Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Format of Original
9 p.
Publication Date
Spring 2000
Publisher
Corporation of the Anglican Theological Review
Source Publication
Anglican Theological Review
Source ISSN
0003-3286
Abstract
Austin Farrer (1904-1968) was an Oxford don who has been described as "the greatest Anglican thinker of his generation."1 The son of a Baptist minister, he was trained at St. Paul's School, London, and Balliol College, Oxford. After ordination as a priest in the Church of England and brief service in a Yorkshire parish, he returned to Oxford, where he served as chaplain and tutor at St. Edmund Hall from 1931 to 1935, as fellow and chaplain at Trinity College from 1935 until 1960, and as warden of Keble College from 1960 until his untimely death in 1968. Farrer was a philosophical theologian and biblical scholar, as well as a noted preacher and pastoral writer who published extensively in all these areas.2 One editor of a collection of Farrer's lectures characterizes him as "a Prayer-Book Anglican in the Tractarian tradition and "a quintessential Anglican Catholic"-though one who also believed that "Protestant and Catholic were not fundamentally opposed and that each needed the other."3 Another commentator identifies the foundation of Farrer's thought and the center of his vision to be the mutuality of theology and spirituality.4 Farrer made connections and perceived relationships between faith and everyday life. He was a philosopher and theologian whose "writings combine, to an unusual degree, the qualities of philosophical sensitivity and penetrating faith."5 In light of Farrer's synthesis of reflection and Christian believing, this study will focus on his theological themes and witness as presented in his sermons, addresses, and devotional writings, which provide an accessible and substantive introduction to his work.
Recommended Citation
Slocum, Robert B., "Review of Light in a Burning-Glass: The Theological Witness of Austin Farrer" (2000). Theology Faculty Research and Publications. 247.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theo_fac/247
ADA Accessible Version
Comments
Published version. Anglican Theological Review, Vol. 85, No. 2 (Spring 2000): 365-373. Publisher Link. © 2000 SAGE Publications. Used with permission.