Michael Green (theologian)
Encyclopedia
Edward Michael Bankes Green (born 1930) is a British
theologian
, Anglican priest
, Christian apologist
and author of more than 50 Christian
books.
and Exeter College, Oxford
(Bachelor of Arts
1953, Master of Arts
1956) and subsequently at Queens' College, Cambridge
(Bachelor of Arts
1957, Master of Arts
1961, Bachelor of Divinity
1966) while preparing for ordained ministry at Ridley Hall. He has been admitted to the degree of Doctor of Divinity
by the Archbishop of Canterbury
(1996) and the University of Toronto
(1992). He was ordained deacon in 1957 and priest in 1958.
Green was an assistant curate
of Holy Trinity, Eastbourne
(1957-60), a tutor at the London College of Divinity
(1960-69), Principal of St John's College, Nottingham
(1969-75) and Rector of St Aldate's Church
, Oxford and chaplain of the Oxford Pastorate
(1975-86). He had additionally been an honorary canon of Coventry Cathedral
from 1970 to 1978. He then moved to Canada
where he was Professor of Evangelism at Regent College
, Vancouver
from 1987 to 1992. He returned to England
to take up the position of advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Archbishop of York
for the Springboard Decade of Evangelism
. In 1993 he was appointed the Six Preacher of Canterbury Cathedral
. Despite having officially retired in 1996, he became a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Evangelism and Apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
in 1997 and lives in the village of Marston
near Oxford
.
Green is married to Rosemary and they have four adult children, Sarah, Jenny, Tim and Jonathan.
.
One of Green's objectives has been to equip lay Christian believers in their grasp of the gospel message and to then have confidence to converse with others about faith matters. These practical objectives are clear in books such as Evangelism, Now and Then and Sharing Your Faith With Friends and Family. At a technical level Green has contributed an academic study of the praxis
and theory of evangelism in Evangelism in the Early Church. This work explores the development of evangelism through the New Testament texts and from the early Church Fathers. He has built on those foundational studies in his advocacy of evangelism at a parish church level, both through his personal ministry and in his book Evangelism Through the Local Church.
Green's apologetic work has generally focussed on popular misconceptions and objections held by non-Christians. In books such as You Must Be Joking, World on the Run and Why Bother With Jesus, he deals with attitudes of religious indifference and scepticism. He also addresses a variety of objections concerning religious hypocrisy and religious pluralism
as well as popular questions of doubt and unbelief. He has also examined the evidences for the life, death and resurrection of Christ in Man Alive and again in the revision of that book, The Day Death Died.
Green has also explored academic challenges to faith, such as in the collection of essays he prepared as a reply to Don Cupitt
's work on The Myth of God Incarnate
. In that analysis Green and his colleagues addressed the problems of myth and history as propounded in modern biblical scholarship, especially concerning the relationship between the events of Jesus' ministry and teaching and the doctrine of the Incarnation
.
Green's recent work, The Books the Church Suppressed: Fiction and Truth in The Da Vinci Code, is an argument for orthodox Christianity against Gnosticism as presented in The Da Vinci Code. Green here links Gnosticism with a decline in society. He also claims that Gnosticism leads to a decline in morality, so that by ordaining a homosexual bishop, the Episcopal Church of the United States has itself shown Gnostic tendencies. He has considered aspects of apologetic methodology and strategy in his co-authored work with Alister McGrath
.
Aside from his apologetic writings, Green has also addressed issues of discipleship in the Christian life, ministry and leadership in the church, the doctrine of baptism
, pneumatology (study of the Holy Spirit) and demonology
. He has also written non-technical commentaries on certain books of the New Testament.
Adventure of Faith is his spiritual autobiography.
, the Reverend Toby Forward and the Reverend David Johnson, writing under the pseudonym Francis Wagstaffe. They describe him as "the famous evangelist and mild arsonist" in letters to Euston Films
, Roy Jenkins
and Hodder & Stoughton
. They received a letter from Green in which he admitted, "I had a fairly wild time before becoming a committed Christian: that included things like a little mild arson, but not fornication!" (p. 71) There was a serious point behind his repudiating any involvement with fornication: as Rector of St Aldate's, Oxford
he famously had a sofa in his study, "where scores of people knelt to entrust their lives to Christ!" (ibid.)
