Henry Chadwick, Biography, Telegraph Obituary, and "The Ancient Church"

Chadwick,  Henry.  The Ancient Church.  New York: Dorset Press, 1967.

A 320-page, 1993-edition from Penguin is available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Early-Church-Penguin-History/dp/0140231994/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377048323&sr=8-1&keywords=henry+chadwick.  We have 304-page, 1967 edition.

The book is ordered as follows.  A biography is listed below.  Mr. (Canterbury) Rowan Williams said of Mr. (Rev. Dr. Prof.) Chadwick, "Rome has its Pope and the Church of England has its `Henry Chadwick.'" He had an Evangelical Anglican background.  He was known as an "aristocrat of academics."   Mr. Chadwick has a storied background. The book is outlined first.  Then, we append bio-notes from Wiki,, an excellent article from the Telegraph upon the passing of Professor Chadwick on June 17, 2008, and a NTY Obituary dated June 22, 2008.  But, at hand is the outline.

1.      From Jerusalem to Rome—Jewish background, the earliest church, Gentile church, and encounter with the Roman Empire

2.      Faith and Order—Bonds of unity, Gnosticism, Ministry and the Bible, Forms of Ministry

3.      Expansion and Growth—Causes of success, geographical extension of the Church, defense of the faith

4.      Justin and Irenaeus

5.      Easter, the Monarchian Controversy and Tertullian

6.      Clement of Alexandria and Origen

7.      Church, State and Society in the Third Century—Pagan revival, persecution of Decius, Cyprian, great persecution and its consequences

8.      Constantine and the Council of Nicaea

9.      Arian Controversy after the Council of Nicaea—from Nicaea to the death of Constantine, the church under the sons of Constantine, from Julian to Theodosius 1

10.  The Conflict of Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century

11.  Church, State, and Society from Julian to Theodosius 1

12.  The Ascetic Movement

13.  Controversy about Origen and the Tragedy of John Chyrsostom

14.  The Problem of the Person of Christ—Diodore, Theodore, and Apollinaris, Cyril and Nestorius, the “Monophysite” Council of Ephesus and the reaction at Chalcedon, the search for reconciliation, the doctrine of one will

15.  The Development of Latin Christian Thought—Jerome and the beginnings of maturity, the conversion of Augustine, the Donatist schism and the problem of coercion, the City of God and the Pelagian controversy, the Holy Trinity

16.  The Papacy

17.  The Church and the Barbarians

18.  Worship and Art—liturgy, daily offices, early church music, Christian art

Conclusions

Suggestions for Further Readings

Here is a life from Wikipedia.

Henry Chadwick KBE^[1] (23 June 1920 – 17 June 2008) was a British academic and Church of England clergyman. A former Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford — and as such, head of Christ Church, Oxford — he also served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, becoming the first person in four centuries to have headed a college at both universities.^{[citation needed]}

A leading historian of the early church, Chadwick was appointed Regius Professor at both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He was a noted supporter of improved relations with the Roman Catholic Church, and a leading member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). An accomplished musician, having studied music to degree level, he took a leading part in the revision and updating of hymnals widely used within Anglicanism, chairing the board of the publisher, Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd., for twenty years.

Family and early life

Born in Bromley, Kent, Henry Chadwick was the son of a barrister (who died when Henry was just five), and a music-loving mother.^[2] He had a number of accomplished siblings: Sir John Chadwick served as the British Ambassador to Romania,^[3] and the Revd Prof William Owen Chadwick and his other brother also became clergymen.^[4] Despite this, it was one of his sisters he would later describe as "the brightest of us all".^[2] Chadwick was educated at St Hugh's School (when it was located in Kent),^{[citation needed]} and Eton College, where he became a King's Scholar.^[5][6] Although he did not show much aptitude as a Grecian, his lifelong love of music made its first appearance and resulted in his receiving organ lessons from Henry Ley.^[7]

