To write and think ‘in his own tongue’: Arthur Prior, Jack Bates & the New Zealand Journal of Theology

Abstract

While the influence of John Findlay on Arthur Prior is well known, there are others who, in their own way, had a significant influence on the thought of the young Arthur Prior and the development of his intellectual career. In particular, both Lex Miller and Jack Bates provided support, ideas, and an example as to how to combine theological and political and philosophical interests that Prior followed for many years. This article discusses the influence of Jack Bates, and in particular the journal Bates cofounded with Jim Steele, the New Zealand Journal of Theology (hereafter NZJT), that Prior wrote for in the mid-1930s. It is argued that Bates can be seen to provide a model of combining theological and philosophical work and interests, as well as how to engage in the type of religious journalism that Prior noted, in 1936, was now his aim (Grimshaw 2018, p.93). Prior contined, via his roles as elder in the Presbyterian Church, to interact with Bates until Prior and his family finally left New Zealand for Manchester at the end of 1958.