a stop at the Balestier family estate near Brattleboro, Vermont) and then on to Japan.[17] When they arrived in Yokohama, Japan, they discovered that their bank, The New Oriental Banking Corporation, had failed. Taking this loss in their stride, they returned to the U.S., back to Vermont—Carrie by this time was pregnant with their first child—and rented a small cottage on a farm near Brattleboro for ten dollars a month.[26] According to Kipling, "We furnished it with a simplicity that fore-ran the hire-purchase system. We bought, second or third hand, a huge, hot-air stove which we installed in the cellar. We cut generous holes in our thin floors for its eight-inch [20 cm] tin pipes (why we were not burned in our beds each week of the winter I never can understand) and we were extraordinarily and self-centredly content."[26] In this house, which they called Bliss Cottage, their first child, Josephine, was born "in three foot of snow on the night of 29 December 1892. Her Mother’s birthday being the 31st and mine the 30th of the same month, we congratulated her on her sense of the fitness of things ..."[26]
The cover of The Jungle Book first edition, 1894.
It was also in this cottage that the first dawnings of the Jungle Books came to Kipling: " . . workroom in the Bliss Cottage was seven feet by eight, and from December to April the snow lay level with its window-sill. It chanced that I had written a tale about Indian Forestry work which included a boy who had been brought up by wolves. In the stillness, and suspense, of the winter of ’92 some memory of the Masonic Lions of my childhood’s magazine, and a phrase in Haggard’s Nada the Lily, combined with the echo of this tale. After blocking out the main idea in my head, the pen took charge, and I watched it begin to write stories about Mowgli and animals, which later grew into the two Jungle Books ".[26] With Josephine's arrival, Bliss Cottage was felt to be congested, so eventually the couple bought land—10 acres (40,000 m2) on a rocky hillside overlooking the Connecticut River—from Carrie's brother Beatty Balestier, and built their own house. Kipling named the house Naulakha, in honour of Wolcott and of their collaboration, and this time the name was spelled correctly.[17] From his early years in Lahore (1882–87), Kipling had become enamored with the Mughal architecture,[35] especially the Naulakha pavilion situated in Lahore Fort, which eventually became an inspiration for the title of his novel as well as the house.[36] The house still stands on Kipling Road, three miles (5 km) north of Brattleboro in Dummerston, Vermont: a big, secluded, dark-green house, with shingled roof and sides, which Kipling called his "ship", and which brought him "sunshine and a mind at ease."[17] His seclusion in Vermont, combined with his healthy "sane clean life", made Kipling both inventive and prolific.
Gilt title of the 1890 first American edition of Departmental Ditties and Barrack Room Ballads, which contained Mandalay and Gunga Din.
In the short span of four years, he produced, in addition to the Jungle Books, a collection of short stories (The Day's Work), a novel (Captains Courageous), and a profusion of poetry,
including the volume The Seven Seas. The collection of Barrack-Room Ballads was issued in March 1892, first published individually for the most part in 1890, and containing his poems "Mandalay" and "Gunga Din". He especially enjoyed writing the Jungle Books—both masterpieces of imaginative writing—and enjoyed, too, corresponding with the many children who wrote to him about them.[17] Life in New England
The writing life in naulakha was occasionally interrupted by visitors, including his father, who visited soon after his retirement in 1893,[17] and British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, who brought his golf-clubs, stayed for two days, and gave Kipling an extended golf lesson.[37][38] Kipling seemed to take to golf, occasionally practising with the local Congregational minister, and even playing with red-painted balls when the ground was covered in snow.[15][38] However, wintertime golf was "not altogether a success because there were no limits to a drive; the ball might skid two miles (3 km) down the long slope to Connecticut river."[15] From all accounts, Kipling loved the outdoors,[17] not least of whose marvels in Vermont was the turning of the leaves each fall. He described this moment in a letter: "A little maple began it, flaming blood-red of a sudden where he stood against the dark green of a pine-belt. Next morning there was an answering signal from the swamp where the sumacs grow. Three days later, the hill-sides as fast as the eye could range were afire, and the roads paved, with crimson and gold. Then a wet wind blew, and ruined all the uniforms of that gorgeous army; and the oaks, who had held themselves in reserve, buckled on their dull and bronzed cuirasses and stood it out stiffly to the last blown leaf, till nothing remained but pencil-shadings of bare boughs, and one could see into the most private heart of the woods."[39]
The Kiplings' first daughter Josephine, 1895. She died of pneumonia in 1899 aged 6.
In February 1896, Elsie Kipling was born, the couple's second daughter. By this time, according to several biographers, their marital relationship was no longer light-hearted and spontaneous.[40] Although they would always remain loyal to each other, they seemed now to have fallen into set roles.[17] In a letter to a friend who had become engaged around this time, the 30-year-old Kipling offered this sombre counsel: marriage principally taught "the tougher virtues—such as humility, restraint, order, and forethought."[41]
The Kiplings loved life in Vermont and might have lived out their lives there, were it not for two incidents—one of global politics, the other of family discord—that hastily ended their time there. By the early 1890s, the United Kingdom and Venezuela were in a border dispute involving British Guiana. The U.S. had made several offers to arbitrate, but in 1895 the new American Secretary of State Richard Olney upped the ante by arguing for the American "right" to arbitrate on grounds of sovereignty on the continent (see the Olney interpretation as an extension of the Monroe Doctrine).[17] This raised hackles in the UK, and the situation grew into a major Anglo-American crisis, with talk of war on both sides.
Kipling in the United States (date unknown).
