PORTRAIT OF A REBEL: The Life of Robert Lewis Paddock, 1869-1939

by Maria Minor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1965

This is a clearly written, and at times, exciting, biography of a late bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He was himself the son of a bishop, and came of a family of bishops. His early years as an ordained priest of the Church were spent in the slum around Stanton Street in New York City, where his reforming zeal brought him into conflict with a corrupt police regime. Out of this conflict arose the reform movement that led to the victory of Seth Low as Mayor. After a few years in Chelsea, he was elected missionary bishop of Eastern Oregon. There his unconventional ideas as to how a missionary area should be served, and his attempt to introduce, ahead of his time, a plan whereby various denominations would co-operate in placing churches in the new country brought him into conflict with the high church party in his own communion and into disfavor with leaders of competing denominations. His support of pacifists during World War I led to further opposition. Two years before his death, however, he was honored at a dinner attended by leading social liberals both within and without the Episcopal church. The book will be of primary interest to students of Episcopal church history; but it is also instructive for general readers in its portrait of a type of church leader not likely to be seen again.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Seabury

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1965

Categories: NONFICTION