William George Ward - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

William George Ward was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

Roman Catholic theologian

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

and mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

whose career illustrates the development of religious opinion at a time of crisis in the history of English religious thought.

He went up to Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

, in 1830, but his father's financial difficulties forced him in 1833 to try for a scholarship at Lincoln College

Lincoln College, Oxford

Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...

, which he succeeded in obtaining. Ward had a gift for pure mathematics

Pure mathematics

Broadly speaking, pure mathematics is mathematics which studies entirely abstract concepts. From the eighteenth century onwards, this was a recognized category of mathematical activity, sometimes characterized as speculative mathematics, and at variance with the trend towards meeting the needs of...

but for history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, applied mathematics

Applied mathematics

Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...

or anything outside the exact sciences, he felt contempt. He was endowed with a strong sense of humour and a love of paradox

Paradox

Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...

carried to an extreme. His examination for mathematical honours exhibited some of the peculiarities of his character and mental powers. Four out of his five papers on applied mathematics were sent up absolutely blank. Honours, however, were not refused him, and in 1834 he obtained an open fellowship at Balliol

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

.

In the previous year the Tractarian movement had been launched: Ward was attracted to it by his hatred of moderation and what he called "respectability". He was repelled by the conception he had formed of John Henry Newman, whom he regarded as a mere antiquary. When, however, he was at length persuaded by a friend to go and hear Newman preach, he at once became a disciple. But he had, as Newman afterwards said of him, "struck into the movement at an angle." He had no taste for historical investigations. He treated the question at issue as one of pure logic

Logic

In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...

: disliking the Reformers, the right of private judgment which Protestants claimed, and the somewhat prosaic uniformity of the English Church, he flung himself into a general campaign against Protestantism

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

in general and the Anglican form of it in particular. He nevertheless took deacon's orders in 1838 and priest's orders in 1840.

In 1839 Ward became editor of the British Critic
British Critic
The British Critic: A New Review was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution.-High church review:...

, the organ of the Tractarian party, and he excited suspicion among the adherents of the party by his violent denunciations of the Church to which he still belonged. In 1841 he urged the publication of the celebrated Tract 90
Tract 90
Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles, better known as Tract 90, was a theological pamphlet written by the English theologian and churchman John Henry Newman and published in 1841...

, and wrote in defence of it. From that period Ward and his associates worked undisguisedly for union with the Church of Rome, and in 1844 he published his Ideal of a Christian Church, in which he openly contended that the only hope for the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

lay in submission to the Church of Rome. This publication brought to a height the storm which had long been gathering. The University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

was invited, on 13 February 1845, to condemn Tract 90
Tract 90
Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles, better known as Tract 90, was a theological pamphlet written by the English theologian and churchman John Henry Newman and published in 1841...

, to censure the Ideal, and to deprive Ward from his degrees. The two latter propositions were carried with Ward being deprived of his tutorship and Tract 90
Tract 90
Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles, better known as Tract 90, was a theological pamphlet written by the English theologian and churchman John Henry Newman and published in 1841...

only escaped censure by the non placet of the proctors, Guillemard and Church.

Ward left the Church of England in September 1845, and was followed by many others, including Newman himself. After his reception into the Church of Rome, Ward devoted himself to ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

, metaphysics

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...

and moral philosophy. He wrote articles on free will

Free will

"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...

, the philosophy of theism

Theism

Theism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that at least one deity exists.In a more specific sense, theism refers to a doctrine concerning the nature of a monotheistic God and God's relationship to the universe....

, on science, prayer and miracles for the Dublin Review. He also dealt with the condemnation of Pope Honorius I

Pope Honorius I

Pope Honorius I was pope from 625 to 638.Honorius, according to the Liber Pontificalis, came from Campania and was the son of the consul Petronius. He became pope on October 27, 625, two days after the death of his predecessor, Boniface V...

, carried on a controversial correspondence with John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...

