John A. T. Robinson

John A. T. Robinson (1919-1983) was an Anglican bishop and New Testament scholar who profoundly influenced 20th-century theology through his controversial work "Honest to God" (1963). Educated at Cambridge, he served as Bishop of Woolwich from 1959 to 1969 before returning to Cambridge as Dean of Trinity College. Robinson challenged traditional Christian theism by advocating for a non-supernatural understanding of God, drawing on Paul Tillich's concept of God as "ground of being" and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "religionless Christianity." His radical theology sparked widespread debate about the relevance of Christianity in the modern world. Other significant works include "The Human Face of God" (1973) and "Redating the New Testament" (1976), where he argued for earlier dating of New Testament texts. Robinson's theological project sought to reinterpret Christian faith for a secular age while maintaining its essential truth claims.