“It is a holy war which we are waging.”
Bishop John Richardson and Anglican Recruiting Sermons in Great War New Brunswick
(Fredericton, NB – November 9, 2022) – How New Brunswick’s war time Anglican Bishop invoked the language of holy war in his theological response to the 1914-1918 conflict is the focus of historian Ian Baird’s presentation in the next York Sunbury Historical Society speaker series.
This virtual presentation takes place at 7 pm on Thursday, November 17 via ZOOM and is open to all. Contact frmoperations@gmail.com for the ZOOM link.
British-born John Richardson was New Brunswick’s third Anglican Bishop, and the conservative diocese’s first liberal theologian. Richardson is remembered in church history as a popular and successful leader and reformer. What is less well known and understood is how the combination of his liberal-evangelicalism and sense of Imperial citizenship informed his theological responses to the Great War.
Like his peers in Canada and throughout the Empire, Richardson interpreted the war as both righteous and just. Unlike them, he went a major step further by invoking the language of holy war. Theologically and rhetorically, therefore, Richardson was a singular phenomenon in Anglican Canada.
Ian Baird is in his fourth year of doctoral studies with UNB’s History Department, under the supervision of Drs. Elizabeth Mancke and Ross Hebb. His research focuses on the Great War and its social and cultural impacts on Canadians, particularly their spiritual needs, during and after the war.
For further information, please contact:
Fredericton Region Museum
frmoperations@gmail.com
www.FrederictonRegionMuseum.com
506-455-6041
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