Diarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch, Knight, FBA, FSA, FRHistS is a professor of history of the church at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford . Though ordained as a deacon in the Church of England, he declined ordination to the priesthood because of the church's attitude to his homosexuality. In 2009 he encapsulated the evolution of his religious beliefs: "I was brought up in the presence of the Bible, and I remember with affection what it was like to hold a dogmatic position on the statements of Christian belief. I would now describe myself as a candid friend of... Christianity." Diarmaid MacCulloch was born in Kent, England. He attended Hillcroft Preparatory School and Stowmarket Grammar school in Suffolk. He subsequently studied history at Churchill College, Cambridge where he subsequently obtained a BA degree in 1972 and an MA degree 1976. During that period, he was also organ scholar at the college.
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