Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge

History

Divinity has been taught in the University of Cambridge since its foundation, in the early 13th century, around the time the university itself was founded. It is one of only two subjects to have been taught continuously, in some form or other, throughout the entire 800-year history of the university.

The first professorship instituted at the university, the Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, was dedicated to the subject, in 1502. Similarly, the next professorships to be established at the university – the Regius chairs, of 1540 – included the Regius Professor of Divinity.

Beginning in 1879, the Faculty of Divinity was housed in the Selwyn Divinity School, constructed by Basil Champneys. Now known as The Old Divinity School, the building belongs to St John's College. Since 2001, the Faculty has been situated on the university's Sidgwick Site, in the west of the city.

Professorships

Since the 16th century, the University of Cambridge has seen the institution of numerous professorships in different subject areas, beginning with divinity, civil law, physics, Hebrew, and Greek.

The established chairs in the Faculty of Divinity include the following:

• Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity (1502)
• Regius Professor of Divinity (1540)
• Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity (1777), combined in 1934 from the Norrisian Professor (since 1780) and the Hulsean Professor (since 1860)
• Ely Professor of Divinity (1889)

Academics

The Faculty of Divinity is part of the Cambridge Theological Federation, offering academic training not only to the university's own graduates but also to ordinands as well. The current undergraduate degree is called "Theological and Religious Studies," rather than divinity, which reflects the range of topics and diversification in the field covered by the teaching.

Subject areas

Thematic and disciplinary areas of teaching and research in the Faculty of Divinity:

• Old Testament
• New Testament
• Christian Theology
• History of Christianity
• Philosophy of Religion
• Religious Studies
• Late antiquity
• Hebrew, Jewish, Early Christian
• World Christianities
• Scriptural languages

Lectures series

Since 1820, the Faculty of Divinity has hosted named lectures. They include the following:

• Hulsean Lectures
• Jeremie Lecture
• Stanton Lectures
• Tyrwhitt Lecture
• Yerushah Lecture

Reputation and rankings

For centuries the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge, like the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford, has been prominent in theological studies not only in the United Kingdom but also across the globe.

As university rankings have increased in importance for higher education in recent decades, the Faculty of Divinity has also maintained a high international profile in this new metric system. In 2019, the QS World University Rankings placed the University of Cambridge as 6th worldwide. Nationally, the Faculty has been ranked 1st by the Complete University Guide (2018) and by The Guardian (2018).

Notable senior members

The following are notable past and present senior members of the Faculty of Divinity. File:Joseph Barber Lightfoot by WB Richmond (crop).jpg|Joseph Barber Lightfoot File:Richard Bentley 3.jpg|Richard Bentley File:Erasmus.jpg|Erasmus

Past

• John Arrowsmith
• Peter Baro
• Joseph Beaumont
• Robert Beaumont
• Richard Bentley
• James Bethune-Baker
• John James Blunt
• Zachary Brooke
• Edward Harold Browne
• Martin Bucer
• William Buckmaster
• George Bullock
• Francis Crawford Burkitt
• John Burnaby
• Thomas Jackson Calvert
• Thomas Cartwright
• William Chaderton
• Henry Chadwick
• Eamon Duffy
• Frederick Henry Chase
• Sarah Coakley
• Samuel Collins
• George Elwes Corrie
• C. H. Dodd
• Charles John Ellicott
• Desiderius Erasmus
• James Fawcett
• John Fisher
• David Ford
• Wiliam Glyn
• Humphrey Gower
• John Green
• Peter Gunning
• John Hey
• Richard Holdsworth
• John Banks Hollingworth
• Morna D. Hooker
• Fenton John Anthony Hort
• Matthew Hutton
• William Ralph Inge
• Robert Jenkin
• James Amiraux Jeremie
• John Kaye
• Alexander Francis Kirkpatrick
• G. H. Lampe
• Nicholas Lash
• Judith Lieu
• Joseph Barber Lightfoot
• Richard Love
• Joseph Rawson Lumby
• Donald MacKinnon
• John Madew
• John Mainwaring
• Fred Shipley Marsh
• Herbert Marsh
• Arthur James Mason
• Charles F. D. Moule
• Handley Carr Glyn Moule
• Alexander Nairne
• Dennis Eric Nineham
• Alfred Ollivant
• John Overall
• John Pearson
• John James Stewart Perowne
• James Pilkington
• Leonard Pilkington
• Thomas Playfere
• Arthur Michael Ramsey
• Michael Ramsey
• John Randolph
• Edward Craddock Ratcliffe
• Charles Earle Raven
• John Redman (professor)
• John Richardson
• Nicholas Ridley
• Joseph Armitage Robinson
• J. A. T. Robinson
• Thomas Rutherforth
• Herbert Edward Ryle
• Thomas Sedgwick
• William Selwyn
• Janet Soskice
• Graham N. Stanton
• Vincent Henry Stanton
• George Christopher Stead
• John Still
• Charles Anthony Swainson
• Henry Barclay Swete
• Stephen Sykes
• William Telfer
• Anthony Tuckney
• Denys Alan Turner
• Thomas Turton
• Samuel Ward
• Richard Watson
• William Whitaker
• John Whitgift
• Ralph Widdrington
• Brooke Foss Westcott
• John Young

Present

• Douglas Hedley
• George van Kooten
• Nathan MacDonald
• Catherine Pickstock
• Krish Raval
• Richard Rex
• Timothy Winter
• Katharine Dell

References

Bibliography

David M. Thompson, Cambridge Theology in the Nineteenth Century: Enquiry, Controversy and Truth (London: Ashgate, 2008).

References

1. [http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/history.html A brief history of theology at Cambridge] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-04-07 , [http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk Faculty of Divinity], [[University of Cambridge]],)
2. [http://www.800.cam.ac.uk/page/5/history.htm 800 Years of History: Cambridge through the Centuries] {{webarchive. link. (2009-05-24 , University of Cambridge.)
3. Introductory lecture, Divinity faculty, October 2008
4. "The Divinity School, Cambridge, by Basil Champneys".
5. [http://www.cam.ac.uk/map/v4/drawmap.cgi?mp=sidg;xx=196;yy=230;mt=c Official Map:Sidgwick Site], University of Cambridge.
6. plaque, Faculty of Divinity building
7. [http://www.theofed.cam.ac.uk/bth.html The Bachelor of Theology for Ministry (BTh)], [http://www.theofed.cam.ac.uk/ Cambridge Theological Foundation], University of Cambridge.
8. [http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/courses The undergraduate Tripos] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-07-24 .)
9. [http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/subjects Subject areas] {{Webarchive. link. (22 September 2013 , Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.)
10. "QS World University Rankings® 2019".
11. "Theology & religious studies (2018)".
12. "Religious studies and theology (2018)".
13. [http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/directory/teaching-officers Staff], Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.
14. Awakin.org. "Conversation with Krish Raval {{!}} Awakin Call".