Charles Gore
Encyclopedia
Charles Gore was a British theologian and Anglican bishop
.
. His mother, Augusta Lavinia Priscilla (née Ponsonby) was a daughter of the fourth Earl of Bessborough
.
His parents sent him to be educated at Harrow School
, London. Afterwards he became a student in the University of Oxford
(Balliol College).
.
He was ordained to the Anglican priesthood in 1878.
From 1880 to 1883 he served as vice-principal of Cuddesdon Theological College.
When, in 1884, Pusey House was founded at Oxford as a home for Dr Pusey's library and a centre for the propagation of his principles, Gore was appointed as Principal, a position which he held until 1893. As Principal of Pusey House Gore exercised wide influence over undergraduates and the younger clergy, and it was largely under this influence that the Oxford Movement
underwent a change which to surviving Tractarians seemed to involve a break with its basic principles. Puseyism had been in the highest degree conservative, basing itself on authority and tradition and repudiating compromise with the modern critical and liberalizing spirit. Gore, starting from the same basis of faith and authority, found from experience in dealing with the doubts and difficulties of the younger generation that this uncompromising attitude was untenable, and set himself the task of reconciling the principle of authority in religion with that of scientific authority, by attempting to define the boundaries of their respective spheres of influence. To him the divine authority of the Catholic Church was an axiom, and in 1889 he published two works, the larger of which, The Church and the Ministry, is a learned vindication of the principle of Apostolic Succession
in the episcopate against the Presbyterians and other Reformed Church bodies, while the second, Roman Catholic Claims, is a defence, in more popular form, of the Anglican Church and Anglican ordinations and sacraments against the criticisms of Roman Catholic authorities.
So far his published views had been in consonance with those of the older Tractarians, but in 1890 a stir was created by the publication, under his editorship, of Lux Mundi
, a series of essays by different writers, attempting to bring the Christian creed into a right relation to the modern growth of knowledge, scientific, historic, critical, and to modern problems of politics and ethics. Gore himself contributed an essay on The Holy Spirit and Inspiration, and from the tenth edition one of Gore's sermons, On the Christian Doctrine of Sin, was included as an appendix. The book, which ran through twelve editions in little over a year, met with a mixed reception. Orthodox churchmen, Evangelical and Tractarian alike, were alarmed by views on the incarnate nature of Christ that seemed to them to impugn his Divinity, and by concessions to the Higher Criticism in the matter of the inspiration of Holy Scripture which appeared to them to convert the impregnable rock (as Gladstone had called it) into a foundation of sand; sceptics, on the other hand, were not impressed by a system of defence which seemed to draw an artificial line beyond which criticism was not to advance. None-the-less the book produced a profound effect far beyond the borders of the Anglican Church, and it is largely due to its influence, and to that of the school it represents, that the Anglican High Church movement developed on Modernist rather than Tractarian lines from then on.
In 1891 Gore was chosen to deliver the Bampton lectures
, and he took for his subject the Incarnation of Christ. In these lectures he developed the teaching enunciated in Lux Mundi. This is an attempt to explain how it came about that Christ, though incarnate God, could err - e.g. in his citations from the Old Testament. The orthodox explanation was based on the principle of accommodation
. This, however, had not solved the difficulty that if Christ on earth was not subject to human limitations, especially of knowledge, he was not as other men, not subject to their trials and temptations. This difficulty Gore sought to meet through revisiting the Kenotic Theory of the Incarnation. Theologians had attempted to explain what St. Paul meant when he wrote of Christ (Philippians 2:7) that he emptied himself (kenosis
) and took upon him the form of a servant. According to Gore this means that Christ on his incarnation, although sinless, became subject to all human limitations and stripped himself of all attributes of Godhead
, including omniscience, the Divine nature being hidden under the human.
, a small parish near Oxford
.
In 1894 he became a canon of Westminster
. Here he gained commanding influence as a preacher, and in 1898 was appointed one of the court chaplains.
In 1902 he succeeded J. J. S. Perowne as Bishop of Worcester
.
In 1905 he was installed as the first Bishop of Birmingham
, a new see, which he had helped to create, by dividing his see of Worcester. The second parish church of Birmingham, St Philip
, became the cathedral. While adhering to his views on the divine institution of episcopacy as essential to the Christian Church, Bishop Gore from the first cultivated friendly relations with the ministers of other Christian denominations, and advocated co-operation with them in all matters when agreement was possible.