After leaving Eton, he went up to Magdalene College, Cambridge, on a music scholarship,^[8] and was expected to make music his career.^[2][7] A highlight of his undergraduate musical career was playing a two piano arrangement of Chabrier's España with Boris Ord, then organist of King's College, Cambridge.^[6] However, Chadwick chose to further his interest in Evangelical Christianity, which had existed from his school days.^[7][9] He graduated in 1941 and began his theological training in 1942, at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, being ordained deacon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Canterbury Cathedral, in 1943 and priest by the Bishop of Dover in 1944.^{[7][9][10][11]} He served a curacy at the Evangelical parish of Emmanuel, Croydon, arriving towards the end of the Second World War, just as it was attacked by German V-weapons, which provided a difficult pastoral challenge.^[7] From there, he became an assistant master at Wellington College. He married Peggy in 1945.^[2]

Academic career

Cambridge

Chadwick became a Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, with his appointment as Chaplain in 1946, and in 1950 advanced to the position of Dean. His rising academic reputation was confirmed in 1953 with the publication of a project had occupied him since the days of his curacy—his new translation of Origen's Contra Celsum, with introduction and notes. He had by now made himself an expert in Patristic Greek; only an inexactness in philology marking his earlier abandonment of Greek for music.^[2][5][7][9] Also in 1953 he was appointed co-editor (with Hedley Sparks) of the Journal of Theological Studies and continued editing it until 1985.^[9] He held the university appointment of Hulsean Lecturer from 1954–6.^[12]

Oxford

Tom Quad at Christ Church, Oxford, where Chadwick and his family lived during his time at Christ Church

Chadwick moved to Oxford in 1959, to take up the position of Regius Professor of Divinity (and with it the associated canonry at Christ Church Cathedral)^[13][14] at the relatively young age of 39.^[5][7] He was named a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) soon after,^[7][15][16] and in 1962 Gifford Lecturer at the University of St Andrews^[17] lecturing on Authority in the Early Church.^[18] He gave a second series of lectures in 1963–4, on Authority in Christian Theology.^[4][19] 1963 also saw him appointed to an early Anglican inquiry into the issues surrounding the ordination of women.^[20] In the 1960s, along with scholars like E. R. Dodds, Peter Brown, and John Matthews, Chadwick helped make Oxford a centre in the developing study of Late Antiquity. He clarified the classical philosophical roots of Christian thinkers from Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria to Augustine of Hippo,^[9] and set about raising academic standards within the theology department—in particular making the degree of Doctor of Divinity (DD) into a genuine research degree, as opposed to an honorary award made to senior clerics who had produced a volume of sermons.^[4][9] 1967 saw the publication of his most widely read work, The Early Church, published under the Pelican imprint of Penguin Books.^[2][7] He was disappointed that he was allowed to include so few footnotes in the original publication, and correspondingly delighted when the publishers of a German edition requested additional notes for their translation.^[7] That same year he was appointed to a Church of England doctrine commission investigating "The place of the Articles in the Anglican tradition and the question of Subscription and Assent to them", which produced its report in July 1968 ready for that year's Lambeth Conference. The report ultimately led to changes in the doctrinal affirmations required of Church of England clergy at their ordination or on taking up new appointments.^[21] In 1968 he was appointed a vice-president of the British Academy.^[2][16]

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, of which Chadwick was Dean for ten years.

In 1969, Chadwick was appointed Dean of Christ Church, uniquely a dual role as a cathedral dean and head of a college.^[3][22] This period was not entirely happy; a scholarly ability to see all sides of a question, along with an ingrained desire not to upset his colleagues, sometimes made it hard for him to make a quick or firm decision. However, during his time as Dean the college benefited from a continued programme of renovation with internal changes that provided more student accommodation.^[7] The position gave Chadwick the chance to influence the musical direction of the cathedral. In The Independent newspaper, obituary writer Andrew Louth notes that at the retirement of Sydney Watson as organist, when he and Chadwick played piano duets together Chadwick's technique was the equal of Watson's. The new organist, Simon Preston, had ambitious plans for improving musical standards, and Chadwick was pleased to be able to support these, not least by raising funds for a new organ.^[9]

