R. Tudur Jones

Robert Tudur Jones (28 June 1921 – 23 July 1998), better known as R. Tudur Jones,

Calvinist doctrine, created an integrated vision that was significant to the religious life of Christian Wales in the later half of the 20th century.^[2]

Early life

Jones was born at Tyddyn Gwyn,

Congregational Church and while other children recited verses on the Sunday morning, as it is a tradition in nonconformist churches, he would recite a whole chapter. Though being raised as a Christian, it is said that the turning point in his life was at an evangelistic

crusade at Rhyl Pavilion where he believed he encountered God.

Jones' interest in

University of Wales, Bangor, with a degree in philosophy and afterwards went on to a Bachelor of Divinity degree in theology in Bangor. Then he left Bangor for Mansfield College, Oxford, where he researched for his Doctor of Philosophy

degree.

Career

Returning from Oxford in 1948, now married, Jones was ordained as minister of Seion Welsh Congregationalist Chapel, Aberystwyth. After only two years he left Seion to pursue an academic career. In 1950 he was appointed as tutor in Church History at Bala-Bangor Theological Seminary, Bangor, north Wales, and by 1965 he had risen to be the principal of Bala-Bangor, which post he held until the Welsh Congregationalists merged their two colleges, Bala-Bangor and the Memorial College, Aberystwyth in 1988. After his semi-retirement in 1988 he accepted a post as an honorary lecturer in the theology department of the University of Wales Bangor, a post he held until 1997.

Theology

Most of Jones' publications were of an historical nature. Nevertheless, his theology and his opinions on doctrine would surface regularly in his work. He was a firm

Calvinist, and although it is tempting to classify him as evangelical (see also his fellow Welsh Christian scholars Bobi Jones and R. Geraint Gruffydd), he distanced himself from the pietistic evangelicalism that rose from the ashes of the 1904–1905 Welsh Revival. He opposed liberal theology and feared humanism

's effect on the people of Wales.

Nationalist

Jones not only contributed to Wales at a spiritual level but also got involved in the

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society). He was vice president of Plaid Cymru for a period and stood elections in the party's name in Anglesey

during the 1959 and 1964 elections. His nationalistic arguments are put forward in his book The Desire of Nations where he notes that his nationalism "asks nothing for itself that it does not wish for others."

Publications

Jones is listed to have published over 341 books and articles mainly on

ecclesiastical history

. Among his main publications on ecclesiastical history are Hanes Annibynwyr Cymru (History of the Welsh Congregationalists) and Ffydd ac Argyfwng Cenedl – Cristnogaeth a Diwylliant yng Nghymru 1890–1914 (Faith and the crisis of the Nation – Christianity and Culture in Wales 1890–1914). He also published some work giving political discussion such as his book on nationalism The Desire of Nations.

Notes

^ D. Densil Morgan. "Jones, Robert Tudur (1921-1998), theologian, church historian and public figure". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^
ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6
.

Resources

ap Huw, Alwyn ('Hen Rech Flin') 'Y Gwir am Dr Tudur'
Davies, Gwyn, Light in the Land: Christianity in Wales 200–2000 (2002)
Pope, Robert : A Giant of Welsh Protestantism – R. Tudur Jones 1921–1998 (2003)

Party political offices
Preceded by W. R. P. George?	Vice President of Plaid Cymru 1957–1962	Succeeded by Wynne Samuel

[WBO-1] D. Densil Morgan. "Jones, Robert Tudur (1921-1998), theologian, church historian and public figure". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

[NAEoW-2] 
ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6
.

[2]

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