Overview

What happens when a devout believer who answered his vocation in the Church of Ireland, questions and then loses his faith in the supernatural or miraculous aspects of the life of Jesus Christ? Patrick Semple writes about the backdrop against which he grew up and became aware of the world and his questions about God and religion. This gripping memoir is his story: the story of a Church of Ireland clergyman who no longer believes the basic doctrines of Christianity and has found new insights in the teachings of modern astrophysics. ""The Rector Who Wouldn't Pray for Rain"" is also a picture of religious life in Ireland over the last sixty years, from an outsider's view of the Catholic triumphalist days of the 1940s, to the problems and benefits of the liberal secular society of today, told by a man who understands, and has lived through, both sides of the story.

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9781856355605

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Reviews

"""Semple's gripping story shows us how he starts as a clergyman who begins to reject the basic doctrines of Christianity, until he finds new and compelling insights to offset them in the teachings of modern astrophysics."" -- Irish Voice ""Irish Voice"""

Semple's gripping story shows us how he starts as a clergyman who begins to reject the basic doctrines of Christianity, until he finds new and compelling insights to offset them in the teachings of modern astrophysics. -- Irish Voice Irish Voice

Author Information

Patrick Semple was born in Wexford and was ordained by the Church of Ireland in 1967. He went on to serve in Belfast, Co Laois and Co Wicklow before moving to Dublin, where he served as chaplain at Mountjoy Prison, the Mater and Temple Street hospitals. He was also involved in The Adult Education Department of the Church of Ireland. He retired from the church in 1996 and now dedicates his time to writing. His first volume of memoir, Believe It or Not was published in 2002. He has contributed to a number of literary journals and has also published short stories and some of these have been broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and Lyric FM. His first collection of poetry The Rectory Dog was published in 2006.

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