James Mackey (theologian)

Last updated

James Mackey
Born(1934-02-09)9 February 1934
Dungarven
Died25 January 2020(2020-01-25) (aged 85)
Waterford
NationalityIrish
Alma materNational University of Ireland
Pontifical University of Maynooth
Queen's University, Belfast
InstitutionsNew College, Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
Queen's University Belfast
St John's College seminary
University of San Francisco
Trinity College, Dublin
Doctoral students Heather Widdows

James P. Mackey was a liberal Catholic theologian who held the Thomas Chalmers chair of theology at the University of Edinburgh from 1979 until his retiral in 1999.

Contents

Early life, education and career

James Patrick Mackey was born in County Waterford, Ireland on 9 February 1934, the eldest child of Peter Mackey and Esther Morrissey. [1] He attended the Christian Brothers School in his home town of Dungarvan before completing his secondary education at the Cistercian College in Roscrea. [2] He studied as an undergraduate at the National University of Ireland where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree with first class honours, before continuing his studies at St Patrick's College, Maynooth where he received his Licentiate in Philosophy, Bachelor of Divinity, Licentiate of Sacred Theology and Doctor of Divinity degrees. [3]

On completing his doctorate in divinity in 1960 he moved to Belfast to lecture in Theology at Queen's University Belfast. While working at Queen's he also completed a PhD in Philosophy under the supervision of Professor James Haire, his thesis being on the nature of evil as understood in modern philosophy and theology. [2] [4] He moved back to Waterford in 1966 to teach at St John's seminary and went on to work as Professor of Systematic and Philosophical Theology at the University of San Francisco from 1973 to 1979. [3]

Appointment to the University of Edinburgh

For much of the 20th century, the Faculty of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh, situated at New College on The Mound was primarily considered to be a seminary for the training of ministers in the Church of Scotland. [5] The Chair of Christian Dogmatics, held by Thomas Torrance since the merging of New College and the Faculty of Divinity in 1952, was due to become vacant on his retiral in September 1979 and had been renamed the Thomas Chalmers Chair of Theology in honour of the liberal theologian and first moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. [6] The post was advertised and applicants considered by a nominating committee made up of six representatives each from the university and Church of Scotland. [5]

The committee recommended Mackey for the position to the University Court in May 1979, a move that was met with some acrimony. A motion was tabled at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, led by former moderator the Very Reverend John R. Gray and signed by 33 commissioners of the Assembly, expressing "grave disquiet" at the possibility of the appointment of a Roman Catholic to the role. [7] [8] Some Church leaders threatened to withdraw candidates for the Church of Scotland ministry from New College, and Gray stated that presbyterian students could not in conscience attend the lectures of a Catholic [5]

Nevertheless, the appointment was confirmed. [9] At his inaugural lecture in October 1979, Mackey assured his detractors that they had nothing to fear and treated the situation with humour, joking that he "could have gone down in history as perhaps the only man to be dismissed from a Chair three days before he was appointed to it". [10] At the accompanying press conference, the Very Reverend Dr Andrew Ross, Dean of the Faculty of Divinity and Principle of New College, was strongly critical of Gray, stating Gray believed education to be brainwashing, adding "We do not brainwash anyone here. We teach them to think for themselves." [10]

Mackey went on to serve as Dean of the Faculty of Divinity from 1984 to 1988 and retired from the university in 1999.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Theological Seminary (New York City)</span> Christian seminary

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (UTS) is a private ecumenical Christian liberal seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University. Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's constituent faculty of theology. In 1964, UTS also established an affiliation with the neighboring Jewish Theological Seminary of America. UTS confers the following degrees: Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Divinity & Social Work dual degree (MDSW), Master of Arts in Religion (MAR), Master of Arts in Social Justice (MASJ), Master of Sacred Theology (STM), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Andrew Purves is a Scottish theologian in the Reformed tradition through the Church of Scotland. He holds the Chair in Reformed Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas F. Torrance</span> Scottish Protestant theologian (1913–2007)

Thomas Forsyth Torrance, commonly referred to as T. F. Torrance, was a Scottish Protestant theologian and minister. He was a member of the famed Torrance family of theologians. Torrance served for 27 years as professor of Christian dogmatics at New College, in the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his pioneering work in the study of science and theology, but he is equally respected for his work in systematic theology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New College, Edinburgh</span> Divinity school of the University of Edinburgh

New College is a historic building at the University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Students in M.A., M.Th. and Ph.D. degree programmes come from over 30 countries, and are taught by almost 40 full-time members of the academic staff. New College is situated on The Mound in the north of Edinburgh's Old Town.

James Douglas Grant Dunn, also known as Jimmy Dunn, was a British New Testament scholar, who was for many years the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in the Department of Theology at the University of Durham. He is best known for his work on the New Perspective on Paul, which is also the title of a book he published in 2007.

George McLeod Newlands is a Scottish theologian widely published in the fields of modern systematic theology, Christology, emancipatory theology, and the history of Christian thought. He is Emeritus Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow, and served as Chair of the Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies panel of the UK's 2008 Research Assessment Exercise and as President of the Society for the Study of Theology for 2013–14.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Baillie (theologian)</span> Scottish theologian

John Baillie was a Scottish theologian, a Church of Scotland minister and brother of theologian Donald Macpherson Baillie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain Torrance</span> Scottish theologian and academic (born 1949)

Iain Richard Torrance, is a retired Church of Scotland minister, theologian and academic. He is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, Honorary Professor of Early Christian Doctrine and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, President and Professor of Patristics Emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary, and an Extra Chaplain to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland. He was formerly Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland, and Dean of the Order of the Thistle. He is married to Morag Ann, whom he met while they were students at the University of St Andrews, and they have two children.

