A Worldly Christian: The Life and Times of Stephen Neill

By Dyron Daughrity

Cambridge, England The Lutterworth Press

2021 401 pp., paper $38.00

Reviewed by Andrew Dahlburg 

Dyron Daughrity’s A Worldly Christian: The Life and Times of Stephen Neill (2021) is the sequel to Daughrity’s earlier volume on Bishop Stephen Neill: From Edinburgh to South India (2008). The new book builds on the previous volume and includes an additional two hundreds pages on Neill’s life and includes many fascinating photographs and quotes from other sources and scholars. No doubt, the book is destined to become the definitive source for Bishop Stephen Neill. 

Bishop Stephen Neill was one of the most remarkable missionary figures of the last century. During his lifetime, Neill wrote over seventy books and spoke over 16 different languages. Neill’s books on missiology, church history, New Testament interpretation are still read today and seem relevant. Anglicanism ( 1958), The Interpretation of the New Testament: 1861-1961 (1964) and The History of Christianity in India (1984)  are still valued by students of theology and as standards in the field. These are remarkable accomplishments given that Neill is remembered primary as a church historian. 

At the same time, this volume also reveals Neill’s complex and many-sided personality. Though incredibly brilliant, Neill was troubled life-long by a series of profound mental health issues including depression, insomnia and thoughts of suicide. Moreover, Neill also is described being a chauvinist, having a colonialist mindset and being difficult to work with. In addition, Daughrity thoroughly documents Neill’s fetish for spanking younger clergy as a form of corrective punishment for sin. It was this behavior that caused Neill to resign his position as the Bishop of Tinnevelly in South India in 1945. However, such behavior continued well into his late seventies and Daughrity provides documented cases when the Bishop resided as a scholar in residence at Wycliffe Hall, a theological college for Anglicans at Oxford. Where these outlandish behaviors the result of a strict Victorian Evangelical upbringing, something psychosexual or a kind of controlled sadism? It’s hard to say and ultimately it’s up to the reader to decide. 

Eleanor Jackson edited Neill’s autobiography God’s Apprentice (1991) and remarked that Neill’s autobiography could function as a “therapeutic tool” (pg. 206). I agree with this assessment. I read thorough Stephen Neill: A Worldly Christian several times and kept thinking about the concept of the Jungian shadow and wondered how Neill’s life and career could have been different if he had the benefit of regular counseling, mental health care and medication. Most of these kinds of therapies were still in their infancy back in Neill’s day and even harder to find in places like India, Nairobi or other parts of the world where Neill served. These lessons are certainly be the same today with clergy and missionaries serving world-wide.  Mental health challenges affects nearly a three quarters of the general population and clergy are not immune. That Neill was able to write and contribute so much in his lifetime given these limitations says something about the man. 

Part of my interest in Bishop Neill is that he is an influential missionary theorist and ecumenical pioneer. Neill served the church in various roles for decades so he speaks as one having a unique insight. I’ll allow Bishop Neill to have the last word:  

“Basically the primary quality for a missionary is humility. [The missionary] has got to understand that he comes as a guest to people in an alien culture. He has to submit to their ways of thinking, not necessary accept them, but understand them and understand that for them these ways are valid. And, as the church grows, the missionary more and more has to come to understand himself as the servant of the church. He’s not there to boss. He’s not there to put over Western ways of doing things. He is to be, as St. Paul says, ‘the helper of their joy and not the Lord of their faith’ (2Cor. 1:24) pgs. 329-30. 

Great reading today from the Celtic Daily prayer book for September 8th! The them for September has been on hospitality. A theme to be creative with during these COVID times! 

"All of our talk about hospitable openness doesn't mean anything as long as some people continue to be tossed aside. You can't ignore people when God is look out of their eyes at you. In the tiresome, the invalid, the rebellious, we are faced with God. It is our own failures to love that we have to deal with the we talk of hospitality". 

 

Risen from the dead!

Aloha friends and apologies for the deep sleep! Been gone from blogging too long and feel the call now to return an blog again on the topics of Celtic Christianity, spirituality and the missional church. A lot has changed since my last post but we each have the benefit of returning with a new perspective!

Stay turned and aloha!  

Dominican Spirituality

"Mysticism and Prophecy" (1998) is part of the Traditions of Christian spirituality series. This volume is devoted to the spirituality of the Dominicans, the Order of Preachers. And for many, just the mention of the word "Dominican" congers up images of monks in black habit, whose lives are devoted to study and preaching. But that is only part of their story!

Richard Woods OP provides a fascinating introduction to the Dominican tradition. I've had the privilege to read and review several of the books in this series, and again the book does not disappoint. This is an extremely well written work, by a scholar in the field who knows his material and shares it in an interesting, fresh way. The result is a terrific overview of the Dominican order also known as the Black Friars.

