Richard Holloway

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(born 26 November 1933) is a Scottish writer, broadcaster and

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. He was the Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 to 2000 and

Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church The primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, styled "The Most Reverend the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church", is the presiding bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The current Primus is the Most Revd. Mark Strange who became primus o ...

from 1992 to 2000.

Early life and education

Born in Possilpark,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, and brought up in Alexandria in the Vale of Leven, Dumbartonshire, Holloway was educated at Kelham Theological College, Edinburgh Theological College and the Union Theological Seminary,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Career

Between 1958 and 1986, Holloway was a curate, vicar and rector at various parishes in England, Scotland and the United States, including Old St Paul's Edinburgh from 1968 to 1980. He was Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 and was elected

in 1992. He resigned from these positions in 2000 and is now regarded as one of the most outspoken and controversial figures in the church, having taken an agnostic worldview and commenting widely on issues concerning religious belief in the modern world. His own theological position has become increasingly radical and he has described himself as an "after-religionist", with strong faith in humanity. Holloway is well known for his support of progressive causes, including campaigning on

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

for gay and

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

people in both

church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

. He is a patron of LGBT Youth Scotland, an organisation dedicated to the inclusion of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

young people in the life of Scotland. He has questioned and addressed complex

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

issues in the areas of

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

and

bioethics Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...

. He has written extensively on these topics, being the author of more than 20 books exploring their relationship with modern religion. Holloway was elected as a fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

(1997) and holds honorary degrees from the universities of Strathclyde (1994), Aberdeen (1997), Napier (2000), Glasgow (2002) and St Andrews (2017). He was professor of divinity at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England that does not accept students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597 under the Will (law), will of Sir Thomas Gresham, ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. From 1990 to 1997, he was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and held the position of chair of the BMA Steering Group on Ethics and Genetics. He was also a member of the Broadcasting Standards Commission and is a former chair of the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

and Sistema Scotland. Holloway has been a reviewer and writer for the broadsheet press for several years, including ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', '' Sunday Herald'' and ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

''. He is also a frequent presenter on radio and television, having hosted the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series ''When I Get to Heaven'', ''Holloway's Road'' and ''The Sword and the Cross''. He currently hosts the

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

book review programme ''Cover Stories''. He presented the second of the Radio 4 '' Lent Talks'' on 11 March 2009. On 28 May 2012 he began presenting a 15-minute programme about faith and doubt, following ''

The World at One ''The World at One'' (or ''WATO'', pronounced "what-oh") is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs radio programme, broadcast weekdays from 13:00 to 13:45 and produced by BBC News. The programme describes itself as "Bri ...

'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, called '' Honest Doubt: The History of an Epic Struggle'' and in 2016 he presented the Radio 4 series ''Three Score Years and Ten'', a reflection on human mortality. His 2012 book ''Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt'' talks about his life from childhood, and his 2016 book, ''A Little History of Religion'' (published by Yale University Press), has received positive reviews from Peter Stanford of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', Ian Thomson of ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' ("exhaustive account"), Stuart Kelly of ''

'' and John Charmley of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' ("Holloway's technique, like his prose, beguiles"), among others. His book ''Waiting For The Last Bus'' was published in early 2018 and contains his reflections upon death and mortality. It has been praised for its "erudite quotes" on the subject. His book 2021 ''The Heart of Things'' is a personal reflection on his life, with extracts from favourite poems. In the final chapter, on forgiving, he stresses an important fact that we can read our lives through the prism of heroism or defeat or resignation or shame, but only admitting our own weakness will make us kind, help us identify with others and act kin to kin. In his closing verses he concludes that, in the absence of certainty about God or an afterlife, "I, who walked the hills, I, who saw white hares dancing in the snow on Lammermuir, should be grateful for life, even as it passes". In his 2024 book ''On Reflection : Looking for Life's Meaning'', he thinks back on some of the questions that have shaped his life. With the help of poets,writers, musicians and artists, Richard Holloway offers his reflections on how a good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.

Personal life

Holloway lives in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

with his American-born wife Jean. They have three adult children: two daughters and a son.

Selected works

* ''Beyond Belief'' (1982) * ''Paradoxes of Christian Faith and Life'' (1984) * ''The Way of the Cross'' (1987) * ''Crossfire: Faith and Doubt in an Age of Uncertainty'' (1987) * ''Who Needs Feminism? Male Responses to Sexism in the Church'' (1990) * ''Anger, Sex, Doubt and Death'' (1992) * ''Dancing On The Edge: Faith In A Post-Christian Age'' (1997) * ''Godless Morality: Keeping Religion out of Ethics'' (2000) * ''Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity'' (2000) * ''On Forgiveness: How Can We Forgive the Unforgivable?'' (2002) * ''Looking in the Distance: The Human Search for Meaning'' (2004) * ''How To Read The Bible'' (2006) * ''Between the Monster and the Saint'' (2012) * ''Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt'' (2014) * ''A Little History of Religion'' (2016) * ''Waiting For The Last Bus'' (2018) * ''Stories We Tell Ourselves: Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe'' (2020) * ''The Heart of Things'' (2021) * On Reflection: Looking for Life's Meaning (2024)

References

External links

Biography at the Westar Institute

Address to the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holloway, Richard 1933 births Living people Clergy from Glasgow Primuses of the Scottish Episcopal Church Bishops of Edinburgh Scottish agnostics Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish Episcopal theologians Scottish television presenters Scottish radio presenters Scottish LGBTQ rights activists 20th-century Scottish Episcopalian bishops Academics of Gresham College Alumni of Kelham Theological College Members of the Jesus Seminar British former Christians Former Anglicans