, and took a leading part in the discussions of the Metaphysical Society

Metaphysical Society

The Metaphysical Society was a British society, founded in 1869 by James Knowles. Many of its members were prominent clergymen.Papers were read and discussed at meetings on such subjects as the ultimate grounds of belief in the objective and moral sciences, the immortality of the soul, etc...

, founded by James Knowles

James Knowles

Sir James Knowles was an English architect and editor.-Life:He was born in London, the son of architect James Thomas Knowles and himself trained in architecture at University College and in Italy...

, of which Alfred Lord Tennyson, T H Huxley and James Martineau

James Martineau

James Martineau was an English religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism. For 45 years he was Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in Manchester New College, the principal training college for British Unitarianism.-Early life:He was born in Norwich,...

were also prominent members. He was an opponent of Liberal Catholicism and defender of papal authority.

In 1851 he became professor of moral philosophy at St Edmund's College, Ware, and the following year he was appointed to the chair of dogmatic theology. In 1868 he became editor of the Dublin Review

Dublin Review (Catholic periodical)

The Dublin Review was an influential Catholic periodical founded in 1836 by Michael Joseph Quin, Cardinal Wiseman and Daniel O'Connell. Quin had the original idea for the new journal, soon persuading Wiseman to lend his support, and next enlisting O'Connell whose Catholic Emancipation campaign he...

. He supported the promulgation of the dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...

of Papal Infallibility

Papal infallibility

Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, by action of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is preserved from even the possibility of error when in his official capacity he solemnly declares or promulgates to the universal Church a dogmatic teaching on faith or morals...

in 1870. After his admission into the Roman Catholic Church he had married, and for a time had to struggle with poverty. But his circumstances later improved.

Family

Ward was the grandnephew of Robert Plumer Ward

Robert Plumer Ward

Robert Ward or from 1828 Robert Plumer Ward , novelist and politician, born in London, educated at Oxford, and called to the Bar 1790, held various political offices, and wrote some books on the law of nations; also three novels, Tremaine, or the Man of Refinement, full of prolix discussions; De...

, the nephew of Sir Henry George Ward

Henry George Ward

Sir Henry George Ward GCMG was an English diplomat and politician. The son of politician and, in his retirement, writer Robert Ward and his first wife Catherine Julia Maling, and the cousin of William Ward and William George Ward, he entered the diplomatic service in 1816...

, and the son of William Ward

William Ward (cricketer)

William Ward was a noted English cricketer. He came from an affluent family which owned property on the Isle of Wight. He was educated at Winchester College, and then received financial training in Antwerp.-Life and career:William Ward was a prominent right-handed batsman and an occasional slow...

.

He was the father of Newman's biographer, Wilfrid Philip Ward

Wilfrid Philip Ward

Wilfrid Philip Ward was an English essayist and biographer.-Biography:He was born in 1856 at Old Hall, Ware, Hertfordshire to William George Ward. He attended St. Edmund's College in Ware, Hertfordshire; Ushaw College, in Durham, England; and Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. Afterward, he...

; a grandfather of Father Leo Ward,a missioner in Japanand co-founder of Sheed & Ward, and of Leo's sister, the writer and publisher, Maisie Ward

Maisie Ward

Maisie Ward , scion of one of Britain's distinguished Catholic families, was a writer, publisher, and speaker.-Life:Famous in her day as one of the names behind the imprint Sheed & Ward and as a forceful public lecturer in the Catholic Evidence Guild, her reputation has dimmed in subsequent decades...

; and a great-grandfather of the translator, Rosemary Sheed, and of Rosemary's brother, the novelist, Wilfrid Sheed

Wilfrid Sheed

Wilfrid John Joseph Sheed was an English-born American novelist and essayist.Sheed was born in London to Francis "Frank" Sheed and Mary "Maisie" Ward, prominent Roman Catholic publishers in the United Kingdom and the United States during the mid-20th century...

Family

Further reading