Although the crisis led to greater U.S.-British cooperation, at the time Kipling was bewildered by what he felt was persistent anti-British sentiment in the U.S., especially in the press.[17] He wrote in a letter that it felt like being "aimed at with a decanter across a friendly dinner table."[41] By January 1896, he had decided[15] to end his family's "good wholesome life" in the U.S. and seek their fortunes elsewhere. A family dispute became the final straw. For some time, relations between Carrie and her brother Beatty Balestier had been strained, owing to his drinking and insolvency. In May 1896, an inebriated Beatty encountered Kipling on the street and threatened him with physical harm.[17] The incident led to Beatty's eventual arrest, but in the subsequent hearing, and the resulting publicity, Kipling's privacy was destroyed, and he was left feeling miserable and exhausted. In July 1896, a week before the hearing was to resume, the Kiplings packed their belongings, left the United States, and returned to England.[15]
Kipling's Torquay house, with an English heritage blue plaque on the wall.
Devon By September 1896, the Kiplings were in Torquay, Devon, on the southwestern coast of England, in a hillside home overlooking the English Channel. Although Kipling did not much care for his new house, whose design, he claimed, left its occupants feeling dispirited and gloomy, he managed to remain productive and socially active.[17] Kipling was now a famous man, and in the previous two or three years, had increasingly been making political pronouncements in his writings. The Kiplings had welcomed their first son, John, in August 1897. Kipling had begun work on two poems, "Recessional" (1897) and "The White Man's Burden" (1899) which were to create controversy when published. Regarded by some as anthems for enlightened and duty-bound empire-building (that captured the mood of the Victorian age), the poems equally were regarded by others as propaganda for brazenfaced imperialism and its attendant racial attitudes; still others saw irony in the poems and warnings of the perils of empire.[17] Take up the White Man's burden— Send forth the best ye breed— Go, bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait, in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild— Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child. —The White Man's Burden[42] There was also foreboding in the poems, a sense that all could yet come to naught.[43] Far-called, our navies melt away; On dune and headland sinks the fire: Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! Judge of the Nations, spare us yet. Lest we forget—lest we forget! —Recessional[44] A prolific writer during his time in Torquay, he also wrote Stalky & Co., a collection of school stories (born of his experience at the United Services College in Westward Ho!) whose juvenile protagonists displayed a know-it-all, cynical outlook on patriotism and authority. According to his family, Kipling enjoyed reading aloud stories from Stalky & Co. to them, and often went into spasms of laughter over his own jokes.[17]
Visits to South Africa
H.A. Gwynne, Julian Ralph, Perceval Landon, and Rudyard Kipling in South Africa, 1900–1901.
In early 1898 the Kiplings travelled to South Africa for their winter holiday, thus beginning an annual tradition which (excepting the following year) was to last until 1908. They always stayed in "The Woolsack", a house on Cecil Rhodes' estate at Groote Schuur (and now a student residence for the University of Cape Town); it was within walking distance of Rhodes' mansion.[45] With his new reputation as Poet of the Empire, Kipling was warmly received by some of the most influential politicians of the Cape Colony, including Rhodes, Sir Alfred Milner, and Leander Starr Jameson. Kipling cultivated their friendship and came to admire the men and their politics. The period 1898–1910 was crucial in the history of South Africa and included the Second Boer War (1899–1902), the ensuing peace treaty, and the 1910 formation of the Union of South Africa. Back in England, Kipling wrote poetry in support of the British cause in the Boer War and on his next visit to South Africa in early 1900, he became a correspondent for The Friend newspaper in Bloemfontein, which had been commandeered by Lord Roberts for British troops.[46] Although his journalistic stint was to last only two weeks, it was Kipling's first work on a newspaper staff since he left The Pioneer in Allahabad more than ten years earlier.[17] At The Friend he made lifelong friendships with Perceval Landon, H. A. Gwynne and others.[47] He also wrote articles published more widely expressing his views on the conflict.[48] Kipling penned an inscription for the Honoured Dead Memorial (Siege memorial) in Kimberley. During this period Kipling travelled throughout South Africa and told stories of these places through his poetry, such as the well known poem "Lichtenberg" which relates the story of a combatant and his journey towards death in a foreign land. Trooper Aberline’s sacrifice was to have an impact on the Boers and his legacy went far beyond his rusting cross in the Lichtenburg cemetery which lies close to that of Edith Mathews.[49]
Sussex
In 1897, Kipling moved from Torquay to Rottingdean, East Sussex; first to North End House and later to The Elms.[50] In 1902 Kipling bought Bateman's, a house built in 1634 and located in rural Burwash, East Sussex, England. Bateman's was Kipling's home from 1902 until his death in 1936.[51] The house, along with the surrounding buildings, the mill and 33 acres (130,000 m2) was purchased for £9,300. It had no bathroom, no running water upstairs and no electricity, but Kipling loved it: "Behold us, lawful owners of a grey stone lichened house—A.D. 1634 over the door—beamed, panelled, with old oak staircase, and all untouched and unfaked. It is a good and peaceable place. We have loved it ever since our first sight of it." (from a November 1902 letter).[52][53] In the non-fiction realm he became involved in the debate over the British response to the rise in German naval power known as the Tirpitz Plan to build a fleet to challenge the Royal Navy, publishing a series of articles in 1898 which were collected as A Fleet in Being. On a visit to the United States in 1899, Kipling and Josephine developed pneumonia, from which she eventually died.
