Leonard Hodgson was born 24 October 1889 in Fulham, England. A theologian, his focus on the interaction between the material and spiritual helped reconcile modern science and religion. Ordained Deacon in 1913, he began a curacy at St Mark’s, Portsmouth and was Vice-Principal of St Edmund Hall, Oxford in 1914. Appointed Dean of Divinity and Tutor in Theology at Magdalen College, Oxford in 1919, he later became Canon of Winchester in 1931. Elected Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford in 1938, he retired as Regius Professor of Divinity at Magdalen College in 1958.
Awarded honorary degrees from Bishop’s University and the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, he was the warden of William Temple College from 1954 until 1966, meeting with representatives from industry, psychiatrists, sociologists, and theologians. Notable works include Essays in Christian Philosophy (1930), The Grace of God in Faith and Philosophy (1936), Towards a Christian Philosophy (1942), The Doctrine of the Trinity (1943), Christian Faith and Practice (1950), The Doctrine of the Atonement (1951), and Sex and Christian Freedom: An Enquiry (1967).
