Description
Book SynopsisBishop George Bell always felt that the Church must endeavour to meet the problems of the modern world. He was thus foremost in applying the precepts of the Christian faith to national and international issues. George Bell very often raised his voice in the House of Lords (of which he was a distinguished member from December 1937 till January 1958) against class and racial hatred, against war, and against totalitarianism, and spoke for the innocent and helpless victims of persecution. Complete texts of all Bell’s House of Lords speeches are presented here, published for the first time in one volume. The issues that Bell tackled are, in essence, still relevant today.
This volume also includes unpublished correspondence between George Bell and Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy. After the National Socialists came to power in Germany, Bell, as a committed Christian, felt that he had to act in defence of the German Church, which the Nazis were eager to destroy. The Bishop made strenuous efforts to contact people in power in Germany, people who, he knew, took decisions with momentous consequences. Rudolf Hess was one of them.
Table of ContentsContents: Preface by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd & Rt Hon. Dr Rowan Williams – Foreword by the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, the Very Revd Christopher Lewis – House of Lords Speeches: Refugee Problems - Peace Mediation - The Fifth Column - Germany and the Hitlerite State - German Atrocities - International Relations after the War - Agricultural Policy - Bombing Policy - Europe Relief Problems - The Moral Revival of Europe - War Memorials - World Organization for Peace - World State - Economic Situation in Germany - Employment of Prisoners of War - Displaced Persons - Let Europe be Envisaged as a Whole - The Work of UNESCO - German War Crimes Trials - German Prisoners in Russia - The Schuman Plan - How to Meet the Strategy of Post-war Totalitarianism? - Persecution of Religion in Communist States - Total War, Just War, the Use of the Atomic Bomb - On German Unity - The Importance of the Building of New Houses - Central African Federation - University Education - The Reform of the Constitution of the House of Lords - Retirement of the Bishop of Chichester - Farewell Speech: Developments Hostile to Religious Liberty in Eastern Germany – Correspondence with Rudolf Hess – German Text of Letters from Rudolf Hess to Bishop George Bell.