'Peak of career'
"He sat in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammeh, on her old platform, opposite the old Ajaibgher, the Wonder House, as the natives called the Lahore Museum." -Kim
In the wake of his daughter's death, Kipling concentrated on collecting material for what would become Just So Stories for Little Children. That work was published in 1902, the year after Kim was first issued.[54] The first decade of the 20th century saw Kipling at the height of his popularity. In 1906 he wrote the song "Land of our Birth, We Pledge to Thee". Kipling wrote two science fiction short stories, With the Night Mail (1905) and As Easy As A. B. C (1912), both set in the 21st century in Kipling's Aerial Board of Control universe. These read like modern hard science fiction,[55] and introduced the literary technique known as indirect exposition, which would later become one of Heinlein's trademarks.[54] In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The prize citation said: "In consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author." Nobel prizes had been established in 1901 and Kipling was the first English-language recipient. At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1907, the Permanent
Secretary of the Swedish Academy, Carl David af Wirsén, praised both Kipling and three centuries of English literature: The Swedish Academy, in awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature this year to Rudyard Kipling, desires to pay a tribute of homage to the literature of England, so rich in manifold glories, and to the greatest genius in the realm of narrative that that country has produced in our times.[56] "Book-ending" this achievement was the publication of two connected poetry and story collections: Puck of Pook's Hill (1906), and Rewards and Fairies (1910). The latter contained the poem "If—". In a 1995 BBC opinion poll, it was voted the UK's favourite poem.[57] This exhortation to self-control and stoicism is arguably Kipling's most famous poem.[57]
A left-facing swastika in 1911, a symbol of good luck.
Many older editions of Rudyard Kipling's books have a swastika printed on their covers associated with a picture of an elephant carrying a lotus flower, reflecting the influence of Indian culture. Kipling's use of the swastika was based on the Indian sun symbol conferring good luck and the Sanskrit word meaning "fortunate" or "well-being".[58] In a note to Edward Bok written after the death of Lockwood Kipling in 1911, Rudyard said: "I am sending with this for your acceptance, as some little memory of my father to whom you were so kind, the original of one of the plaques that he used to make for me. I thought it being the Swastika would be appropriate for your Swastika. May it bring you even more good fortune."[58] He used the swastika symbol in both right- and left-facing orientations, and it was in general use at the time.[59][60] Such was Kipling's popularity that he was asked by his friend Max Aitken to intervene in the 1911 Canadian election on behalf of the Conservatives.[61] On 7 September 1911, the Montreal Daily Star newspaper published a front-page appeal to all Canadians against the reciprocity agreement with the United States by Kipling who wrote: "It is her own soul that Canada risks today. Once that soul is pawned for any consideration, Canada must inevitably conform to the commercial, legal, financial, social and ethical standards which will be imposed on her by the sheer admitted weight of the United States."[61] Over the next week, Kipling's appeal was reprinted in every English newspaper in Canada, and is credited with helping to turn Canadian public opinion against the Liberal government that signed the reciprocity agreement.[61] Kipling sympathised with the anti-Home Rule stance of Irish Unionists. He was friends with Edward Carson, the Dublin-born leader of Ulster Unionism, who raised the Ulster Volunteers to oppose "Home Rule" in Ireland. Kipling wrote the poem "Ulster" in 1912 reflecting this. Kipling was a staunch opponent of Bolshevism, a position which he shared with his friend
Henry Rider Haggard. The two had bonded upon Kipling's arrival in London in 1889 largely on the strength of their shared opinions, and they remained lifelong friends. Many have wondered why he was never made Poet Laureate. Some claim that he was offered the post during the interregnum of 1892–96 and turned it down.
Freemasonry According to the English magazine Masonic Illustrated, Kipling became a Freemason in about 1885, before the usual minimum age of 21.[62] He was initiated into Hope and Perseverance Lodge No. 782 in Lahore. He later wrote to The Times, "I was Secretary for some years of the Lodge . . . , which included Brethren of at least four creeds. I was entered [as an Apprentice] by a member from Brahmo Somaj, a Hindu, passed [to the degree of Fellow Craft] by a Mohammedan, and raised [to the degree of Master Mason] by an Englishman. Our Tyler was an Indian Jew." Kipling received not only the three degrees of Craft Masonry, but also the side degrees of Mark Master Mason and Royal Ark Mariner.[63] Kipling so loved his masonic experience that he memorialised its ideals in his famous poem, "The Mother Lodge",[64] and used the fraternity and its symbols as vital plot devices in his novella, The Man Who Would Be King.
First World War (1914–18) At the beginning of World War I, like many other writers, Kipling wrote pamphlets and poems which enthusiastically supported the UK's war aims of restoring Belgium after that kingdom had been occupied by Germany together with more generalised statements that Britain was standing up for the cause of good. In September 1914, Kipling was asked by the British government to write propaganda, an offer that he immediately accepted.[65] Kipling's pamphlets and stories were very popular with the British people during the war with his major themes being glorifying the British military as the place for heroic men to be, German atrocities against Belgian civilians and the stories of women being brutalized by a horrific war unleashed by Germany, yet surviving and triumphing in spite of their suffering.[65] Kipling was enraged by reports of the Rape of Belgium together with the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915, which he saw as a deeply inhumane act, which led him to see the war as a crusade for civilization against barbarism.[66] In a 1915 speech Kipling declared that "There was no crime, no cruelty, no abomination that the mind of men can conceive of which the German has not perpetrated, is not perpetrating, and will not perpetrate if he is allowed to go on...Today, there are only two divisions in the world...human beings and Germans."[66] Alongside his passionate antipathy towards Germany, Kipling was privately deeply critical of how the war was fought by the British Army as opposed to the war itself, which he ardently supported, complaining as early as October 1914 that Germany should have been defeated by now, and something must be wrong with the British Army.[67] Kipling, who was shocked by the heavy losses that the BEF had taken by the autumn of 1914 blamed the entire pre-war generation of British politicians, who he argued had failed to learn the lessons of the Boer War and as a result, thousands of British soldiers were now paying with their lives for their failure in the fields of France and Belgium.[67]
Kipling had scorn for those men who shirked duty in the First World War. In "The New Army in Training"[68] (1915), Kipling concluded the piece by saying: This much we can realise, even though we are so close to it, the old safe instinct saves us from triumph and exultation. But what will be the position in years to come of the young man who has deliberately elected to outcaste himself from this all-embracing brotherhood? What of his family, and, above all, what of his descendants, when the books have been closed and the last balance struck of sacrifice and sorrow in every hamlet, village, parish, suburb, city, shire, district, province, and Dominion throughout the Empire?
