John Bainbridge Webster
Encyclopedia
Professor John B. Webster, MA, PhD, DD
, FRSE
is a notable contemporary British theologian of the Anglican communion
writing in the area of systematic
, historical
and moral theology
. Born in Mansfield, England on June 20, 1955, he was educated at the independent co-educational Bradford Grammar School
and at the University of Cambridge
.
, Durham University
(1982–86) and went on to teach systematic theology at Wycliffe College — one of the seven colleges that comprise the Toronto School of Theology
, University of Toronto
(1986–96) — before becoming the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford
, a prestigious chair in which he was immediately preceded by Rowan Williams
who later became Archbishop of Wales
(1999–2002) and then Canterbury
(2002-). During Webster's seven-year tenure at Oxford (1996–2003) he also served as a canon of Christ Church
. In 2003, he was installed in the Chair of Systematic Theology at King's College, University of Aberdeen
, Scotland
. Among other administrative tasks in the university, he is convenor of the research committee for the School of Divinity, Philosophy, and History. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
in 2005.
Together with the late Reverend Professor Colin Gunton
(1940–2003), Webster co-founded the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church and of the Scottish Journal of Theology Monographs. He is the series editor of The Great Theologians, Barth Studies for Ashgate, and co-editor for the Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology (2007).
whom he has written on extensively and developed a unique account of, which stresses the significant role of biblical interpretation and the Reformed tradition in Barth’s work. Jüngel and Barth present important influences on Webster’s own constructive dogmatic work, which offers that the most reliable articulation of Christian truth is that made in shared attention with the Reformation
's renewal of Chalcedonian Christianity and guided by the perfect and free God who makes himself the proper object of extended paraphrase by his active self-presentation in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In September 2007, Webster delivered the inaugural lectures of the Kantzer Lectures in Revealed Theology moderated by Kevin Vanhoozer
through the Carl F. H. Henry
Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
in Deerfield, Illinois
.
Jüngel, Eberhard (1995). Theological Essays II. Editor John Webster. Translators Arnold Neufeldt-Fast and J. B. Webster. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Jüngel, Eberhard (1998). Theological Essays I (2d ed.). Trans. John Webster. London: T & T Clark.
Jüngel, Eberhard (2001). God's Being is in Becoming: The Trinitarian Being of God in the Theology of Karl Barth. Trans. John Webster. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John, ed. (2006). Possibilities of Theology: Studies in the Theology of Eberhard Jüngel in his 60th Year (New ed.) Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (1998). Barth's Moral Theology: Human Action in Barth's Thought. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Webster, John, ed. (2000). The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webster, John (2004). Karl Barth (2d ed.). Outstanding Christian Thinkers. London: Continuum.
Webster, John (2004). Barth's Early Theology. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (2005). Barth's Earlier Theology: Four Studies. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (2003). Holiness. London: SCM.
Webster, John (2003). Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webster, John (2005). Confessing God: Essays in Christian Dogmatics II. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (forthcoming, 2012). The Domain of the Word of God: Scripture and Theological Reason. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (forthcoming, 2012). God Without Measure: Essays in Christian Doctrine. London: T & T Clark.
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
, FRSE
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
is a notable contemporary British theologian of the Anglican communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
writing in the area of systematic
Systematic theology
In the context of Christianity, systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs...
, historical
Historical theology
Historical theology is a branch of theological studies that investigates the socio-historical and cultural mechanisms that give rise to theological ideas, systems, and statements. Research and method in this field focus on the relationship between theology and context as well as the major...
and moral theology
Moral theology
Moral theology is a systematic theological treatment of Christian ethics. It is usually taught on Divinity faculties as a part of the basic curriculum.- External links :*...
. Born in Mansfield, England on June 20, 1955, he was educated at the independent co-educational Bradford Grammar School
Bradford Grammar School
Bradford Grammar School is a co-educational, independent school in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire. Headmaster, Stephen Davidson is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference . The school was founded in 1548 and granted its Charter by King Charles II in 1662...
and at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
.
Career
Webster began his career as a chaplain and tutor at St John's CollegeSt John's College, Durham
St John's College is a college of the University of Durham, United Kingdom. It is one of only two 'Recognised Colleges' of the University, the other being St Chad's. This means that it is financially and constitutionally independent of the University and has a greater degree of administrative...
, Durham University
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
(1982–86) and went on to teach systematic theology at Wycliffe College — one of the seven colleges that comprise the Toronto School of Theology
Toronto School of Theology
The Toronto School of Theology is an ecumenical centre for graduate theological education and the largest of its kind in Canada. Affiliated with the University of Toronto, the TST comprises seven member colleges in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Reformed traditions, as well as four affiliated...
, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(1986–96) — before becoming the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, a prestigious chair in which he was immediately preceded by Rowan Williams
Rowan Williams
Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...
who later became Archbishop of Wales
Archbishop of Wales
The post of Archbishop of Wales was created in 1920 when the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England , and disestablished...
(1999–2002) and then Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
(2002-). During Webster's seven-year tenure at Oxford (1996–2003) he also served as a canon of Christ Church
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also, uniquely, the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford.-History:...
. In 2003, he was installed in the Chair of Systematic Theology at King's College, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Among other administrative tasks in the university, he is convenor of the research committee for the School of Divinity, Philosophy, and History. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
in 2005.
Together with the late Reverend Professor Colin Gunton
Colin Gunton
Colin Ewart Gunton was a British systematic theologian. As a theologian he made contributions to the doctrine of Creation and the doctrine of the trinity. He was Professor of Christian Doctrine at King's College London from 1984 and co-founder with Christoph Schwoebel of the Research Institute for...
(1940–2003), Webster co-founded the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He is also a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church and of the Scottish Journal of Theology Monographs. He is the series editor of The Great Theologians, Barth Studies for Ashgate, and co-editor for the Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology (2007).
Theological Commorancy
His PhD thesis was on the German Lutheran systematic and philosophical theologian Eberhard Jüngel: “Distinguishing Between God and Man: Aspects of the Theology of Eberhard Jüngel” (1982). Subsequently, Webster’s translations and theological interaction with Jüngel are largely responsible for introducing him to the English speaking academy. Through study of Jüngel, Webster became well acquainted with the theology of Karl BarthKarl Barth
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...
whom he has written on extensively and developed a unique account of, which stresses the significant role of biblical interpretation and the Reformed tradition in Barth’s work. Jüngel and Barth present important influences on Webster’s own constructive dogmatic work, which offers that the most reliable articulation of Christian truth is that made in shared attention with the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
's renewal of Chalcedonian Christianity and guided by the perfect and free God who makes himself the proper object of extended paraphrase by his active self-presentation in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In September 2007, Webster delivered the inaugural lectures of the Kantzer Lectures in Revealed Theology moderated by Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin Vanhoozer
Kevin J. Vanhoozer is Blanchard Professor of Theology at Wheaton College. He will resume his old position, Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, in Fall, 2012. He is the author of several books on theology, hermeneutics, and...
through the Carl F. H. Henry
Carl F. H. Henry
Carl Ferdinand Howard Henry was an American evangelical Christian theologian who served as the first editor-in-chief of the magazine Christianity Today, established to serve as a scholarly voice for evangelical Christianity and a challenge to the liberal Christian Century.-Early Years and...
Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Deerfield, Illinois. TEDS is one of the largest seminaries in the world, enrolling more than 1,200 graduate students in professional and academic programs, including more than 150 in its PhD programs...
in Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
.
Translations or works on Eberhard Jüngel
Webster, John (1991). Eberhard Jüngel: An Introduction to His Theology (2d ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Jüngel, Eberhard (1995). Theological Essays II. Editor John Webster. Translators Arnold Neufeldt-Fast and J. B. Webster. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Jüngel, Eberhard (1998). Theological Essays I (2d ed.). Trans. John Webster. London: T & T Clark.
Jüngel, Eberhard (2001). God's Being is in Becoming: The Trinitarian Being of God in the Theology of Karl Barth. Trans. John Webster. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John, ed. (2006). Possibilities of Theology: Studies in the Theology of Eberhard Jüngel in his 60th Year (New ed.) Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Works on Karl Barth
Webster, John (1995). Barth's Ethics of Reconciliation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Webster, John (1998). Barth's Moral Theology: Human Action in Barth's Thought. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Webster, John, ed. (2000). The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webster, John (2004). Karl Barth (2d ed.). Outstanding Christian Thinkers. London: Continuum.
Webster, John (2004). Barth's Early Theology. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (2005). Barth's Earlier Theology: Four Studies. London: T & T Clark.
Constructive works
Webster, John (2002). Word and Church: Essays in Church Dogmatics. London: T & T Clark.Webster, John (2003). Holiness. London: SCM.
Webster, John (2003). Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webster, John (2005). Confessing God: Essays in Christian Dogmatics II. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (forthcoming, 2012). The Domain of the Word of God: Scripture and Theological Reason. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (forthcoming, 2012). God Without Measure: Essays in Christian Doctrine. London: T & T Clark.
Exhortative works
Webster, John (2011). The Grace of Truth. Farmington Hills, MI: Oil Lamp Books.Links to Audio Lectures
- Perfection and Presence: God With Us, According to the Christian Confession Kantzer Lectures in Revealed Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
- On Mercy 2007 Christianity and Ethics Conference at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary
External links
- Webster's page at the University of Aberdeen
- Kantzer Lectures at the Henry Center
- Prof. John Webster at Frost's Scottish Who's Who
- John Webster at Theopedia