Bishop James Albert Pike (
February 14, 1913-
September 3?, 1969), US
theologian
Episcopal Bishop James Pike was a controversial public figure during the turbulent 1960s, popular for discussing theological questions in plain language but controversial for his willingness to question church
doctrine and deeply held beliefs. His willingness to question prevailing orthodoxy may have led him to embrace metaphysical silliness and hucksters who took advantage of his grief over his dead son.
Born in
Oklahoma, his father died when he was two years old. He and his mother moved to
Hollywood,
California in
1921. Drawn to the spiritual life from when he was young, he used to dress up dolls as little priests. He had been raised as a
Catholic and studied at the
University of Santa Clara to prepare for the priesthood. However, doubt and skepticism caused him to abandon these plans and turn to the law instead. He earned a law degree from the
University of Southern California (
1936) and a
jurisdoctorate from
Yale University (
1938). He moved to
Washington D.C., joined the faculty of
George Washington University Law School, and was certified to appear before the
Supreme Court. In
1942, he married
Esther Yanovsky. During
World War II, he served in the Naval Intelligence Corps as a
lieutenant j.g..
Law would not be his calling, apparently, as he converted to the
Episcopal Church in
1942 and entered the
seminary. At
Union Theological Seminary, he studied under the theological heavyweights
Paul Tillich and
Reinhold Niebuhr. In the priesthood, he quickly distinguished himself in a variety of church posts and became head of the
religion department at
Columbia University. In
1952 he was appointed dean of the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine in
New York City and in
1958 he became
bishop of the
diocese of
San Francisco.
His fame began when large crowds flocked to his sermons in New York. He became a prolific author, penning works like
Beyond Anxiety, The Faith of the Church, If You Marry Outside of Your Faith, Roadblocks to Faith, and
Doing the Truth which tackled religious questions in plain language for a popular audience. From
1955 to
1960, he hosted a weekly TV program on
ABC where he interviewed guests about moral issues. People ranging from
Linus Pauling to
Aldous Huxley to his teenage daughter appeared on the show.
In California, he became an
iconoclastic man for the iconoclastic times. In
Grace Cathedral, he installed
stained glass windows of “secular saints” like
Thurgood Marshall,
John Glenn, and
Albert Einstein. He marched with
Martin Luther King in
Selma and spoke out against the
Vietnam War. He challenged fundamental church doctrine like the
virgin birth, the
trinity, and the divinity of
Jesus, and he did it publicly, in sermons, magazine articles, and books like
A Time for Christian Candor, You and the New Morality, and
If This Be Heresy. He appeared on the cover of
Time Magazine, and inside he said things like he thought the
Bible was “shot through with superstition, sheer evil, and flat contradiction.” Naturally, things like these made him enemies in the church, and he was brought up on charges of
heresy no less than three times. He was finally censured by the church.
Pike was the first to admit that he wasn’t much of a family man. He struggled with
alcoholism for years and his work and public life left him little time for his family. He plundered diocesan funds to support his mistress, who committed
suicide in
1967. He and Esther divorced and he married his secretary, Diane Kennedy. His daughter Cathy attempted suicide.
What devastated him the most was the death of his son Jim. Jim committed suicide in
1966, which may or may not have been related to the
LSD he was taking. Soon, he was convinced he was seeing signs from beyond with Jim’s return address:
safety pins bent and books ajar at the angle formed by the hands of a clock at the time of Jim’s death. He began to consult
spirit mediums to communicate with his dead son. Though he also consulted with mediums
George Daisley and
Ena Twigg (who later claimed she received messages from Bishop Pike himself upon his death and knew the location of his body), he was most associated with the infamous “Reverend”
Arthur Ford, who used to hang with
Harry Houdini. On Canadian TV, Ford claimed to communicate with not only Jim, but Pike’s old mentor Paul Tillich. Pike was utterly convinced. His final book,
The Other Side, was about his investigations into
life after death. What Pike apparently did not know was that while
psychics and mediums excel at
cold readings, they often build files and subscribe to secret “
blue books” which contain information on high profile potential marks. After Ford’s death, his papers revealed that he had files on Pike and had used the information to fake the
seance. Imagine that.
In
1968, he resigned as bishop and started the
Foundation of Religious Transition, which exists today as part of the
Teleos Foundation. In
1969, he and Diane took a trip to
Israel, perhaps to retrace the steps of Jesus. They became lost in the Judean desert and their car broke down. Diane, who was much younger, went ahead to retrieve help, but took four days to find Pike’s dead body.
Philip K. Dick knew Bishop Pike and his final novel,
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (
1982), is based on his life.
Sources:
Gale Contemporary Authors Online
Gale Religious Leaders of America
Gale Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology
“Bishop Pike”, “In Search Of...” episode, 1978
http://www.gracecathedral.org/church/crypt/cry_20011114.shtml
James Randi, An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural
Wesley Hyatt, The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television