Death of son Kipling's son John died in the First World War, at the Battle of Loos in September 1915, at age 18. John had initially wanted to join the Royal Navy, but having had his application turned down after a failed medical examination due to poor eyesight, he opted to apply for military service as an Army officer. But again, his eyesight was an issue during the medical examination. In fact, he tried twice to enlist, but was rejected. His father had been lifelong friends with Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the British Army, and colonel of the Irish Guards, and at Rudyard's request, John was accepted into the Irish Guards.[65] He was sent to Loos two days into the battle in a reinforcement contingent. He was last seen stumbling through the mud blindly, screaming in agony after an exploding shell had ripped his face apart. A body identified as his was not found until 1992, although that identification has been challenged.[69][70] After his son's death, Kipling wrote, "If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied." It is speculated that these words may reveal his feelings of guilt at his role in getting John a commission in the Irish Guards.[71] Others, such as English professor Tracy Bilsing, contend that the line is referring to Kipling's disgust that British leaders failed to learn the lessons of the Boer War, and were not prepared for the struggle with Germany in 1914 with the "lie" of the "fathers" being that the British Army was prepared for any war before 1914 when it was not.[72] John's death has been linked to Kipling's 1916 poem "My Boy Jack", notably in the play My Boy Jack and its subsequent television adaptation, along with the documentary Rudyard Kipling: A Remembrance Tale. However, the poem was originally published at the head of a story about the Battle of Jutland and appears to refer to a death at sea; the 'Jack' referred to is probably a generic 'Jack Tar'.[73] Kipling was said to help assuage his grief over the death of his son through reading the novels of Jane Austen aloud to his wife and daughter.[74] During the war, he wrote a booklet The Fringes of the Fleet[75] containing essays and poems on various nautical subjects of the war. Some of the poems were set to music by English composer Edward Elgar. Kipling became friends with a French soldier whose life had been saved in the First World War when his copy of Kim, which he had in his left breast pocket, stopped a bullet. The soldier presented Kipling with the book (with bullet still embedded) and his Croix de Guerre as a token of gratitude. They continued to correspond, and when the soldier, Maurice Hammoneau, had a son, Kipling insisted on returning the book and medal.[76]
On 1 August 1918, a poem—"The Old Volunteer"—appeared under his name in The Times. The next day he wrote to the newspaper to disclaim authorship, and a correction appeared. Although The Times employed a private detective to investigate (and the detective appears to have suspected Kipling himself of being the author), the identity of the hoaxer was never established.[77]
After the war (1918–1936)
Kipling, aged 60, on the cover of Time magazine, 27 September 1926.
Partly in response to John's death, Kipling joined Sir Fabian Ware's Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), the group responsible for the garden-like British war graves that can be found to this day dotted along the former Western Front and all the other locations around the world where troops of the British Empire lie buried. His most significant contribution to the project was his selection of the biblical phrase "Their Name Liveth For Evermore" (Ecclesiasticus 44.14, KJV) found on the Stones of Remembrance in larger war cemeteries and his suggestion of the phrase "Known unto God" for the gravestones of unidentified servicemen. He chose the inscription "The Glorious Dead" on the Cenotaph, Whitehall, London. He also wrote a two-volume history of the Irish Guards, his son's regiment, that was published in 1923 and is considered to be one of the finest examples of regimental history.[78] Kipling's moving short story, "The Gardener", depicts visits to the war cemeteries, and the poem "The King's Pilgrimage" (1922) depicts a journey which King George V made, touring the cemeteries and memorials under construction by the Imperial War Graves Commission. With the increasing popularity of the automobile, Kipling became a motoring correspondent for the British press, and wrote enthusiastically of his trips around England and abroad, even though he was usually driven by a chauffeur. After the war, Kipling was skeptical about the Fourteen Points and the League of Nations, but he had great hopes that the United States would abandon isolationism and that the post-war
world would be dominated by an Anglo-French-American alliance.[79] Kipling hoped that the United States would take on a League of Nations mandate for Armenia as the best way of preventing isolationism, and hoped that Theodore Roosevelt, whom Kipling admired, would once again become president.[79] Kipling was saddened by Roosevelt's death in 1919, believing that his friend was the only American politician capable of keeping the United States in the "game" of world politics.[80] In 1920 Kipling co-founded the Liberty League with Haggard and Lord Sydenham. This short-lived enterprise focused on promoting classic liberal ideals as a response to the rising power of Communist tendencies within Great Britain, or, as Kipling put it, "to combat the advance of Bolshevism".[81][82] In 1922 Kipling, who had made reference to the work of engineers in some of his poems, such as "The Sons of Martha", "Sappers", and "McAndrew's Hymn",[83] and in other writings such as short story anthologies, for instance The Day's Work,[84] was asked by University of Toronto civil engineering professor Herbert E. T. Haultain for his assistance in developing a dignified obligation and ceremony for graduating engineering students. Kipling was enthusiastic in his response and shortly produced both, formally entitled "The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer". Today, engineering graduates all across Canada are presented with an iron ring at the ceremony as a reminder of their obligation to society.[85][86] In 1922 Kipling also became Lord Rector of St Andrews University in Scotland, a three-year position. Kipling, who was a francophile, argued very strongly for an Anglo-French alliance to uphold the peace, calling Britain and France in 1920 the "twin fortresses of European civilization".