Ernest Gordon Rupp (1910–1986) was a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
preacher
A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...
,
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
and
Luther
Luther may refer to:
People
* Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation
* Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement
* Luther (give ...
scholar.
Early life and education
Rupp was born on 7 January 1910 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and attended
Owen's School in
Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
.
[ He studied history at ]King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, theology at Cambridge's Wesley House, and in Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
and Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
during 1936–1937.
Ministry
From 1938 to 1946 he served as a Methodist minister in New Eltham
New Eltham is an area of south east London, in the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley. It lies south east of Eltham and north west of Sidcup.
History
New Eltham is a largely residential suburb of Greater London developed on former farmland ...
and Chislehurst
Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...
(southeast London). He came to public notice in 1945 when he challenged the charge that Martin Luther was the spiritual ancestor of Hitler. The charge was made by Peter F. Wiener in a widely distributed pamphlet, ''Martin Luther: Hitler's Spiritual Ancestor'
In 1946, Rupp served as the assistant to the Principal of Wesley House. In 1947, he was appointed assistant professor at Richmond College.
Rupp participated in the reconstruction efforts of the World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
in Europe.[Turner, 77.] In 1947, he visited Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
and Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the ...
. During this time, he lectured at the conference of the Methodist church of Northwest Germany.[
After his tenure at Richmond (1947–1952), he served at ]Wesley House
Wesley House was founded as a Methodist theological college (or seminary) in Jesus Lane, Cambridge, England. It opened in 1921 as a place for the education of Methodist ministers and today serves as a gateway to theological scholarship for stu ...
in Cambridge. In 1956, he was appointed professor of Church History at the University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
. He lectured there until 1967, when he returned to Wesley House in Cambridge as its Principal. At the same time (1968–1977) he served as Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History
The Dixie Professorship of Ecclesiastical History is one of the senior professorships in history at the University of Cambridge.
Lord Mayor of London in the 16th century, Sir Wolstan Dixie, left funds to found both scholarships and fellowships at ...
at the University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. In 1968, he served as the president of the British Methodist church.[ Rupp received honorary doctorates from Cambridge, ]University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
, University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
and University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
, and was appointed as a Fellow of the British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
in 1970.[
Rupp died on 19 December 1986 in ]Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
Works by Gordon Rupp
*''Holy Book and holy tradition: International colloquium held in the Faculty of Theology, University of Manchester''. ed. F.F.Bruce & E. Gordon Rupp. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1968.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''"I seek my brethren:" Bishop Bell and the German Churches''. London: Epworth, 1975.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Is this a Christian Country?'', 1941.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Luther's progress to the Diet of Worms, 1521''.NL: NP, 1951.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''The King of Glory: Studies in St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians''. London: Epworth Press, 1940.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Martin Luther, Hitler's Cause or Cure?'' London and Redhill, Lutterworth press, 1945.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Religion in England 1688–1791''. London : S.C.M. Press, 1975.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''The Righteousness of God: Luther studies''. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1953.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Study in the making of the English Protestant Tradition, Mainly into the Reign of Henry VIII''. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1947.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Thomas More: the King's good servant'', New York : Collins, 1978.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Principalities and Powers: Studies in the Christian Conflict in History'', London: Epworth, 1952.
*Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Patterns of Reformation'', London: Epworth, 1969.
Notes
References
*Turner, John Munsey. "Gordon Rupp (1910–1986) as Historian", ''Epworth Review'', 18 (1991) No. 1:70-82.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rupp, Ernest Gordon
1910 births
1986 deaths
20th-century English historians
Dixie Professors of Ecclesiastical History
Alumni of King's College London
English Methodists
Fellows of King's College London
Historians of Europe
People educated at Dame Alice Owen's School
Presidents of the Methodist Conference
Reformation historians
Staff of Wesley House
Alumni of Wesley House