Ex-Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams gave an enlightening and intriguing talk on February 3rd at the completely full venue of Whitgift School. The esteemed current master of Magdelene College, Cambridge and Right Honourable Lord of Oystermouth accentuated his own experience, and the importance of, theology to the students of multiple schools as well as many interested adult attendees. The poet and graduate from both Cambridge and Oxford highlighted the similarities between himself and John Whitgift, the founder of the school hosting the event, who held the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury between the years of 1583-1604.

The primary section of the talk acknowledged the shared strife that the two influential persons had experienced involving the unification of a religion's beliefs in such a way which avoided conflict between opposing parties; an issue which Williams revealed to be the single most difficult he had ever attempted to rectify. Discuss moved onto other dilemmas that religious figures had encountered in the past, placing particular significance on the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Christian living in the unfortunate era of Nazi Germany. This figure of the church was so opposed to the state of affairs in Germany that he became a martyr for his religion, dying in the Flossenbürg concentration camp in 1945, having been associated with a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He is recognised as one of the 20th Century martyrs above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. Questions from the audience seemed to sympathise greatly with this narrative, while probing other areas of the talk and theology as a whole, but also provoked some teenage, cynical criticism of a supposedly omnibenevolent (all loving) God which contradictorily would put Bonhoeffer in this awfully unfavourable position. Unsurprisingly, the exhaustively experienced Williams remained unphased by these queries and skillfully imparted his own interesting views to the audience in his acclaimed manner. 

Prior to the event, Williams had also been defending his theological opinions during a captivating discussion with a selection of students studying Theology and Philosophy in the Sixth Form. Dialogue followed a myriad of topics including the possibility of Jesus being an archetypal character and also the role of translation in our interpretation of the Bible. Examples of the latter appear in our word for 'church' being derived and translated from a Greek word meaning 'assembly' and the arguable dichotomy between these two terms. Altogether, the debate was undoubtedly an informative and memorable exercise for the students.

Overall, Williams' educative visit to the school had an unquestionable impact on the many audience members who greatly enjoyed the academic focus of the lecture. An edifying and enjoyable event for all involved that set a desirably distinguished precedent for the remainder of the Academic Enrichment program taking place at Whitgift School.