John Lewis (1 February 1889 – 12 February 1976) was a British Unitarian minister and

Marxist philosopher Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

and author of many works on

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

. Lewis's father, a successful builder and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, came from a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

farming family, and was a very devout

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

. Young Lewis's social and political views clashed with those of his father. Their quarrels eventually led to his father disinheriting him.

Education and religious work

Lewis was born on 1 February 1889. He attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

and

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree. Having been raised a

, he soon left that church to become a Congregationalist. He studied for the ministry at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, and in 1916 was appointed to a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

church in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

; in 1924, he moved to a church in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. He earned his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in philosophy from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, specialising in the philosophy of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

, and becoming a Marxist himself. By 1929, his left-wing views were too strong for the church he was in and he moved to

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

as a Unitarian minister. Here, his leftist political sermons attracted a large youth following, but upset a group of older, more conservative members. Their complaints led Lewis to offer his resignation, to be put to a vote of the membership. In a packed and charged meeting, he received the support of the majority of church members.

Political and social activism

Lewis participated in anti-war political activity starting in 1916. On one occasion, he had to be rescued from an angry crowd. He also became involved in work to support the unemployed, and served on the local Trades Union Council. On one occasion, at Christmas, he led a group of unemployed men who marched to the Town Hall, where the Mayor was holding his formal Christmas dinner. They walked in and sat down, demanding to join the feast. He also was involved with the Boy Scout movement, running a Scout troop, and authoring training booklets. He acted as a guide for outdoor holidays organised by the

Holiday Fellowship A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

. He often went to Switzerland, and took parties up the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

. In the 1935 general election he stood unsuccessfully as Labour candidate for

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

Leftist politics

The

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...

had a great effect on Lewis, and he studied Russian. He became a

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

, and later a

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

. In 1936 the

Left Book Club The Left Book Club was a publishing group that exerted a strong left-wing influence in Great Britain from 1936 to 1948. Pioneered by Victor Gollancz, it offered a monthly book choice, for sale to members only, as well as a newsletter that acqui ...

, started by the publisher

Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing causes. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism, but he defined himself as a Chris ...

, was very popular. Lewis quit his ministry in Ipswich to take on the task of building a national network of discussion groups. The groups brought together in a progressive movement intelligent, literate people who had not found rewarding political action in left-wing parties. Soon there were groups in every town. In effect, the Left Book Club and its groups had become a quasi–political party. He also became the editor of the British Marxist journal, '' Modern Quarterly'', from 1946 to 1953. He was very interested in polemical writing, and authored many books and articles in a polemical vein on topics of philosophy, social issues, and Marxism. In one exchange of polemics, he took on the French Marxist philosopher

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser ...

. Althusser's part of the exchange is the article "Reply to John Lewis". "Reply to John Lewis" first appeared, translated by Grahame Lock, in two numbers of the theoretical and political journal of the Communist Party of Great Britain, ''

Marxism Today ''Marxism Today'', published between 1957 and 1991, was the theoretical magazine of the Communist Party of Great Britain. The magazine was headquartered in London. It was particularly important during the 1980s under the editorship of Martin Jacqu ...

'', in October and November 1972. As Althusser himself noted: "'Reply': because, a few months earlier (in its January and February numbers of 1972), the same journal had published a long critical article by John Lewis (a British Communist philosopher known for his interventions in political-ideological questions) under the title: 'The Althusser Case'."

Miscellaneous

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Lewis was a lecturer for the British Army, working with the Army Education Corps and the Army Bureau of Current Affairs and lecturing on, among other things, Britain's wartime ally, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. He also taught at several different schools, including a stint teaching biology at

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the la ...

, an adult education college in London. Lewis died on 12 February 1976.

Works

* ''How To Run a Patrol'' Brown, Son & Ferguson 1914 * ''How To Run Wolf Cubs'' Brown, Son & Ferguson * ''A Boy Scout Troop and How To Run It'' * ''Wolf Cub Star Tests and How To Pass Them'' * ''The Log of the Pioneers'' * ''How To Run A Scout Camp'' Brown & Son 1918 * ''The Old Testament in the 20th Century'' Allen & Unwin 1923 * ''A Faith to Live By'' Williams and Norjak 1931 * ''Russia in 1932'' Pamphlet Christian World 1932 * ''Christianity and the Social Revolution'' (Edited with Karl Polanyi & Donald Kitchin) Gollancz 1935 * ''Textbook of Marxist Philosophy'' (Ed.) * ''Douglas Fallacies: A Critique of Social Credit'' Chapman & Hall 1935 * ''Socialism and the Churches'' Pamphlet Gollancz 1937 * ''An Introduction to Philosophy'' Gollancz 1937 then fully revised Watts 1954 * ''The Case Against Pacifism'' Allen & Unwin 1939 * ''Marxism and Modern Idealism'' Pamphlet (Marxism Today Series) Lawrence & Wishart 1944 * ''The Philosophy of Betrayal'' (with Reginald Bishop) Pamphlet Russia Today Society 1945 * ''The Basis of Soviet Philosophy'' Pamphlet British Soviet Society 1947 * ''Marxism and the Irrationalists'' Lawrence & Wishart 1955 * ''Marxism and the Open Mind'' Routledge & Kegan Paul 1957 * ''Religions of the World Made Simple'' Made Simple Books 1958 * ''Science, Faith, and Scepticism'' Lawrence & Wishart 1959 * ''Anthropology Made Simple''

Doubleday (publisher) Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 and was the largest in the United States by 1947. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and distributed th ...

1961 *
Socialism and the Individual
' Lawrence & Wishart 1961 * ''Teach Yourself A History of Philosophy'' English University Press 1962 * ''Man and Evolution'' Lawrence & Wishart 1962 *
The Life and Teaching of Karl Marx
' Lawrence & Wishart 1965 *
Bertrand Russell: Philosopher and Humanist
' Lawrence & Wishart 1968 * ''Naked Ape or Homo Sapiens?'' (with Bernard Towers) Garnstone 1969 * ''The Left Book Club: An Historical Record'' Gollancz 1970 * ''The Marxism of Marx'' Lawrence & Wishart 1972 * ''The Uniqueness of Man'' Lawrence & Wishart 1974 * ''Beyond Chance and Necessity'' (Ed.) Garnstone 1974 * ''Max Weber and Value Free Sociology: A Marxist Critique'' Lawrence & Wishart 1975

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, John 1889 births 1976 deaths 19th-century Christians 20th-century British philosophers 20th-century Christian clergy 20th-century Unitarian clergy 20th-century Welsh educators 20th-century Welsh writers Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of University College London British Army personnel of World War II British Marxists Christian communists English activists English Christian socialists English communists English Congregationalists English male non-fiction writers English philosophers English Unitarians Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Marxist humanists Marxist theorists People associated with Scouting People educated at Dulwich College Unitarian socialists Welsh anti-war activists Welsh Christian socialists Welsh communists Welsh Congregationalists Welsh philosophers Welsh Unitarians