Ian Ramsey

. As a result, he became convinced that a permanent centre was needed for enquiry into these inter-disciplinary areas; and in 1985 the [http://users.ox.ac.uk/~theo0038/ Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion in the University of Oxford] was set up to promote discussion on the problems raised for theology and ethics by developments in science, technology and medicine.

Early life and education

Ramsey was born in Kearsley, near Bolton, Lancashire, an area noted for small industries and factories. He was the sole child born to Arthur and Mary Ramsey, and was raised by them in the Christian faith. He attended primary school at St. John's Church in Farnworth, Bolton, and then proceeded on a scholarship to Farnworth Grammar School where he studied Latin, mathematics, physics and chemistry. He won a scholarship that enabled him to study at Cambridge University in the 1930s and graduated with an M.A. in 1940. At Cambridge he was influenced by Charles Raven the Regius Professor of Divinity and A. C. Ewing. Raven spurred Ramsey's interests in the relationship between science and religion, while Ewing guided him into studying metaphysics.

After graduating from Cambridge Ramsey then enrolled as candidate for ordination in the Church of England at Ripon Hall, Oxford, and began his theological studies there. During his studies he served as an assistant curate at Headington Quarry and it was there that he met his wife Margretta McKay. In 1943, upon completing his theological degree and ordination Ramsey then took on the role of Chaplain at Christ's College, Cambridge. He was elected as a Fellow and Director of Studies in theology and moral science in 1944. It was also in 1944 that he was appointed as university lecturer in divinity and Canon Theologian at Leicester Cathedral. He held the role of Canon until 1966 when he was elected the Bishop of Durham.

Career

Alongside of his role as a chaplain, Ramsey became widely known at Cambridge in the 1940s for his lectures in philosophical theology. In 1951 he accepted the chair of Nolloth Professor in the Philosophy of Christian Religion at Oxford University. His inaugural lecture was delivered on 7 December, 1951 and published as "Miracles: An Exercise in Logical Map Work". He served as a Fellow of Oriel College at Oxford and as chairman of the faculty of theology. During his tenure at Oxford Ramsey was invited to deliver various guest lecture series including the Forwood Lectures at the University of Liverpool (1957), annual theological lecture at Queen's University, Belfast (1960), the Frederick Denison Maurice Lectures at King's College, London University (1961-62),Whidden Lecturer at McMaster University in Canada (1963), Riddell Memorial Lecture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1963), and the Zenos Lectures at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago (1966). Most of these lecture series were subsequently published as books: "Freedom and Immortality", "Religion and Science", "On Being Sure in Religion", "Models and Mystery", and "Christian Discourse".

Ramsey was an authority on the Christian apologetics work of both Bishop Joseph Butler, and of John Locke. He wrote a study of Butler's life and apologetic arguments that was published in 1969. Ramsey also wrote a critical introduction to an abridged edition of Locke's "The Reasonableness of Christianity" that was released in 1958. Both Locke's and Butler's texts were critical apologetic works that addressed the religious skepticism held to by various Deist thinkers in the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century.

As well as his duties as a college administrator and lecturer, Ramsey was also very active as a churchman. He served as the examining chaplain to the bishops of Portsmouth, Sheffield and Norwich, and acted as the director of the Lambeth Diploma in Theology designed for non-clergy students interested in theology. He also served on various Church of England commissions inquiring into ethical questions about birth control, suicide, and on the subject of divine healing. He wrote reports dealing with those topics for the church's Board for Social Responsibility. On 15 December 1966 he was installed at the ninetieth Bishop of Durham. He became chairman of the BBC's Central Religious Advisory Committee (CRAC) in 1970. At Easter in 1972 he had a heart attack and died on 6 October, 1972 after having a meeting in London with CRAC.

Theological contributions

Ramsey approached a number of philosophical problems concerning twentieth century theology. One of the significant topics concerned "God-talk" or the soundness of theological language. Much of this had been prompted by the philosophical writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein and also by philosophers such as Alfred Ayer who were involved in the mid-twentieth century movement known as Logical Positivism. The implications of Ayer's argument in "Language, Truth and Logic" (1936) were that religious or theological language was deemed to be analytically unscientific. Religious statements were considered to be technically meaningless as it was argued that claims such as "God exists" were observationally unverifiable.