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theologian
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
, Anglican priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, Christian apologist
Christian apologetics
Christian apologetics is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views...
and author of more than 50 Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
books.
Early life, education and ministry
Green's mother was Australian and his father was Welsh. He became a committed Christian through the ministry of E. J. H. Nash (know as "Bash"). He was educated at Clifton CollegeClifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
and Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
(Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
1953, Master of Arts
Master of Arts (Oxbridge)
In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts of these universities are admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university .There is no examination or study required for the degree...
1956) and subsequently at Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
(Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
1957, Master of Arts
Master of Arts (Oxbridge)
In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts of these universities are admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university .There is no examination or study required for the degree...
1961, Bachelor of Divinity
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
1966) while preparing for ordained ministry at Ridley Hall. He has been admitted to the degree of Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
by the Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth degree
A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 as successor of the papal legate in England...
(1996) and the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(1992). He was ordained deacon in 1957 and priest in 1958.
Green was an assistant curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of Holy Trinity, Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
(1957-60), a tutor at the London College of Divinity
London School of Theology
The London School of Theology is an English interdenominational evangelical theological college based in Northwood within the London Borough of Hillingdon. A second campus is based in Watford, 20 miles northwest from central London, known as the Centre for Missional Leadership...
(1960-69), Principal of St John's College, Nottingham
St John's College, Nottingham
St John's College, situated in Bramcote, Nottingham, is a Church of England theological college. The college stands in the open evangelical tradition and states that its “core purpose is to inspire, equip and grow Christians to serve and lead in God’s mission.”St. John’s trains Anglican ordinands,...
(1969-75) and Rector of St Aldate's Church
St Aldate's Church
St Aldate's is a Church of England parish church in the centre of Oxford, in the Deanery and Diocese of Oxford. The church is on the street named St Aldate's, opposite Christ Church and next door to Pembroke College. The church has a large congregation and has a staff team of about 35 which...
, Oxford and chaplain of the Oxford Pastorate
Oxford Pastorate
The Oxford Pastorate has provided chaplains to work alongside students in the University of Oxford, England, since it was founded in 1893 by evangelical Anglicans...
(1975-86). He had additionally been an honorary canon of Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....
from 1970 to 1978. He then moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
where he was Professor of Evangelism at Regent College
Regent College
Regent College is an international graduate school of Christian Studies, located next to the campus of the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands west of Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an affiliated college of that university....
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
from 1987 to 1992. He returned to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to take up the position of advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
and the Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
for the Springboard Decade of Evangelism
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
. In 1993 he was appointed the Six Preacher of Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
. Despite having officially retired in 1996, he became a Senior Research Fellow and Head of Evangelism and Apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England theological college and a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located on the Banbury Road in central North Oxford, between Norham Gardens and Norham Road.-Overview:...
in 1997 and lives in the village of Marston
Marston, Oxford
Marston is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Oxford, England. It was absorbed within the city boundaries in 1991. It is commonly called Old Marston to distinguish it from the suburb of New Marston that developed between St. Clement's and the village in the 19th and 20th...
near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Green is married to Rosemary and they have four adult children, Sarah, Jenny, Tim and Jonathan.
Apologetics and evangelism
Green has been a prolific writer, with much of his work written for a popular reading audience, although he has also contributed to academic studies. Many of his best known books discuss the twin topics of evangelism and apologeticsApologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
.
One of Green's objectives has been to equip lay Christian believers in their grasp of the gospel message and to then have confidence to converse with others about faith matters. These practical objectives are clear in books such as Evangelism, Now and Then and Sharing Your Faith With Friends and Family. At a technical level Green has contributed an academic study of the praxis
Praxis
Praxis is the putting of theory into practice. The term may refer to:* Christian theological praxis* Praxis , the practice of faith, especially worship* The Praxis School, a school of Marxist philosophy...
and theory of evangelism in Evangelism in the Early Church. This work explores the development of evangelism through the New Testament texts and from the early Church Fathers. He has built on those foundational studies in his advocacy of evangelism at a parish church level, both through his personal ministry and in his book Evangelism Through the Local Church.
