William Stringfellow
William Stringfellow | |
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Born | Frank William Stringfellow April 28, 1928 Johnston, Rhode Island, US |
Died | March 2, 1985 Block Island, Rhode Island, US | (aged 56)
Occupations |
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Partner | Anthony Towne |
Scholarly background | |
Alma mater | |
Influences | |
Scholarly work | |
Discipline | Moral theology |
School or tradition | |
Influenced |
Frank William Stringfellow (1928–1985) was an American lay theologian, lawyer and social activist. He was active mostly during the 1960s and 1970s.
Life and career
Early life and education
Born in
Activism
His career of activism can be traced to his junior year at Bates, when he organized a sit-in at a local Maine restaurant that refused to serve people of color. It was his first foray into social activism, and he never looked back. Just a few years later, Stringfellow gained a reputation as a strident critic of the social, military and economic policies of the US and as a tireless advocate for racial and
As a Christian, he viewed his vocation as a commitment, bestowed upon him in baptism, to a lifelong struggle against the "powers and principalities", which he believed
He made pointed criticisms of theological seminaries: those of the liberal Protestant mainline were theologically shallow, their curriculum and ethos a mixture of "poetic recitations ... social analysis, gimmicks, solicitations, sentimentalities, and corn." On the other hand, he considered fundamentalist/orthodox institutions to isolate themselves from modern society; he commented, "... if they actually took the Bible seriously they would inevitably love the world more readily ... because the Word of God is free and active in the world." These conditions were, he felt, symptomatic of the twin errors of acculturated religious liberalism and authoritarian dogmatism, two options American Christians usually chose from in order to achieve the same goal: domesticating the Gospel and thus blunting its transformative impact on both individuals and the state. Instead of concerning himself with the US academic theological scene, Stringfellow sought an audience of law and business students, especially those who opted to embrace Christian beliefs and all the while fully involved themselves in the world.
A lawyer by profession, Stringfellow's chief legal interests pertained to constitutional law and due process.[6] He dealt with both every day in Harlem as he represented victimized tenants, accused persons who would otherwise have inadequate counsel in the courts, and impoverished African Americans who were largely excluded from public services like hospitals and government offices.[7]
Throughout his student days Stringfellow had involved himself in the
Influence
Stringfellow's foremost contribution to theological thought is to see in "images, ideologies, and institutions" the primary contemporary manifestations of the demonic powers and principalities often mentioned in the Bible. This outlook made him categorically suspicious of activities of governments, corporations, and other organizations, including the institutional churches, a viewpoint that placed him at odds with the nearly-ubiquitous "progressive" sentiments of the mid-20th century. In the mid-1960s, he defended Bishop James Pike against charges of heresy lodged against him by his fellow Episcopal bishops, believing them moved more by politics (i.e., appeasement of the denomination's conservatives such as Southerners and the wealthy) than serious faith.
Recent treatments of his body of work include those by theologian Walter Wink,[11] Bill Wylie-Kellermann[12][13] and Sharon Delgado,[14] all ordained United Methodist ministers. He has also influenced later Roman Catholics, including John Dear and journalist Nathan Schneider,[15][16] as well as evangelical social activists, Jim Wallis[17] and Shane Claiborne,[18] and biblical scholar, Wes Howard Brook.[19]
Personal life
He had a longtime relationship with the
William Stringfellow Award
Since the 2000–2001 academic year, Bates College annually recognizes a student and a citizen in Maine for their work pursuing peace and justice.[23] The Office of the Chaplain at Bates Colleges gives these awards to individuals who they find have "courageous and sustained commitment to redressing the systemic, root causes of violence and social injustice." [23]
Books
- The Life of Worship and the Legal Profession, New York; New York National Council, 1955 (available in reprint). ISBN 9780598471550
- A Public and Private Faith, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1962; Eugene, Ore. : Wipf and Stock Pub., 1999, ISBN 9781579102159
- Instead of Death, New York, NY: Seabury Press, 1963. Eugene, OR : Wipf & Stock, 2004. ISBN 9781592448739
- My People Is the Enemy, New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964; Eugene, OR : Wipf & Stock, 2005. ISBN 9781597523226
- Free in Obedience, New York, NY: Seabury Press, 1964; Eugene, Or. : Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006. ISBN 9781597529525
- Dissenter in a Great Society, New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. ISBN 9781597524193
- (with Anthony Towne) The Bishop Pike Affair, New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1967. ISBN 9781556353260
- Count It All Joy, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967; Eugene, OR : Wipf and Stock, 1999. ISBN 9781579102913
- Imposters of God: Inquiries into Favorite Idols, Washington, DC: Witness Books, 1969.
