Rowan Williams
The Most Reverend and
Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams,
FBA (born
14 June 1950) is the 104th
Archbishop of Canterbury,
Primate of All-England and head of the
Anglican Communion. Williams is also a
theologian,
poet and
lecturer.
Rowan Williams was born in
Swansea,
Wales, into a
Welsh-speaking family. He was educated at Dynevor School, Swansea, at
Christ's College, Cambridge and at
Christ Church and
Wadham College, Oxford where he obtained his
doctorate. He has taught
theology at the
University of Oxford and the
University of Cambridge, where he was also Dean of
Clare College.
He married
Jane Paul, a lecturer in theology in 1981. They have two children, Rhiannon (born 1988) and Pip (born 1996).
Dr Williams' summer residence is in the
Oxfordshire town of
Charlbury and when resident on Sundays he worships at the local church.
In 1991 he was elected
Bishop of Monmouth and in 1999 he was made
Archbishop of Wales. In 2002 he was announced as the successor to
George Carey as
Archbishop of Canterbury in the
Church of England and, therefore, the spiritual leader of the
Anglican Communion. Williams was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to be appointed from outside the
Church of England. (Instead he was a member of the
non-established Anglican body in Wales). He was
enthroned on 27 February 2003 as the 104th
Archbishop of Canterbury. In December 2005 he was inaugurated as the first
Chancellor of
Canterbury Christ Church University.
In 2006 the
University of Cambridge conferred an honorary degree of
Doctor of Divinity on Rowan Williams.
Dr Williams is a noted poet and translator of poetry. His collection
The Poems of Rowan Williams, published by Perpetua Press, was longlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award in 2004. Beside his own poems, which have a strong spiritual and landscape flavour, the collection contains several fluent translations from Welsh poets.
Williams's selection as archbishop prompted divergent reactions. Many commentators welcomed his evident intellectual gifts and regarded him as a figure who could make Christianity credible to the intelligent unbeliever. On the other hand some
Evangelical and conservative Anglicans were troubled by his opinions on the
ordination of women as bishops and on
homosexuality. The clergy of
St Helen's (London) resigned their church salaries in protest of Williams's views on homosexuality. Some also regarded as unorthodox his views on central doctrinal issues such as revelation, sin, and salvation, though this attracted less popular attention. Williams was a patron of
Affirming Catholicism. Despite his comparatively liberal views, many gay Anglicans feel Williams has become less vocal and more conciliatory to conservatives in his approach to the issue since becoming Archbishop of Canterbury.
Views on Orthodox Christianity
While still Archbishop of Wales, he
responded to 12 theses for a new Reformation by
John Spong, then-Episcopalian bishop of Newark, New Jersey. Characteristically charitable, Williams went on to articulate a very clear exposition of orthodox Christianity. He is a highly respected scholar of the Church Fathers, as well as a historian of Christian spirituality, and his deep engagement with the classical sources of the Church is quite clear throughout his books and sermons. He did his doctoral work on
Vladimir Lossky, the famous Russian Orthodox theologian of the early-mid 20th century, and is currently patron of the
Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, an ecumenical forum for Orthodox and Western - primarily Anglican - theologians.
Druidry
He courted controversy in August 2002 when he was inducted into the
Gorsedd of Bards, a pseudo-ancient Welsh honorary order which involves "
druidic" ceremonies but which is not explicitly religious.
Phillip Pullman
In March 2004, in a speech at
Downing Street and in an article published in
The Guardian, he praised
Philip Pullman's trilogy
His Dark Materials, which was described by the
Association of Christian Teachers as "shameless blasphemy" and by the
Catholic Herald as "fit for the bonfire". Williams' view was that the proper Christian response to Pullman's novel was an intelligent critique that recognised the book's considerable literary merits, rather than a simple condemnation.
Homosexuality
2003 saw Williams' views on homosexuality among the clergy in the spotlight, with the issue of the proposed ordination of
gay priest
Jeffrey John as
Bishop of Reading. Following protest from Anglican bishops in the developing world, Williams asked John to withdraw his candidacy, and then appointed him
dean of
St Albans, site of the first English
martyr.
