Richard Holloway
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Richard Holloway FRSE (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 The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh. Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St Andrews, under the Archbishop of St Andrews ...
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 on ...
from 1992 to 2000.


Early life and education

Born in Possilpark,
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, and brought up in Alexandria in the
Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...
,
Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Per ...
, 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 or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.


Career

Between 1958 and 1986 he was a curate, vicar and rector at various parishes in England, Scotland and the United States. He was Bishop of Edinburgh from 1986 and was elected
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 on ...
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 moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
for
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
and lesbian people in both church and state. He is a patron of LGBT Youth Scotland, an organisation dedicated to the inclusion of
LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...
young people in the life of Scotland. He has questioned and addressed complex
ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
issues in the areas of sexuality, drugs 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, m ...
. 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 (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. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...
in the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
. From 1990 to 1997, he was a member of the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the United ...
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 The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
and is a former chair of the
Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the ...
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 daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''
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 publish ...
'', ''
Sunday Herald The ''Sunday Herald'' was a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published between 7 February 1999 and 2 September 2018. Originally a broadsheet, it was published in compact format from 20 November 2005. The paper was known for having combined a centre- ...
'' and ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish 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 August 2004. Its pare ...
''. He is also a frequent presenter on radio and television, having hosted the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
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 Scotland, Scottish radio station, 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 na ...
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'' ("what-oh") for short, is BBC Radio 4's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, produced by BBC News, which is currently broadcast from 13:00 to 13:45 from Monday to Friday. The programme de ...
'' on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
, 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 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. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', Ian Thomson of ''
The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' ("exhaustive account"), Stuart Kelly of ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish 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 August 2004. Its pare ...
'' and John Charmley of ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British 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 News UK, w ...
'' ("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 most recent book 'The Heart of Things'(2021) 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'.


Personal life

Holloway lives in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
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)


References


External links


Biography at the Westar Institute

Address to the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holloway, Richard 1930 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 LGBT rights activists from Scotland 20th-century Scottish Episcopalian bishops Professors of Gresham College Alumni of Kelham Theological College Members of the Jesus Seminar