Maurice, Frederick Denison
Maurice, Frederick Denison (1805–72). Anglican theologian and social reformer. Son of a unitarian minister, Maurice was ordained in the Church of England and became professor of theology at King's College, London, but was forced to resign in 1853 because of his unorthodox views on eternal punishment. Maurice rejected the narrow moralism of his day and called for a wider understanding of the kingdom of God. He was deeply moved by the political events of 1848 and declared himself a Christian socialist. In 1854 he founded the Working Men's College in London and became increasingly recognized as a leader of Christian social reform. Contemporaries like John Stuart Mill criticized Maurice as muddled and obscure; but to his friends he was a saintly and prophetic figure. His writings supported the tenets of the broad-church school of Anglicans (modernists) and also influenced the Christian socialist revival of 1877–1914.
John F. C. Harrison
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Maurice, Frederick Denison
