Ian Ramsey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Right Reverend Ian Ramsey |
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|---|---|
| Bishop of Durham | |
Ramsey robed as a bishop
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| Diocese | Diocese of Durham |
| In Office | 1966–1972 |
| Predecessor | Maurice Harland |
| Successor | John Habgood |
| Other posts | Chaplain, Christ's College, Cambridge (1943–1949) Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion (1951–1966) Chaplain & Sub-Prelate, Order of St John (1969–?) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1940 (deacon) c. 1941 (priest) |
| Consecration | 1 November 1966, York Minster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 January 1915 Kearsley, Lancashire, United Kingdom |
| Died | 6 October 1972 (aged 57) Marylebone, Greater London, UK |
| Buried | Auckland Castle (ashes) |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Residence | Auckland Castle (as Bishop of Durham) |
| Parents | Arthur & Mary |
| Spouse | Margaret née McKay (m. 1943) |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Profession | scholar: philosophy of religion, science and religion, theology |
| Alma mater | Christ's College, Cambridge |
Ian Thomas Ramsey (born January 31, 1915 – died October 6, 1972) was an important British Anglican bishop and a smart university professor. He taught about the philosophy of religion at the University of Oxford. Later, he became the Bishop of Durham in 1966, a role he held until he passed away in 1972.
Ramsey wrote many books and articles about how we talk about religion, what Christians believe is right, and how science and faith can work together. He believed it was important for people to study these topics together. Because of his ideas, the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion was created at Oxford University in 1985. This center helps people discuss how new discoveries in science, technology, and medicine connect with religious ideas and ethics.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Ian Ramsey was born in Kearsley, a town near Bolton in Lancashire, England. This area was known for its small industries and factories. He was the only child of Arthur and Mary Ramsey, and they raised him in the Christian faith.
He went to primary school at St John's Church in Farnworth, Bolton. Then, he earned a scholarship to attend Farnworth Grammar School. There, he studied subjects like Latin, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. He won another scholarship that allowed him to study at Cambridge University in the 1930s. He earned his Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1940.
Influences at Cambridge
At Cambridge, two professors greatly influenced Ramsey. Charles E. Raven, who taught divinity, sparked Ramsey's interest in how science and religion relate to each other. Another professor, A. C. Ewing, guided him into studying metaphysics, which is a branch of philosophy that explores the basic nature of reality.
After graduating from Cambridge, Ramsey decided to become a priest in the Church of England. He enrolled at Ripon Hall, a theological college near Oxford. While studying there, he also worked as an assistant curate (a junior priest) at Headington Quarry. It was there that he met Margretta McKay, who everyone called Margaret. They got married in 1943.
Starting His Career
In 1943, after finishing his theology degree and becoming a priest, Ramsey became the Chaplain at Christ's College, Cambridge. A year later, in 1944, he was chosen as a Fellow and Director of Studies in theology and moral science at the college. Also in 1944, he became a university lecturer in divinity and a Canon Theologian at Leicester Cathedral. He held these roles until 1966, when he was chosen to be the Bishop of Durham. In 1966, he also received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity (Hon DD) from Oxford University.
A Distinguished Career
While working as a chaplain, Ian Ramsey became well-known at Cambridge in the 1940s for his lectures on philosophical theology. This field combines philosophy and religious ideas.
In 1951, he accepted a special teaching position at Oxford University. He became the Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion. His first lecture in this role was on December 7, 1951, and it was later published as a book called Miracles: An Exercise in Logical Map Work. He also served as a Fellow of Oriel College at Oxford and led the faculty of theology.
Guest Lectures and Publications
During his time at Oxford, Ramsey was invited to give many guest lectures at different universities. These included:
- The Forwood Lectures at the University of Liverpool (1957).
- An annual theological lecture at Queen's University, Belfast (1960).
- The Frederick Denison Maurice Lectures at King's College, London University (1961–62).
- The Whidden Lecturer at McMaster University in Canada (1963).
- The Riddell Memorial Lecture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1963).
- The Zenos Lectures at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago (1966).
Most of these lecture series were later published as books. Some of his well-known books include Freedom and Immortality, Religion and Science, On Being Sure in Religion, Models and Mystery, and Christian Discourse.
Expert on Christian Thinkers
Ramsey was an expert on the Christian writings of Joseph Butler and John Locke. He wrote a book about Butler's life and his arguments for Christianity, which was published in 1969. Ramsey also wrote an important introduction to a shorter version of Locke's book, The Reasonableness of Christianity, which came out in 1958. Both Locke's and Butler's works were important in defending Christian beliefs against Deist thinkers in the 17th and 18th centuries. Deists believed in God but thought God didn't interfere with the world after creating it.
