Hulsean Lectures
The Hulsean Lectures were established from an endowment made by John Hulse to the University of Cambridge in 1790. At present, they consist of a series of four to eight lectures given by a university graduate on some branch of Christian theology.
History
The lectures were originally to be given by a "learned and ingenious clergyman" from Cambridge, holding the degree of Master of Arts, who was under the age of forty years. The terms for the lectures were quite extensive and particular. The lecturer wasAs a result of these rather demanding terms and conditions, for some thirty years no person could be found who would undertake the office of this lectureship. The first to accept was Christopher Benson, who held the post until 1822, at which time he quit, having found the terms and conditions imposed by the lectureship too fatiguing and laborious. For the rest of the decade, only two more lecturers were found, and both in their turn resigned for the same reasons. Finally, in 1830, after the post had remained vacant for three years, the Court of Chancery reduced the number of lectures to be given in a year to eight and extended the deadline for publishing the lectures to one year following the delivery of the last lecture.
In 1860 the number of lectures was further reduced to a minimum of four. Also changed at this time was the length of appointment to one year, with the possibility of reappointment after an interval of five years; the lecturer need not be a clergyman, but simply have some higher degree from Cambridge and be at least thirty years of age; and the necessity of printing or publishing the lectures was done away with. The topic was somewhat simplified to something that would show the evidence for Revealed Religion, or to explain some of the most difficult texts or obscure parts of Holy Scripture. Finally, by 1952 the topic was changed to its present wording, "on some branch of Christian Theology", and the office of the lectureship was extended to two years.
The following list of lectures has been compiled from a number of different sources.
Lecturers
1820–1850
- 1820 — Christopher Benson,
- 1821 — James Clarke Franks,
- 1822 — Christopher Benson,
- 1823 — James Clarke Franks,
- 1824 — No appointment
- 1825 — No appointment
- 1826 — Temple Chevallier,
- 1827 — Temple Chevallier,
- 1828 — No appointment
- 1829 — No appointment
- 1830 — No appointment
- 1831 — John James Blunt,
- 1832 — John James Blunt,
- 1833 — Henry John Rose,
- 1834 — No appointment
- 1835 — Henry Howarth, The truth and obligation of revealed religion, considered with reference to prevailing opinions
- 1836 — Henry Howarth,
- 1837 — Richard Parkinson,
- 1838 — Richard Parkinson,
- 1839 — Theyre Townsend Smith,
- 1840 — Theyre Townsend Smith,
- 1841 — Henry Alford,
- 1842 — Henry Alford,
- 1843 — John Howard Marsden,
- 1844 — John Howard Marsden,
- 1845 — Richard Chenevix Trench,
- 1846 — Richard Chenevix Trench,
- 1847 — Christopher Wordsworth,
- 1848 — Christopher Wordsworth,
- 1849 — William Gilson Humphry,
- 1850 — William Gilson Humphry,
1851–1875
- 1851 — George Currey,
- 1852 — George Currey,
- 1853 — Benjamin Morgan Cowie,
- 1854 — Benjamin Morgan Cowie,
- 1855 — Harvey Goodwin,
- 1856 — Harvey Goodwin,
- 1857 — Charles Anthony Swainson,
- 1858 — Charles Anthony Swainson, The Authority of the New Testament, the Conviction of Righteousness, and the Ministry of Reconciliation
- 1859 — Charles John Ellicott,
- 1860 — John Lamb,
- 1861 — Charles Merivale, not published
- 1862 — John Saul Howson,
- 1863 — Francis Morse, not published
- 1864 — Daniel Moore,
- 1865 — James Moorhouse,
- 1866 — Edward Henry Perowne,
- 1867 — Charles Pritchard,
- 1868 — John James Stewart Perowne,
- 1869 — John Venn,
- 1870 — Frederic William Farrar,
- 1871 — Fenton John Anthony Hort,
- 1872 — Josiah Brown Pearson, not published
- 1873 — Stanley Leathes,
- 1874 — George Martin Straffen,
- 1875 — Edward Thomas Vaughan
1876–1900
- 1876 — Edwin Abbott Abbott,
- 1877 — George Smith Drew,
- 1878 — William Boyd Carpenter,
- 1879 — Vincent Henry Stanton,
- 1880 — Thomas Thomason Perowne, "The Intercession of Christ, or our Lord's present work in Heaven as High Priest of His Church, as it is revealed in Holy Scripture, and in its bearing on the worship of the Church on earth"
- 1881 — Joseph Foxley, Secularism, Scepticism, Ritualism, Liberationism
- 1882 — Frederick Watson,
- 1883 — John James Lias,
- 1884 — Thomas George Bonney, The Influence of Science on Theology
- 1885 — William Cunningham,
- 1886 — John de Soyres,
- 1887 — Joseph Hirst Lupton, "Misrepresentations of Christianity," not published
- 1888 — Henry Major Stephenson,
- 1889 — Edward George King, The "Asaph" Psalms in their Connexion with the Early Religion of Babylonia
- 1890 — John Llewelyn Davies,
- 1891 — Arthur Temple Lyttelton,
- 1892 — John Bickford Heard,
- 1893 — Mandell Creighton,
- 1894 — Alfred Barry,
- 1895 — William Moore Ede,
- 1896 — Samuel Cheetham,
- 1897 — James Edward Cowell Welldon,
- 1898 — James Wilson,
- 1899 — Arthur James Mason,
- 1900 — Fredrick Henry Chase
1901–1925
- 1901 — Frederick Robert Tennant,
- 1902 — F. J. Foakes Jackson, Christian Difficulties in the Second and Twentieth Centuries: A Study of Marcion and his Relation to Modern Thought
- 1903 — William Allen Whitworth, Christian thought on present-day questions
- 1904 — Charles William Stubbs,
- 1905 — Henry Joseph Corbett Knight,
- 1906 — James Pounder Whitney,
- 1907 — John Howard Bertram Masterman,
- 1908 — John Neville Figgis,
- 1909 — W. Edward Chadwick,
- 1910 — Ernest Arthur Edghill, The Revelation of the Son of God: Some questions and considerations arising out of a study of second century Christianity
- 1911 — Reginald James Fletcher, Dei Christus, Dei verbum
- 1912 — H. Latimer Jackson, The Eschatology of Jesus
- 1913 — William Leighton Grane,
- 1914 — Hugh Fraser Stewart,
- 1915 — Herbert A. Watson,
- 1916 — Arthur Stuart Duncan Jones, Ordered Liberty: or, An Englishman's belief in his church
- 1917 — John Owen Farquhar Murray, The Goodness and Severity of God
- 1918 — Francis Ernest Hutchinson,
- 1919 — Alexander Nairne, .
