Wilfred Knox | |
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 Knox at theOratory of the Good Shepherd,Cambridge | |
| Born | (1886-05-21)21 May 1886 Kibworth Beauchamp, England |
| Died | 9 February 1950(1950-02-09) (aged 63) Cambridge, England |
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| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity (Anglican) |
| Church | Church of England |
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| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Theology |
| School or tradition | Anglo-Catholicism |
| Institutions | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
Wilfred Lawrence KnoxOGSFSAFBA (21 May 1886 – 9 February 1950) was an EnglishAnglican priest and theologian, one of four brothers who distinguished themselves. After leavingOxford with a first-class honours degree inclassics, Knox soon began working with the poor ofLondon'sEast End, and then studied for the priesthood. After brief parish work, he was warden of theOratory of the Good Shepherd from 1924 to 1940, and chaplain and fellow ofPembroke College, Cambridge. He approached hisNew Testament studies as a Hellenist, and wrote several books onPaul the Apostle and other aspects of ecclesiastical history from that angle. He also wrote books explainingAnglo-Catholicism and the Christian way of life.
Knox was born 21 May 1886 atKibworth Beauchamp,Leicestershire, a village inthe English Midlands. He was the third son and fourth of the six children ofEdmund Knox, therector of Kibworth, and his first wife, Ellen Penelope,née French. The other sons wereEdmund,Dillwyn andRonald; his sisters were Ethel Knox andWinifred Peck. Edmund became editor ofPunch, Dillwyn, after a scholastic career, was a key figure amongSecond World War code-breakers atBletchley Park, and Ronald became a prominentRoman Catholic priest, writer, and translator of theBible.[1] Their father was a descendant ofJohn Arbuthnott, 8th Viscount of Arbuthnott.[2][3][4][5]
The rector was ill at ease with the comfortable way of life of Kibworth, feeling he could do more good in a deprived area. In 1891, when Wilfred was five, the family moved to the parish of Aston-juxta-Birmingham, a poor area ofBirmingham.[6] In 1892 Ellen Knox died. Wilfred and his younger brother were sent to live with their bachelor uncle, his formidable widowed mother and his sisters. Two years later Edmund Sr became suffragan Bishop of Coventry, remarried, and reunited his six children. He was persuaded that the boys should attend public schools. All four boys won scholarships toRugby (Edmund Jr and Wilfred) orEton (Dillwyn and Ronald).
Wilfred's early concern for poverty was reinforced at Aston. At Rugby he came under the influence of an older pupil,William Temple, laterArchbishop of Canterbury, whose creed combinedChristianity and socialism.[a] As well as Temple's views, Knox was impressed by the writings ofJohn Ruskin andF. D. Maurice, all tending in the direction of socialism and the alleviation or abolition of poverty.[1]
From Rugby, Knox won a scholarship toTrinity College, Oxford. He suffered a crisis in his religious faith while there, and threw himself into study. He was placed in the first class in classical moderations (1907) and inliterae humaniores (1909). On coming down from Oxford he obtained a civil service post as a junior examiner at the Board of Education.[8] His Christian faith no longer in doubt, he moved away from his father'sevangelicalism towardsAnglo-Catholicism.[b] Bishop Knox was distressed by his son's doctrinal views, but in full support of his work among the poor in the East End of London. During the Oxford vacations, and later while working as a civil servant, Knox lived at the Trinity Mission inStratford, of which he later became warden for a short period.[1] His mentors and role models were Temple andGeorge Lansbury, the latter a future leader of theLabour Party, who was a prominent figure in the East End.[10] Through Lansbury's influence Knox became involved with theWorkers' Educational Association, of which Temple was president.[10]
In 1913 Knox resigned from the civil service. He studied theology at St Anselm's College, Cambridge, and was ordaineddeacon in 1914, and priest the following year, serving as assistant curate at St Mary's, Graham Street, London. He privately made vows of poverty and celibacy.[11] On the outbreak of theFirst World War, he volunteered to serve as an army chaplain, but was turned down by theWar Office, which was suspicious of Anglo-Catholics.[12]
In 1920 Knox moved to Cambridge as a member of theOratory of the Good Shepherd until 1922. He then spent two years in parish work at St Saviour's,Hoxton, in east London as assistant priest.[13] In 1924 he left London and returned to Cambridge to become Warden of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd. While holding the wardenship[citation needed] he became a member ofPembroke College, Cambridge, where he received the degrees ofBachelor of Divinity (1937) andDoctor of Divinity (1943).[14] In 1941 he was appointed chaplain to the college, and in 1946 was elected a fellow.[1]
In theDictionary of National Biography, BishopEdward Wynn divided Knox's published works into three categories.[15] First, publications that were essentially explanatory, putting the case for the Anglican school of Liberal Catholicism.[15] Knox's younger brother Ronald, having left theChurch of England and joined the Roman Catholic Church, was an influential priest and writer. Wilfred, according to Natalie Watson in theOxford Dictionary of National Biography "became an outspoken representative of the Anglo-Catholic movement. ... [In] popular and theological apologetics, he outlined the differences between Anglo-Catholicism and Roman Catholicism" in such books asThe Catholic Movement in the Church of England (1923) and (withAlec Vidler) inThe Development of Modern Catholicism (1933).[1] Secondly, there were books of guidance on how to follow the Christian way of life. The best known of these wasMeditation and Mental Prayer (1927), which gave "simple and direct teaching on prayer, penitence, and the love of God".[15] Thirdly, Wynn identifies works of pure scholarship. Knox approached biblical studies from the standpoint of a classical scholar. He examined how Greek culture influenced not only the language but also the thinking of the writers of theNew Testament. He frequently contributed toThe Journal of Theological Studies. His books on theHellenic aspect of Christian history includeSt Paul and the Church of Jerusalem (1925),St Paul and the Church of the Gentiles (1939) andSome Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity (1944 – based on hisSchweich lectures of 1942). His last book,The Sources of the Synoptic Gospels was nearly complete when he died. The manuscript was edited byHenry Chadwick and published posthumously in two volumes (1953 and 1957).[1]
Knox died 9 February 1950 in Cambridge at the age of 63.[15] So many wanted to attend his memorial service in Pembroke chapel that there had to be a ballot for tickets.[16] CanonHenry R. T. Brandreth said of him, "There has never been anyone like Father Wilfred and it is impossible to believe that there ever will be. ... He sacrificed his own interests and inclinations on [the Oratory's] behalf with a wonderful steadfastness."[17]
