Kenneth Cragg

Albert Kenneth Cragg (8 March 1913 – 13 November 2012) was an Anglican bishop and scholar^[1] who commented widely^[2] on religious topics for more than fifty years, most notably Muslim-Christian relations.^[3]

Born on 8 March 1913 and educated at Blackpool Grammar School and Jesus College, Oxford he was awarded the Grafton Scholarship^[4] in 1934 ^[5] and ordained in 1937.

He began his career with a curacy at Higher Tranmere Parish Church, Birkenhead after which he was Chaplain of All Saints', Beirut, Rector of Longworth,^[6] Professor of Arabic and Islamics, Hartford Seminary, Connecticut and warden of St Augustine's College, Canterbury before his elevation to the episcopate as Assistant Bishop of Jerusalem in 1970.^[7]

There was at that time no Bishop of Egypt, and Cragg was given responsibility for the oversight of the Anglican communities in that country, until, in 1974, as a result of the reorganisation of the Anglican Church in the Middle East, a new Bishop was appointed.^[8]

He was then appointed Reader in Religious Studies, at Sussex University,^[9] following which he was Vicar of Helme (and an Assistant Bishop within the Wakefield Diocese).

A prolific author,^[10] in 1982 he retired to Oxford.

He married, in 1940, Melita Arnold. She died in 1989.^[11]

Publications

• The Call of the Minaret (1956) Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 56-8005 (1964 edition, Galaxy Books).
• Sandals at the Mosque - Christian Presence Amid ISLAM (1959) SCM Press.
• Alive to God - Muslim and Christian Prayer compiled with an Introductory Essay by Kenneth Cragg (1970) Oxford University Press, SBN 19 213220 2.
• The Event of the Qur'an - Islam in its Scripture (1971) George Allen & Unwin, ISBN 0-04-297024-5.
• The Mind of the Qur'an - Chapters in Reflection (1973) George Allen & Unwin, ISBN 0-04-297030-X.
• This Year in Jerusalem - Israel in Experience (1982) Darton, Longman & Todd, ISBN 0-232-51534-4.
• Muhammad and the Christian (1984) Darton, Longman & Todd.
• The Pen and The Faith - Eight modern Muslim writers and the Qur'an (1985) George Allen & Unwin, ISBN 0-04-297044-X.
• The Christ and the Faiths (1986) SPCK.
• Readings in the Qur'an - Selected and Translated by Kenneth Cragg (1988) Collins Liturgical Publications, ISBN 0-00-599087-4 (pbk.).
• Troubled by Truth - Life-Studies in Inter-Faith Concern (1992) Pentland Press, ISBN 1-872795-71-4.
• Returning to Mount Hira' (1992) Bellew.
• The Arab Christian - A History in the Middle East (1992) Mowbray, ISBN 0-264-67257-7.
• The Lively Credentials of God (1995) Darton, Longman & Todd.
• Palestine - The Prize and Price of Zion (1997) Cassel, ISBN 0-304-70075-4.
• Muhammad in the Qur'an - The Task and the Text (2001) Melisende, ISBN 1-901764-13-3.
• Am I not Your Lord - Human Meaning in Divine Question (2002) Melisende, ISBN 1-901764-21-4.
• The Iron in the Soul - Joseph and the Undoing of Violence (2009) Melisende, ISBN 978-1-901764-55-0.

Translations

• Hussein, Muhammad Kamel City of Wrong - A Friday in Jerusalem (1954) Cairo. Translation from Arabic published 1959 by Djambatan, Amsterdam.

References

1. ↑ The Times, Monday, 12 Aug 1963; pg. 7; Issue 55777; col B Anglican Mission To The World (Toronto Congress) “The political frontier"-The Rt Dr Kenneth Craggs
2. ↑ The Times (61142). 27 January 1982. p. 10, col. E. It would be odd to imagine that Palestinians would forget in three decades what Jews remembered for 18 centuries  Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. ↑ Interview with Bishop Cragg
4. ↑ The Times, Monday, 1 October 1934; pg. 7; Issue 46873; col C Ecclesiastical News Grafton Scholarship
5. ↑ Wound up 1996/7
6. ↑ Crockford's Clerical Directory2008/2009 Lambeth, Church House Publishing ISBN 978-0-7151-1030-0
7. ↑ The Times, Thursday, 18 December 1969; pg. 10; Issue 57746; col E Church News Canon Appointed Bishop
8. ↑ "Bishops of the Diocese of Egypt". Official website of the Episcopal Anglican Diocese of Egypt. Retrieved 2011-04-08.  "The Rt Rev Kenneth Cragg". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-11-27. 
9. ↑ During which time he also served as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Chichester > Who's Who 2008: London, A & C Black, 2008 ISBN 978-0-7136-8555-8
10. ↑ Amongst others he has written "The Call of the Minaret", 1956;"Counsels in Contemporary Islam", 1965; "The Event of the Qur'ān", 1971; " Palestine: the prize and price of Zion", 1997; "Muhammad in the Qur'ān", 2002; "The Qur'an and the West", 2006 British Library catalogue accessed Thursday 28 August 2008 20:12
11. ↑ "The Rt Rev Kenneth Cragg". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-11-27.