J. H. Oldham
Encyclopedia
Joseph Houldsworth Oldham (1874-1969), known as J. H. or Joe, was a Scottish missionary in India, who became a significant figure in Christian ecumenism, though never ordained in the United Free Church as he had wished.
and Edinburgh
. He was a student at Trinity College, Oxford
. He went to Lahore
in 1897, a missionary for the Scottish YMCA
, there marrying Mary Fraser, daughter of Andrew Fraser, in 1898. They both suffered with typhoid, and returned to Scotland in 1901.
He became editor of the International Review of Missions in 1912, and travelled widely. At the end of World War I
he was a secretary of the Emergency Committee of Cooperating Missions, chaired by John Mott
. Article 438 of the Treaty of Versailles
dealt with the property of German missions in territories ceded to the Allies by a mechanism of putting them in trust, and its inclusion is attributed to lobbying by Oldham.
He was secretary of the International Missionary Council from its setting up in London in 1921 to 1938, an organisation having its roots in the 1910 World Missionary Conference in which he was heavily involved, and which he helped found and make effective (with Mott, William Paton and Abbe Livingston Warnshuis). He promoted the 1926 founding of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures by his efforts to gather funding. He then played a major role in the formation of the World Council of Churches
.
From 1938 to 1947 he convened ‘The Moot
’, a Christian think-tank concentrating on the problem of post-war reconstruction, at weekend residential meetings several times a year. The most regular members were John Baillie, Sir Fred Clarke, T. S. Eliot
, Eric Fenn, Herbert Arthur Hodges, Eleonora Iredale, Karl Mannheim
, Walter Moberly
, John Middleton Murry
, Mary Oldham, Gilbert Shaw
and Alec Vidler. Stefan Collini
sums up the discussions as bearing "in one way or another, on the issue of cultural leadership in a modern society". Oldham also edited the Christian News-Letter (taken over by Kathleen Bliss), for the Council of the Churches on the Christian Faith and the Common Life. It published some papers derived from the Moot.
, has been called "a sophisticated attempt to develop an alternative Christian analysis of racial relations by attacking the determinism of Stoddard
and Grant
, both of whom are cited, on scientific, economic, and ethical grounds". His proposed solutions, however, have been criticised as vague. At the time of publication it was reviewed positively by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje
.
In later work he was influenced by Ludwig Feuerbach, Eberhard Grisebach and Martin Buber
.
Life
He was born in India and brought up in Bombay until age 7, when his family returned to Scotland, living in CrieffCrieff
Crieff is a market town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich and also lies on the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins onto the A823 which leads to Dunfermline....
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. He was a student at Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
. He went to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
in 1897, a missionary for the Scottish YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, there marrying Mary Fraser, daughter of Andrew Fraser, in 1898. They both suffered with typhoid, and returned to Scotland in 1901.
He became editor of the International Review of Missions in 1912, and travelled widely. At the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he was a secretary of the Emergency Committee of Cooperating Missions, chaired by John Mott
John Mott
John Raleigh Mott was a long-serving leader of the YMCA and the World Student Christian Federation...
. Article 438 of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
dealt with the property of German missions in territories ceded to the Allies by a mechanism of putting them in trust, and its inclusion is attributed to lobbying by Oldham.
He was secretary of the International Missionary Council from its setting up in London in 1921 to 1938, an organisation having its roots in the 1910 World Missionary Conference in which he was heavily involved, and which he helped found and make effective (with Mott, William Paton and Abbe Livingston Warnshuis). He promoted the 1926 founding of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures by his efforts to gather funding. He then played a major role in the formation of the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
.
From 1938 to 1947 he convened ‘The Moot
The Moot
This article is about the discussion group active in Britain from 1938 to 1947. For the Moot in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, see The Empire ....
’, a Christian think-tank concentrating on the problem of post-war reconstruction, at weekend residential meetings several times a year. The most regular members were John Baillie, Sir Fred Clarke, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, Eric Fenn, Herbert Arthur Hodges, Eleonora Iredale, Karl Mannheim
Karl Mannheim
Karl Mannheim , or Károly Mannheim in the original writing of his name, was a Jewish Hungarian-born sociologist, influential in the first half of the 20th century and one of the founding fathers of classical sociology and a founder of the sociology of knowledge.-Life:Mannheim studied in Budapest,...
, Walter Moberly
Walter Hamilton Moberly
Sir Walter Hamilton Moberly, GBE, KCB, Kt, DSO was a British academic.-Life:The son of Rev. Robert Campbell Moberly and the grandson of George Moberly, he was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford...
, John Middleton Murry
John Middleton Murry
John Middleton Murry was an English writer. He was prolific, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime...
, Mary Oldham, Gilbert Shaw
Gilbert Shaw
Gilbert Shuldham Shaw was an Anglo-Irish Church of England priest, from 1940 vicar of St Anne's Soho. His maternal grandfather was Sir Philip Crampton Smyly, honorary physician to Queen Victoria, and he was baptised by his mother's uncle, William Conyngham Plunket, archbishop of Dublin...
and Alec Vidler. Stefan Collini
Stefan Collini
Stefan Collini is an English literary critic and academic, Professor of English Literature and Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge. He has contributed essays to such publications as The Times Literary Supplement, The Nation and London Review of Books.- Works :* "." The Times...
sums up the discussions as bearing "in one way or another, on the issue of cultural leadership in a modern society". Oldham also edited the Christian News-Letter (taken over by Kathleen Bliss), for the Council of the Churches on the Christian Faith and the Common Life. It published some papers derived from the Moot.
Works
His book Christianity and the Race Problem (1924), against scientific racismScientific racism
Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...
, has been called "a sophisticated attempt to develop an alternative Christian analysis of racial relations by attacking the determinism of Stoddard
Lothrop Stoddard
Theodore Lothrop Stoddard was an American historian, journalist, racial anthropologist, eugenicist, political theorist and anti-immigration advocate who wrote a number of books which are cited by historians as prominent examples of early 20th-century scientific racism.- Biography :Stoddard was...
and Grant
Madison Grant
Madison Grant was an American lawyer, historian and physical anthropologist, known primarily for his work as a eugenicist and conservationist...
, both of whom are cited, on scientific, economic, and ethical grounds". His proposed solutions, however, have been criticised as vague. At the time of publication it was reviewed positively by Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje
Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje
Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje was a Dutch scholar of Oriental cultures and languages and Advisor on Native Affairs to the colonial government of the Netherlands East Indies ....
.
In later work he was influenced by Ludwig Feuerbach, Eberhard Grisebach and Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
.
Further reading
- George Bennett, Paramountcy to Partnership: J. H. Oldham and Africa, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Oct., 1960), pp. 356-361.
- Dennis Bates, Ecumenism and Religious Education between the Wars: The Work of J. H. Oldham, British Journal of Religious Education, Volume 8, Issue 3 Summer 1986 , pp. 130-139.
- Tom Steele and Richard Kenneth Taylor, Oldham's Moot (1938-1947), the universities and the adult citizen, History of Education, 4 August 2009