[87] Along the same lines, Kipling repeatedly warned against revising the Treaty of Versailles in Germany's favor, which he predicated would lead to a new world war.[87] An admirer of Raymond Poincaré, Kipling was one of the few British intellectuals who supported the French Occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 at a time when the British government and most public opinion was against the French position.[88] In contrast to the popular British view of Poincaré as a cruel bully intent on impoverishing Germany by seeking unreasonable reparations, Kipling argued that Poincaré was only rightfully trying to preserve France as a great power in the face of an unfavorable situation.[88] Kipling argued that even before 1914 Germany's larger economy and birthrate had made that country stronger than France, that with much of France devastated by the war and the French suffering heavy losses that the low French birthrate would have trouble replacing while Germany was mostly undamaged and with a higher birth rate, that it was madness for Britain to seek to pressure France to revise Versailles in Germany's favor.[88] In 1924, Kipling was opposed to the Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald as "Bolshevism without bullets", but believing that Labour was a Communist front organisation he took the view that "excited orders and instructions from Moscow" would expose Labour as such an organisation to the British people.[89] Kipling's views were on the right and though he admired Benito Mussolini to a certain extent for a time in the 1920s, Kipling was against fascism, writing that Oswald Mosley was "a bounder and an arriviste"; by 1935 he called Mussolini a deranged and dangerous egomaniac and in 1933 wrote "The Hitlerites are out for blood".[90]
Covers of two of Kipling's books from 1919 (l) and 1930 (r) showing the removal of the swastika
Once the Nazis came to power and usurped the swastika, until that point a popular symbol of luck and success in the Western world, Kipling ordered that it should no longer adorn his books.[58] In 1934 he published a short story in Strand Magazine, "Proofs of Holy Writ", which postulated that William Shakespeare had helped to polish the prose of the King James Bible.[91] Less than one year before his death Kipling gave a speech (titled "An Undefended Island") to The Royal Society of St George on 6 May 1935 warning of the danger which Nazi Germany posed to Britain.[92]
Death and legacy Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. On the night of 12 January 1936, Kipling suffered a haemorrhage in his small intestine. He underwent surgery, but died less than a week later on 18 January 1936 at the age of 70 of a perforated duodenal ulcer.[93][94] Kipling's death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced in a magazine, to which he wrote, "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."[95] The pallbearers at the funeral included Kipling's cousin, the UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, and the marble casket was covered by a Union flag.[96] Kipling was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, northwest London, and his ashes were buried in Poets' Corner, part of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey, next to the graves of Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy.[96] In 2010 the International Astronomical Union approved that a crater on the planet Mercury would be named after Kipling—one of ten newly discovered impact craters observed by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2008–9.[97] In 2012, an extinct species of crocodile, Goniopholis kiplingi, was named in his honour, "in recognition for his enthusiasm for natural sciences".[98] More than 50 unpublished poems by Kipling were released for the first time in March 2013.[99]
Posthumous reputation Various writers, such as Edmund Candler, were strongly influenced by Kipling's writing. Kipling's stories for adults remain in print and have garnered high praise from writers as different as Poul Anderson, Jorge Luis Borges, and Randall Jarrell who wrote that, "After you have read Kipling's fifty or seventy-five best stories you realize that few men have written this many stories of this much merit, and that very few have written more and better stories."[100] His children's stories remain popular; and his Jungle Books have been made into several movies. The first was made by producer Alexander Korda, and other films have been produced by the Walt Disney Company. A number of his poems were set to music by Percy Grainger. A series of short films based on some of his stories was broadcast by the BBC in 1964.[101] Kipling's work is still popular today. The poet T. S. Eliot edited A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1941) with an introductory essay.[102] Eliot was aware of the complaints that had been levelled against Kipling and he dismissed them one by one: that Kipling is 'a Tory' using his verse to transmit right wing political
views, or 'a journalist' pandering to popular taste; while Eliot writes "I cannot find any justification for the charge that he held a doctrine of race superiority."[103] Eliot finds instead, An immense gift for using words, an amazing curiosity and power of observation with his mind and with all his senses, the mask of the entertainer, and beyond that a queer gift of second sight, of transmitting messages from elsewhere, a gift so disconcerting when we are made aware of it that thenceforth we are never sure when it is not present: all this makes Kipling a writer impossible wholly to understand and quite impossible to belittle. — T.S. Eliot[104]