Chadwick also found time to contribute to the administration of the wider university, serving on the Hebdomadal Council,^[23] as a Delegate of Oxford University Press, as one of the curators of the Bodleian, and as Pro-Vice-Chancellor 1974–5.^[7][9] It was during this period that he began to participate in the discussions of ARCIC (he was a member of the commission 1969–81 and again 1983–90); his early Evangelical sympathies having been tempered over time, helped by his friendship with Edward Yarnold, Master of Campion Hall.^[9][24][25] He was a master of the Anglican approach of producing statements capable of a range of interpretations to enable common ground to be reached, this worked well for simpler historical differences, but did not always impress the Roman Catholic members of the commission when it came to questions of ecclesiology and church authority.^[2] He was also able to use his historical background to put forward summaries of early church positions on a variety of subjects, and he had a true desire to establish consensus on the basis of the principles revealed by this research.^[2][5][26] Although his scholarly output suffered from the pressures on his time, he was editor of Oxford Early Christian Texts (from 1970), and was able to work on two major monographs, Priscillian of Avila: the occult and the charismatic in the early Church (published 1976) and Boethius: the consolations of music, logic, theology and philosophy (published 1981). The second of these in particular allowing him to draw on the full range of his interests.^[5][9]

Return to Cambridge

In 1979, Chadwick resigned the deanship,^[27] returning to Cambridge to take up the Regius Chair of Divinity.^[28] Additionally, he became a Syndic of Cambridge University Press, a Fellow of Magdalene, and was installed as an honorary canon of Ely Cathedral. He gained a reputation as a popular lecturer in Cambridge, and between 1982 and 1983 gave the Sarum Lectures in Oxford, for which his subject was Augustine of Hippo. Edited, these lectures became the basis for his 1986 book, Augustine. He retired from the professorship in 1983 and settled in Oxford.^[2][5][9]

After four years in retirement, he received an unexpected invitation to become Master of Peterhouse in 1987, thus becoming the first person in over four centuries to lead a college at both Oxford and Cambridge.^[7] Chadwick's second appointment as head of a college proved a happier experience than his first. The college had been experiencing some problems following the admission of the first female students, to which some fellows were implacably opposed, making their displeasure known at High Table. Chadwick insisted on civility, which coupled with the retirement of some of the fellows, ensured an improvement in the atmosphere within the college. This continued after his second retirement (again to Oxford) in 1993.^[5][7][9] He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours.^[29] In 1991 he published a new translation of Augustine's Confessions, with extensive notes revealing Augustine's debt to Plotinus.^[5][7][9]

Chadwick also edited Oxford Early Christian Studies (from 1990), and with his brother, Owen, The Oxford History of the Christian Church. His own volume of this series, entitled The Church in Ancient Society: from Galilee to Gregory the Great, appeared in 2001. His final work was to have been on Photios I of Constantinople, research for which covered many of his interests, particularly classical learning and Christianity, and ecumenism. Some of his material on the topic was published in East and West: the making of a rift in the Church (2003) (also part of the Oxford History series). He was also an Editorial Advisor of Dionysius. He died in Oxford on 17 June 2008.^[9]

Reputation and recognition

Writing in an obituary for The Guardian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, wrote, "'The Anglican church,' it was said, 'may not have a Pope, but it does have Henry Chadwick.'" and further described him as an "aristocrat among Anglican scholars".^[5] Other obituaries and appreciations describe how he was generous with his time and knowledge,^[5][9] and always ready to point students in the right direction.^[7] The Independent credits his capacious memory and a personal library of around 20,000 books as the foundation of his broad scholarship.^[9][30] According to The Times, when reviewing others' writing he was usually generous, though capable of a courteous demolition job when well-deserved.^[7]

A capable preacher, though doubtful of his ability when preaching to a non-academic congregation, Chadwick was well regarded as a lecturer and companion at High Table. However, a natural shyness could give him a rather remote air.^[5][7] On an American lecture tour, he noticed three young women who came to every lecture, but took no notes. At the end of lectures he asked the women how they had enjoyed them, to be told that they had no real interest in the subject itself, but they loved to hear him speak.^[9] The character of the college provost in the A Staircase in Surrey novels of Christ Church colleague J. I. M. Stewart was based on that of Chadwick.^[5]