In social questions he became a leader of the group of High Anglicans known loosely as Christian Socialists. In 1889 at Pusey House he had helped found the Christian Social Union
. He worked actively against the sweating system, pleaded for European intervention in Macedonia, and in 1908 was a keen supporter of the Licensing Bill.
In 1911 he succeeded Francis Paget
as Bishop of Oxford
.
On 28 September 1917 he licensed 21 women as lay reader
s called the "Diocesan Band of Women Messengers". These were possibly the first female lay readers in the Church of England. The last one, Miss Bessie Bangay, died in 1987, aged 98.
. There he remained for several years, celebrating regularly in the church and in the sisters' chapel close by, and taking his usual keen interest in the affairs of the church and parish. At the same time he attached himself to Grosvenor Chapel
, South Audley Street, and was licensed to the Rector of St George's, Hanover Square, in whose parish that Chapel stands, thus becoming for the first time in his life a licensed curate.
He died in 1932, and his body was cremated. The ashes were taken to Mirfield in Yorkshire for burial in the church of the Community of the Resurrection. His cope and mitre remain at the Grosvenor Chapel
.
. He became their first superior, only resigning when appointed Bishop of Worcester in 1902. Its members were Anglican priests bound by the obligation of celibacy
, living under a common rule and with a common purse. Their work was pastoral, evangelistic, literary and educational. The Community followed Gore to Radley in 1893, most of them remaining there when he moved to London in 1894. In 1898 the House of the Resurrection
at Mirfield
, near Huddersfield
, became the centre of the community.
In 1903 a college for training candidates for the Anglican priesthood (College of the Resurrection
), was established there and, in the same year, a branch house for missionary work was set up in Johannesburg
in South Africa
.
Belief in God, Belief in Christ and The Holy Spirit and the Church were reissued in a single volume as The Reconstruction of Belief in 1926.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
.
Early life and education
Gore was the third son of the Honourable Charles Alexander Gore, and brother of the fourth Earl of ArranPhilip Gore, 4th Earl of Arran
Philip Yorke Gore, 4th Earl of Arran KP , known as Philip Gore until 1837, was an Anglo-Irish peer and diplomat.Born at Dublin Castle, Arran was the eldest son of Colonel the Hon...
. His mother, Augusta Lavinia Priscilla (née Ponsonby) was a daughter of the fourth Earl of Bessborough
Earl of Bessborough
Earl of Bessborough is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1739 for Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon, who had previously represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons...
.
His parents sent him to be educated at Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
, London. Afterwards he became a student in the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
(Balliol College).
Theologian at Pusey House
In 1875 he was elected fellow of Trinity College, OxfordTrinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
.
He was ordained to the Anglican priesthood in 1878.
From 1880 to 1883 he served as vice-principal of Cuddesdon Theological College.
When, in 1884, Pusey House was founded at Oxford as a home for Dr Pusey's library and a centre for the propagation of his principles, Gore was appointed as Principal, a position which he held until 1893. As Principal of Pusey House Gore exercised wide influence over undergraduates and the younger clergy, and it was largely under this influence that the Oxford Movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
underwent a change which to surviving Tractarians seemed to involve a break with its basic principles. Puseyism had been in the highest degree conservative, basing itself on authority and tradition and repudiating compromise with the modern critical and liberalizing spirit. Gore, starting from the same basis of faith and authority, found from experience in dealing with the doubts and difficulties of the younger generation that this uncompromising attitude was untenable, and set himself the task of reconciling the principle of authority in religion with that of scientific authority, by attempting to define the boundaries of their respective spheres of influence. To him the divine authority of the Catholic Church was an axiom, and in 1889 he published two works, the larger of which, The Church and the Ministry, is a learned vindication of the principle of Apostolic Succession
Apostolic Succession
Apostolic succession is a doctrine, held by some Christian denominations, which asserts that the chosen successors of the Twelve Apostles, from the first century to the present day, have inherited the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority, power, and responsibility that were...
in the episcopate against the Presbyterians and other Reformed Church bodies, while the second, Roman Catholic Claims, is a defence, in more popular form, of the Anglican Church and Anglican ordinations and sacraments against the criticisms of Roman Catholic authorities.