Criticism of Television
In March 2004 he criticised the
ITV television series
Footballers' Wives for representing what he saw as the immorality of much contemporary British life, claiming that it reflected "a world in which charity and fairness, generosity, a sense of perspective about yourself are all swept aside". However, he praised
The Simpsons for its modern Christian values.
The Iraq war
On
30 June 2004, together with the
Archbishop of York,
David Hope, and on behalf of all 114
Church of England bishops, he wrote to
Tony Blair, expressing deep concern about
UK government policy and criticising the
coalition troops' conduct in
Iraq. The letter cited the abuse of Iraqi detainees, which was described as having been "deeply damaging" - and stated that the government's apparent double standards "diminish the credibility of western governments".
(BBC) (The Scotsman)Immigration and Crime
On
31 March 2005, he voiced disquiet in a
Newsnight interview regarding the use of fear tactics and negativity about issues such as immigration and crime by the various parties campaigning in the British elections.
The Roman Catholic Church
He attended the funeral of
Pope John Paul II, the first Archbishop of Canterbury to attend a funeral of a
Pope since the break under
King Henry VIII. He also attended the
installation of
Pope Benedict XVI.
|
The arms of Dr Rowan Williams. |
Criticism from within the Anglican Church
In a November 2005
letter to Williams, a number of prominent theologically conservative
primates of the
Anglican Communion sharply questioned his leadership. Responding to a concilatory speech he had delivered the previous month to a largely conservative gathering of Anglicans from the "global south", the letter, signed by 14 of the communion's 38 primates worldwide, acknowledged his eloquence but strongly criticised his reluctance to take sides in the communion's theological crisis ("We are troubled by your reluctance to use your moral authority to challenge the
Episcopal Church and the
Anglican Church of Canada") and urged him to make explicit threats to those more liberal churches. Presumably by coincidence, this letter arrived and was made public the very day that Williams was delivering a
speech to the newly-elected 2005
General Synod of the Church of England including further concilatory pleas
(Guardian Online). Questions about the letter's provenance emerged the following day, as one of the signatory primates (Clive Handford, Primate of Jerusalem) denounced its publication, saying that he had never given permission for his name to be used [
1]. Several other primates decried the letter [
2], including its being made public before it had been delivered to Williams, and denied their affiliation with it.
Creationism
In March 2006, in an interview in
The Guardian, Williams expressed the view that
creationism should not be taught in schools as an alternative to
evolution.[
3] When asked if he was comfortable with teaching creationism, he said "I think creationism is, in a sense, a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories ... so if creationism is presented as a stark alternative theory alongside other theories, I think there's - there's just been a jar of categories, it's not what it's about." When the interviewer said "So it shouldn't be taught?" he responded "I don't think it should, actually. No, no. And that's different from saying – different from discussing, teaching about what creation means. For that matter, it's not even the same as saying that Darwinism is – is the only thing that ought to be taught. My worry is creationism can end up reducing the doctrine of creation rather than enhancing it." (
full transcript)
Grace and Necessity: Reflections on Art and Love (2005)
Why Study the Past? (2005)
Anglican Identities (2004) ISBN 1561012548
Arius: Heresy and Tradition (2nd ed. 2001) ISBN 0334028507
After Silent Centuries (1994)
Christ on Trial (2000) ISBN 0007107919
Christianity and the Ideal of Detatchment (1989)
Darkness Yielding (2004)ISBN 1870652363
The Dwelling of the Light (2003)
Eucharistic Sacrifice: The Roots of a Metaphor (1982)
Faith and Experience in Early Monasticism (2002)
Faith in the University (1989)
Lost Icons: Essays on Cultural Bereavement (2003)
On Christian Theology (2000)
Open to Judgement: Sermons and Addresses (1984)
Peacemaking Theology (1984)
The Poems of Rowan Williams (2002)
Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel (2nd ed. 2002) ISBN 0232515468
Silence and Honey Cakes: The Wisdom of the Desert (2003) ISBN 0745951708
Teresa of Avila (2003) ISBN 0225665794
The Wound of Knowledge (2nd ed 1990) ISBN 0232514259
*
Affirming Catholicism*
Archbishop of Canterbury official site*
The Anglican Communion's official website*
Canterbury Cathedral official site*
Criticisms of the Archbishop's theology
