Biography
Handley Carr Glyn Moule was born on December 23, 1841, in Fordington, Dorset, England. His father, Henry Moule, was the vicar of the parish and a man of strong evangelical faith, who also invented a dry earth system for sewage that was used widely. Handley was the youngest of eight sons, and the family was devout and learned. He was educated at home and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won high honors and was elected a fellow. He was a gifted student of the classics and of theology.
He was ordained in 1867 and served as a curate in his father's parish for a time. In 1873 he became the first dean of Trinity College Cambridge. He was a good teacher and a kind friend to the students. In 1880 he was appointed as the first principal of Ridley Hall, a new college in Cambridge to train men for the ministry. He held the post for nearly twenty years and shaped a generation of evangelical clergy. He taught them to love the Bible and to live a life of prayer. In 1899, he became the Norrisian Professor of Divinity at Cambridge.
He was a friend of the Keswick movement and a leading teacher in its cause. In the 1880s he went through a deep experience of surrender to Christ. He described this as a second blessing that gave him new peace and power. He spoke at the Keswick Convention many times and wrote a number of devotional books. They include Thoughts on Christian Sanctity and Secret Prayer. His writings were marked by a tender and scholarly spirit, and he stressed the importance of the Spirit's work in the heart.
His commentaries were widely used. He wrote on Romans, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians in the Cambridge Bible series, and his work was admired for its clarity and its devotion. He also wrote on the doctrines of the faith and on the Christian life. His Outlines of Christian Doctrine remained a standard text for many years. He had a gift for combining learning with warmth.
In 1901, he was appointed Bishop of Durham, one of the most senior posts in the Church of England. He served there for nearly twenty years. He was a conscientious and gentle bishop who visited his parishes and cared for his clergy. He gave much attention to the poor in his diocese, and he supported work among the miners. He was an evangelical in a church that was divided, and he tried to be fair to all sides. He was also a man who suffered from poor health.
His later years were marked by sorrow. He lost his wife and several of his children. He faced the strains of the First World War, and he saw many young men from his diocese die. He faced the criticism of those who thought that he was too cautious in the church debates of the day. He kept to his course and prayed.
He died on May 8, 1920, in Cambridge, at the age of seventy-eight. His life shows that a scholar and a bishop can also be a man of prayer and tenderness, and that holiness may be taught by a gentle voice.