- A Second Birthday, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.
- (with Anthony Towne) Suspect Tenderness: The Ethics of the Berrigan Witness, New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
- An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land, Waco, TX: Word, 1973. Eugene, Or. : Wipf & Stock, 2004. ISBN 9781592448746
- (with Anthony Towne) The Death and Life of Bishop Pike, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
- Instead of Death, 2nd Edition, New York, NY: Seabury Press, 1976.
- Conscience and Obedience, Waco, TX: Word, 1977.
- A Simplicity of Faith: My Experience in Mourning, Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1982.
- The Politics of Spirituality, Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1984.
- Foreword to Melvin E. Schoonover, Making All Things Human: A Church in East Harlem, New York; Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969.
Notes
- ^ See, for example, the preface to Conscience & Obedience (1977):
My esteem for the biblical witness and my approach to the Bible should be enough to disclose my skepticism about current efforts to construct political theology according to some ideological model. I refer, for one specific example, to attempts to articulate a pseudo-biblical rationale for classical Marxism, which have lately become prominent, oddly enough, simultaneously, in both some post-industrial societies of North America and Europe and in still pre-industrialized regions of Asia, Latin America, and Africa. ...
[B]iblical politics never implies a particular, elaborated political theology, whether it be one echoing the status quo or one which aspires to overthrow and displace the status quo. The gospel is not ideology and, categorically, the gospel cannot be ideologized. Biblical politics always has a posture in tension and opposition to the prevalent system, and to any prospective or incipient status quo, and to the ideologies of either regime or revolution. Biblical politics are alienated from the politics of this age.[4]
In this sense, while Stringfellow may well side on the side of those resisting whatever type or level of oppression, he would further resist this resistance being turned into any sort of closed ideological system separable from the gospel message itself.
References
- ISBN 978-0-8131-4847-2.
- ^ "William Stringfellow". Robert Penn Warren's Who Speaks for the Negro? An Archival Collection. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-0726-7.
- ISBN 978-0-8499-2843-7. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-5064-3824-5.
- ISBN 978-1-55635-122-8.
- ISBN 978-1-59752-906-8.
- ^ Wylie-Kellermann, Bill (2003). "Naming the Powers: William Stringfellow as Student and Theologian". Student World. 63 (247). Geneva: 24–35.
- S2CID 197918754.
- ISSN 1939-3881.
- ISSN 1939-3881.
- ISBN 978-1-62698-049-5.
- ISBN 978-1-64180-011-2.
- ISBN 978-0-8006-6220-2.
- ^ Schneider, Nathan (October 14, 2009). "The Biblical Circus of William Stringfellow". Religion Dispatches. University of Southern California. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
- ^ Schneider, Nathan (March 23, 2015). "No White Man Is Innocent". America. Vol. 212, no. 10. New York. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-06-069236-0.
- OCLC 62172641.
- OCLC 41503811.
- OCLC 8034255.
- Commonweal Magazine. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- OCLC 63690764.
- ^ a b "William Stringfellow Award". www.bates.edu. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
External links
- William Stringfellow Biography, by Victor Shepherd
- William Stringfellow Award – Bates College
- Stringfellow Icon – Explanation of Imagery
- 1999 article by Bill Wylie-Kellermann in Anglican Theological Review about Stringfellow (12 pages total)
- "The Biblical Circus of William Stringfellow" in Religion Dispatches
- "An Inconvenient Theology" book review in Commonweal