James Albert Pike (February 14, 1913 - September 1969) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Episcopal
bishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
, prolific writer, and one of the first mainline religious figures to appear regularly on television.
His outspoken views on many theological and social issues made him one of the most controversial public figures of his time. He was an early proponent of
ordination of womenIn general religious use, ordination is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a controversial issue in religions where either the rite of ordination, or the role that an ordained person fulfills, has traditionally been restricted to men because of cultural...
, racial
desegregationDesegregation is the process of ending racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in Brown v...
, and the acceptance of LBGT people within mainline churches. Pike was the fifth Bishop of
CaliforniaThe Episcopal Diocese of California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in Northern California...
.
Early life
Pike was born in Oklahoma City on February 14, 1913. His father died when he was two, and his mother married California attorney Claude McFadden. The young Pike was a Roman Catholic and considered the priesthood, but while attending the University of Santa Clara, he came to consider himself an agnostic. Pike earned a doctorate from
Yale Law SchoolYale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1843, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D., and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars and a number of legal research centers. The school's prestige and small size make its...
, and married Jane Alvies. He served as an attorney in Washington D.C. for the Securities and Exchange Commission during Franklin D. Roosevelt's
New DealThe New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to his complex package of economic programs 1933-36 with the goals of what historians call the 3 Rs, of giving Relief to the unemployed and badly hurt farmers, Reform of business and financial practices, and promoting...
era, and also taught law at
George Washington UniversityThe George Washington University is a private, coeducational university located in Washington, D.C...
. After his first marriage ended in divorce (later to be annulled), Pike married Esther Yanovsky. In World War II, he served with naval intelligence.
Conversion and early church life
At the war's end, Pike and his wife joined the Episcopal Church and Pike entered first the
Virginia Theological SeminaryVirginia Theological Seminary , formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is the largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States. Founded in 1823, VTS is situated on an campus in Alexandria, Virginia, just a few miles from downtown Washington, DC. VTS...
and then the
Union Theological seminaryUnion Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets...
and began to prepare for the priesthood. He was ordained in 1946, first serving as an assistant at St. John's, Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, and then as Rector of Christ Church in Poughkeepsie, New York, before becoming head of the Department of Religion and chaplain at
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
. He left Columbia in 1952 to become the Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York. Using his new position and media savvy, he picked a fight with local Catholic bishops over their attacks on
Planned ParenthoodPlanned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA provides reproductive health and maternal and child health services. Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc. ...
and their opposition to birth control and when invited to receive an honorary doctorate from Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee, he accepted but then publicly turned down the invitation after finding that the university did not admit African Americans. In an example of Pike's use of the media, he released his letter to the New York Times before it was delivered to Sewanee's trustees: they heard the news when reporters called for reactions. It was also at this time that he publicly challenged Senator
Joseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
's allegation that 7,000 U.S. pastors were part of the Kremlin's conspiracy and when the newly elected President
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
backed up Pike, McCarthy and his movement began to lose their influence.
In New York, Pike reached a large audience with liberal sermons and weekly television programs. Common topics included birth control, abortion laws, racism, capital punishment, apartheid, antisemitism, and farm worker exploitation.
Election as bishop
He was elected as
bishop coadjutorA coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese almost as co-bishop of the diocese...
of California in 1958 and succeeded to the See a few months later (following the death of his predecessor, Karl Morgan Block), in which position he served until his abdication/resignation in 1966. At that point, he began to work for the
Center for the Study of Democratic InstitutionsThe Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara, California was an important think tank from 1959 to 1977, declining in influence thereafter. The Center held discussions in a variety of areas that it hoped would influence public deliberation...
, a liberal, private-sector
think tankA think tank is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice...
.
His episcopate was marked by both professional and personal controversy. He was one of the leaders of the Protestants and Other Americans United for the Separation of Church and State movement, which advocated against John Kennedy's presidential campaign due to the pre-Vatican II Catholic teachings of the time. While at Grace Cathedral he was involved with promoting a
living wageLiving wage is a term used to describe the minimum hourly wage necessary for shelter and nutrition for a person for an extended period of time...
for workers in San Francisco, the acceptance of LBGT people in the church, and civil rights. He also recognized a Methodist minister as having dual ordination and freedom to serve in the diocese. Later he ordained a woman as a first-order deacon, now known as a "transitional deacon", usually the first step in the process towards ordination in the priesthood in the Episcopal church. The ordination was not approved until after Pike's death.
Among his notable accomplishments, Pike met with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during his march to
Selma, AlabamaSelma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census. The city is best known for the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement and its Selma to Montgomery marches, three civil rights...
. His theology was profoundly challenging to the Church, as Pike wrote questioning a number of widely regarded theological stances, including the virginity of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the doctrine of
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
and the
TrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity teaches the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostases, but one being. Each of the persons is understood as having the one...
. He famously called for "fewer beliefs, more belief." Heresy procedures were begun in 1962, '64, '65, and '66, each growing in intensity, but in the end the church decided it was not in the denomination's best interest to pursue an actual heresy trial. However, he was ultimately censured for this in 1966 by his brother bishops, and resigned his position shortly thereafter.
In his personal life, Pike was a chain-smoker, an alcoholic, craved attention, and was likely addicted in some way to romance and relationships. His charismatic personality drew many people to him, including his secretary, with whom he developed a romantic relationship that cost him his marriage to his second wife in 1969.
