Holy Inspirations 1

What a movie! 'They don't make 'em like they used to!'

This has to be one of the most remarkable feats of musical creativity, and the results of it are a sublime oratorio that is regarded as the first great English example in this genre. It is widely performed to this day.

Dawkins (Answer 3) is a prominent atheist, so this is unlikely to have been him. Carroll is better remembered as the author of the two 'Alice' books; Tolkien was at least a contemporary of Lewis (they drank together on a weekly basis as members of 'the Inklings' literary circle) but known principally for his 'middle earth' stories such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

This is surely one of the most famous images in the history of Christian belief; for pointers as to some of its symbolism, follow the footnotes from the Wikipedia page on this picture.

Edmund Halley (Answer 4) did once live in a house in Oxford within sight of Wren's Sheldonian Theatre, which at the time of its building contained the world's largest expanse of ceiling that did not have support from beneath.

Michaelangelo was at work on this masterpiece just over 500 years ago (1508-12), and this is still the building where the Cardinals assemble in conclave to elect each next Pope in conditions of total secrecy.

This was John Wayne, who, according to the showbiz anecdote, was called upon to gaze off-camera and say, 'Truly this man was the Son of God'. Reportedly, in the first 'take' he did not convey an expression of enough rapt bewilderment and devotion, and was invited by the director to 'say it again, but with awe' ... whereupon the cameras rolled once again, and Wayne said: 'Aw, truly this man ...' (!).

Each of these titles exists, but Pilgrim's Progress was the one written in jail by John Bunyan, who had been locked up under religious laws of those times which forbade the holding of any form of service except on church premises and under the aegis of the Church of England.
Apparently the book has been translated into over 200 languages, and never been out of print since 1678 (pretty well exactly 3 centuries prior to the film in Q.7, as it happens!).

Sullivan wrote plenty of religious music (not least, an oratorio called The Light of the World; see Q.4 above) and hymn tunes, but not this present work. Elgar was a Victorian by birth but also a Catholic and would probably not have cared to venture a setting of this text, though his Dream of Gerontius (to words by Cardinal John Newman) is rightly loved and respected. Vaughan Williams was only in his late twenties by the time Queen Victoria died, but went on to write cantatas (e.g. Job) and was almost incalculably influential on the world of English-language hymn-singing through his musical editorship of both the English Hymnal and Songs of Praise.

At time of writing (May 2014) this has now been about 20 years, but we are still awaiting Anglican women Bishops. Some other churches in communion with the C of E have already appointed female bishops, but the C of E itself has not yet voted through the necessary measures in all three of its Houses.