Chadwick held honorary degrees from the universities of Glasgow, Uppsala, Yale, Leeds, Manchester, Surrey, Chicago, Harvard, Jena and the Augustinian University of Rome.^[4][31] He was made an honorary fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1958, just before he took up his Oxford Chair;^[32] and of Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1962.^[33] He also treasured a stole given to him by the pope, and this was placed on his coffin during his funeral at Christ Church on 25 June 2008.^[9][34] Two Festschriften were made in his honour, one for his contributions to the study of church history (Christian Authority, ed. Gillian Evans, 1988), the other for his ecumenical work (The Making of Orthodoxy, ed. Rowan Williams, 1989).^[4][6] In addition to his work on ARCIC he was involved in similar conversations with the Eastern Orthodox Churches.^[4] In 1974 Ladbrokes had Chadwick at odds of 7–1 for appointment as the next Archbishop of Canterbury; his brother Owen was at 6–1.^[35] In 1984 The Times reported that both brothers were reputed to have turned down more than one bishopric.^[36]

Chadwick's love of music led him to serve for twenty years as chairman of the council of Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd. During this time the company expanded its scope. From producing the hymnbooks Hymns Ancient and Modern (A&M), and The English Hymnal, it also took ownership of Canterbury Press, SCM Press, and the Church Times, leading to jokes that Chadwick was an ecclesiastical Rupert Murdoch.^[6] He was heavily involved in the editorial process leading to the supplements to A&M, 100 Hymns for Today, More Hymns for Today, Worship Songs Ancient and Modern, and Hymns Ancient and Modern New Standard, which combined the best of the original book with that from the supplements into a single volume, and also the most recent revision, Common Praise. He had particularly argued for the inclusion of the Spiritual, Steal Away, and this was amongst the music used at his funeral.^[6][34]

Publications

Chadwick published over 125 books, monographs, articles etc.^[4] Mentioned in obituaries as being particularly notable are:^[2][5][7][9]

• Origen: Contra Celsum (1953)
• Early Christian Thought and The Classical Tradition: Studies in Justin, Clement, and Origen (Oxford, 1966)
• Priscillian of Avila: The Occult and the Charismatic in the Early Church (1976)
• Augustine (Past Masters, Oxford, 1986)
• Saint Augustine: Confessions (Translation, introduction, notes. Oxford, 1991)
• The Early Church (The Penguin History of the Church, 1967 revised 1993)
• The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great (Oxford History of the Christian Church, 2001)
• East and West: the making of a rift in the Church (History of the Christian Church, 2003)

References

1.      ^ Traditionally, clergy do not receive the accolade so are not addressed as "Sir" even when appointed to a knightly grade of an order of chivalry, "Honours—Knighthoods". The official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 2008-07-10. 

2.      ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} "The Very Rev Professor Henry Chadwick". The Daily Telegraph (London). 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-06-26. 

3.      ^ ^{a b} PHS. "The Times Diary—Chadwick favourite for Dean, OAPs in TV licence rumpus, Holiday Inns here to stay" (News). The Times (London). Wednesday, 9 July 1969. Issue 57607, col D, p. 10.

4.      ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Henry Chadwick, biographies of Gifford Lecturers". Gifford Lectures website. Retrieved 2008-06-27. 

5.      ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Williams, Rowan (2008-06-19). "Obituary—Henry Chadwick—He was a leading Anglican scholar and strove for ecumenicalism]". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-06-26. 

6.      ^ ^{a b c d e} Edwards, David; Dakers, Lionel (prepared before Dakers's own death in 2003) (2008-06-20). "Obituary: The Revd Professor Henry Chadwick". Church Times. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 

7.      ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s} "The Very Rev Professor Henry Chadwick: priest and scholar". The Times (London). 2008-06-19. Retrieved 2008-06-26. 