Ramsey was concerned in his writings to argue that traditional theological language was empirically meaningful. His arguments were developed on a model of religious language grounded in personal experience and personal disclosure. As humans communicate with each other personal disclosure occurs. Ramsey used this point to argue that humans come to encounter God also by way of personal disclosure and so Ramsey offered an argument from analogy. Ramsey's theological work thus re-emphasized the traditional theological view that all religious language is analogical, and the religious words that humans create are always involving the language of analogy.

He was particularly effective in communicating with experts from a wide range of disciplines, inspiring them to work together on the problems raised for theology and ethics by developments in science, technology and medicine. As a result of his experience he became convinced that a permanent centre was needed for enquiry into these interdisciplinary areas, and it was in response to this that the [http://users.ox.ac.uk/~theo0038/Ian Ramsey Centre] for the study of religious beliefs in relation to the sciences and medicine was set up in 1985 in the University of Oxford.

Bishop Ian Ramsey Primary School in Consett, County Durham and Ian Ramsey Church of England Comprehensive School in Fairfield, Stockton-on-Tees are also named after him. there is also Bishop Ramsey Church of England secondary school in ruislip manor just outside London, which specialises in Science and Religious Education.

See also

*List of science and religion scholars

Biographical sources and Critical Assessment

* Jeff Astley, "Ian Ramsey and the Problem of Religious Knowledge," "Journal of Theological Studies", 35 (October 1984), 414-440.
* Elizabeth Beirne, "Logic of Discourses: The Works of Ian Thomas Ramsey" (Bronx: Institute of Applied Philosophy, College of Mount Saint Vincent, 1996). ISBN 1575022508
* Scott Dunbar, "Empiricism and the Nature of Religious Claims: Some Reflections on Ian T. Ramsey's Approach to Philosophy of Religion," "Studies in Religion", 5/4 (1975-76), 391-403.
* David L. Edwards, "Ian Ramsay, Bishop of Durham; a memoir" (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1973). ISBN 0192131117
* Jerry H. Gill, "Ian Ramsey: To Speak Responsibly of God" (London: Allen & Unwin, 1976). ISBN 0042300142
* Jonathan H. Pye, "Bibliography of the Published Works of Ian Thomas Ramsey" (Durham: Abbey House, 1979).
* William B. Williamson, "Ian Ramsey" (Waco: Word Books, 1982). ISBN 0-8499-2947-4

Bibliography

* "Biology and Personality: Frontier Problems in Science, Philosophy and Religion" (Oxford: Blackwell, 1965/New York: Barnes & Noble, 1966).
* "Christian Discourse: Some Logical Explorations" (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1965).
* "Christian Empiricism" (edited by Jerry H. Gill), (London: Sheldon Press, 1974; Grand Rapids,Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1974). ISBN 0859690113 (UK), ISBN 0802815588 (USA)
* "Christian Ethics and Contemporary Philosophy" (London: SCM Press/New York: MacMillan, 1966).
* "Freedom and Immortality" (London: SCM Press, 1960).
* "Joseph Butler 1692-1752, author of The Analogy of Religion: Some Features of His Life and Thought" (London: Dr William's Trust, 1969).
* "Models and Mystery" (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1964).
* "Miracles: An Exercise in Logical Map Work" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952).
* "Models for Divine Activity" (London: SCM Press, 1973).
* "On Being Sure in Religion" (London: University of London, Athlone Press, 1963).
* "Our Understanding of Prayer" (London: SPCK, 1971).
* "Personality and Science" (co-edited with Ruth Porter) (Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1971). ISBN 070001540X
* "Prospect for Metaphysics" (London: Allen & Unwin/New York: Philosophical Library, 1961).
* "Religion and Science: Conflict and Synthesis" (London: SPCK, 1964).
* "Religious Language: An Empirical Placing of Theological Phrases" (London: SCM Press, 1957).
* "Words About God" (London: SCM Press, 1971). ISBN 0334013836
* edited, John Locke, "The Reasonableness of Christianity" (London: Adam & Charles Black/Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1958).