Church Leadership
Besides his university duties, Ramsey was very active in the church. He helped examine new priests for the bishops of Portsmouth, Sheffield, and Norwich. He also directed the Lambeth Diploma in Theology, a program for non-clergy students interested in studying theology.
On December 15, 1966, he was officially installed at Durham Cathedral as the 90th Bishop of Durham. It was noted that the cathedral doors were open to welcome him, which was an unusual and welcoming gesture.
He led a special group called the Commission on Religious Education in Schools. This group wrote a report for the 100th anniversary of the Education Act of 1870, which changed how schools worked in England. In 1970, he became the chairman of the BBC's Central Religious Advisory Committee (CRAC), which advised the BBC on religious programs.
Sadly, in Easter of 1972, he had a heart attack because he was working too hard. He passed away on October 6, 1972, after a meeting at Broadcasting House, London with the CRAC.
Understanding Religious Language
Ian Ramsey explored many deep questions in 20th-century theology. One important topic he studied was "God-talk," or how we can use language to speak about God. This was a big discussion at the time, influenced by philosophers like Ludwig Wittgenstein and Alfred Ayer.
Ayer and others argued that religious statements, like "God exists," couldn't be proven by observation. They thought such statements were meaningless in a scientific way. Ramsey wanted to show that traditional religious language was meaningful, even if it wasn't scientific in the same way. He believed his ideas were similar to Wittgenstein's.
Mystery in Theology
For Ramsey, talking about God is connected to a "permanent mystery." He explained that this isn't a mystery that can be solved with more facts or information. It's a mystery that will always be there. He said it's not like using "mystery" as a word for simply "not knowing something."
Ramsey's idea of mystery was inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein. For example, Ramsey talked about the "thatness" and the "whatness" of an event. The "whatness" is what actually happens, which can be explained. But the "thatness" is the mystery that something happens at all. The mystery of what happens can be solved with enough information. But for Ramsey, the mystery that it happens is permanent.
Because he believed theology is based on this permanent mystery, Ramsey thought that language about God should never be seen as a "super-science" that explains everything. Instead, he described talking about God as "an attempt to be articulate about the divine mystery."
Two Kinds of Language
In his book Religious Language, Ramsey described two main types of language. One type he called "ordinary language" or "straightforward language." This is the language we use every day to describe things we can observe.
The other type he called "religious language," which is the language of theology. He warned that religious language would seem "logically odd" because the word "God" is "outside ordinary language." So, even if religious language looks simple, its true meaning is not always plain. The challenge, Ramsey said, was how to use "ordinary language" to talk about God without people misunderstanding it as just ordinary talk.
Ramsey tried to prevent this misunderstanding by pointing out the "qualifiers" in religious language. These are words that change the meaning of ordinary words when we use them to talk about God. He used the idea of "disclosure models" (also called "analogue models").
For example, one disclosure model is "First Cause." If we used "First Cause" in ordinary language, it would mean God is like a regular cause. But for Ramsey, "First Cause" doesn't mean God is just another cause. Instead, if you think about a chain of causes, the deep mystery that such causes exist might suddenly become clear to you. Ramsey called this moment "the penny drops."
Disclosure models are based on real-world experiences (the "empirical fit"). At the same time, they "point to mystery." So, for Ramsey, religious language names the permanent mystery "God" and uses a disclosure model like "First Cause" to speak about God. The words "First" and the capitalizations show that it's religious language, not ordinary language.
Personal Experience and Analogy
Ramsey's ideas about religious language were based on the idea of personal experience and how people reveal things about themselves. He argued that just as humans reveal things about themselves to each other, we also come to experience God through personal "disclosure." This led him to argue that all religious language is like an analogy, meaning it uses comparisons to help us understand something that is hard to describe directly.
He was very good at talking with experts from many different fields. He inspired them to work together on questions about how science, technology, and medicine relate to theology and ethics. Because of his experience, he became convinced that a special center was needed to study these interdisciplinary areas. This is why the Ian Ramsey Centre was created at the University of Oxford in 1985. It studies religious beliefs in connection with science and medicine.
Several schools are named after him, including Bishop Ian Ramsey Primary School in Consett, County Durham, Ian Ramsey Church of England Academy in Fairfield, Stockton-on-Tees, and Bishop Ramsey Church of England Secondary School in Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Titles and Roles
- 1940–1944: The Reverend Ian Ramsey
- 1944–1966: The Reverend Canon Ian Ramsey (in church contexts, 1951–1966)
- 1951–1966: The Reverend Professor Ian Ramsey (in academic contexts)
- 1966–1972: The Right Reverend Doctor Ian Ramsey*
* As a bishop, Ramsey was often called "Dr Ramsey" even though his doctorate was an honorary one.
See also
- List of science and religion scholars
Sources
- Darlington & Stockton Times, 11 February 2011 – A bishop for everyone – but improbably so
