Charles Bradley Templeton (October 7, 1915 – June 7, 2001) was a Canadian media figure and a former
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
evangelist. Known in the 1940s and 1950s as a leading evangelist, he became an agnostic and later embraced
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
after struggling with doubt. Afterwards, having become an atheist, he worked at various times in journalism, radio and writing.
Early life
Charles Templeton was born on October 7, 1915, in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
In 1932, at age 17, Charles Templeton was hired to create Chuck Templeton's Sportraits, a daily sports cartoon, for '' The Toronto Globe'' (now ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
''), leaving high school to pursue the job. His work became syndicated and earned him a comfortable living. He converted to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
while working as a cartoonist, and in 1936, left his job to become a preacher.
Christian evangelist
After he quit his first job, Templeton became a mass evangelist. From 1936 to 1938, he toured the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, preaching in 44 states and gaining international recognition as a leading evangelist. In 1941, Templeton started the NazareneAvenue Road Church where he served as its preacher, renting a building that once housed a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
church. In 1955, he became the Presbyterian Church in the United States's secretary of evangelism.
Eager to deepen his understanding about Christianity, Templeton attended
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...
in the 1940s. He later received an honorary doctorate from
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...
.
He hosted the religious television show '' Look Up and Live''.
Charles Templeton began to struggle with doubts about his religion eventually becoming an agnostic. This caused a wide backlash from Christian communities.
Templeton was a close friend of fellow evangelist
Billy Graham
William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...
, and the two shared billing as they co-founded (along with
Torrey Johnson
Torrey Maynard Johnson (March 15, 1909 – May 15, 2002) was a Chicago Baptist who is best remembered as the founder of Youth for Christ in 1944. For a time Johnson had his own local radio program called ''Songs in the Night'', which he later tu ...
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, they remained friends, but became more distant.
Media
Journalist
In 1959, Templeton quit evangelism and transitioned into a media career. That same year, he was hired as executive managing editor of the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division.
...
'', a position he held until 1964, when he entered politics. Furthermore, he founded the advertising company Technamation Canada, working there until CTV hired him as director of public affairs in 1967. In 1969, he briefly served as editor of ''
Maclean's
''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...
'' magazine for seven months.
Radio
Templeton became an interviewer for the radio show ''Close-Up''. He later collaborated with
Pierre Berton
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian historian, writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular cultur ...
on the radio show ''Dialogue'' from 1966 to 1970 on CFRB, and from 1970 to 1984 on CKEY, where Templeton also served as the morning news reader.
He won two
Templeton wrote several plays that were performed on television. Templeton's first novel, ''The Kidnapping of the President'' (1974), became a bestseller and was adapted into a 1980 film. He wrote several other novels. In ''Farewell to God'' (1995 or 1996), he described his conversion to agnosticism and explained his reasons for doing so. Templeton also won the B'nai B'rith book award.
Politics
He came second in an election for the leadership of the
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023.
The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...
, although he was its vice-president in 1964 and 1965.
Inventor
Templeton made his own unsuccessful designs of a child-resistant medicine cap, a
cigarette filter
A cigarette filter, also known as a filter tip, is a component of a cigarette, along with cigarette paper, capsules and adhesives. Filters were introduced in the early 1950s.
Filters may be made from plastic cellulose acetate fiber, paper or ...
and a pipeline. However, his design for a teddy bear that could stay warm for many hours was widely manufactured.
Personal life
While he was an evangelist, Templeton married fellow evangelist and singer Constance Oroczy in 1939. In 1957, they got divorced. In 1959, he married singer Sylvia Murphy, whom he met while producing a television drama; they got divorced in 1976. Templeton and Murphy had four children: lawyer Michael Templeton, broadcaster Deborah Burgess, internet entrepreneur
Brad Templeton
Brad Templeton (born June 1960 near Toronto) is a Canadian software developer, internet entrepreneur, online community pioneer, publisher of news, comedy, science fiction and e-books, writer, photographer, civil rights advocate, futurist, public s ...
, and comic book artist
Ty Templeton
Tyrone Templeton is a Canadians, Canadian comic book artist and writer who has drawn a number of mainstream titles, TV-associated titles, and his own series.
Career
Templeton first received attention for ''Stig's Inferno'' (Vortex Comics), now ...
.
In 1980, he married author Madeleine Helen Stevens Leger, and they remained married until his death.
Death
On June 7, 2001, Charles Templeton died from
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...