C. E. Raven (1885–1964) was an academic theologian elected Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge in 1932, who developed an interest in natural history and the history of scientific thought. First published in 1947, this volume demonstrates how changing attitudes to the natural world reflected and influenced the transformations in scientific thought between the medieval period and the eighteenth century. Raven's focus on the field of 'natural history' reveals how the scientific ideas behind modern biological studies developed from the richly illustrated and often fantastical bestiaries of the medieval world. The subjects of this volume are grouped chronologically into Pioneers, Explorers and Popularisers, with biographical details woven together with discussions of their academic work. The book provided a wealth of new information concerning the founders of natural history and remains a valuable contribution to this subject.
This first volume of the 1951–2 Gifford Lectures on Natural Religion and Christian Theology was published in 1953 and followed shortly thereafter by the second volume, Experience and Interpretation. In this volume, Canon Raven presents a rewriting of the history of science in organic and holistic categories, as opposed to the conventional mechanism and determinism.
This second volume of the 1951–2 Gifford Lectures on Natural Religion and Christian Theology completes Canon Raven's version of a modern Religio Medici. If the Cartesian dualism of body and mind is challenged successfully by an integrative or holistic philosophy, the theological statements are also required, to express the Christian's interpretation of his experience. In this second set of lectures Canon Raven examines critically and constructively the scope and character of this restatement and interpretation. He claims that any adequate interpretation must be stated in fully personal categories; that the confession of Jesus as the image of the invisible can still be accepted, provided it be recognised that this involves a more radical restatement of the nature of God and of the quality of human solidarity than has been accepted by tradition; and that on these conditions it is still possible for man to 'live eternally'.
A course of eight lectures delivered at Cambridge in 1943. In his introduction Dr Raven suggests that science and religion, as the most formative influence in the educational and the intellectual life of the world, share responsibility for the outbreak of world-wide war: 'Somehow the people responsible for education, for shaping and propagating ideas and for developing civilisation have allowed science and religion to become antagonistic with results disastrous to them both and devastating to the life of men. It is the purpose of the first four of these lectures to indicate the history of that disaster; and of the second four to consider how, if at all, it may be retrieved.'
In this book, originally published in 1959, Charles and Eleanor Raven provide the Jewish historical and religious background to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, as well as evidence for Christ's historical existence. The book also includes overviews of the ministry and teaching of Jesus, as well as a breakdown of the stories and events specific to each gospel. This book will be of use to anyone seeking a simple overview of Gospel history and of the background to the events described in the first books of the New Testament.
Charles E. Raven (1885–1964) was a British theologian who held the position of Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University. In this book, which was first published in 1923, Raven presents a discussion of the Christology of the early Church, focusing on the idea of Christ's divinity originated by Apollinarius of Laodicea. The process of writing the text caused Raven to reassess his views on this area, moving him towards 'the conviction that Apollinarianism both in its ancient and its modern form was untenable'. Detailed notes are incorporated throughout. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in theology, the history of Christianity and Apollinarianism.