8.      ^ "University News" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Tuesday, 16 February 1937. Issue 47610, col A, p. 13.

9.      ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s} Louth, Andrew (2008-06-20). "The Rev Professor Henry Chadwick: Historian of the early Church who held the Regius Chairs of Divinity at both Oxford and Cambridge". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2008-06-30. 

10. ^ "Ecclesiastical News—Ordination Lists" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Monday, 20 September 1943. Issue 49655, col E, p. 6.

11. ^ "Ecclesiastical News—Ordination Lists" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Monday, 25 September 1944. Issue 49963/2, col F, p. 6.

12. ^ "University News" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Saturday, 11 December 1954. Issue 53112, col E, p. 8.

13. ^ "Regius Chair Of Divinity At Oxford" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Thursday, 7 August 1958. Issue 54223, col B, p. 8.

14. ^ The London Gazette: no. 41601. p. 218. 9 January 1959. Retrieved 2008-07-09.

15. ^ "British Academy Awards—List Of New Fellows" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Thursday, 7 July 1960. Issue 54223, col B, p. 8.

16. ^ ^{a b} "British Academy Fellows Archive—Chadwick, Professor H, KBE". Directory of Fellows of the British Academy. British Academy. Retrieved 2008-10-28. ^{[dead link]}

17. ^ "Gifford Lecturer" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Tuesday, 14 February 1961. Issue 55005, col E, p. 14.

18. ^ "Christian Theology And Authority" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 28 November 1963. Issue 55870, col D, p. 14.
"The Problem Of St. Paul" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 6 December 1962. Issue 55567, col F, p. 8.
"Bishop As Indispensable Focus In Early Church" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 13 December 1962. Issue 55573, col B, p. 5.
"Divergent Principles Of The Early Church" (News). The Times (London). Friday, 19 April 1963. Issue 55679, col C, p. 7.
"Creeds As Pledge Of Loyalty" (News). The Times (London). Friday, 26 April 1963. Issue 55685, col D, p. 8.
"St. Augustine And Authority" (News). The Times (London). Friday, 3 May 1963. Issue 55691, col B, p. 11.
"Pauline Origins Of Roman Church" (News). The Times (London). Friday, 10 May 1963. Issue 55697, col D, p. 16.

19. ^ "Authority And The Reformers" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 5 December 1963. Issue 55876, col D, p. 7.
"Gifford Lecture—Fundamentals And Authority" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 12 December 1963. Issue 55882, col E, p. 15.
"Emancipation From Authority" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 27 February 1964. Issue 55946, col F, p. 12.
"The Christian Idea Of Revelation" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 5 March 1964. Issue 55952, col E, p. 6.
"Tractarianism And Kierkegaard" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 12 March 1964. Issue 55958, col E, p. 14.
"Liberal Protestant Authority" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 9 April 1964. Issue 55981, col B, p. 17.
"'Obsolete' Clash On Authority" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 23 April 1964. Issue 55993, col E, p. 14.
"Religious Authority Misconstrued" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 30 April 1964. Issue 55999, col D, p. 16.

20. ^ "Inquiry On Women And Holy Orders" (News). The Times (London). Friday, 15 March 1963. Issue 55650, col G, p. 14.

21. ^ Podmore, Colin (2005). "4. The Church of England's Declaration of Assent". Aspects of Anglican Identity. Church House publishing. p. 45. ISBN 0-7151-4074-4. 

22. ^ The London Gazette: no. 44957. p. 10481. 14 October 1969. Retrieved 2008-07-09.

23. ^ "News From The Universities—Oxford" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Monday, 20 November 1967. Issue 57103, col C, p. 10.

24. ^ Staff reporter. "New Rome link with Anglicans" (News). The Times (London). Saturday, 11 October 1969. Issue 57688, col G, p. 1.

25. ^ Longley, Clifford. "Wounds of the Reformation face new church commission" (News). The Times (London). Tuesday, 14 June 1983. Issue 61558, col C, p. 10.

26. ^ Martin, Douglas (2008-06-22). "Henry Chadwick, Scholar of Early Christianity, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-26. 

