T. E. Ruth: Preacher and Controversialist

“Ken Manley’s biography of T. E. Ruth adds considerably to our understanding of Ruth’s place in Australian religious and secular life in the first half of the twentieth century. In doing so, it challenges previous interpretations of this sometimes-controversial figure. A fascinating read.”

—Patricia Curthoys, coauthor of Pride of Place: A History of the Pitt Street Congregational Church



“Ken Manley has done it again. This time the subject of his meticulous scholarship . . . is a biography of T. E. Ruth, revered and reviled Protestant preacher, anti-Catholic ecumenist, platform agitator, progressive and (very) liberal evangelical, independent thinker, Empire loyalist, discomforting controversialist, stylish dogmatist. . . . Based on the study of Ruth’s sermons and his more than eight hundred contributions to the press, Manley’s analysis is a major resource for the development of that much-needed public theology.”

—Stuart Piggin, Macquarie University



“Angular and often strident, Ruth, not the normal subject of biography, is admirably presented by Manley in this ‘warts-and-all’ assessment, demonstrating that some defects were not as reprehensible as might at first appear. With theological daring, Ruth disdained traditional shibboleths without betraying evangelical conviction or Baptist principles. . . . Connecting church with everyday life, he made church relevant in contrast to the rather arcane Adventist speculations of some of his contemporaries.”

—John Briggs, University of Birmingham



“Ruth, a rising Baptist minister in England before the First World War, was carried by his eloquence to the pulpit of Collins Street Baptist Church, Melbourne, where he challenged the Roman Catholic Church and championed the British Empire. Subsequently, Ruth moved to the leading Congregational church in Sydney, adopting a self-professed modernist theology. Ken Manley has written a superbly contextualized biography, providing a vivid portrait of an extraordinary man.”

—David Bebbington, University of Stirling