Walter Matthews (priest)
British Anglican priest and theologian (1881–1973)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walter Robert Matthews CH KCVO[2] (22 September 1881 – 4 December 1973) was an Anglican priest, theologian, and philosopher.[3]
Walter Matthews | |
|---|---|
| Dean of St Paul's | |
Matthews in 1935 | |
| Church | Church of England |
| Diocese | London |
| In office | 1934–1967 |
| Retired | 1967 |
| Predecessor | William Ralph Inge |
| Successor | Martin Sullivan |
| Other post | Dean of Exeter (1931–1934) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1907 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Walter Robert Matthews 22 September 1881 London, England |
| Died | 4 December 1973 (aged 92) |
| Denomination | Anglicanism |
| Spouse |
Margaret Bryan
(m. 1911; died 1961) |
Early life and education
Born on 22 September 1881 in Camberwell, London, to parents Philip Walter Matthews, a banker, and Sophia Alice Self, he was educated at Wilson's School[4] and trained for the priesthood at King's College London.
Ordained ministry
He was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest in 1908[5] and was a curate at St Mary Abbots' Kensington and St Peter's Regent Square. After that he was a lecturer in and then a professor of theology at King's College London.[6][7] From 1918 he was also Dean of the college.[6][8] In 1931 he became an Honorary Chaplain to the King[9] and Dean of Exeter.[6][10] Then in 1934 he became Dean of St Paul's,[6][11] a post he held for 33 years. At the time of his appointment, he was president-elect of the Modern Churchmen's Union.[12] He was described by his predecessor, William Ralph Inge, as something of an "Orthodox Modernist".[12]
On 2 June 1940 the term "miracle of Dunkirk" was used for the first time by Matthews in a speech. He was praising the rescue of thousands of British soldiers and their allies from being encircled by the German Army in France.
Published works
Matthews was an author. Among his works:
- Three Sermons on Human Nature and a Dissertation upon the Nature of Virtue. Editor. By Joseph Butler. London: G. Bell and Sons. 1914.
- King's College Lectures on Immortality. Editor. By J. F. Bethune-Baker; A. Caldecott; Hastings Rashdall; Wm. Brown; H. Maurice Relton. London: University of London Press. 1920.
- Studies in Christian Philosophy: Being the Boyle Lectures, 1920. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921.
- God and Evolution. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1926.
- God in Christian Thought and Experience. 1930.
- The Purpose of God. London: Nisbet. 1935.
- Christ. New York: Macmillan Company. 1939.
- The Foundations of Peace. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1942.
- The Problem of Christ in the Twentieth Century. 1950.
- Some Christian Words. John Allen and Unwin. 1956.
- Memories and Meanings. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1969.
- The Year Through Christian Eyes. London: Epworth Press. 1970.
