Henry Scott Holland and Social Christianity in the English Fin de siècle

An Anglo-Catholic of the third generation, Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918) was one of the most famous churchmen of his day. His idiosyncratic, limpid prose could be intoxicating, and from the heart of the establishment – Christ Church Oxford and St Paul’s Cathedral – he articulated the ‘cutting edge’ of the Church of England’s Christian socialism. Holland was as interested in politics, economics and art as he was in theology. With Charles Gore he had conceived Lux Mundi, the book which played a major role in nurturing Anglo-Catholicism’s adjustment to the changing times. With Gore he also founded the Christian Social Union, which aimed ‘to drag the social question into the Church’. This chapter explores the ways in which Holland exemplified the Christian fin de siècle, placing a high value on optimism and aestheticism, as well as social justice. Sermons and journalism were the main vehicles Holland used to express his ideas, yet his journalism in particular remains little explored. Although today his style can sometimes feel quaint and his optimism naïve, some of his observations remain remarkably prescient. Henry Scott Holland was an important voice in the formation of modern social Christianity who is worthy of fresh consideration.