Product Description

William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, was one of the outstanding Anglican figures of the twentieth century. His honesty, wide interests, immense humanity, sense of fun, and utter lack of pomposity won him the respect of thousands of men and women who never darkened the doors of a church, while his intellect and seriousness of purpose impressed the clergy and his peers. This volume brings together twenty two of Temple's essays and addresses covering the whole span of his adult life, and impressively illustrates the catholicity of his interests, the breadth of his social thinking and the depth of his religious faith.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3241638 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
William Temple became President of the Oxford Union in 1904, and subsequently a Fellow and Lecturer in Philosophy at Queen's College, Oxford. In 1908 he became a Deacon, and then a Priest in 1909 before becoming the Headmaster of Repton and Rector of St. James's, Piccadilly. He was editor of The Challenge and in 1916 married Frances Anson. He finally acceded to Bishop of Manchester in 1929 before transferring to York and then Canterbury.

Customer Reviews

Inner Temple
Temple was, in the words of G.B. Shaw, 'a realised impossibility.' A man born and raised in the church, he rose to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury and made the broad church appeal for Anglicanism that renewed its spirit for the mid-twentieth century. Temple's general faith and theology was more catholic/orthodox, but he generally had a liberal mindset and was concerned for freedom in doctrine. Temple saw an intimate connection with God through Jesus Christ, perhaps thinking in proto-process theological terms by believing that through Jesus' incarnation, God had a real experience of human suffering and the human condition. For Temple, this communion and experience is worked out both individually and communally-he looked for both an inner unity and outer unity, the internal of personality, and the external of fellowship.

Temple's view of the church is also that of one held together in practice by the Book of Common Prayer, and that through this practice the Anglican church is able to hold together disparate and dissonant strands and traditions. Temple had a very ecumenical spirit, one that transcended the ordinary boundaries of church; Temple believed the most of the work (ninety percent, by his calculation) of the Christian vocation in the world takes place outside of official church structures and systems.

Temple felt it important to be open to new ideas and developments modernity (perhaps a reaction to having been raised in an era with the expectation of long-term stability and subsequently living in a world turned upside-down by warfare and other social change). Temple felt that freedom of churches and freedom of individuals for inquiry and development, with the guidance of the Spirit, was more important than a rigid adherence to tradition. He had a concern for the advances and insights of the modern world, and did not shy away from science or philosophy, while also resisting turning these into idols. This, coupled with his call to social action by the church and the working out of Christian faith in everyday life and action, made Temple a major ecumenical figure.

This collection of essays encapsulates much of Temple's theology, practical and philosophical. It represents a good sampling of his writing and thought.