Oliver Michael Timothy O'Donovan is a British Anglican priest and academic, known for his work in the field of Christian ethics. He has also made contributions to political theology, both contemporary and historical. He was Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford from 1982 to 2006, and Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology at the University of Edinburgh from 2006 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Macquarrie</span> British philosopher and theologian

John Macquarrie (1919–2007) was a Scottish-born theologian, philosopher and Anglican priest. He was the author of Principles of Christian Theology (1966) and Jesus Christ in Modern Thought (1991). Timothy Bradshaw, writing in the Handbook of Anglican Theologians, described Macquarrie as "unquestionably Anglicanism's most distinguished systematic theologian in the second half of the 20th century."

David Frank Ford is an Anglican public theologian. He was the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, beginning in 1991. He is now an Emeritus Regius Professor of Divinity. His research interests include political theology, ecumenical theology, Christian theologians and theologies, theology and poetry, the shaping of universities and of the field of theology and religious studies within universities, hermeneutics, and interfaith theology and relations. He is the founding director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme and a co-founder of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Begbie</span>

Jeremy Sutherland Begbie, BA, BD, PhD, LRAM, ARCM, is Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Research Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School, Duke University, where he is the McDonald Agape Director of Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts. He is a systematic theologian whose primary research interest is the correlation between theology and the arts, in particular the interplay between music and theology. He is also an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge.

John Bainbridge Webster (1955–2016) was an Anglican priest and theologian writing in the area of systematic, historical, and moral theology. Born in Mansfield, England, on 20 June 1955, he was educated at the independent Bradford Grammar School and at the University of Cambridge. After a distinguished career, he died at his home in Scotland on 25 May 2016 at the age of 60. At the time of his death, he was the Chair of Divinity at St. Mary's College, University of St Andrews, Scotland.

David Alexander Syme Fergusson is a Scottish theologian and Presbyterian minister. Since 2021, he has been Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge.

John McIntyre was a Scottish minister and theologian. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1982/83 and Chaplain to the Queen in Scotland from 1990 to 1996.

Oliver Chase Quick was an English theologian, philosopher, and Anglican priest.

Duncan Baillie Forrester was a Scottish theologian and the founder of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at New College, University of Edinburgh. He was latterly honorary fellow and professor emeritus at New College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Jeanrond</span>

Werner Günter Adolf Jeanrond was Professor of Systematic Theology with special responsibility for Dogmatics at the University of Oslo. He is retired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Torrance</span>

Thomas Torrance (1871–1959), born in Shotts, Scotland, was a Scottish Protestant missionary to China. He was first sent there by the China Inland Mission (CIM), and later by The American Bible Society. He married Annie Elizabeth Sharp (1883–1980) of the CIM in 1911. He was the father of the 20th century theologian, Thomas F. Torrance.

Robin Morton Gill is a British Anglican priest, theologian, and academic, specialising in Christian ethics. Since 2012, he has been canon theologian of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar: he was acting dean from 2017 to 2020. He was William Leech Professor in Applied Theology at the University of Newcastle (1988–1992), and was then Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology (1992–2011) and Professor of Applied Theology (2011–2014) at the University of Kent. He has also served as a parish priest in the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal church, serving in the dioceses of Coventry, of Edinburgh, of Newcastle, and of Canterbury.

References

  1. . He was the eldest of three children. His brother, Brendan, died in 2008, and his sister, Maria, a Dominican Sister in South Africa, died in 2023. "James Mackey obituary: theology professor with ecumenical sympathies", The Irish Times, 4 April 2020, retrieved 15 April 2021
  2. 1 2 "James Mackey, PhD (died 25 January 2020, aged 85)", Development and Alumni Relations Office, Queens University, Belfast, retrieved 15 April 2021
  3. 1 2 "Obituary: Professor James P Mackey (1934–2020)", University of Edinburgh School of Divinity, retrieved 15 April 2021
  4. Wild-Wood, Emma (2020), "Obituary: James P. Mackey (1934-2020)", Studies in World Christianity, vol. 26, pp. 196–197, retrieved 15 April 2021
  5. 1 2 3 Brown, Stewart J. (2001), Brown, Stewart J.; Newlands, George (eds.), "Presbyterians and Catholics in Twentieth-Century Scotland", Scottish Christianity in the Modern World, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, pp. 250–278, ISBN   0567087654
  6. McKay, Johnston (4 December 2007), "Thomas Torrance, Theologian: born August 30, 1913; died December 2, 2007", The Herald, retrieved 16 April 2021
  7. "Priest row - board recalled", The Press and Journal, 25 May 1979
  8. "Cardinal Gray joins row over university post", The Press and Journal, 28 May 1979
  9. "Chair choice confirmed", The Press and Journal, 29 May 1979
  10. 1 2 "My critics have nothing to fear, says RC priest", The Press and Journal, 5 October 1979