Of Kipling's verse, such as his Barrack-Room Ballads, Eliot writes "of a number of poets who have written great poetry, only... a very few whom I should call great verse writers. And unless I am mistaken, Kipling's position in this class is not only high, but unique."[105] In response to Eliot, George Orwell wrote a long consideration of Kipling's work for Horizon in 1942, noting that although as a "jingo imperialist" Kipling was "morally insensitive and aesthetically disgusting", his work had many qualities which ensured that while "every enlightened person has despised him ... nine-tenths of those enlightened persons are forgotten and Kipling is in some sense still there". Orwell summarized that One reason for Kipling's power [was] his sense of responsibility, which made it possible for him to have a world-view, even though it happened to be a false one. Although he had no direct connexion with any political party, Kipling was a Conservative, a thing that does not exist nowadays. Those who now call themselves Conservatives are either Liberals, Fascists or the accomplices of Fascists. He identified himself with the ruling power and not with the opposition. In a gifted writer this seems to us strange and even disgusting, but it did have the advantage of giving Kipling a certain grip on reality. The ruling power is always faced with the question, 'In such and such circumstances, what would you do?', whereas the opposition is not obliged to take responsibility or make any real decisions. Where it is a permanent and pensioned opposition, as in England, the quality of its thought deteriorates accordingly. Moreover, anyone who starts out with a pessimistic, reactionary view of life tends to be justified by events, for Utopia never arrives and 'the gods of the copybook headings', as Kipling himself put it, always return. Kipling sold out to the British governing class, not financially but emotionally. This warped his political judgement, for the British ruling class were not what he imagined, and it led him into abysses of folly and snobbery, but he gained a corresponding advantage from having at least tried to imagine what action and responsibility are like. It is a great thing in his favour that he is not witty, not 'daring', has no wish to épater les bourgeois. He dealt largely in platitudes, and since we live in a world of platitudes, much of what he said sticks. Even his worst follies seem less shallow and less irritating than the 'enlightened' utterances of the same period, such as Wilde's epigrams or the collection of cracker-mottoes at the end of Man and Superman. — George Orwell[106]
The poet Alison Brackenbury writes that "Kipling is poetry’s Dickens, an outsider and journalist with an unrivalled ear for sound and speech."[107] The English folksinger Peter Bellamy was a great lover of Kipling's poetry, much of which he believed to have been influenced by English traditional folk forms. He recorded several
albums of Kipling's verse set to traditional airs, or to tunes of his own composition written in traditional style.[108] Kipling is often quoted in discussions of contemporary political and social issues. Political singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, who attempts to reclaim English nationalism from the rightwing, has reclaimed Kipling for an inclusive sense of Englishness.[109] Kipling's enduring relevance has been noted in the United States, as it has become involved in Afghanistan and other areas about which he wrote.[110][111][112]
Links with camping and Scouting In 1903, Kipling gave permission to Elizabeth Ford Holt to borrow themes from the Jungle Books to establish Camp Mowglis, a summer camp for boys on the shores of Newfound Lake in New Hampshire. Throughout their lives, Kipling and his wife Carrie maintained an active interest in Camp Mowglis, which is still in operation and continues the traditions that Kipling inspired. Buildings at Mowglis have names such as Akela, Toomai, Baloo, and Panther. The campers are referred to as "the Pack," from the youngest "Cubs" to the oldest campers living in "Den."[113] Kipling's links with the Scouting movements were also strong. Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, used many themes from The Jungle Book stories and Kim in setting up his junior movement, the Wolf Cubs. These connections still exist today, such as the continued popularity of "Kim's Game" in the Scouting movement. The movement is named after Mowgli's adopted wolf family, and the adult helpers of Wolf Cub Packs adopt names taken from The Jungle Book, especially the adult leader who is called Akela after the leader of the Seeonee wolf pack.[114]
Kipling's home at Burwash
Bateman's, Kipling's home in Burwash, East Sussex, is now a public museum dedicated to the author.
After the death of Kipling's wife in 1939, his house, "Bateman's" in Burwash, East Sussex, South East England, where he had lived from 1902 until 1936, was bequeathed to the National Trust and is now a public museum dedicated to the author. Elsie Bambridge, his only child who lived to maturity, died childless in 1976, and also bequeathed her copyrights to the National Trust, which in turn donated them to the University of Sussex in Brighton (near Kipling's former home of Burwash) to ensure better public access.[115]
Novelist and poet Sir Kingsley Amis wrote a poem, 'Kipling at Bateman's', after visiting Kipling's Burwash home (Amis' father had lived in Burwash briefly in the 1960s) as part of a BBC television series on writers and their houses.[116] In 2003, actor Ralph Fiennes read excerpts from Kipling's works from the study in Bateman's, including, The Jungle Book, Something Of Myself, Kim, and The Just So Stories, and poems, including "If... " and "My Boy Jack", for a CD published by the National Trust.[117][118]
Reputation in India In modern-day India, whence he drew much of his material, Kipling's reputation remains controversial, especially amongst modern nationalists and some post-colonial critics. Other contemporary Indian intellectuals such as Ashis Nandy have taken a more nuanced view of his work. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, always described Kipling's novel Kim as his favourite book.[119][120] G V Desani, an Indian writer of fiction, had a condescending opinion of Kipling. He alludes to Kipling in his novel, All About H. Hatterr: I happen to pick up R. Kipling's autobiographical "Kim". Therein, this self-appointed whiteman's burden-bearing sherpa feller's stated how, in the Orient, blokes hit the road and think nothing of walking a thousand miles in search of something. Indian historian and writer Khushwant Singh wrote in 2001 that he considers Kipling's "If—" "the essence of the message of The Gita in English",[121] referring to the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Indian scripture. Indian writer R. K. Narayan said, "Kipling, the supposed expert writer on India, showed a better understanding of the mind of the animals in the jungle than of the men in an Indian home or the marketplace."[122] In November 2007 it was announced that Kipling's birth home in the campus of the J J School of Art in Bombay would be turned into a museum celebrating the author and his works.[123]
References 1. The Times, (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12 Pinney, Thomas (September 2004). H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison, ed. ‘Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard (1865–1936)’ (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ed.). Oxford University Press. For notes on the text of the Kipling piece, see http://www.kipling.org.uk/rg_wouldbeking_notes.htm
