William R. Inge

William Ralph Inge () (6 June 1860 – 26 February 1954) was an English author, Anglican priest, professor of divinity at Cambridge, and dean of St Paul's Cathedral, which provided the appellation by which he was widely known, Dean Inge. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.

Early life and education

He was born on 6 June 1860 in Crayke, Yorkshire. His father was William Inge, Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, and his mother Susanna Churton, daughter of Edward Churton, Archdeacon of Cleveland. Inge was educated at Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar and won the Newcastle Scholarship in 1879, and at King's College, Cambridge, where he won a number of prizes, as well as taking firsts in both parts of the Classical Tripos.

Career

Positions held

He was a tutor at Hertford College, Oxford, starting in 1888, the year he was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England.

His only parochial position was as vicar of All Saints, Knightsbridge, London, from 1905 to 1907.

In 1907, he moved to Jesus College, Cambridge, on being appointed Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity.

In 1911, he became dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. He served as president of the Aristotelian Society at Cambridge from 1920 to 1921.

He had retired from full-time church ministry in 1934.

Inge was also a trustee of London's National Portrait Gallery from 1921 until 1951.

Writing

Inge was a prolific author. In addition to scores of articles, lectures and sermons, he also wrote over 35 books. Inge was a columnist for the '' Evening Standard'' for many years, finishing in 1946.

He is best known for his works on Plotinus and neoplatonic philosophy, and on Christian mysticism, but also wrote on general topics of life, and current politics.

He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times.

Views

Inge was a strong proponent of the spiritual type of religion—"that autonomous faith which rests upon experience and individual inspiration"—as opposed to one of coercive authority. He was therefore outspoken in his criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church. His thought, on the whole, represents a blending of traditional Christian theology with elements of Platonic philosophy. He shares this in common with one of his favourite writers, Benjamin Whichcote, the first of the Cambridge Platonists.

He was nicknamed ''The Gloomy Dean'' because of his pessimistic views in his Romanes Lecture of 1920, "The Idea of Progress" and in his ''Evening Standard'' articles. In his Romanes Lecture he said that although mankind's accumulated experience and wonderful discoveries had great value, they did not constitute real progress in human nature itself.

He disapproved of democracy, which he called "an absurdity" and compared it to "the famous occasion when the voice of the people cried, Crucify Him!" He wrote "Human beings are born unequal, and the only persons who have a right to govern their neighbours are those who are competent to do so." He advanced various arguments why women should have fewer voting rights than men, if any.

He was also a eugenicist and wrote considerably on the subject. In his book ''Outspoken Essays'', he devotes an entire chapter to this subject. His views included that the state should decide which couples be allowed to have children.

Inge opposed social welfare "on the grounds that it penalized the successful while subsidizing the weak and feckless".

He was also known for his support for nudism. He supported the publishing of Maurice Parmelee's book, ''The New Gymnosophy: Nudity and the Modern Life'', and was critical of town councillors who were insisting that bathers wear full bathing costumes.

He was a supporter of animal rights.

Recognition

He was made a Royal Victorian Order, Commander of the Victorian Order (CVO) in 1918 and promoted to Knight Commander (KCVO) in 1930. He received Honorary Doctorates of Divinity from both Oxford and Aberdeen Universities, Honorary Doctorates of Literature from both Durham and Sheffield, and Honorary Doctorates of Laws from both Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He was also an honorary fellow of both King's and Jesus Colleges at Cambridge, and of Hertford College at Oxford. In 1921, he was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy.

Personal life

Inge's wife, Mary Catharine, was the daughter of priest Henry Spooner (priest), Henry Maxwell Spooner.Se
Portraits of Mary Catharine Inge
They had three children. Their daughter, Paula, developed type 1 diabetes before insulin was widely available in the UK and died in 1923, aged 11. In 1941, their youngest son, Richard, also in the ministry, died during an RAF training flight.

Inge's wife died in 1949.

Inge spent his later life in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Brightwell, where he died on 26 February 1954, aged 93, five years after his wife.

Publications

The following bibliography is a selection taken mainly from Adam Fox's biography ''Dean Inge'' and his biographical sketch in ''Crockford's Clerical Directory''.

''Society in Rome under the Caesars''
1888
* ''Eton Latin Grammar'' 1888

''Christian Mysticism''
(Bampton Lectures) 1899

''Faith''
1900

''Contentio Veritatis''
Essays in Constructive Theology by Six Oxford Tutors (two essays) 1902

''Faith and Knowledge: Sermons''
1904

''Light, Life and Love''
(Selections from the German mystics of the Middle Ages) 1904 also online a
Project Gutenberg
an


''Studies of English Mystics''
1905

''Truth and Falsehood in Religion''''Cambridge Lectures''
1906

''Personal Idealism and Mysticism''
(Paddock Lectures) 1906
* ''All Saints' Sermons'' 1907

''Faith and its Psychology''''Jowett Lectures''
1909
* ''Speculum Animae'' 1911

''The Church and the Age''
1912

''The Religious Philosophy of Plotinus and some Modern Philosophies of Religion''
1914

''Types of Christian Saintliness''
1915

''Christian Mysticism, considered in eight lectures delivered before the University of Oxford''
(1918)
* ''The Philosophy of Plotinus'' (Gifford Lectures) 1918. Online
''Volume 1''''Volume 2''
Print versions: (softcover), (hardcover)

''Outspoken Essays''''I''
1919
''II''
1922
*

''The Victorian Age: the Rede Lecture
for 1922''] 1922
* ''Assessments and Anticipations'' 1922 (2nd ed. 1929)

''Personal Religion and the Life of Devotion''
1924

''Lay Thoughts of a Dean''
1926
* ''The Platonic Tradition in English Religious Thought'' Hulsean Lectures 1926
* ''The Church in the World'' 1927
* ''Protestantism'' (London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1927)

''Christian Ethics and Modern Problems''
1930
*
* ''Things New and Old'' 1933

''God and the Astronomers''
1933
*''The Post Victorians'' 1933 (Introduction only)
* Vale 1934
* ''The Gate of Life'' 1935
* ''A Rustic Moralist'' 1937
* ''Our Present Discontents'' 1938
* ''A Pacifist in Trouble'' 1939
* ''The Fall of the Idols'' 1940
* ''Talks in a Free Country'' 1942

''Mysticism in Religion''
1947

''The End of an Age and Other Essays''
1948
* ''Diary of a Dean'' 1949

''The Things That Remain''
edited by Walter Matthews (priest), W R Matthews 1958

References

Footnotes

Sources

*
*
*
*

Further reading

*
*
*

External links

*

Bibliographic directory
from Project Canterbury
*
*
*

''William Ralph Inge''
biographical notes and Lectures available from the Gifford Lectures website
*
*

Recording of Inge speaking

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inge, William Ralph
1860 births
1954 deaths
19th-century Christian mystics
20th-century Christian mystics
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Deans of St Paul's
English Anglicans
Fellows of Hertford College, Oxford
Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge
Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Lady Margaret's Professors of Divinity
People educated at Eton College
People from Brightwell-cum-Sotwell
People from Hambleton District
Presidents of the Aristotelian Society
Protestant mystics
Social nudity advocates
English eugenicists
Presidents of the Classical Association