John Macquarrie - Career

Career

Macquarrie returned to the University of Glasgow to study for a Ph.D., which he was awarded in 1954 while serving as lecturer in systematic theology at Trinity College, Glasgow. His supervisor was Ian Henderson who, despite having been a pupil of Karl Barth at Basle, was theologically more closely aligned with his disputant Rudolf Bultmann.

In 1962 Macquarrie was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York City. During his time in the United States Macquarrie became a member of the Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion. While in Scotland, he had long been attracted to the Anglican Church there, but in deference to his family's feelings and their strong Presbyterian roots, he maintained his membership in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. His involvement in the Episcopal Church in the United States eventually led him to be ordained priest by the Bishop of New York on 16 June 1965. On the next day (the Feast of Corpus Christi) he celebrated his first Eucharist at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in New York City.

He was Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford and Canon Residentiary of Christ Church, Oxford from 1970 until 1986. On retirement he continued to live in Oxford and was appointed Professor Emeritus and Canon Emeritus. From 1996 he had been the Martin Heidegger Professor of Philosophical Theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation in the United States.

Macquarrie was awarded the Territorial Decoration in 1962. In 1964 the University of Glasgow conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters on him and in 1969 the university awarded him the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa. On his appointment to the Lady Margaret chair at Oxford he incepted as a Master of Arts. In 1981 he became a Doctor of Divinity of the University of Oxford and in 1984 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. He has also received the honorary degrees of Doctor of Sacred Theology from the University of the South (1967) and the General Theological Seminary (1968), Doctor of Divinity from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest (1981), the University of Dayton (1994), and the Graduate Theological Foundation, Indiana, and Doctor of Canon Law from Nashotah House (1986).

He was the Gifford Lecturer for 1983-84, lecturing on the topic In Search of Deity.

Macquarrie can be safely categorised as both an existentialist and a systematic theologian. His most important philosophical influence is the work of Martin Heidegger. Macquarrie remains one of the most important commentators and explainers of Heidegger's work. His co-translation of Being and Time into English is considered the canonical version. Macquarrie is also perhaps the most important English-language expositor on the theological and philosophical work of Rudolf Bultmann.

Among Macquarrie's most widely read books are his Existentialism, meant as an introduction to the subject, and what is perhaps his masterpiece: Principles of Christian Theology, a work of systematic theology that aims to harmonise existentialism and orthodox Christian thought. Macquarrie's work is characterised by a remarkable even handedness to all sides and viewpoints and, although not readily accessible to those without a good background in philosophy, his writing is considered engaging and often witty - at least judged by the standards of existentialism and systematic theology.