The Other Side
In 1966, Pike's son Jim took his life in a New York city hotel room following a period of
recreational drug useRecreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, approved medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear ....
. Shortly after his son's death Pike began to experience
poltergeist, or recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis denotes an ostensibly paranormal phenomenon attributed to an an invisible spirit or ghost that manifests itself by moving and influencing objects, generally in a particular location such as a house or room or place within a...
phenomena. Books seemed to vanish and reappear, and safety pins were found open and placed to indicate the hour of 8:19, the approximate hour of his son's death. Half of the clothes in a closet were found disarranged and heaped up while the remainder were still in perfect order. Pike led a public (and for the church, embarrassing) pursuit of various spiritualist and clairvoyant methods of contacting his deceased son in order to reconcile. In September 1967, Pike participated in a televised séance with his dead son through the medium,
Arthur FordArthur Ford was an American psychic spiritual medium, clairaudient and in 1955 founded the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship.- Biographical problems :...
, who served at the time as a Disciples of Christ minister. Pike detailed these experiences in his book
The Other SideThe Other Side is a book written by Bishop James Pike with Diane Kennedy about his experiences of paranormal phenomena following his son's death by drug overdose in New York in 1966. The book was published by Doubleday and Co. Inc., Garden City, NY, in 1968 and in paperback, Dell Publishing, NY,...
.
Death
In 1969 Pike and his new wife drove into the Israeli desert. They were unprepared for the journey, and when their car broke down and became stuck, they separated in order to search for help. Accounts differ and an exact determination is impossible, though it is likely that Pike either fell into a
wadiWadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley; in some cases it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
/
oasisIn geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...
/creek bed to his death or else climbed in and subsequently died of exposure and thirst sometime between September 2nd and 9th. His body was recovered and buried (following his wishes and those of his family) in the Protestant cemetery in Jaffa, Israel.
In literature
James Pike was a loose inspiration for the character of Timothy Archer in
Philip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose published work during his lifetime was almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian...
's book,
The Transmigration of Timothy ArcherThe Transmigration of Timothy Archer is a 1982 novel by Philip K. Dick. As his final work, the book was published shortly after his death in March 1982 following a series of strokes, although it was written the previous year...
. Pike and Philip K.Dick were friends and Pike officiated at Dick's wedding to Nancy Hackett in 1966.
Joan DidionJoan Didion is an American author best known as a novelist and writer of personalized, journalistic essays. The disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos upon which her essays comment are explored more fully in her novels, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
wrote about Pike and the building of the Grace Cathedral in her collection of essays,
The White AlbumThe White Album is a 1979 book of essays by Joan Didion. The entire contents of this book are reprinted in Didion's We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live: Collected Nonfiction .-I...
(1979).
E. L. DoctorowEdgar Lawrence Doctorow is an American author.- Biography :Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of second-generation Americans of Russian Jewish descent...
includes Pike as a fictionlised character in his novel,
City of God (2000).
Sam PeckinpahDavid Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved his status following the release of his 1969 Western epic The Wild Bunch...
may have appropriated his name for the anti-hero Pike Bishop (played by
William HoldenWilliam Holden was an American film actor.Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954, and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974....
) of his Western
The Wild BunchThe Wild Bunch directed by Sam Peckinpah, is a Western film about an aging outlaw gang at the Texas-Mexico border trying to exist in the modern world of supposedly 1913...
(1969).
Major works
- Beyond Anxiety Charles Scribner’s Sons, NY, 1953
- Beyond the Law Doubleday and Co. Inc., Garden City, NY, 1963
- The Church, Politics and Society (with John W. Pyle) Morehouse-Gorham Co., NY, 1955
- The Holy Scriptures- The Churches Teaching (V. 1) (assistant author to Robert C, Dentan) National Council, Protestant Episcopal Church, NY, 1949
- Doing the Truth Doubleday and Co. Inc., Garden City, NY, 1955
- Facing the Next Day see The Next Day below
- The Faith of the Church (with Norman Pittenger) Seabury Press, Greenwich, CT, 1951 (second copy Crossroads/Seabury Press, 1961)
- If This Be Heresy Harper and Rowe Publishers, NY, 1967 (also paperback- Delta Book/Dell Publishing, NY, 1969)
- If You Marry Outside Your Faith Harper and Bros., NY, 1954
- Man in the Middle (with Howard A. Johnson) The Seabury Press, Greenwich, CT, 1956
- Modern Canterbury Pilgrims (editor and essay) Morehouse-Gorham Co., NY, 1956 (also second, abridged edition, 1959)
- A New Look at Preaching Charles Scribner’s Sons, NY, 1961
- The Next Day Dolphin Books/ Doubleday and Co. Inc., Garden City, NY, 1957 also MacMillan Co. NY paperback Facing the Next Day, 1968)
- The Other Side (with Diane Kennedy) Doubleday and Co. Inc., Garden City, NY, 1968 (also paperback, Dell Publishing, NY, 1969)
- Our Christmas Challenge Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., NY, 1961
- Roadblocks to Faith (with John McG. Krumm) Morehouse-Gorham Co., NY, 1954
- A Roman Catholic in the White House (with Richard Byfield) - Doubleday and Co. Inc., Garden City, NY, 1960
- Teen-Agers and Sex Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1965
- A Time for Christian Candor Harper and Rowe Publishers, NY, 1964
- What is This Treasure Harper and Rowe Publishers, NY, 1966
- You and the New Morality Harper and Rowe Publishers, NY, 1967
External links