For other people with the same name, see
James Parkes.
James William Parkes (22 December 1896 – 10 August 1981)[1] was an
Anglicanclergyman, historian, and social activist. With the publication of The Jew and His Neighbour in 1929, he created the foundations of a
Christian re-evaluation of
Judaism. He also published under the
pseudonymJohn Hadham.[2][3]
Early life
Parkes was born in
Guernsey on the
Channel Islands in 1896. He was the son of an English-born tomato grower, and had two siblings, David and Molly. Parkes was educated at
Elizabeth College. Parkes lost his mother at the age of 14, and lost both of his siblings during the
First World War.[4]
Education and activism
While at school, he won an Open Scholarship to
Hertford College, Oxford, and then enlisted to fight in the
First World War. After returning from the war, he went back to Oxford to complete his degree in Theology, and did so, despite catching measles in the middle of his final exams. After graduating, Parkes became a leading member of the Student Christian Movement before joining the International Student Service in Geneva. He then went on to study for ordination in the
Anglican Church, and spent the next 12 years on the continent as an activist in organizations that promoted international cooperation. It was there that he grew aware of the brutality of antisemitism and very early on spoke out about Nazism, surviving an assassination attempt in 1935.[citation needed]
Upon his return to England, he carved out a career as an independent scholar. Parkes contributed to several British publications, including The Observer, The Jewish Chronicle, Punch and Peace News.[5] He also wrote Common sense about religion, as part of the
Common Sense series.
Judaism and Christianity
Parkes was drawn to his study of Jewish–Christian relations by first-hand exposure to the brutality of
antisemitism on the continent, Parkes traced its animus to the obdurate hard-heartedness and wrongheadedness of Christianity vis-à-vis the Jewish people and their faith. He held that the principles and practice of historic Christianity was responsible for the sins and excesses that culminated in the
Holocaust. His life's work amounted not only to hundreds of articles and twenty-three books, among them The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue (1934), his magnum opus, but also to social activism. According to one historian, Parkes "devoted his whole life to fighting anti-Judaism and promoting tolerance of Jews".[5]
In that endeavor, for twenty years his was a lone clerical voice against the missionizing of Jews, and he would be the driving force in the founding of the
Council of Christians and Jews.[citation needed]
The Parkes Library
After a period of ill-health, Parkes was eager to pass his library and Judaica collection on so it could be used by future generations. In 1964, Parkes was approached by
David Gwilym James, the University of Southampton’s second Vice-Chancellor, who asked Parkes to consider donating his library to the collection at the University.[6] Parkes accepted the offer and the
Parkes Library at the University was officially opened on 23 June 1965.[7] By the time the Library was transferred to Southampton University Library in 1964 it amounted to over 4,000 books, 2,000 pamphlets and 140 journals.[8] It has continued to grow, and is now one of the largest Jewish documentation centres in Europe, with over 30,000 books and journals, published from the 15th century to the present day.[8]
Later life and legacy
In August 1964 James and his wife, Dorothy, moved from
Barley to
Iwerne Minster in Dorset. Parkes continued to write, including his autobiography, Voyage of Discoveries (1969), and many pamphlets and articles.[7] He also continued to write thousands of letters, many of which now reside in the Parkes Collection at the University of Southampton Parkes Library and Archive. On 10 August 1981, Parkes died at the age of 84. He was survived by Dorothy, to whom he bequeathed his entire estate.[7] Parkes' papers were later donated to the University of Southampton Special Collections and can be viewed at the Hartley Library archive.[9]
The Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations at the University of Southampton was formed in the memory of Parkes, and created in line with Parkes’ desire to create an international research centre to home his collections and archive.[7] The Institute is now an established academic research centre which teaches undergraduates, postgraduates, and doctoral candidates alongside a public outreach programme and a range of events and seminars.
Parkes has been memorialised in an exhibition, 'James Parkes and the Age of Intolerance', which launched in Southampton in January 2019 before going on to tour the
United Kingdom.[10] The
exhibition was digitised by the Parkes Institute in 2021 as part of the 40th anniversary commemorations of Parkes' death.[11]
Partial publications list
Parkes, James (1930). The Jew and his Neighbour: A Study in the Causes of Anti-Semitism. London: Student Christian Movement Press.
Parkes, James (1934). The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue: A Study in the Origins of Antisemitism. A history of antisemitism. London: Soncino Press.
OCLC251999287.
Parkes, James (1939). The Jewish Problem in the Modern World. London: Butterworth. ; 1st American ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946)
Hadham, John (1940). Good God: Sketches of his character and activities. Penguin special. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books.
OCLC270805293.
Republished as Hadham, John (1965). Good God: Sketches of his character and activities. Forward Movement Pub.
OCLC455861398.
Hadham, John (1941). God in a world at war. Penguin special. Vol. 73. Penguin Books.
OCLC313509833.
Hadham, John (1942). Between God and man. London: Longmans.
OCLC69196040.
Parkes, James (1943). An Enemy of the People : Antisemitism. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Pelican Books.
Hadham, John (1944). God and human progress. Penguin.
OCLC1292672741.
Fierman, Morton C. (1977). Dr. James Parkes: An affectionate statement on his eightieth birthday. Central Conference of American Rabbis.
OCLC3322244.
Fierman, Morton C. (1976). The Rev. Dr. James Parkes: An affectionate statement on the eve of his eightieth birthday. Seminar paper series. Vol. 3. California State University, Fullerton.
OCLC13312406.
Fierman, Morton C. (1976). The Thoughts and Ideas of James Parkes. California State University.
The Parkes Institute (11 April 2011).
"The Rev Dr James Parkes". University of Southampton. Archived from
the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
The Parkes Institute (n.d.).
"Reverend Dr James Parkes". University of Southampton. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
Pawlikowski, John T. (1969). The Church and Judaism: The Thought of James Parkes.
Razzouk, Assad (1970). The partisan views of Reverend James Parkes. Palestine essays. Vol. 22. Beirut, Lebanon: Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
OCLC1117200833.
"Scholar-fighter: Dr James Parkes". The Observer. The Observer profile. 1960.
Sugarman, Sidney; Bailey, Diana; Pennie, David A. (1977). A Bibliography of the Printed Works of James Parkes: With Selected Quotations. Southampton & Highfield: University of Southampton & Camelot Press.
ISBN978-0-85432-167-4.
Sugarman, Sidney (1977). A bibliography of the printed works of James Parkes : with selected quotations. Southampton, Eng: University of Southampton.
ISBN978-0-85432-167-4.
OCLC3541444.
Sugarman, Sidney (1975). James Parkes: A Quinquagesimal Tribute.