Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury
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MICHAEL RAMSEY, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: INCARNATIONAL ANGLICANISM AND BRITISH SOCIETY, 1928-1974 by AUSTIN ELLIOTT KAISER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of History and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2012 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Austin Elliott Kaiser Title: Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury: Incarnational Anglicanism and British Society, 1928-1974 This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of History by: Dr. Jack P. Maddex, Jr. Chairperson Dr. Randall E. McGowen Member Dr. George J. Sheridan, Jr. Member Dr. Stephen J. Shoemaker Outside Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2012 ii © 2012 Austin Elliott Kaiser iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Austin Elliott Kaiser Doctor of Philosophy Department of History June 2012 Title: Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury: Incarnational Anglicanism and British Society, 1928-1974 This dissertation analyzes the theology and politics of Michael Ramsey between his ordination in 1928 and his retirement in 1974. Ramsey entered the priesthood after a burgeoning career in law and Liberal politics. I argue that Ramsey’s later political activism as Archbishop of Canterbury was a continuation of his early political engagement at Cambridge. However, the Anglican Incarnational theological tradition exemplified in the writings of F. D. Maurice, Charles Gore, and William Temple exerted a powerful influence on Ramsey’s politics after he entered the priesthood. This dissertation locates Ramsey within that Incarnational tradition, and I argue that the Incarnation was the locus not only of his theological writings and his historical writings on Anglican theology, but also of his political activism in the 1960s and early 1970s. I draw heavily on unpublished letters and autobiographical essays from the Ramsey Papers at Lambeth Palace, as well as on his speeches to ordinands and in House of Lords. Two chapters contain analyses of nearly all of Ramsey’s published corpus, with one devoted to his historical writings and the other to his social theological writings. A third chapter analyzes three examples of Ramsey’s activism at Canterbury (on legal reform for homosexual acts, the Rhodesian crisis of 1965, and Commonwealth immigration) within iv the context of his Incarnational social theology. I argue that the primary issue for Ramsey in each example was the affirmation of human dignity and conscience, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation, and that his belief in the post- Incarnational sanctification of humankind led him to emphasize the social values that he did. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Austin Elliott Kaiser GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, British History, 2012, University of Oregon Master of Arts, European History, 2007, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, History, 2004, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, 2003, University of Oregon AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Modern British Social, Religious, and Political History Modern European History PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of History, University of Oregon, 2005- 2011 Adjunct Instructor, Department of History, University of Oregon, 2010- GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Phi Beta Kappa, 2004 University Scholarship Award, 2007-2008 Summer Research Award, Department of History, 2009 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very grateful to my advisor, Prof. Jack P. Maddex, whose guidance, support, and extremely thorough feedback on my chapter drafts helped immeasurably. Prof. Randy McGowen has also helped me considerably throughout the process of earning the first Ph.D. in modern British history to be awarded by the University of Oregon since 1982. Prof. George Sheridan was co-advisor for my M.A. degree and his insights have been valuable throughout my time in the doctoral program. Prof. Stephen Shoemaker was helpful in clarifying important points in my final draft. Finally, I would like to thank my wife for her support throughout my seven years of graduate school. vii To H.K., with more love and gratitude viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. RAMSEY, INCARNATIONAL ANGLICANISM, AND BRITISH SOCIETY, 1928-1974.............................................................................................................. 1 1. Overview ........................................................................................................... 1 2. Argument and Methodology ............................................................................. 3 3. Ramsey Scholarship .......................................................................................... 11 4. Chapter Summaries ........................................................................................... 14 II. LIBERAL ANGLICANISM AND THE INCARNATION ................................... 16 1. Christian Socialism and Liberal Catholicism, 1838-1942 ................................ 16 2. Preparing for Canterbury: Ramsey’s Religious Formation, 1923-1961 ........... 19 3. Ramsey as Religious Historian: F.D. Maurice and the Kingdom of Christ ...... 32 4. Christian Socialism, 1884-1944: From Gore to Temple ................................... 44 5. The Anglican Spirit ............................................................................................ 71 6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 94 III. THE SOCIAL THEOLOGY OF MICHAEL RAMSEY ...................................... 96 1. Constructing a “New Christian Sociology” ...................................................... 96 2. Ramsey’s Social Theology, 1936-1952 ............................................................ 100 3. Christians in Society: Durham, 1952-1956 ....................................................... 105 4. The Social Responsibility of the Church: York and Canterbury, 1956-1974 ... 115 5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 143 IV. A POLITICAL ARCHBISHOP ............................................................................ 145 1. The Theologian as Public Figure ...................................................................... 145 ix Chapter Page 2. Homosexuality and Legal Reform .................................................................... 150 3. The Rhodesian Crisis ........................................................................................ 170 4. “Keep Britain White”: The Immigration Debate .............................................. 179 5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 204 V. THE INCARNATION, THE CHURCH, AND BRITISH SOCIETY .................. 206 REFERENCES CITED ............................................................................................... 209 x CHAPTER I RAMSEY, INCARNATIONAL ANGLICANISM, AND BRITISH SOCIETY, 1928-1974 1. Overview In a clerical career that lasted over sixty years, Michael Ramsey served the Church of England in several capacities. His writings made him one of the most renowned British theologians of the century. As an intellectual historian, he made major contributions to historical understanding of Anglican thought. His academic career culminated in one of Britain’s most prestigious appointments as Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. His episcopal career led him in a remarkably swift ascension from Bishop of Durham to Archbishop of Canterbury in nine years. His tenure as Primate of All England has been widely reckoned as one of the most distinguished since the death of Archbishop Archibald Campbell Tait in 1882. Michael Ramsey was born in 1904. The son of a Cambridge mathematics don, he was raised in a comfortably middle-class family that valued intellectual accomplishment and academic achievement. His older brother, Frank, was a noted mathematician and economist whom John Maynard Keynes later memorialized in his Essays in Biography . Frank was a peripheral figure in the Bloomsbury circle, and his early death at 26 was a devastating loss to his younger brother. Ramsey left home to attend Repton, where his headmaster was the future Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. He then attended Magdalene, his father’s college at Cambridge, and briefly studied law before switching to theology and pursuing Holy Orders. While an 1 undergraduate, Ramsey participated avidly in Liberal Party politics. He spoke at campaign rallies for Liberal candidates and stood successfully for President of the Cambridge Union, an important position which many notable British politicians have used to launch their political careers. In the twilight of his career, former Prime Minister H. H. Asquith himself was so impressed by Ramsey’s speaking that he predicted the future archbishop would one day be leader of the Liberal Party. After he entered the Church, Ramsey’s early career alternated between brief periods in pastoral work and longer periods in academe. He spent the 1940s teaching theology at Durham University. Ramsey specialized in biblical theology, a thriving field when