Marie Elizabeth Robinson (nee Taubman) (1925–2014): Extraordinary in the Ordinary

Abstract

To many, Marie Elizabeth Robinson (1925–2014), lived her life as a mother and wife in the shadow of her husband Donald William Bradley Robinson (born 1922). Donald’s various offices, including Vice-Principal of Moore Theological College (1952–1972), Bishop of Parramatta (1973–1982), and Archbishop of the Sydney Anglican Diocese (1982–1993), allowed him extraordinary formal ecclesial influence in Sydney and Australia, and significant influence in seminaries and churches worldwide through his academic contributions to the field of theology, in particular, the doctrine of the church. For Anita Barnett, however, Marie ‘carved out for herself a role of far greater influence than Don had’. It is beyond the scope of this essay to assess this claim, and indeed to do so might be impossible as Donald and Marie served God in such different ways. Yet what can be said is that in those ‘ordinary’ arenas in which Marie focused her energies, leadership abilities, and her first-class mind—namely, in raising her children, supporting her husband, teaching God’s Word, and the edification of other Christians—an extraordinary influence was had.