Nathaniel Micklem (10 April 1888 – 26 December 1976) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

who also served as the principal of Mansfield College.

Early life and education

Micklem was born in

Brondesbury Brondesbury (), which includes Brondesbury Park, is an area in the London Borough of Brent, in London, England. The area is traditionally part of the Ancient Parish and subsequent Municipal Borough of Willesden, one of the areas that merged to fo ...

. His father, also Nathaniel Micklem, was a barrister who later became a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Member of Parliament. He grew up in

Boxmoor Boxmoor is part of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It is within the district of Dacorum and comprises mainly 19th-century housing and meadowland, with transport links from London to the Midlands. At the 2011 Census, the population of Boxmoor wa ...

, Hertfordshire, and studied at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, New College, Oxford and Mansfield College, serving as President of the Oxford Union.

Career

In 1914, he was ordained as a Congregationalist minister, serving at Highbury Chapel, then briefly in

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approx ...

, from which he was removed due to his opposition to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Micklem then worked for the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

before becoming the chaplain of Mansfield College. In 1921, he began teaching the Old Testament at

Selly Oak Colleges Selly Oak Colleges was a federation of educational facilities which in the 1970s and 1980s was at the forefront of debates about ecumenism - the coming together of Christian churches and the creation of new united churches such as the Church of ...

and also started writing on the topic. He moved to

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

in 1927, to teach the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

at the Queen's Theological College, who made him an honorary Doctor of Divinity. He returned to Mansfield College in 1932, serving for a year as vice-principal, then until 1953 as principal of the college. While at the college, Micklem wrote extensively on the need for Congregationalists to adopt "orthodox" Christianity, seeing reason as founded in faith, rather than the other way around. In the late 1930s, he visited Germany twice, bringing back literature from the

German Confessing Church The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi German ...

. He published ''National Socialism and the Roman Catholic Church'' in 1939, and broadcast a weekly radio show during the war focussing on Christianity in Europe. In contrast to the First World War, Micklem strongly supported 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 ...

. On 9 June 1944 he spoke at the Oxford Socratic Club on "Christianity and Other Faiths." He is the author of The Labyrinth, a "philosophical poem" consisting of 100 Spenserian stanzas, published by Oxford University Press in 1945. Micklem served as chairman of the Congregational Union in 1944. He was part of the joint Anglican and non-conformist committee which wrote ''Church Relations in England'' in 1950, and championed the merger with

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 nam ...

s which produced the

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

. He retired in 1953, but became more politically active, and served as

President of the Liberal Party This is a list of people who served as President of the British Liberal Party. The Liberal Party merged into the Liberal Democrats in 1988. The post was established in 1877 as President of the National Liberal Federation. In 1936, this body was r ...

in 1957/8. Within the party, he championed the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

Honours

In 1974, he was invested as a Companion of Honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Micklem, Nathaniel 1888 births 1976 deaths Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford Alumni of New College, Oxford British Christian theologians English Congregationalist ministers Principals of Mansfield College, Oxford Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Presidents of the Oxford Union Presidents of the Liberal Party (UK) Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston People educated at Rugby School