So far his published views had been in consonance with those of the older Tractarians, but in 1890 a stir was created by the publication, under his editorship, of Lux Mundi
Lux mundi
Lux Mundi: A series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation is a collection of 12 essays from liberal Anglo-Catholic theologians and edited by the future Bishop of Oxford, Charles Gore, in 1889....
, a series of essays by different writers, attempting to bring the Christian creed into a right relation to the modern growth of knowledge, scientific, historic, critical, and to modern problems of politics and ethics. Gore himself contributed an essay on The Holy Spirit and Inspiration, and from the tenth edition one of Gore's sermons, On the Christian Doctrine of Sin, was included as an appendix. The book, which ran through twelve editions in little over a year, met with a mixed reception. Orthodox churchmen, Evangelical and Tractarian alike, were alarmed by views on the incarnate nature of Christ that seemed to them to impugn his Divinity, and by concessions to the Higher Criticism in the matter of the inspiration of Holy Scripture which appeared to them to convert the impregnable rock (as Gladstone had called it) into a foundation of sand; sceptics, on the other hand, were not impressed by a system of defence which seemed to draw an artificial line beyond which criticism was not to advance. None-the-less the book produced a profound effect far beyond the borders of the Anglican Church, and it is largely due to its influence, and to that of the school it represents, that the Anglican High Church movement developed on Modernist rather than Tractarian lines from then on.
In 1891 Gore was chosen to deliver the Bampton lectures
Bampton Lectures
The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton,. They have taken place since 1780.They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial. They continue to concentrate on Christian theological...
, and he took for his subject the Incarnation of Christ. In these lectures he developed the teaching enunciated in Lux Mundi. This is an attempt to explain how it came about that Christ, though incarnate God, could err - e.g. in his citations from the Old Testament. The orthodox explanation was based on the principle of accommodation
Accommodation (religion)
Accommodation is the theological principle that God, while being in his nature unknowable and unreachable, has nevertheless communicated with mankind in a way in which humans can understand and respond....
. This, however, had not solved the difficulty that if Christ on earth was not subject to human limitations, especially of knowledge, he was not as other men, not subject to their trials and temptations. This difficulty Gore sought to meet through revisiting the Kenotic Theory of the Incarnation. Theologians had attempted to explain what St. Paul meant when he wrote of Christ (Philippians 2:7) that he emptied himself (kenosis
Kenosis
In Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis (from the Greek word for emptiness (kénōsis) is the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God's divine will....
) and took upon him the form of a servant. According to Gore this means that Christ on his incarnation, although sinless, became subject to all human limitations and stripped himself of all attributes of Godhead
Godhead
Godhead , may refer to:*Deity*Divinity, the quality of being God*Conceptions of God*Godhead , the totality of gods, in Platonism the Transcendent One....
, including omniscience, the Divine nature being hidden under the human.
Radley parish and Westminster Abbey
The Bampton lectures led to a tense situation, which was relieved when in 1893 Gore resigned his principalship of Pusey House and became vicar of RadleyRadley
Radley is a village and civil parish about northwest of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire....
, a small parish near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
In 1894 he became a canon of Westminster
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. Here he gained commanding influence as a preacher, and in 1898 was appointed one of the court chaplains.
Bishop in Worcester, Birmingham and Oxford
Bishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
.
In 1905 he was installed as the first Bishop of Birmingham
Bishop of Birmingham
The Bishop of Birmingham heads the Church of England diocese of Birmingham, in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The diocese covers the North West of the historical county of Warwickshire and has its see in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, where the seat of the diocese is located at the...
, a new see, which he had helped to create, by dividing his see of Worcester. The second parish church of Birmingham, St Philip
St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham
The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip is the Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. Built as a parish church and consecrated in 1715, St Philip's became the cathedral of the newly formed Diocese of Birmingham in the West Midlands in 1905...
, became the cathedral. While adhering to his views on the divine institution of episcopacy as essential to the Christian Church, Bishop Gore from the first cultivated friendly relations with the ministers of other Christian denominations, and advocated co-operation with them in all matters when agreement was possible.
In social questions he became a leader of the group of High Anglicans known loosely as Christian Socialists. In 1889 at Pusey House he had helped found the Christian Social Union
Christian Social Union (Church of England)
The Christian Social Union was an organisation within the Church of England devoted to the study of social conditions and the remedying of social injustice, which flourished in the latter part of the nineteenth century and continued into the early twentieth. Its origins lay in the writings of F.D....
