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This Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation Has Been Downloaded from the King’S Research Portal At This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ James Martineau : his emergence as a theologian, his Christology, and his doctrine of the Church, with some unpublished papers. Waller, Ralph The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 11. Oct. 2021 JAMES MARTINEAU: HIS EMERGENCE AS A THEOLOGIAN, HIS CHRISTOLOGY, AND HIS DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH, WITH SOME UNPUBLISHED PAPERS. Ralph Wailer King's College, London University of London. September Ph.D. Thesis 1986 a L LCj.4 Li M V ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of some hitherto unexplored aspects of James Martineau's life and thought, based on his published works, his unpublished 'Biographical Memoranda', and some unpublished letters in Manchester College, Oxford. The introduction briefly describes the principal existing studies of Martineau, and points out the neglected areas of his thought, concerning his emergence as a theologian, his Christology, and his doctrine of the Church. The first section traces the main influences upon Martineau's religious thought, in particular those of Lant Carpenter, Joseph Blanco White, Immanuel Kant, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and those of his ministerial colleagues. Included in this section is an account of his major theological controversies. This is followed by a discussion of Martineau's doctrine of Christ. It deals with his rejection of orthodox Christology and gives a detailed account of his alternative Christology, based on the notion of God as spirit, filling and Inspiring Jesus. The thesis argues that it Is Important to know what Martineau taught about Christ to understand his interaction with nineteenth-century Unitarianism, and that without his high doctrine of Christ Martineau's influence outside Unitarianism would have been reduced. The third section deals with Martineau's doctrine of the Church as an inclusive society centred on Christ. The thesis examines his belief that doctrines are only approximations of an eternal reality, and his view that a truly catholic church should embrace a wide variety of opinion. His views on church unity, the Ministry and church organisation are also examined: It is argued that although many of Martineau's formal ideas were rejected, he did affect the emphasis of English Liberal Dissent. The -thesis maintains that Martineau's religious thought was influenced by those from a wide variety of traditions and not just by Unitarians; and that his Christology and his doctrine of the Church were more Important than have been previously supposed. The 'Biographical Memoranda' and the unpublished letters in Manchester College are printed as Appendix A and Appendix B. 2 CONTENTS Abstract 2 Contents 3-4 Acknowledgments 5 Introduction 6-12 Chapter 1 13-107 Martineau's Emergence as a theologian Introduction Early Influences on Martineau Bristol and Lant Carpenter Manchester College, York Return to Bristol Ministry in Dublin Ministry in Liverpool Martineau and Priestley Martineau and Bentham The Rationale of Religious Inquiry Blanco White and William Ellery Channing The Liverpool Controversy The Influence of Kant on Martineau Coleridge and Martineau Manchester College Controversies The Controversy with Herbert Spencer Martineau and Tyndall on Materialism Martineau and Henry Sidgwick Assessment Chapter 2 108-197 James Martineau's Christology The Background to Martineau's Christology Martineau's Consistency The Criticism of the Divided Mind Martineau's Denial of an Orthodox Christology A Rejection of the Language of two natures and the Doctrine of the Incarnation The Problem of the Two Natures The Doctrine of the Incarnation Martineau's Alternative Christology Jesus the Man Jesus Christ filled by the Spirit of God God as Spirit A Critical Assessment of Martineau's Christology Does Martioneau safeguard the Uniqueness of Christ? Martineou's Use of Scripture The Historical Jesus 3 The Theological Implications of Martineau's Christology Jesus Reveals God Christ Reveals Man Christology and Redemption Christ in Martineau's Theology Conclusion: The Importance of Martineau's Christology Martineau's Christology and Uniarianism Martineau's Christology was important for his influence outside Unitarionism in the wider Church Martineau's Christology is of importance in that it is consistant with his theology and primarily concerned with Revelation Chapter 3 198-284 James Martineau's Doctrine of the Church Introduction The Nature and Function of the Church The Church defined by its Centre The Church as a Christian Community The Function of the Church The Church an Inclusive Society Christian Doctrine, the Catholic Church, and Schemes of Union Martineau's Perception of Christian Doctrine The Church as a Living Community Change and Development in Christian Doctrine Martineau' Whitsuntide Sermon and his controversy with S. F. MacDonald The Catholic Church and its Diversity Christ brings together those holding diverse views Working towards a Catholic Church The questions of a Unitarian Denomination and of Open Trusts Schemes of Christian Unity The Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper Baptism Holy Communion The Ministry Criticism of the Ministry The Calling and Training of the Ministry The Status and Function of the Ministry Church Organisotion Martineou's opposition to a Unitarian Denomination Marineau's dissatisfaction with Congregationalism Martineau Advocated a Presbyterian Form of Church Governmant Conclusion Conclusion 285-286 Bibliogaphy 287-298 Appendix A 299-350 Appendix B 351-424 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have received much help and kindness from librarians in Manchester College Library, Westminster College Library, Dr. William's Library, Durham University Library, and the Bodleian Library. I am particularly grateful to Mrs. Barbara Smith, Librarian of Manchester College Library, for help in re-assembling the 'Biographical Memoranda'. I am also indebted to the University of London Central Research Fund for a grant of £108 to enable me to visit Manchester College to explore the unpublished material there. I am also indebted to Westminster College, Oxford, for the grant of a Sabbatical Term in the Summer Term of 1984. I am grateful to the Rev. Raymond George, and Professor J. R. Watson for help and encouragement at various stages of this work; my greatest debt is to my supervisor, Professor Stuart Hall, for his advice and kindness throughout. 5 INTRODUCTION This thesis is a study of some of the neglected aspects of the life and thought of James Martineou (1805-1900). His death in January 1900 was followed by a proliferation of newspaper articles, essays and editorials in the denominational and national press, as well as in the philosophical and religious journals of the day. Five biographies were published between 1900 and 1906, and of these four were written by Unitarians. A. W. Jackson's James Martineau (1900) was the first. Jackson dealt with Martineau the man, the religious teacher, and the philosopher of religion. It was an American publication, written In competition with the official biography by Drummond and Upton; and perhaps its greatest achievement was that it beat the official biography into the bookshops by several months. Jackson relied heavily on his own reminiscences and the printed works of Martineau, but lacked access to the variety of letters, personal memories, and unpublished material available to Drummond and Upton. Theologically Jackson was in error, in that he wrongly assumed that Martineau while in Ireland held an Anon view of Christ (1) and also in misunderstanding Martineau's concept of sin. (2) The official biography, The Life and Letters of Jame Martinegu (1901) was written by James Drummond, Principal of Manchester College, and C. B. Upton, Professor of Philosophy there. The book is a valuable guide to those researching on Martineou, for it lists and comments on about one hundred and thirty-five of Martineou's published papers and with the occasional exception (3) accurately locates them In newspapers and journals. The book has also performed an Invaluable service by printing 1. This will be discussed in the chapter on Martineau's Christology. 2. cf. A. W. Jackson, James Mortineau (Boston, 1900), p.190. James Martineau, Studies of Christianity (London, 1858), p.469. 3. One such exception was Martineauss review of: Joseph Blanco White's 'Second Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of a Religion', (1836). 6 many of Martineau's letters and thus preserving the contents long after the originals have been lost. The major short-coming of this work is that It was written from a strongly Unitarian perspective, which in one Instance, at least, caused Drummond to edit out of a Martineau letter his criticism of the Unitarian movement. (4) His failure to acknowledge Coleridg&s influence on Martineau also reflects Drummond's own narrow outlook. It is also surprising that the two authors only make three short quotations from Martineou's many sermons, In almost one thousand pages of text.
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