Rutherford, Andrew (1987). General Preface to the Editions of Rudyard Kipling, in "Puck of Pook's Hill and Rewards and Fairies", by Rudyard Kipling. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-2825755 Rutherford, Andrew (1987). Introduction to the Oxford World's Classics edition of "Plain Tales from the Hills", by Rudyard Kipling. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-281652-7 James Joyce considered Tolstoy, Kipling and D'Annunzio to be the "three writers of the nineteenth century who had the greatest natural talents", but that "he did not fulfill that promise". He also noted that the three writers all "had semi-fanatic ideas about religion, or about patriotism." Diary of David Fleischman, 21 July 1938, quoted in James Joyce by Richard Ellmann, p. 661, Oxford University Press (1983) ISBN 0-19-281465-6 Alfred Nobel Foundation. "Who is the youngest ever to receive a Nobel Prize, and who is the oldest?". Nobelprize.com. p. 409. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006. Birkenhead, Lord. 1978. Rudyard Kipling, Appendix B, "Honours and Awards". Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London; Random House Inc., New York Lewis, Lisa. 1995. Introduction to the Oxford World's Classics edition of "Just So Stories", by Rudyard Kipling. Oxford University Press. pp.xv-xlii. ISBN 0-19-282276-4 Quigley, Isabel. 1987. Introduction to the Oxford World's Classics edition of "The Complete Stalky & Co.", by Rudyard Kipling. Oxford University Press. pp. xiii–xxviii. ISBN 0-19-281660-8 Said, Edward. 1993. Culture and Imperialism. London: Chatto & Windus. Page 196. ISBN 0-67975054-1. Sandison, Alan. 1987. Introduction to the Oxford World's Classics edition of Kim, by Rudyard Kipling. Oxford University Press. pp. xiii–xxx. ISBN 0-19-281674-8 Orwell, George (30 September 2006). "Essay on Kipling". Archived from the original on 18 September 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006. Douglas Kerr, University of Hong Kong. "Rudyard Kipling." The Literary Encyclopedia. 30 May 2002. The Literary Dictionary Company. 26 September 2006 [1] Carrington, C.E. (Charles Edmund). 1955. Rudyard Kipling: His Life and Work. Macmillan & Co. Flanders, Judith. 2005. A Circle of Sisters: Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne-Jones, Agnes Poynter, and Louisa Baldwin. W.W. Norton and Company, New York. ISBN 0-393-05210-9 Gilmour, David. 2002. The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, NY http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_rival1.htm
David Gilmour (11 June 2003). The long recessional : the imperial life of Rudyard Kipling. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9781466830004. Retrieved 27 July 2015. thepotteries.org (13 January 2002). "did you know ....". The potteries.org. Retrieved 2 October 2006. Ahmed, Zubair (27 November 2007). "Kipling's India home to become museum". BBC News. Retrieved 7 August 2015. Sir J.J. College of Architecture (30 September 2006). "Campus". Sir J. J. College of Architecture, Mumbai. Retrieved 2 October 2006. Aklekar, Rajendra (12 August 2014). "Red tape keeps Kipling bungalow in disrepair". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 7 August 2015. "To the City of Bombay", dedication to Seven Seas, by Rudyard Kipling, Macmillan & Co., 1894 Murphy, Bernice M. (21 June 1999). "Rudyard Kipling – A Brief Biography". School of English, The Queen's University of Belfast. Retrieved 6 October 2006. Kipling, Rudyard (1935). "Something of myself". public domain. Retrieved 6 September 2008.also: 1935/1990. Something of myself and other autobiographical writings. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-40584-X Pinney, Thomas (1995). "Something of Myself". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 6 March 2012."A Very Young Person" Carpenter, Humphrey and Mari Prichard. 1984. Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. pp. 296–297 Chums, No. 256, Vol. V, 4 August 1897, page 798 S, Neelam (8 June 2008). "Rudyard Kipling's Allahabad bungalow in shambles". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 7 August 2015. "- Kipling, Rudyard,--1865-1936--Homes & haunts--India--Allahabad (from the collection of William Carpenter)". Library of Congress USA. Retrieved 7 August 2015. Pinney, Thomas (editor). Letters of Rudyard Kipling, volume 1. Macmillan & Co., London and NY Kipling, Rudyard (1956) Kipling: a selection of his stories and poems, Volume 2 pp.349 Doubleday, 1956 John D. Coates (1997). "The Day's Work: Kipling and the Idea of Sacrifice". p. 130. Fairleigh University Press Robert D. Kaplan (1989) Lahore as Kipling Knew It. The New York Times. Retrieved 9 March 2008 Kipling, Rudyard (1996) Writings on Writing. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44527-2. see pp. 36, 173
Mallet, Phillip. 2003. Rudyard Kipling: A Literary Life. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. ISBN 0-33355721-2 Ricketts, Harry. 1999. Rudyard Kipling: A life. Carroll and Graf Publishers Inc., New York. ISBN 07867-0711-9 Kipling, Rudyard. 1920. Letters of Travel (1892–1920). Macmillan & Co. Nicholson, Adam. 2001. Carrie Kipling 1862–1939 : The Hated Wife. Faber & Faber, London. ISBN 0-571-20835-5 Pinney, Thomas (editor). Letters of Rudyard Kipling, volume 2. Macmillan & Co. Kipling, Rudyard. 1899. The White Man's Burden. Published simultaneously in The Times, London, and McClure's Magazine (U.S.) 12 February 1899 Snodgrass, Chris. 2002. A Companion to Victorian Poetry. Blackwell, Oxford Kipling, Rudyard. 1897. Recessional. Published in The Times, London, July 1897 "Something of Myself",pub. 1935, South Africa Chapter [2] The Friend newspaper, Orange Free State, South Africa Carrington, C. E., (1955) The life of Rudyard Kipling, Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, p. 236 Kipling, Rudyard (18 March 1900). "Kipling at Cape Town: Severe Arraignment of Treacherous Afrikanders and Demand for Condign Punishment By and By" (PDF). The New York Times. p. 21. Craig Raine (ed.), Kipling, Selected Poetry (Penguin, 1992), pp. 214–215 "Kipling.s Sussex: The Elms". Kipling.org. "Bateman's: Jacobean house, home of Rudyard Kipling". National Trust.org. Carrington, C. E., (1955) The life of Rudyard Kipling, p. 286 mt (17 November 2005). "Link to National Trust Site for Bateman House". Nationaltrust.org.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2010. Writers History – Kipling Rudyard Bennett, Arnold (1917). Books and Persons Being Comments on a Past Epoch 1908–1911. London: Chatto & Windus. "Nobel Prize in Literature 1907 – presentation Speech". Nobelprize.org. Emma Jones (2004-10-01). The Literary Companion. Robson. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-86105-798-3. Michael Smith."Kipling and the Swastika". Kipling.org. Schliemann, H, Troy and its remains, London: Murray, 1875, pp. 102, 119–20
