Eric Lionel Mascall

The Reverend Canon E. L. Mascall OGS
Born	Eric Lionel Mascall (1905-12-12)12 December 1905
Died	14 February 1993(1993-02-14) (aged 87)
Nationality	British
Occupation(s)	Priest and theologian
Title	Professor of Historical Theology
Academic background
Education	Latymer Upper School
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Cambridge Ely Theological College
Academic work
Discipline	Theology
Sub-discipline	Anglo-Catholicism Thomism
Institutions	Lincoln Theological College Christ Church, Oxford King's College London

Eric Lionel Mascall OGS (12 December 1905 – 14 February 1993) was a leading theologian and priest in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England. He was a philosophical exponent of the Thomist tradition and was Professor of Historical Theology at King's College London (in the University of London). His name was styled as E. L. Mascall in most of his writings.

Life

Mascall was the son of John Mascall and his wife Susan. He was educated at Latymer Upper School, Pembroke College, Cambridge and Ely Theological College.

After a period as a schoolmaster (before theological college) Mascall was ordained priest in 1933 at Southwark Cathedral, serving his first curacy at St Andrew's Stockwell. In 1935 he crossed the river to St Matthew's Westminster in the Diocese of London. Subsequently he taught theology at Lincoln Theological College and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1962 he became Professor of Historical Theology at King's College London and followed this appointment by a period as Canon Theologian of Truro Cathedral.

Intellectual interests

Mascall was an Anglo-Catholic and took the Mathematical Tripos at Cambridge. He was active in relations between the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Sources

Biographical memoir by H. P. Owen; published in Proceedings of the British Academy, 1984, pp. 409–418.

Writings

• The Blessed Virgin Mary: essays (1963)
• Christ, the Christian and the Church : A Study of the Incarnation and its Consequences (1946)
• Christian Theology and Natural Science : Some Questions in their Relations 1956 Bampton Lectures (1965)
• The Christian Universe (1966)
• The convocations and South India : what did the convocations decide, and how does their decision affect the catholicity of the Church of England? (1955)
• Corpus Christi : essays on the church and the Eucharist. (1953)
• Corpus Christi; essays on the church and the Eucharist. 2nd ed. (1965)
• Existence and analog. (1967)
• Grace and glory. (1961)
• He who is; a study in traditional theism. (1943)
• The importance of being human. (1958)
• Nature and supernature. (1976)
• The openness of being: natural theology today. (1971)
• The recovery of unity; a theological approach. (1958)
• The secularization of Christianity: an analysis and a critique. (1965)
• Theology and the future. (1968)
• Theology and the gospel of Christ : an essay in reorientation. (1977)
• The Triune God : an ecumenical study (1986)
• Via Media (1956)
• Whatever happened to the human mind? : essays in Christian orthodoxy (1980)
• Women priests? (1977)
• Words and images; a study in theological discourse (1957)
• Worship, its social significance (1939)

Further reading

• Mascall, Rev. Canon; Eric Lionel (b. Seaford, East Sussex 12 December 1905 - d. 14 February 1993). Who's Who 2006 and Who Was Who 1897-2005 (2005).
• Hebblethwaite, Brian ‘Mascall, Eric Lionel (1905–1993)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
• Mascall, E. L. (1992) Saraband: the memoirs of E. L. Mascall. Leominster: Gracewing

External links

• Mascall's Women Priests? essay
• The Openness of Being, 1970-71 Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh
• "The Christian Universe", Mascall's 1965 Boyle Lecture