Charles Earle Raven (4 July 1885 – 8 July 1964) was an English

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and

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 ...

priest. He was

Regius Professor of Divinity The Regius Professorships of Divinity are amongst the oldest professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. A third chair existed for a period at Trinity College Dublin. The Oxford and Cambridge chairs were founded by ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

(1932–1950) and Master of

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

(1939–1950). His works have been influential in the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

publishing on the positive effects that theology has had upon modern science.

Career

Raven was born in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 4 July 1885, and was educated at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils 13–18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. ...

. He obtained an open classical scholarship at

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

, and then became lecturer in divinity, fellow and dean of

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

. In 1932, he was elected

at Cambridge, a position he held until 1950. He was Master of

(1939–1950). He was a

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, and attained the rank of

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

. During the First World War he served as a chaplain to the forces and what he witnessed led him to take a pacifist position, a subject on which he wrote extensively for the rest of his life. As a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, he was an active supporter of the

Peace Pledge Union The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is a non-governmental organisation that promotes pacifism, based in the United Kingdom. Its members are signatories to the following pledge: "War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determine ...

and the

Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...

. He first married Margaret Ermyntrude Buchanan Wollaston in 1910, with whom he had four children. Raven was the father of

John Raven John Earle Raven (13 December 1914 – 5 March 1980) was an English classical scholar, notable for his work on pre-Socratic philosophy, and amateur botanist. His wife, Faith, inherited the 35,000 acre Ardtornish Estate in Argyllshire, Scotland ...

, the

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and grandfather of Andrew Raven and Sarah Raven. His third marriage was to Hélène Jeanty, a Belgian widow whose husband had been killed by the occupying Germans in

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 ...

. They met while she was working for the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

(WCC). They worked together on reconciliation between students of different races, a continuation of her WCC work helping displaced Jews and Germans. She outlived Raven, dying on 9 October 1990 and, continuing the charitable work during her lifetime, left £150,000 to Christ's College to support medical students from overseas. Raven was the Gifford Lecturer for 1950–1952 in Natural Religion and Christian Theology, at Edinburgh University. He was president of the

Field Studies Council Field Studies Council is an educational charity based in the UK, which offers opportunities for people to learn about and engage with the outdoors. History The organisation was established as the Council for the Promotion of Field Studies in ...

from 1953 to 1957 and of the

Botanical Society of the British Isles The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Botani ...

from 1951 to 1955. He won the James Tait Black Award in 1947 for his book ''English Naturalists from Neckam to Ray''. Some of his writings have been described as an early example of ecotheology.

Evolution

Raven was an advocate of

non-Darwinian evolution Alternatives to Darwinian evolution have been proposed by scholars investigating biology to explain signs of evolution and the relatedness of different groups of living things. The alternatives in question do not deny that evolutionary changes ov ...

ary theories such as

Lamarckism Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

. He also supported the

theistic evolution Theistic evolution (also known as theistic evolutionism or God-guided evolution), alternatively called evolutionary creationism, is a view that God acts and creates through laws of nature. Here, God is taken as the primary cause while natural cau ...

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (; 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit, Catholic priest, scientist, palaeontologist, theologian, and teacher. He was Darwinian and progressive in outlook and the author of several influential theologi ...

. Historian Peter J. Bowler has written that Raven's book ''The Creator Spirit'', "outlined the case for a nonmaterialistic biology as the foundation for a renewed natural theology."

List of selected publications

''What think ye of Christ?''
(1916)
''Christian Socialism, 1848-1854''
(1920) *''Apollinarianism: An Essay on the Christology of the Early Church'' (1923) *''In Praise of Birds'' (1925) *''The Creator Spirit'' (1927)
''Women and the Ministry''
(1929) *''A Wanderer's Way'' (1929)
''The Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ''
(1933) *
''Science, Religion, and the Future''
a course of eight lectures (1943) * *'' Alex Wood: the man and his message'' (1952) *''The Theological Basis of Christian Pacifism. London: The Fellowship of Reconciliation'' (1952) *''Natural Religion and Christian Theology'' (1953) *''Science, Medicine and Morals: A Survey and a Suggestion'' (1959) *''Paul and the Gospel of Jesus'' (1960) *''Teilhard de Chardin: Scientist and Seer'' (1962)

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raven, Charles E. 1885 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Anglican theologians 20th-century Church of England clergy 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English theologians 20th-century evangelicals Academics from London Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Anglican chaplains Anglican clergy from London Anglican pacifists Anglican socialists Anglican writers Christian socialist theologians Ecotheology English Anglican theologians English Christian pacifists English Christian socialists English Evangelical writers English military chaplains Evangelical Anglican clergy Evangelical Anglican theologians Evangelical pastors Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge British historians of science Honorary chaplains to the King Lamarckism Masters of Christ's College, Cambridge People from Paddington Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Cambridge) Theistic evolutionists Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge Writers about religion and science Writers from the City of Westminster People educated at Uppingham School