Archibald Robertson (atheist)
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Archibald Horace Mann RobertsonSome sources erroneously give his second name as "Harold" (1886 – 14 October 1961) was an English civil servant who became a writer on history, and social affairs from a
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
perspective and critiques of Christianity.


Early years

Robertson was born in Durham in 1886,Biographical Note in ''Jesus: Myth or History''
/ref> eldest of the three sons of the similarly named Archibald Robertson and his wife Julia, née Mann. The father was an
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
clergyman and the master of
Hatfield College, Durham Hatfield College is one of the constituent colleges of Durham University in England. It occupies a city centre site above the River Wear on the World Heritage Site peninsula, lying adjacent to North Bailey and only a short distance from Durh ...
, who later became Principal of King's College, London and then
Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...
. In 1899 Robertson won a scholarship to
Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
, where it was that he began to doubt the Christian and
Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
orthodoxies which were expected of him. This process started with his reading of the history of the French Revolution. Further spurs to his thinking came from Shelley's ''
Queen Mab Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', in which the character Mercutio famously describes her as "the fairies' midwife", a miniature creature who rides her chariot (which is driven by a team of ato ...
'' with its "devastating notes", J. W. Draper's ''History of the Conflict between Religion and Science'' and, most of all,
Belfort Bax Ernest Belfort Bax (; 23 July 1854 – 26 November 1926) was an English barrister, journalist, philosopher, men's rights advocate, socialist, and historian. Biography Ernest Belfort Bax was born on 23 July 1854, in Leamington Spa, son of Dani ...
's ''The Ethics of Socialism''. From school he won a scholarship to
Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...
, where he was in due course awarded a first-class degree in Greats. Meanwhile, he continued his political interest. The
1906 General Election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...
, a landslide victory for the Liberals and the first substantial representation for the Labour Party, took place shortly after he started at Oxford. He avidly read left-wing periodicals such as '' The Clarion'', ''
Labour Leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of th ...
'', ''
The New Age ''The New Age'' was a British weekly magazine (1894–1938),credited as a major influence on literature and the arts during its heyday from 1907 to 1922, when it was edited by Alfred Richard Orage. It published work by many of the chief politi ...
'' and ''
Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...
'', the weekly newspaper of the
Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...
. He became a regular contributor to at least the last of these, (using the style ''A. H. M. Robertson'') In 1910, having graduated, he entered the
British Civil Service In the United Kingdom, the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen ...
and at the outbreak of the war in 1914 he was working as private secretary to the
Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...
of the British Admiralty.Navy List November 1914
/ref> His position exempted him from active service, but he agonised, as did many on the left, about the morality of the conflict. Eventually he decided to support the war, on grounds which he much later described as "casuistry". He left the ILP and the Fabians but continued to contribute to rationalist and socialist publications, and wrote books. At this period he published using the pseudonym ''Robert Arch,'' partly to avoid confusion with his father, who was writing on topics in church history, and also to lower his profile with respect to his employers in the Admiralty. In 1919 he met his old hero Belfort Bax, and after the latter's death in 1926 Robertson wrote a pamphlet of appreciation. Bax had introduced him to the
Rationalist Press Association The Rationalist Association was a charity in the United Kingdom which published '' New Humanist'' magazine between 1885 and 2025. Since 2025, the Rationalist Press has been the publishing imprint of Humanists UK. The original Rationalist Press ...
(RPA), which Robertson joined in 1920. In 1925 became a member of its board of directors. He took an active part in the decision to launch the
Thinker's Library The Thinker's Library was a series of 140 hardcover books published between 1929 and 1951 for the Rationalist Press Association by Watts & Co., London, a company founded by the brothers John and Charles Watts and then run by the latter's son Ch ...
in 1929, and it was he who suggested that name for the series.


1931 onwards

Following the death of his father, in 1931 Robertson resigned from the civil service. He thereafter devoted himself to left-wing politics, history and the critique of the Christian religion, writing under his own name. With a number of others he became concerned that the RPA focussed too narrowly on the demolition of superstition and the popularisation of science, valuable though that work was. Robertson and his allies advocated a greater emphasis on social issues. As he a little later wrote to Charles Watts "... The younger generation are not interested in the criticism of religion except so far as it bears on social questions. They are interested in peace, economics and sex questions. And the RPA doesn't help them. ..." In 1931 a group of nine members who saw things in that way including C. E. M. Joad, J. B. Coates and J. A. Hobson stood for election to the RPA Board and were defeated. Disappointed, they decided to form the Federation of Progressive Societies and Individuals (FPSI). Robertson soon resigned from the RPA Board to devote his energies to the FPSI. He made several trips to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, publishing his first impressions in ''Philosophers on Holiday''. After his fourth visit, prompted partly also by the rise in Germany of
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
, in 1938 he became a member of the Communist Party, and remained so for the rest of his life. From the early 1940s he became reconciled with the RPA and most of his many subsequent books were published by Watts & Co, the RPA publisher. For fifteen years following the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he was an Appointed Lecturer for the
South Place Ethical Society The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United King ...
, where his lectures were very popular and respected by his colleagues. He died in Oxford on 14 October 1961.Graham Stevenson article
/ref> Robertson was married; his wife Sylvia survived him.


Works

* * * * * * * *
Volume IVolume II
both 1949 second editions) * (second edition in 1947) * * * * * * * * *


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Archibald (atheist) 1886 births 1961 deaths British critics of Christianity English atheists People from Durham, England People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society Communist Party of Great Britain members