George Bell (bishop)

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George Kennedy Allen Bell (February 4, 1883 – October 3, 1958) was an Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury , Bishop of Chichester, member of House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement.

[edit] Biography

Born in Hayling Island, Hampshire, Bell's earlier career was shaped by his appointment as chaplain (meaning private secretary) to Archbishop Randall Davidson, one of the key figures in twentieth century church history. Bell subsequently wrote the standard biography of Davidson.

Later he became Bishop of Chichester.

After 1933, Bell became the most important international ally of the Confessing Church in Germany. He was a close friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who often informed Bell of what was going on in Germany. Bell used his authority as a leader in the Ecumenical Leader and since 1938 as Lord Spiritual to influence public opinion in Britain and the Nazi authorities in Berlin. His public support is said to have contributed to Pastor Martin Niemoeller's survival.

In winter 1938/39 he helped 90 persons, mainly Pastors' families, to emigrate from Germany to Great Britain who were in danger because they had Jewish ancestors or were opponents of the Nazi regime.

During World War II Bell repeatedly condemned the Allied practice of area bombing. He informed Anthony Eden of the German resistance movement and tried in vain to gain the British government's support for them.

As a member of the House of Lords, he was a consistent parliamentary critic of area bombing along with Richard Stokes and Alfred Salter, Labour Party Members of Parliament in the House of Commons. In November 1939 he had published an article stating that the Church in wartime should not hesitate

"... to condemn the infliction of reprisals, or the bombing of civilian populations, by the military forces of its own nation. It should set itself against the propaganda of lies and hatred. It should be ready to encourage the resumption of friendly relations with the enemy nation. It should set its face against any war of extermination or enslavement, and any measures directly aimed to destroy the morale of a population." ^[1]

In 1941 in a letter to The Times, he called the bombing of unarmed women and children "barbarian" which would destroy the just cause for the war. On February 14, 1943 - two years ahead of the Dresden raids - he urged the House of Lords to resist the War Cabinet's decision for area bombing. As a close friend of the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer Bell knew precise details of German plans to assassinate Adolf Hitler. So in 1942 he asked Anthony Eden to declare publicly the British would make a distinction between the Nazi regime and German people. After July 20, 1944, he harshly criticised the British government, as having doomed German resisters against Hitler to fail. That year, during debate, he again demanded the House of Lords to stop British area bombing as a crime against humanity and asked:

"How can the War Cabinet fail to see that this progressive devastation of cities is threatening the roots of civilization?"^{[citation needed]}

In 1944 the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, died after only two years in that post. Bell was considered a leading possibility to succeed him, but in fact it was Geoffrey Fisher, Bishop of London, who was appointed. Bishops of the Church of England were chosen ultimately by the Prime Minister, and it is known that Winston Churchill strongly disapproved of Bell's speeches against bombing. It has often been asserted that Bell would otherwise have been appointed, but this is debatable: there is evidence that Temple had thought Fisher a likely successor anyway. In hindsight, many Anglicans wish that Bell had been appointed, which has tended to colour opinions.

[edit] Bibliography

• "A Brief Sketch of the Church of England", 1929
• "Life of Archbishop Randall Davidson." Biografie, 2 Bände, 1935
• "Christianity and World Order", 1940
• "The Background of the Hitler Plot", in: Contemporary Review 10, London 1945
• "The Church and Humanity", 1946 (contains: "The Church's Function in Wartime." November 1939)
• "The Task of the Churches in Germany", 1947
• "Christian Unity: The Anglican Position", 1948
• "The Kingship of Christ: The Story of the World Council of Churches", 1954
• "Die Kirche und die Widerstandsbewegung (Politisch-historische Vorlesungsreihe der Universität Göttingen), in: Evangelische Theologie (Zeitschrift) 7, 1957.

Edited (together with J. 0. Cobham):

• "The Significance of the Barmen Declaration for the Oecumenical Church", London 1943.

[edit] References

• Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity, Macmillan Press, 1976

[edit] Further reading

• Franz Hildebrandt (Ed.), 'And other Pastors of thy Flock': a German tribute to the Bishop of Chichester, Cambridge, 1942
• Ronald C. D. Jasper: "George Bell, Bishop of Chichester." Oxford University Press, 1967.
• Kenneth Slack: "George Bell". SCM Book Club 204, 1971
• Paul Foster (Ed.): "Bell of Chichester: A Prophetic Bishop." Otter Memorial Paper No. 17, February 2004, ISBN 0-948765-84-4
• Andrew Chandler: "Brethren in Adversity. Bishop George Bell, The Church of England and the Crisis of German Protestants, 1933-1939". Woodbridge 1997.
• Eberhard Bethge: "Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Eine Biographie." Christian Kaiser Verlag München, 1978, ISBN 3-459-01182-3
• Annegret Winkler-Nehls / Andreas Nehls: "They find themselves between the upper and the nether millstones". Bischof Bells Nachlass zum Problem nichtarischer Flüchtlinge, 1933-1939. Eine Dokumentation. Beiträge zur Diakoniewissenschaft 152, Heidelberg 1991.
• Stephen A. Garrett: "Ethics and Airpower in World War II. The British Bombing of German Cities." New York 1997
• David Hein: "George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, on the Morality of War." Anglican and Episcopal History 58 (1989): 498-509.
• http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERbellG.htm
• http://www.joric.com/Conspiracy/Bell.htm

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity, Macmillan Press, 1976, quoted on page 493.