Colenso, John William

COLENSO, JOHN WILLIAM. - Anglican missionary and bishop, b. in Cornwall, England, on 24 Jan. 1814, d. at Natal on 20 June 1883. After completing his studies at Cambridge, he was ordained an Anglican minister and then for some time had charge of an Anglican parish. In 1853 he was elected first bishop of Natal in Africa, and there he knew how to win the esteem and affection of the Zulus of his diocese.

He published a Zulu grammar and dictionary, translated into the same language the Power Book and part of the Bible; but faced with the difficulty of converting old polygamists, he maintained that Baptism could be conferred on them. It seems that precisely in order to resolve various difficulties raised by some Zulus, he wrote in 1861 the Commentary of the Epistle to the Romans, and under the pretext of commenting on it "from the missionary aspect," he denied the eternity of the pains of hell. The following year, in The Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua critically examined, he denied the historicity of these sacred books. His writings caused a great stir among Anglicans, and many bishops wrote to him advising him to renounce his see, which he was unwilling to do. Deposed in 1863 by his metropolitan of the Cape of Good Hope, Robert Gray, he appealed to the "Privy Council" (v. CANTERBURY), and this tribunal declared the metropolitan's sentence null and invalid; but since the latter had retained the administration of the goods of the diocese of Natal, C. had it restored to him by a decree of the Supreme Court of Natal; the metropolitan then likewise appealed to the "Privy Council," and this confirmed the sentence of the Supreme Court of Natal (1866). The scandal of this affair was enormous in the Anglican world. When the bishops of the Anglican communion met for the first time in 1867 at the Lambeth Conference, they dealt thoroughly with the question; almost all the resolutions adopted reflect some point of the South African struggle; resolution VI deals directly with the "scandal of the Church of Natal," and VII with the consecration of another bishop who was to replace C. This was done, but C., strong in the decrees and sentences of the civil courts, remained in his post, dividing, by arrangement, the offices in the Cathedral with the other bishop, and retaining the administration of the goods of the diocese until he died. This unpleasant affair revealed to the world the scant cohesion of the Anglican episcopate, because there were some who defended or at least did not agree with the others on the manner of dealing with C.; and it demonstrated the dependence of ecclesiastical power on civil power, and the insubordination of a bishop not only unpunished but triumphant. The Zulus, whom C. defended against the arrogance of the English colonists, remained always faithful to him and called him "father of the people."

Camillo Crivelli