Boxer, Sarah (2000-06-29). "One of the World's Great Symbols Strives for a Comeback". Think Tank (The New York Times). Retrieved 2012-05-07. MacKenzie, David & Dutil, Patrice Canada 1911: The Decisive Election that Shaped the Country, Toronto: Dundurn, 2011 page 211. Mackey, Albert G. (1946). Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Vol. 1. Chicago: The Masonic History Co. Our brother Rudyard Kipling. Masonic lecture Mackey, above. Bilsing, Tracey (Summer 2000). "The Process Of Manufacture of Rudyard Kipling’s Private Propaganda" (PDF). War Literature And The Arts. Retrieved 2013-08-15. Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 page 250. Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 page 251. published by Macmillan and Co., Limited, in London The Great War and its aftermath: The son who haunted Kipling; It was only his father's intervention that allowed John Kipling to serve on the Western Front—and the poet never got over his death. Now a TV drama is to retell the story. By Jonathan Brown, The Independent, 29 August 2006 By John Quinlan writing to National Inventory on War Memorials viewed at: [3] Webb, George. Foreword to: Kipling, Rudyard. The Irish Guards in the Great War. 2 vols. (Spellmount, 1997), p. 9 Bilsing, Tracey (Summer 2000). "1911 The Process Of Manufacture of Rudyard Kipling’s Private Propaganda" (PDF). War Literature And The Arts. Retrieved 2013-08-15. Southam, Brian (6 March 2010). "Notes on "My Boy Jack"". Retrieved 23 July 2011. 'The Many Lovers of Miss Jane Austen', broadcast BBC2 9pm 23 December 2011 The Fringes of the Fleet, Macmillan & Co., 1916 Original correspondence between Kipling and Maurice Hammoneau and his son Jean Hammoneau concerning the affair at the Library of Congress under the title: How "Kim" saved the life of a French soldier : a remarkable series of autograph letters of Rudyard Kipling, with the soldier's Croix de Guerre, 1918–1933. (LOC Ref#2007566938) [4]. The library also possesses the actual French 389-page paperback edition of Kim that saved Hammoneau's life, (LOC Ref 2007581430) [5] George Simmers. "A Kipling Hoax".
Kipling, Rudyard. The Irish Guards in the Great War. 2 vols. (London, 1923) Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 page 273. Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 pages 273–274. 'A Century of Spin' by David Miller and William Dinan, Pluto Press 2008 ISBN 978-0-7453-2688-7 Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 pages 275. Kipling, Rudyard, The Definitive edition of Rudyard Kipling's verse. Hodder & Stoughton. 1940 Kipling, Rudyard, The Day's Work. New York : Doubleday & McClure 1898 "The Iron Ring". Ironring.ca. Retrieved 10 September 2008. "The Calling of an Engineer". Ironring.ca. Retrieved 24 November 2012. Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 pages 300. Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 pages 300–301. Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 pages 293. Gilmour, David The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling, London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 pages 302 & 304. Short Stories from the Strand, The Folio Society, 1992 Rudyard Kipling, War Stories and Poems (Oxford Paperbacks, 1999), pp. xxiv–xxv Harry Ricketts (December 2000). Rudyard Kipling: A Life. Carroll & Graf. pp. 388–. ISBN 978-07867-0830-7. Retrieved 18 July 2013. Rudyard Kipling's Waltzing Ghost: The Literary Heritage of Brown's Hotel, paragraph 11, Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Literary Traveler Carol Chernega (2011). "A Dream House: Exploring the Literary Homes of England". p.90. Dog Ear Publishing. "History – Rudyard Kipling". Westminster abbey.org. – Article from the Red Orbit News network 16 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010
"Rudyard Kipling inspires naming of prehistoric crocodile". BBC Online. 2011-03-20. Retrieved 20 March 2012. Flood, Alison (25 February 2013). "50 unseen Rudyard Kipling poems discovered". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2013. Jarrell, Randall. "On Preparing to Read Kipling." No Other Book: Selected Essays. New York: HarperCollins, 1999. The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling at the Internet Movie Database Eliot, 1941. Eliot's essay occupies 31 pages. Eliot, 1963. p. 29. Eliot, 1963. p. 22. Eliot, 1963. p. 36. Orwell, George (February 1942). "Rudyard Kipling". Horizon. Retrieved 4 December 2013. Brackenbury, Alison. "Poetry Hero: Rudyard Kipling". Poetry News (The Poetry Society) (Spring 2011). Retrieved 11 February 2013. Pareles, Jon (26 September 1991). "Peter Bellamy, 47; British Folk Singer Who Wrote Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 July 2014. Rhyme and Reason, BBC Radio 4, 25 January 2011 WORLD VIEW: Is Afghanistan turning into another Vietnam?, Johnathan Power, The Citizen, 31 December 2010 Is America waxing or waning?, Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic, 12 December 2010 Rudyard Kipling, Official Poet of the 911 War "History of Mowglis". Retrieved 26 November 2013. "ScoutBase UK: The Library – Scouting history – Me Too! – The history of Cubbing in the United Kingdom 1916–present". Scoutbase.org.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2008. Howard, Philip University library to have Kipling papers The Times, 16/9/77, p.1 'The Life of Kingsley Amis', Zachary Leader, Vintage, 2007 pp. 704–705 "Personal touch brings Kipling's Sussex home to life". The Argus. "Rudyard Kipling Readings by Ralph Fiennes".Allmusic. Globalization and educational rights: an intercivilizational analysis, Joel H. Spring, pg.137
Post independence voices in South Asian writings, Malashri Lal, Alamgīr Hashmī, Victor J. Ramraj, 2001. (Not surprisingly, a brief biographical aside practically identifies Nehru with Kim) Khushwant Singh, Review of The Book of Prayer by Renuka Narayanan, 2001 "When Malgudi man courted controversy". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 October 2014 Ahmed, Zubair (27 November 2007). "Kipling's India home to become museum". BBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