The format follows others in the series with brief biographical overviews and quotations from the main figures in the order. Wood discusses how the Dominicans key elements to their "spirituality" included community prayer, study and mission (preaching). What a sharp contrast to the Benedictine dictum of prayer and work!

The book then introduces some of the Black Friar luminaries including Dominic, Albert the Great, St. Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart, Catherine of Siena, and Jan van Ruysbroeck to name a few. Quite a theological line up which has a unique blend of theology/spirituality! Along the way you learn about Aquinas's positive way to God, Eckhart's negative way and Catherine of Seina's mystical-prophetic way and more! Best of all, in this Dominican overview you are given brief cameos of these great figures which often leave you clamoring for more. For instance, I found some of the eye witness accounts of Aquinas to be both human and inspiring-a welcome relief from the idealized figure most people have of the Angelic Doctor. And as in other volumes, I was pleasantly surprised at just how modern many of these medieval thinkers were. For example, check out the following passage:

"If the ancient theologians and mystics are correct, when we think we know what God is, we are furthest away from understanding. Thomas Aquinas was right, and is indeed only one voice in a vast chorus of mystical agnosticism. As Eckhart, Catherine, the Cloud author, and Ruysbroeck profess, it is when we open both our minds and hearts to the Incomprehensible that we grow closer to God". (pg. 134).

Great stuff. A fun way to learn more about spirituality and the rich diversity of the church and history of spirituality.

The book also has a useful and up to date bibliography.

Quaker Spirituality

“Silence and Witness” (2004) by Michael L. Birkel provides a concise overview of the Quaker spiritual tradition, also known as the Religious Society of Friends. I have to say I was personally drawn to this volume in the Traditions of Christian Spirituality series as I was raised in the Philadelphia area and have benefitted from visiting Quaker Meeting houses in the past. I found the quiet and perceived lack of structure something of a challenge to my own liturgical upbringing!

Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable and immensely practical book. Perhaps its most outstanding feature is it’s unique blend of history and quotes from many of the Quaker greats. The opening chapter provides a nice outline of Quaker history. Quakerism was founded during the English Civil War (Puritan Revolution) in the mid 1700s. It got it’s unique name because members trembled or “quaked” before the Word of the Lord-at least according to George Fox! George Fox, one of the founders of Quakerism, had a strong inward spiritual experience which he referred to the inner light and wrote and preached extensively on the inner struggle with good and evil, and God’s righteousness and man’s sin. Fox and other Quakers referred to this struggle as “the Lamb’s war”.

The book moves onto the typical Quaker service and what to expect in the Quaker Meeting House-and it's quite a contrast to what happens in most Christian Churches throughout the land! Quaker services stress silence and "vocal ministry”, that is those who speak during the service. Different techniques are used to keep spiritual focus and include meditation, or saying a mantra. Don’t make the mistake of thinking worship is just an individual experience as there is also a collective dimension to worship. Quakers also practice spiritual discernment and use moral purity, patience, consistency with the Bible, and ongoing vigilance when making collective decisions. A process is described where everyone can air their views and feel part of the collective decision making process to ensure there are no quarreling factions which results in a stronger sense of community:

“When genuinely open to the guidance of God, we can discover a way forward that is superior to any previously held opinion that any one of us brought into the room. When we succeed in getting in touch with our own deepest desires, instead of our surface desires that can be a distortion or digression from the deeper desires, we find that this deep desire are in fact God’s desires. For Friends, those deep desires can often be articulated in terms of our testimonies of equality, simplicity, integrity, and peace” (72-3). 

Makes total sense to me and it seems these principles of discernment could be used in many venues-not just in church!

Another interesting chapter, “Nurturing the Inner Life” demonstrates that Quakerism is more than just gathering at the Meeting house and also includes interior prayer, meditative readings of Scripture, and spiritual nurture from elders. Two devotional texts are also used by Quakers; "A Guide to True Peace" and "A Testament for Devotion” , which are a group of essays by Thomas Kelley. 

As in other volumes in the Traditions of Christian Spirituality series, this is a fascinating and interesting overview of the Quakers with many wonderful quotes and references. After reading this book, you’ll want to visit your nearest Society of Friends! 

Carmelite Spirituality

"At the Fountain of Elijah" (1999) by Wilfrid McGreal is part of the Traditions of Christian Spirituality series. In typical fashion, the book provides a fascinating and entertaining introduction and overview of the Carmelite spiritual tradition.

The book begins by providing some historical background to the Carmelite order. The Carmelites began in the 12th century when a group of pilgrims and hermits settled on Mt. Carmel in Israel seeking to live a more authentic spiritual life. Mt. Carmel was a place of historic significance and this spiritual idea took hold of many followers. Mt. Carmel after all, had been the home of Elijah the prophet and the mountain was also seen as a place of abundance and beauty. Returning to Europe, Pope Innocent IV approved their way of life which focused on contemplation but also included a deep commitment to a communal life and service to the community.

