Stephen Neill

Stephen Charles Neill (31 December 1900 – 20 July 1984) was a British Anglican bishop, missionary and scholar. He was proficient in a number of languages, including Ancient Greek, Latin and Tamil. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and was a fellow there before going as a missionary in Tamil Nadu in British India. He became bishop of Tirunelveli in 1939. He believed in unification of all churches in South India and communion beyond denominations. He wrote several books on theology and church history. He wrote various works including his unfinished History of Christianity as well as Out of bondage; Christ and the Indian villager published in 1930.

Stephen Charles Neill when he was work for the World Council of Churches (WCC) between 1947 to 1954.

Early life Neill was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 31 December 1900 to Charles Neill and Margaret Penelope ("Daisy") Neill, the daughter of James Monro (for a time Commissioner (CID) at Scotland Yard who, having resigned at the age of 52 on disagreeing with the government, returned to India, where he had been a district officer, to establish a medical mission). Both his parents were missionary doctors in India but spent much of their adult lives in various European countries for reasons of health and for the sake of their children's education. then in 1918 won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge and was elected to a fellowship in 1924. he moved to Dohnavur with his parents. There he became involved in negotiations for uniting the churches in South India He was elected the bishop at Tirunelveli in 1939. There he held the diocese together during the troubled times of the war, resisting encroachments by the state and initiating development projects in publishing, banking among other areas. In 1944 he resigned. In his autobiography, he attributes this to problems of ill health which had dogged him for most of his life. The editor of the biography notes that in the Diocese the common view is that he had to leave because of instances when he had struck his clergy and he adds that more serious allegations were made.

Academic work after returning to Europe After his return from India he became the assistant bishop to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Neill worked for the World Council of Churches from 1947 to 1954. In 1962 he went to the University of Hamburg as a professor of missions until 1967 and a professor of philosophy and religious studies in Nairobi between 1969 and 1973. His magnum opus History of Christianity in India remained uncompleted at the time of his death but the first volume, up to 1707, was published by the Cambridge University Press in 1984. He could achieve this task since he suffered from insomnia which kept him awake most of the night allowing him to write more.