- 1920 — Philip Napier Waggett, Knowledge and Virtue
- 1921 — Leonard Elliott Elliot-Binns, Erasmus the Reformer: A Study in Restatement
- 1922 — Charles Frank Russell, .
- 1923 — Stewart Andrew McDowall,
- 1924 — Alan Coates Bouquet, .
- 1925 — William Ralph Inge
1926–1945
- 1926 — Charles E. Raven,
- 1927 — Edmund Gough de Salis Wood, not published
- 1929 — Charles Archibald Anderson Scott,
- 1931 — Allan John Smith Macdonald, Authority And Reason In The Early Middle Ages
- 1933 — Herbert George Wood, .
- 1936 — John Martin Creed,
- 1938 — John Burnaby,
- 1939 — Stephen Charles Neill, "The Forgiveness of Sins"
- 1941 — Election suspended
- 1942 — Election suspended
- 1943 — Election suspended
- 1944 — Election suspended
- 1945 — Election suspended
1946–1975
- 1947 — Edward Chisholm Dewick, .
- 1949 — William Owen Chadwick, "The Early Medieval Doctrine of the Church"
- 1950 — Robert Henry Thouless, Authority and Freedom: Some Psychological Problems of Religious Belief
- 1952 — Laurence Edward Browne, The Quickening Word: A Theological Answer to the Challenge of Islam
- 1954 — Henry Chadwick, "Origen"
- 1956 — Hendrik Kraemer, A Theology of the Laity
- 1958 — Clifford William Dugmore, "The Doctrine of Grace in the English Reformers"
- 1960 — Peter Runham Ackroyd,
- 1964 — George Frederick Woods,
- 1966 — Peter Richard Baelz, Prayer and Providence
- 1967 — David Lawrence Edwards, Religion and Change
- 1968 — John Arthur Thomas Robinson, The Human Face of God
- 1970 — Kathleen Louise Wood-Legh, "Good Works"
- 1973 — Maurice Frank Wiles, The Remaking of Christian Doctrine
1976–2000
- 1975–1976 — Peter Bingham Hinchliff, "The Relationship between Mission and Empire in the Nineteenth Century"
- 1977–1978 — Charles Davis,
- 1979–1980 — Alan Malcolm George Stephenson, The Rise and Decline of English Modernism
- 1981–1982 — Gordon McGregor Kendal, "The Problem of Pleasure: A Christian Analysis"
- 1983–1984 — David Michael Thompson,
- 1985–1986 — David Nicholls, and
- 1987–1988 — Ingolf Ulrich Dalferth, "A Grammar of Faith"
- 1989–1990 — John Barton, The Spirit and the Letter: Studies in the Biblical Canon.
- 1991–1992 — Sarah Coakley, .
- 1993–1994 — Oliver O'Donovan,
- 1994–1995 – David Brown
- 1995–1996 — Nicholas Sagovsky, .
- 1997–1998 — Brian Murdoch, .
- 1999–2000 — Philip Sheldrake, .
2001–
- 2001–2002 — John de Gruchy, .
- 2003–2004 — N. T. Wright,
- 2005–2006 — Ellen F. Davis, Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible.
- 2007–2008 — Hugh McLeod, "Religion and the Rise of Sport in Modern England"
- 2009–2010 — Alister E. McGrath,
- 2011–2012 — Neil MacGregor, "The Cost of the Beauty of Holiness: The spiritual price of the visual tradition in the western church"
- 2013–2014 — Richard B. Hays, Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness.
- 2015–2016 — Rowan Williams, "Christ and the Logic of Creation"
- 2017-2018 — Marilynne Robinson, "Holy Moses: An appreciation of Genesis and Exodus as Literature and Theology."