27. ^ The London Gazette: no. 47969. p. 12417. 4 October 1979. Retrieved 2008-07-09.

28. ^ "University news—Cambridge" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Wednesday, 24 May 1978. Issue 60309, col D, p. 19.

29. ^ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51772. p. 7. 16 June 1989. Retrieved 2008-07-09.

30. ^ Williams, Adrian (2008-06-20). "Lives Remembered: Henry Chadwick, Nat Temple, Christopher Morgan". The Times (London). Retrieved 2008-06-26. 

31. ^ "Honorary Degrees At Glasgow" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Monday, 22 April 1957. Issue 53821, col B, p. 8.

32. ^ "University News—Cambridge" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Monday, 8 December 1958. Issue 54328, col D, p. 12.

33. ^ "University News—Cambridge" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times (London). Friday, 27 July 1962. Issue 55454, col G, p. 21.

34. ^ ^{a b} Paflin, Glyn (2008-07-04). "Diary—After Henry". Church Times. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 

35. ^ Religious Affairs Correspondent. "Ladbroke's open book on next Archbishop" (News). The Times (London). Saturday, 23 March 1974. Issue 59046, col D, p. 2.

36. ^ Longley, Clifford. "Hard-to-fill houses of the Lord" (News). The Times (London). Wednesday, 28 March 1984. Issue 61793, col B, p. 14.

An excellent obituary article was written by The Telegraph.  It follows.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2153316/The-Very-Rev-Professor-Henry-Chadwick.html

The Very Rev Professor Henry Chadwick

The Very Reverend Professor Henry Chadwick, who died on Tuesday aged 87, was one of the last great Anglican scholars.
9:31PM BST 18 Jun 2008

When people said that the intellectual life of the Church of England was not what it was, it was, in correction, to the four Chadwick brothers that it was possible to turn.

They emerged from the secure professional class, sons of a barrister from Bromley in Kent, and were educated in a fashion intended to prepare them for lives of dedicated service. One became a diplomat, and three were ordained in the Established Church, in which they rose to positions both of formal distinction and of deserved respect.

But the style of churchmanship espoused by Henry Chadwick was always difficult to determine.

Born on June 23 1920, Henry Chadwick was educated at Eton, where he was a King's Scholar in a 1930s atmosphere which did not encourage ritual inventiveness, or much inventiveness of any kind. From there he went to Magdalene College, Cambridge, on a Music Scholarship.

He was trained for ministry at the still distinctly evangelical Ridley Hall, in Cambridge, from 1942, and raised to the priesthood in 1944.

His first appointment was as an assistant master at Wellington College.

Nothing in this early ministry indicated that Chadwick was to become one of the most incorporative figures in the Church of England, a man sympathetic to, and very well acquainted with, the Roman Catholic Church; a traditionalist who appeared to adhere to no particular group within Anglicanism; and an advocate of ecumenism whose actual sympathies lay tantalisingly beyond sight.

For a person so generous in advising those who sought out his wisdom, Chadwick's internal conclusions about the everlasting balancing act which is the essence of Anglicanism always remained uncharacteristically unarticulated. Like his brother Owen, he never seems to have sought, and certainly never accepted, ecclesiastical preferment – except in the ambiguous sense that the Deanery of Christ Church, Oxford, was, essentially, in his day (1969-79), an academic post.

He was a successor to the Victorian clerical intellectuals, a man whose involvement with the organisation of the Church was advisory rather than directive, who was never visibly partisan; he always gave to the interests of the institutions which he served both altruism and sound judgment.

After religion, the great passion of Chadwick's life was music. Unlike those Anglicans who persist in confusing aesthetic sensation with religious experience, however, Chadwick never raised his musical interests to the level of dogma. It was a civilised entertainment shared, happily, by his wife Peggy, whom he married in 1945.

Peggy was enormously discreet, and a delightful hostess in the two master's lodges she inhabited.

