Maurice Frank Wiles,
FBA (17 October 1923 – 3 June 2005) 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 ...
priest and academic. He was the
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 ...
at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
from 1970 to 1991.
Life and academic career
Wiles was educated at the
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...
in Kent.
He was awarded a scholarship at
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 ...
, but his studies were interrupted by the war. He and his brother, Christopher John Wiles (1919–2014), were sent early in February 1942 to learn Japanese and cryptography at the secret Bedford Japanese School run by Captain
Oswald Tuck RN. Both of them did well on the course and were posted to
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
. After a year in the Japanese Military Attaché section, Maurice became joint chief translator in the Japanese Forces section, while Christopher became chief translator in the Japanese military attaché section. After the war he returned to Christ's College and then continued his studies at
Ridley Hall.
After ordination in 1950 he spent two years as curate at St George's,
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...
, but then returned to Ridley Hall as chaplain. From 1955 to 1959 he was a lecturer in New Testament Studies at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He again returned to
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 ...
as dean of
Clare College and university lecturer in early Christian doctrine. Before moving to Oxford as Regius Professor of Divinity he spent three years from 1967 to 1970 as professor of Christian doctrine at King's College London.
Wiles served as a director of the four-yearly Oxford International Conference on Patristic Studies from 1971 until 1999.
He was appointed a Fellow of King's College London in 1972 and Fellow of the British Academy in 1981.
Miracles
In his work ''God's Action in the World'', he discusses the notion of a world that is consistent with
Christian theology
Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...
and the
laws of nature. In doing so Wiles rejects the possibility that God directly intervenes in the world and therefore rejects the existence of
miracle
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s.
Wiles accepts God as the sole creator of the world, yet believes he does not intervene in the world for a number of reasons. He believed we should not see God as playing an 'active role' but instead hold the belief that God created the world as he wanted in its entirety:
[Maurice Wiles (1986) ''God's Action in the World'']
Therefore, God would not undermine the
natural laws that he created by intervening in the world. Wiles also argued that an
omnibenevolent
Omnibenevolence is the property of possessing maximal goodness. Some philosophers, such as Epicurus, have argued that it is impossible, or at least improbable, for a deity to exhibit such a property alongside omniscience and omnipotence, as a res ...
God would not perform such trivial
miracle
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s as those which are normally observed:
Wiles concluded that either God acts arbitrarily (and is therefore not worthy of worship) or that he does not intervene at all.
However, the lack of
miracle
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s does not violate a belief in Christianity according to Wiles.
Prayer
File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)''
rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...
, for instance, still has purpose but should not be understood as causing God to take action. Instead it should be a way of enabling a group or individual to connect with God's will:
Likewise, the
miracle
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s of the Bible need not be rejected. Instead, they should be understood to have a symbolic role: to teach about God and
faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...
in Christianity.
Patristics and modern doctrine
An expert in
patristics as well as modern doctrine, Wiles was particularly interested in the development of doctrine and questions of orthodoxy and heresy. His book ''The Making of Christian Doctrine'' was a critical look at whether early doctrinal affirmations could remain valid when the framework of their intellectual background had shifted. His ''Working Papers in Doctrine'' collected together a number of his journal articles on patristic thought. Several of his works focused on the heresiarch
Arius
Arius (; ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaica, Cyrenaic presbyter and asceticism, ascetic. He has been regarded as the founder of Arianism, which holds that Jesus Christ was not Eternity, coeternal with God the Father, but was rather created b ...
and the history of Arianism, including ''Archetypal Heresy: Arianism through the Centuries''. Wiles continued to defend the possibility of a reasonable Christian faith, free from historical and dogmatic commitments which could not be defended on critical grounds but confident in the essential truthfulness and trustworthiness of God, until the end of his life.
Wiles's broad interests in doctrine were reflected in the contributions to his Festschrift, published in 1993. A short critical study of his thought was published in 1987 by the Dutch theologian
Gerard Rothuizen (1925–88).
[G. Theodoor Rothuizen, ''Apologetics in Oxford: The Theology of Maurice F. Wiles'' (Kampen, Netherlands: Kok, 1987)]
''The Journal of Theological Studies''
In 1986, Wiles succeeded
Henry Chadwick as editor of ''
The Journal of Theological Studies
''The Journal of Theological Studies'' is an academic journal established in 1899 and now published by Oxford University Press in April and October each year. It publishes theological research, scholarship, and interpretation, and hitherto unpubli ...
''. He edited the journal along with the biblical scholar
Morna Hooker
Morna Dorothy Hooker (born 19 May 1931) is a British theologian and New Testament scholar.
Early life and education
Morna Hooker was born in Beddington on 19 May 1931. She went to Bristol University where she graduated with first class honours ...
. Wiles's editorship concluded with the centenary issue of the journal, published in October 1999, to which he contributed an article charting the journal's origins and history.
Family
His father was
Sir Harold Herbert Wiles, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and National Service. Maurice Wiles was husband to Patricia Wiles. He was the father of the mathematician
Sir Andrew Wiles, who is also a
Regius Professor
A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...
at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
, of Mathematics.
Books by Maurice Wiles
* ''The Spiritual Gospel: The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel in the Early Church'' (1960)
* ''The Christian Fathers'' (1966)
* ''The Making of Christian Doctrine: A Study in the Principles of Early Doctrinal Development'' (1967)
* ''The Divine Apostle: The Interpretation of St Paul's Epistles in the Early Church'' (1967)
* ''Providence'' (editor) (1969)
* ''The Remaking of Christian Doctrine'' (1974)
* ''Documents in Early Christian Thought'' (with Mark Santer) (1975)
* ''Working Papers in Doctrine'' (1976) (collected papers)
* ''What is Theology?'' (1976)
* ''
The Myth of God Incarnate'' (1977) (contributor)
* ''Explorations in Theology 4'' (1979) (collected papers)
* ''Faith and the Mystery of God'' (1982)
* ''God's Action in the World'' (1986)
* ''Christian Theology and Inter-religious Dialogue'' (1992)
* ''A Shared Search: Doing Theology in Conversation with One's Friends'' (1994) (collected papers)
* ''Archetypal Heresy: Arianism through the Centuries'' (1996)
* ''Reason to Believe'' (1999)
* ''Studia Patristica: Papers presented at the Thirteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford in 1999''
''Studia Patristica'' vols. 34–8">Studia_Patristica.html" ;"title=" ''
''Studia Patristica'' vols. 34–8(edited, with Edward Yarnold">E. J. Yarnold and P. M. Parvis)
* ''Scholarship and Faith: a Tale of Two Grandfathers'' (2003)
Notes
Sources
*Peter Vardy (theologian)">Peter Vardy (2 August 1999). ''The Puzzle of God''
*Maurice Wiles (1986). ''God's Action in the World''
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiles, Maurice
English Anglican theologians
1923 births
2005 deaths
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
People educated at Tonbridge School
Bletchley Park people
Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Oxford)
British expatriates in Nigeria
20th-century English Anglican priests
Fellows of the British Academy
Academic staff of the University of Ibadan