Ernest Gordon Rupp (7 January 1910 – 19 December 1986) was a

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

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and Luther scholar.

Early life and education

Rupp was born on 7 January 1910 in

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 ...

and attended Owen's School in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

. He studied history at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, theology at Cambridge's Wesley House, and in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

during 1936–1937.

Ministry

From 1938 to 1946 he served as a Methodist minister in

New Eltham New Eltham is a suburban area of South East Greater London, London, England, primarily in the Royal Borough of Greenwich with some parts in the London Borough of Bexley. It is located south east of Eltham and north west of Sidcup. History New E ...

and

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater ...

(southeast London). He came to public notice in 1945 when he challenged the charge that Martin Luther was the spiritual ancestor of Hitler. The charge was made by Peter F. Wiener in a widely distributed pamphlet, ''Martin Luther: Hitler's Spiritual Ancestor'

In 1946, Rupp served as the assistant to the Principal of Wesley House. In 1947, he was appointed assistant professor at Richmond College. Rupp participated in the reconstruction efforts of 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 ...

in Europe.Turner, 77. In 1947, he visited

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and

Delmenhorst Delmenhorst (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Demost'') is an urban district (''List of German urban districts, Kreisfreie Stadt'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown Bremen (city), Bremen with which ...

. During this time, he lectured at the conference of the Methodist church of Northwest Germany. After his tenure at Richmond (1947–1952), he served at Wesley House in Cambridge. In 1956, he was appointed professor of Church History at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. He lectured there until 1967, when he returned to Wesley House in Cambridge as its Principal. At the same time (1968–1977) he served as Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the

University of Cambridge 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 ...

. In 1968, he served as the president of the British Methodist church. Rupp received honorary doctorates from Cambridge,

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

and

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, and was appointed as a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

in 1970. Rupp died on 19 December 1986 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Works by Gordon Rupp

*''Holy Book and holy tradition: International colloquium held in the Faculty of Theology, University of Manchester''. ed. F.F.Bruce & E. Gordon Rupp. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1968. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''"I seek my brethren:" Bishop Bell and the German Churches''. London: Epworth, 1975. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Is this a Christian Country?'', 1941. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Luther's progress to the Diet of Worms, 1521''.NL: NP, 1951. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''The King of Glory: Studies in St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians''. London: Epworth Press, 1940. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Martin Luther, Hitler's Cause or Cure?'' London and Redhill, Lutterworth press, 1945. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Religion in England 1688–1791''. London : S.C.M. Press, 1975. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''The Righteousness of God: Luther studies''. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1953. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Study in the making of the English Protestant Tradition, Mainly into the Reign of Henry VIII''. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1947. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Thomas More: the King's good servant'', New York : Collins, 1978. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Principalities and Powers: Studies in the Christian Conflict in History'', London: Epworth, 1952. *Rupp, E. Gordon. ''Patterns of Reformation'', London: Epworth, 1969.

Notes

References

*Turner, John Munsey. "Gordon Rupp (1910–1986) as Historian", ''Epworth Review'', 18 (1991) No. 1:70-82. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rupp, Ernest Gordon 1910 births 1986 deaths 20th-century English historians Dixie Professors of Ecclesiastical History Alumni of King's College London English Methodists Fellows of King's College London Historians of Europe People educated at Dame Alice Owen's School Presidents of the Methodist Conference Reformation historians Staff of Wesley House Alumni of Wesley House