Green's apologetic work has generally focussed on popular misconceptions and objections held by non-Christians. In books such as You Must Be Joking, World on the Run and Why Bother With Jesus, he deals with attitudes of religious indifference and scepticism. He also addresses a variety of objections concerning religious hypocrisy and religious pluralism
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is a loosely defined expression concerning acceptance of various religions, and is used in a number of related ways:* As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and true values...
as well as popular questions of doubt and unbelief. He has also examined the evidences for the life, death and resurrection of Christ in Man Alive and again in the revision of that book, The Day Death Died.
Green has also explored academic challenges to faith, such as in the collection of essays he prepared as a reply to Don Cupitt
Don Cupitt
Don Cupitt is an English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology. He is an Anglican priest, heretic and an emeritus professor of the University of Cambridge, though is better known as a popular writer, broadcaster and commentator...
's work on The Myth of God Incarnate
The Myth of God Incarnate
The Myth of God Incarnate is a book edited by John Hick and published by SCM Press in 1977. James Dunn, in a 1980 literature review of academic work on the incarnation, noted the "well-publicized symposium entitled The Myth of God Incarnate, including contributions on the NT from M. Goulder and F....
. In that analysis Green and his colleagues addressed the problems of myth and history as propounded in modern biblical scholarship, especially concerning the relationship between the events of Jesus' ministry and teaching and the doctrine of the Incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
.
Green's recent work, The Books the Church Suppressed: Fiction and Truth in The Da Vinci Code, is an argument for orthodox Christianity against Gnosticism as presented in The Da Vinci Code. Green here links Gnosticism with a decline in society. He also claims that Gnosticism leads to a decline in morality, so that by ordaining a homosexual bishop, the Episcopal Church of the United States has itself shown Gnostic tendencies. He has considered aspects of apologetic methodology and strategy in his co-authored work with Alister McGrath
Alister McGrath
Alister Edgar McGrath is an Anglican priest, theologian, and Christian apologist, currently Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education at Kings College London and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture...
.
Aside from his apologetic writings, Green has also addressed issues of discipleship in the Christian life, ministry and leadership in the church, the doctrine of baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, pneumatology (study of the Holy Spirit) and demonology
Demonology
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent...
. He has also written non-technical commentaries on certain books of the New Testament.
Adventure of Faith is his spiritual autobiography.
Humorous reference
Green was a good-natured victim of hoax letter writersHoax letter writers
- Henry Root :Henry Root is the creation of writer William Donaldson who wrote to numerous public figures with unusual or outlandish questions and requests...
, the Reverend Toby Forward and the Reverend David Johnson, writing under the pseudonym Francis Wagstaffe. They describe him as "the famous evangelist and mild arsonist" in letters to Euston Films
Euston Films
Euston Films was a British film and television production company. It was a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from the 1970s to the 1990s, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network...
, Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
and Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
. They received a letter from Green in which he admitted, "I had a fairly wild time before becoming a committed Christian: that included things like a little mild arson, but not fornication!" (p. 71) There was a serious point behind his repudiating any involvement with fornication: as Rector of St Aldate's, Oxford
St Aldate's, Oxford
St Aldate's is a street in central Oxford, England. It is named after Saint Aldate of whom little is known, although it has also been suggested that the name is a corruption of 'old gate', referring to the south gate in the former city walls. St Aldate's Church is on the west side of the street, in...
he famously had a sofa in his study, "where scores of people knelt to entrust their lives to Christ!" (ibid.)
- See Toby Forward and David Johnson, eds, The Spiritual Quest of Francis Wagstaffe (LeominsterLeominsterLeominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...
: Gracewing, 1994), pp. 70, 71, 72-3, 74, 98, 123, 196.
Autobiography
- Adventure of Faith: Reflections on 50 Years of Christian Service, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2001 ISBN 0-00-710542-8