Richard Holloway
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway earned a distinction that sits alongside an honorary doctorate among the formal recognitions attached to his name.
Born on 26 November 1933 in Possilpark, Holloway was a citizen of the United Kingdom who pursued his education at two institutions: the Society of the Sacred Mission and Union Theological Seminary. These formed the foundation for a working life in which he held the roles of Anglican priest, theologian, and writer — three identities that ran concurrently through his career. His writing was produced in the English language.
As an Anglican priest, Holloway occupied a position within an established religious tradition, while his parallel work as a theologian and writer extended his activity beyond the purely pastoral. The two honorary recognitions recorded against his name — the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the honorary doctorate — mark points at which his work was formally acknowledged.
His Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh remains one of the concrete facts by which his career can be measured. Holloway was born in Possilpark on 26 November 1933 and went on to be educated at the Society of the Sacred Mission and at Union Theological Seminary, building toward a life practised across the roles of priest, theologian, and writer, with the honorary doctorate standing as a further record of recognition received.
Quotes by Richard Holloway
When a popular phenomenon reaches the cover of 'Time', it is already out of fashion.
In his lecture on Jesus, Brown meditated on the unlikely paradox that any institution could represent this man because institutions, by their very nature, have to follow particular laws if they are to survive and prosper; and the main law of institutional survival is that the many take precedence over the few. If institutions are to endure they have to place a higher value on their own endurance than on loyalty to individuals, no matter how attractive or charismatic they may be.
Self understanding helps us connect our own weaknesses to the weaknesses of others and forgive them.
A life takes as long as it takes to bring us to our truth, even if we only make it to our death bed.
So be brave in the face of death; be sad at leaving, but don’t let those by your final emotions. Let it be gratitude for the life you had. And even if you think there’s no one to hear you, say “Thank You.
It is a harsh world, indescribably cruel. It is a gentle world, unbelievably beautiful. It is a world that can make us bitter, hateful, rabid, destroyers of joy. It is a world that can draw forth tenderness from us, as we lean towards one another over broken gates. It is a world of monsters and saints, a mutilated world, but it is the only one we have been given. We should let it shock us not into hatred or anxiety, but into unconditional love.
When a popular phenomenon reaches the cover of ‘Time,’ it is already out of fashion.
Truth is rarely simple and seldom obvious, which is why mature institutions recognise the importance of conflict and disagreement. Christianity was born in conflict, and it has been characterised by conflict ever since. The Church’s obsession with heresy is witness to this fact.
The tragedy is to die without knowing who you were, to keep the act going till the end.