What is it about the Carmelite tradition that attracts many today? McGreal quotes an American Carmelite who writes:

"The Carmelite tradition speaks to those who long to be apart, to separate from a smothering existence. the tradition offers the lure of wilderness, mountain retreat, vast expanses of desert. In solitude, in a place apart, we searchers hope to hear our heart's desires more clearly, to reassess life, to dream, to be nourished by hidden springs, to meet the One whom others speak of with great assurance. Those who are drawn by the Carmelite tradition are often pilgrims to places unknown, trusting the testimony of others who have taken the same ancient path" (pg. 13).

That phrase a "smothering existence" strikes home! Who today cannot relate to that in our present day world filled with gadgets, noise, and our culture's maniacal stress on speed?

As in other volumes in this series, the reader is also introduced to the major spiritual figures in the tradition. Speaking for myself, I have to say that I find this one of the real strengths of the Traditions of Christian Spirituality series. For the Carmelites this includes Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, John of St. Samson, Lawrence of the Resurrection, Therese of Lisieux Edith Stein and Titus Brandsma. These are fantastic chapters and provide wonderful overviews of some terrific spiritual luminaries. You get bit sized nuggets on each writer, and learn about such themes as the dark night of the soul and the practice of the presence of God.

Wilfrid McGreal has done us a great service in writing about the Carmelite tradition from the 12th century to the present. The reader gets a taste for the Carmelite Rule, history and some of its major figures. The book is well written and easy to read and I wish it was twice the size! Part of me is a Carmelite as I resonate to the themes of Teresa and St. John of the Cross.

This volume and series belongs in every seminary, church library, and students interested in the history of spirituality. Really good! A bibliography guise the reader to other important Carmelite literature.

Augustinian Spirituality

“Our Restless Heart” by Thomas Martin, is part of the Traditions of Christian Spirituality series and covers the Augustinian Tradition. Augustine had a towering impact over Western Christianity as no other, and his only real rival was St. Thomas Aquinas. Augustine is a fascinating and talented figure-a gifted theologian, writer, poet, bishop, and monk whose intellectual and spiritual legacy is claimed by Catholic and Protestant alike. Who was Augustine and why is the Augustinian legacy important today? These very questions “Our Restless Heart” tries to answer.

The opening chapter-and perhaps the most important chapter in the book-provides an overview of Augustine’s spiritual vision. There are important historical facts such as Augustine’s early life, relationship with his mother Monica and son Deodatus, and finally his famous conversion. Augustine’s celebrated quote that his heart was restless until he found his rest in God is seen by Martin as a metaphor of “the journey” (peregrinato) and key to understanding Augustinian spirituality (pg. 25). This is a same sense of "journey" that we find in Biblical accounts such as in Abram’s call and in classical literature such as Homer’s Odyssey. The call to grow, the leave the familiar, and to reach beyond  to the unknown.  

Chapter two examines the Rule of St. Augustine, The Praeceptum, which covered the key aspects of monastic life; the basis cf common life; prayer; moderation and self denial; safeguarding chastity and fraternal correction; the care of the community; asking pardon and forgiving offenses; governance and obedience; and observance of the rule. The key charism of the Augustinian Tradition is love where love of neighbor and unity reflect God’s love for us. This is a great chapter as it shows the uniqueness of the Augustine Rule.

The third and fourth chapter examine how the Augustine order reinvented itself and became part of the Mendicant reforms. Chapter five-is one of the most fascinating in the book-and demonstrates how the Catholic Humanists and Protestant Reformers found inspiration in different parts of Augustine, claiming the Bishop of Hippo as their own. It is a tribute to depth of Augustine that Desiderius Erasmus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jerome Seripando call all claim to different parts of the Augustan cannon. This is best demonstrated when John Calvin wrote “It is Augustine who is the best and most faithful witness of all antiquity whom we most often cite” (pg. 127). That statement could have easily been written by the other three reformers. 

This is a great introduction to St. Augustine and to many of his theological and spiritual writings. Writing a book on Augustine is no easy task and to write a fresh and interesting book on Augustine and the entire Augustinian tradition is remarkable achievement. I really enjoyed this book and it left me asking for more.

Let me conclude this review with a quote from Augustine, the Doctor of Grace himself, as it reflects on the kind of person he was:

"What do I want: What do I desire: What do I burn for? Why am I sitting here? Why do I live? there’s only one reason: so that we may live together with Christ. This is my intense desire, this is my honor, this my richness, this my joy, this my glory…I DO NOT WANT TO BE SAVED WITHOUT YOU” (pg. 160).