Ernest William Barnes (1874-1953) Bishop of Birmingham

Earnest was originally a British mathematician and scientist. In his late twenties he became a liberal theologian and bishop. He became the leader of the Modernist movement in the Church of England. He was renowned as a pacifist during WW11.

1893 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge.
I1897 elected to a Trinity Fellowship.
1902 appointed as a lecturer in Mathematics and ordained as a deacon in the Church of England.
1903 ordained as a priest.
1906/8 appointed junior dean.
1908 appointed tutor.

1915 he left Cambridge, and his career in mathematics, to become Master of the Temple in London.
1918 he received a canonry at Westminster Abbey.
1924 became bishop of Birmingham (1924-53)
1953 retired after nearly 30 years due to poor health.

He was perhaps the best known liberal bishop of his time, identified with the modernist or broad church movement. His time as bishop was marked by continual controversy. His book The Rise of Christianity attacked many Christian claims including the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Christ.

Read Pacifism and Eugenics,

Earnest died, aged 79, at his home in Sussex.