Gary Badcock : James Doull on Theology and Public Life

Let me begin with a personal reminiscence. The incident occurred in the late 1980s when I was a doctoral student in theology. Through a variety of circumstances, it happened that James Doull had read some of my writing relating to Hegel and contemporary theology. We arranged to meet, and had a discussion, in part of that part of my research, in part of my plans for the future. At the end our conversation about the academy and the church, I was asked whether I did not wish to go into politics instead. It was a surprising question, though not a defining moment in any sense. I did not (thanks be to God) become a politician but remained, then as now, an academic and a theologian. I recall the incident in this context mainly because it helps to illustrate something of the extraordinary character of Doull the man, and to make concrete something of his understanding of religion and public life. For throughout his work, Doull took up just this theme, insisting that religion and secularity are not separate but are to be taken together.