. He worked actively against the sweating system, pleaded for European intervention in Macedonia, and in 1908 was a keen supporter of the Licensing Bill.
In 1911 he succeeded Francis Paget
Francis Paget
The Right Reverend Francis Paget was the 33rd Bishop of Oxford from 1901 until his death. He was the second son of the noted surgeon Sir James Paget, 1st Baronet, and brother of Luke Paget, Bishop of Chester. He was educated at St Marylebone Grammar School,Shrewsbury and Christ Church, Oxford...
as Bishop of Oxford
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...
.
On 28 September 1917 he licensed 21 women as lay reader
Lay Reader
A lay reader is a layperson authorized by a bishop of the Anglican Church to read some parts of a service of worship. They are members of the congregation called to preach or lead services, but not called to full-time ministry.Anglican lay readers are licensed by the bishop to a particular parish...
s called the "Diocesan Band of Women Messengers". These were possibly the first female lay readers in the Church of England. The last one, Miss Bessie Bangay, died in 1987, aged 98.
Retirement in London
He resigned in June 1919, and retired to London, where he took residence at 6 Margaret Street, as tenant of the parochial authorities of All Saints, Margaret StreetAll Saints, Margaret Street
All Saints, Margaret Street is an Anglican church in London built in the High Victorian Gothic style by the architect William Butterfield and completed in 1859....
. There he remained for several years, celebrating regularly in the church and in the sisters' chapel close by, and taking his usual keen interest in the affairs of the church and parish. At the same time he attached himself to Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel, is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, England, built in 1730s it inspired many churches in New England...
, South Audley Street, and was licensed to the Rector of St George's, Hanover Square, in whose parish that Chapel stands, thus becoming for the first time in his life a licensed curate.
He died in 1932, and his body was cremated. The ashes were taken to Mirfield in Yorkshire for burial in the church of the Community of the Resurrection. His cope and mitre remain at the Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel
Grosvenor Chapel, is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, England, built in 1730s it inspired many churches in New England...
.
Community of the Resurrection
In 1892, while Principal of Pusey House, Gore founded a clerical fraternity, known as the Community of the ResurrectionCommunity of the Resurrection
The Community of the Resurrection is an Anglican religious community for men. It was founded in 1892 by Charles Gore with Walter Howard Frere and four others....
. He became their first superior, only resigning when appointed Bishop of Worcester in 1902. Its members were Anglican priests bound by the obligation of celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
, living under a common rule and with a common purse. Their work was pastoral, evangelistic, literary and educational. The Community followed Gore to Radley in 1893, most of them remaining there when he moved to London in 1894. In 1898 the House of the Resurrection
Community of the Resurrection
The Community of the Resurrection is an Anglican religious community for men. It was founded in 1892 by Charles Gore with Walter Howard Frere and four others....
at Mirfield
Mirfield
Mirfield is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury...
, near Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
, became the centre of the community.
In 1903 a college for training candidates for the Anglican priesthood (College of the Resurrection
College of the Resurrection
The College of the Resurrection, popularly known as Mirfield, is an Anglo-Catholic theological college of the Church of England at Mirfield, West Yorkshire, England, founded in 1903. The college has close links to the Community of the Resurrection...
), was established there and, in the same year, a branch house for missionary work was set up in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Published Works
- Lux Mundi (editor) (1889)
- The Incarnation (Bampton Lectures, 1891)
- The Creed of the Christian (1895)
- The Sermon on the Mount (1896)
- The Epistle to the Ephesians (1898)
- Prayer, and the Lord's Prayer (1898)
- Romans (1899)
- The Body of Christ (1901)
- The New Theology and the Old Religion (1908)
- Orders and Unity (1910)
- Belief in God (1921)
- Belief in Christ (1922)
- The Holy Spirit and the Church (1924)
- The Doctrine of the Infallible Book (1924)
- Christ and Society (Halley Stewart Lectures, 1927) (pub. 1928)
- A New Commentary on Holy Scripture (contributor and co-editor) (1928)
Belief in God, Belief in Christ and The Holy Spirit and the Church were reissued in a single volume as The Reconstruction of Belief in 1926.
External links
- Charles Gore - from the Diocese of Oxford
- Charles Gore and the Lux Mundi School from Anglo-Catholic Socialism -website
- Project Canterbury: Charles Gore
- Thoughts on Religion By the Late George John Romanes (edited by Charles Gore)