Robert Newton Flew

Robert Newton Flew (1886–1962) was an English Methodist minister and theologian, and an advocate of ecumenism among the Christian churches.

Robert Newton Flew was born at Holsworthy, Devon on 25 May 1886, the older son of Josiah Flew (1859–1925), a Wesleyan Methodist minister, and his wife, Florence Jones (1863–1964). Originally from Portland, Dorset, the family moved during Flew's childhood to Wiltshire and Warwickshire, and then to the suburbs of London. There Flew won a scholarship in 1897 to the independent school Christ's Hospital, followed by a "postmastership" (scholarship) to Merton College, Oxford, where he read classics and theology. While at Merton, Flew contributed to debates within the university on international affairs. He spent a term in Bonn and Marburg in 1909.

While training for the Wesleyan ministry, Flew taught theology and classics at Handsworth College. He spent five years from 1913 as a circuit minister in Winchmore Hill, North London, during which time he made study visits to Italy and Switzerland and first made close acquaintance with Catholics. He then volunteered as a naval chaplain, although the Armistice had already been signed before he set sail for 18 months in Mesopotamia. He spent a further 18 months at United Theological College, Bangalore, India.

On his return to England, Flew married in July 1921 Winifred Garrard (1887–1982), a Wesleyan Methodist teacher – their son Antony Garrard Newton Flew (1923–2010) was to become a prominent philosopher. He spent the next six years in a circuit ministry in London, where he built up strong ecumenical relations. His friendship with the Austrian Catholic theologian Baron von Hügel led him to closer study of spirituality, resulting in a book, The Idea of Perfection in Christian Theology (1934), which remained in print for many years. For this he was awarded a doctorate of divinity by the University of Oxford, the first ever for a non-Anglican.

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