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Albert Kenneth Cragg (8 March 1913 – 13 November 2012) was an Anglican
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
and
scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...
who commented widely on religious topics for more than fifty years, most notably ChristianMuslim relations.


Early life and education

Cragg was born on 8 March 1913. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School and
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...
. He was awarded the Grafton Scholarship in 1934.


Ordained ministry

Cragg was ordained in 1937. He began his career with a
curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
at Higher Tranmere Parish Church,
Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
after which he was Chaplain of All Saints',
Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of
Longworth Longworth is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. The 1974 boundary changes transferred it from Berkshire to Oxfordshire. The village lies between Faringdon, to its west, and Oxford, to the north-east. The 2011 Cen ...
,
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
of Arabic and Islamics, Hartford Seminary,
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
and
warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...
of St Augustine's College, Canterbury.


Episcopal ministry

Cragg was elevated to the
episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
as Assistant Bishop of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in 1969. There was at that time no Bishop of Egypt, and Cragg was given responsibility for the oversight of the Anglican communities in that country, until, in 1974, as a result of the reorganisation of the Anglican Church in the Middle East, a new Bishop was appointed. He was then appointed
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in Religious Studies, at Sussex University, following which he was
Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...
of
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(and an Assistant Bishop within the Wakefield Diocese). In 1982, he retired to
Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contain ...
.


Personal life

He married, in 1940, Melita Arnold. She died in 1989.


Works

* ''The Call of the Minaret'' (1956) Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 56-8005 (1964 edition, Galaxy Books). * ''Sandals at the Mosque - Christian Presence Amid ISLAM'' (1959) SCM Press. * ''Alive to God - Muslim and Christian Prayer compiled with an Introductory Essay by Kenneth Cragg'' (1970) Oxford University Press, SBN 19 213220 2. * ''The Event of the Qur'an - Islam in its Scripture'' (1971) George Allen & Unwin, . * ''The Mind of the Qur'an - Chapters in Reflection'' (1973) George Allen & Unwin, . * ''This Year in Jerusalem - Israel in Experience'' (1982) Darton, Longman & Todd, . * ''Muhammad and the Christian'' (1984) Darton, Longman & Todd. * ''The Pen and The Faith - Eight modern Muslim writers and the Qur'an'' (1985) George Allen & Unwin, . * ''The Christ and the Faiths'' (1986) SPCK. * ''Readings in the Qur'an - Selected and Translated by Kenneth Cragg'' (1988) Collins Liturgical Publications, (pbk.). * ''Troubled by Truth - Life-Studies in Inter-Faith Concern'' (1992) Pentland Press, . * ''Returning to Mount Hira (1992) Bellew. * ''The Arab Christian - A History in the Middle East'' (1992) Mowbray, . * ''The Lively Credentials of God'' (1995) Darton, Longman & Todd. * ''Palestine - The Prize and Price of Zion'' (1997) Cassel, . * ''Muhammad in the Qur'an - The Task and the Text'' (2001) Melisende, . * ''Am I not Your Lord - Human Meaning in Divine Question'' (2002) Melisende, . * ''The Iron in the Soul - Joseph and the Undoing of Violence'' (2009) Melisende, .


Translations

* Hussein, Muhammad Kamel ''City of Wrong - A Friday in Jerusalem'' (1954) Cairo. Translation from Arabic published 1959 by Djambatan, Amsterdam.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cragg, Albert Kenneth 1913 births Academics of the University of Sussex Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford Anglican bishops of Jerusalem Anglican bishops of Egypt Holders of a Lambeth degree People educated at Blackpool Grammar School 2012 deaths Christian scholars of Islam Wardens of St Augustine's College, Canterbury