William Temple
The early decades of the twentieth century saw the Church of England navigating profound social and political turbulence, as two world wars reshaped British society and pressed religious institutions to engage with questions beyond the purely doctrinal. It was within this demanding climate that William Temple rose to become one of the most consequential figures in the Anglican hierarchy of his era.
Born in Exeter on 15 October 1881, Temple was educated at Colet Court, Rugby School, and Balliol College, Oxford. He worked across several roles throughout his life — as an Anglican priest, a theologian, a missionary, and a politician — bringing an unusually broad range of engagement to his ecclesiastical career. He served as Bishop of Manchester from 1921 to 1929, a period that placed him at the centre of one of England's most industrially and socially complex dioceses. From there he was appointed Archbishop of York, a position he held from 1929 to 1942, before ascending to the primacy of the English church as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Temple held that highest office from 1942 until his death on 26 October 1944 in Kent — a tenure of only two years, cut short by his death at sixty-three. That brevity stands in some contrast to the scope of the offices he had occupied across more than two decades of church leadership. His progression from Bishop of Manchester through the archbishoprics of York and Canterbury traced a steady ascent through the institutional structures of the Church of England, culminating in the most senior position the Anglican communion in England could offer.
Quotes by William Temple
The best rules to form a young man, are, to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one's own opinions, and value others that deserve it.
It is a great mistake to think that God is chiefly concerned with our being religious.
I shall conclude with a saying of Alponsus, surnamed the Wise, King of Aragon – that among so many things as are by men possessed or pursued in the course of their lives, all the rest are baubles, besides old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to converse with, and old books to read!
Pharisees – men who lived in the strength of a fellowship that had behind it the greatest religious tradition in all the world, but who, because they trusted more to their tradition than to the God who inspired it, were unable to recognise the still further call of God when it came to them.
Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose – all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.
The most influential of all educational factor is the conversation in a child’s home.
People that trust wholly to other’s charity, and without industry of their own, will always be poor.
It is sometimes said that conduct is supremely important and worship helps it. The truth is that worship is supremely important and conduct tests it.
The best rules to form a young man are: to talk little, to hear much, to reflect alone upon what has passed in company, to distrust one’s own opinions, and value others that deserve it.