From 1946 Chadwick was Chaplain of Queens' College, Cambridge, and he became Dean of the College in 1950. It was just the right place from which to launch an academic career, since Queens' was friendly, not large, religiously ordinary (lacking, that is to say, any party enthusiasms) and intellectually secure.

Everyone thought the Chadwicks an ideal couple to preside over the religious life of the undergraduates who still resorted to Chapel in reasonable numbers.

Yet Chadwick's capabilities had, of course, been known to others, especially since the publication of his work Origen, Contra Celsum in 1953 (which later went into several editions). His reputation as an expositor of the teachings of the Early Fathers became early established, and has always remained unchallenged.

Chadwick's contribution to patristic scholarship was uncontroversially distinguished and of great utility. It seemed a natural progression, therefore, when he became Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford in 1959, and Dean of Christ Church 10 years later.

Thereafter innumerable academic distinctions were awarded by learned bodies in Europe and North America. He had moved, effortlessly, so it seemed, to the forefront of Anglican divines.

Yet a progression which in most cases would have seemed to have attained fulfilment turned out, in Chadwick's case, to be a transit to still further dimensions of service. After retirement from Christ Church in 1979, he became a Fellow of Magdalene, Cambridge, and was then, from 1987 to 1993, Master of Peterhouse.

In each place his reputation for wisdom and courtesy to his colleagues preceded him, and in each in turn he was able to bring accumulating knowledge of the ways of academe.

Nor did the college business in which he had, all his life, been necessarily enveloped inhibit his scholarly output. Of his many publications the Pelican Early Church (1967) and Augustine (1986) have perhaps proved of greatest service to those seeking insights into early Christianty.

The Mastership of Peterhouse was a particularly revealing final distinction, since Peterhouse is also a college with an established tradition of historical scholarship. His success as Master was cogent testimony to his eirenic qualities.

At first meeting people tended to find Chadwick rather grand. This indicated, however, simply a mannerism: his kindness to those he met even quite casually, and to undergraduates, was remarkable, and his courtesy to his academic and clerical colleagues – in two professions hardly noted for emancipation from disputation – was quite extraordinary.

There hung about him a certain sense of integrity and solidity, and yet what his actual principles were was somehow always difficult to express. His churchmanship escaped categorisation: so did his political preferences and his attitudes to the moral transformations which characterised the social customs of his time.

There has always been, about the Church of England, a certain imprecision when it comes to doctrinal formulation, and those most successful as Anglican churchmen are those who know how best to devise forms of words and constructs or accommodations which allow people of otherwise plainly incompatible beliefs to inhabit the same dwelling-place.

Chadwick was a master of the art. Unlike lesser men who attempted these skills, however, his labours were inspired by honesty of purpose and an apparently genuine conviction that the Anglican Communion had an unassailable integrity.

The limits to his methods, on the other hand, became apparent at meetings of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, in its sessions between 1969 and 1981, and again from 1983 to 1990, when the Anglican penchant for resolving differences by devising accommodations based upon ambiguous verbal formulations had limited effect on the professionals of the Vatican.

Early successes at agreement were over simpler differences; when it came to ecclesiology, to the nature of religious authority, the Anglican methods proved sterile. Chadwick was personally disappointed: an important aspect of what he had correctly seen as a life's work had driven itself into the sands. He always treasured a vestment which the Pope had given him.

Chadwick lived through huge changes in both the great institutions he served – learning and the Church. He adapted with astonishing ease, especially in view of his seemingly inherent traditionalism.

In 1968 Chadwick became vice-president of the British Academy. He was appointed KBE in 1989.

Henry Chadwick is survived by his wife and three daughters.

----------------------------------

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/world/europe/22chadwick.html?_r=0

Henry Chadwick, Scholar of Early Christianity, Dies at 87

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

Published: June 22, 2008

Correction Appended

The Very Rev. Henry Chadwick, an Anglican priest, professor, editor, translator and author whose historical voyages into early Christianity won praise for depth, insight and evenhandedness and helped shed light on modern religious problems, died Tuesday in Oxford, England. He was 87.

His death was announced by Cambridge University, where Professor Chadwick taught and held administrative positions.

