Austin Marsden Farrer was born on 1 October 1904 in London. A philosopher and theologian, Farrer was ‘the greatest mind produced by the Church of England’ in the twentieth century according to Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford. He was made Deacon in 1928, and ordained Priest the following year, serving at All Saints, Dewsbury. In 1931, he returned to Oxford as Chaplain and Tutor of St Edmund Hall, then became Fellow and Chaplain of Trinity College until 1960. His final post was Warden of Keble College.
Made Honorary Fellow of Trinity College and Fellow of the British Academy, he is known for his work on the synoptic problem and his notion of ‘double agency’. A close friend of C.S. Lewis, he served him the last sacraments before his death. Important works include Finite and Infinite: A Philosophical Essay (1943), The Glass of Vision (1948), Lord, I Believe: Suggestions for Turning the Creed into Prayer (1962), The Triple Victory: Christ’s Temptation According to St. Matthew (1963), Saving Belief (1964), God Is Not Dead (1966), and Faith and Speculation (1967).