In an obituary written for the newspaper The Guardian, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, called Professor Chadwick, who was knighted in 1989, an “aristocrat among Anglican scholars.”

The archbishop wrote, “His erudition was legendary, particularly in all areas of late antiquity.”

Professor Chadwick tried to put this powerful scholarship to use in the 1970s when he served on the Anglo-Roman Catholic International Commission, whose task was to find common ground between Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism. As a part of the path to denominational reconciliation, he put forward first principles that his research had shown had been shared by most early Christians.

Professor Chadwick once called ecumenism “a good cause to die for.”

His writings on religion included translations of seminal primary texts, vast historical surveys, smaller works of intricate scholarship and stylishly written books for the general reader. For many years, he edited The Journal of Theological Studies.

He held prestigious chairs in divinity at Oxford and Cambridge and was the first person in more than four centuries to lead a college at both universities. As dean of Christ Church at Oxford, he led a prestigious college and a historic cathedral, where he preached cerebral and sometimes whimsical sermons.

“The Anglican church may not have a pope, but it does have Henry Chadwick,” Archbishop Williams said, suggesting that that this was a common view.

Henry Chadwick was born in Bromley, England, on June 23, 1920. At Eton, he liked music more than academic subjects, and won a music scholarship to Magdalene College, Cambridge. His enthusiasm for evangelical groups of the Church of England led him to become a priest in 1943.

The Times of London reported that he served briefly in an evangelical parish in south London, then for a short time was a schoolmaster. But he became enthralled with translating “Contra Celsum,” a refutation of anti-Christian writings by Origen, a father of the early church. His work, published in 1953, elevated the young priest to scholarly prominence.

In 1954, he became editor of The Journal of Theological Studies, with H.F.D. Sparks. Over his more than three decades as editor, Professor Chadwick wrote many articles for the journal.

He began his teaching career in 1946 as a fellow and chaplain at Queens College, Cambridge. In 1959, he was appointed Regius professor of divinity at Oxford. A decade later, he was named dean of the college of Christ Church at Oxford.

In 1979, he returned to Cambridge and was that university’s Regius professor of divinity until his retirement in 1983. He was lured out of retirement in 1987 to be master of the college of Peterhouse at Cambridge, a post he held until his second retirement in 1993.

He edited several major texts and series, including the Oxford History of the Christian Church. His own scholarship included “Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition: Studies in Justin, Clement and Origen” (1966), in which he emphasized the importance of the Greek roots of the church.

He wrote a best seller, “The Early Church,” published by Penguin in 1967. It dealt with church history thematically, rather than chronologically, in 300 pages of relatively easy-to-read prose. Christian Book Reviews suggested that people read the book, digest its contests, then reread it.

Referring to the differences between Catholics and Protestants, the review continued, “The reader may come to the realization that many battle lines drawn between the two sides would have seemed alien territory to early Christians with an entirely different set of cultural presuppositions.”

In an interview with Contemporary Authors published in 2001, Professor Chadwick said he tried to write with “human sympathy,” in an effort to “reconcile, without fudge or smudge, bodies which live separate lives and have come to feel themselves to be rival groups.”

His later works included studies of the theologians St. Ambrose, Priscillian of Avila, Boethius and St. Augustine. He published “The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great” in 2002, and “East and West: The Making of a Rift in the Church” in 2003.

Professor Chadwick is survived by his wife of 63 years, the former Margaret Elizabeth Brownrigg; his daughters, Priscilla, Hilary and Juliet; and his brother, Owen Chadwick, also a historian of Christianity.

His most quoted line, spoken during a debate at the Anglicans’ General Synod in 1988, summarizes his own life’s work of finding answers in history. Professor Chadwick said, “Nothing is sadder than someone who has lost his memory, and the church which has lost its memory is in the same state of senility.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: June 29, 2008
An obituary last Sunday about the Very Rev. Henry Chadwick, a British historian of early Christianity, omitted a survivor. He is his brother, Owen Chadwick, also a historian of Christianity.