Geoffrey William Bromiley (7 March 1915 – 7 August 2009) was an English ecclesiastical historian and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

theologian. He was

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

at Fuller Theological Seminary in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, having been Professor of Church History and Historical

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

there from 1958 until his retirement in 1987.

Biography and education

Bromiley was born into an "active Christian family" in Bromley Cross, Lancashire, England, in 1915.Jones, Allan
"Lillian Bromiley"
''Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity''. Retrieved 11 November 2023. He had three sisters, one of whom, Lillian (1917–71), became a renowned teacher and evangelist, who worked firstly in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and then among the Chinese community in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Bromiley was educated at Bolton School and

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, receiving

first-class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

in Part II of the modern and medieval languages

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

in 1936."University News", ''The Times'', 22 June 1936, p. 21. During his time at Cambridge he was a member of the Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, and upon receiving his degree he completed further studies in theology at Tyndale Hall in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

.Bradley, James E
"Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1915-2009"
''Society of Biblical Literature.'' Retrieved 11 November 2023. Ordained in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in 1938, Bromiley briefly served as an Anglican priest in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

before commencing postgraduate research in history at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he received a PhD in 1943 with a dissertation on

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...

and German Romanticism before Schleiermacher.

Academic work

Bromiley returned to Tyndale Hall shortly after receiving his doctorate, becoming a lecturer in theology and, later, vice principal of the college (1946–51). Whilst there he earned a second doctorate ( DLitt) at Edinburgh for a thesis that was subsequently published as ''Baptism and the Anglican Reformers''. He was awarded a further honorary doctorate ( DD) by the university in 1961, in recognition of his contribution to church scholarship. Bromiley left academia to serve as Rector of St. Thomas’s Church,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, from 1951 to 1958. In the latter year, he was appointed Professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he remained until his retirement in 1987. He helped to launch the seminary's PhD degree programme in history, supervising several students using the Oxbridge tutorial method of one-to-one engagement. An endowed chair in church history at Fuller was established in his name in 1991.

Death

Bromiley died in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, on 7 August 2009.

Writings

* ''Baptism and the Anglican Reformers'', 1953, Lutterworth Press. * ''The Baptism of Infants'', 1955, 1976 & 1977, Vine Books (Out of print, but no
available online
through the Church Society website) * ''Sacramental Teaching and Practice in the Reformation Churches'', 1957, Eerdmans. * ''Children of Promise: The Case for Baptizing Infants'', 1979, Eerdmans, * ''God and Marriage'', 1980, Eerdmans, * ''Historical Theology: An Introduction'', 2000, T & T Clark, * ''Introduction to the Theology of Karl Barth'', 2000, T & T Clark, Bromiley also co-edited the English translation of

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

's '' Church Dogmatics'' series with T. F. Torrance. Bromiley was also a contributor to the fully revised edition of

References

External links

Fuller Mourns the Loss of Geoffrey Bromiley

''Christianity Today''
Geoffrey Bromiley
at TheologicalStudies
The Baptism of Infants
at Church Society

Online writings

Only God is Free
''Christianity Today'', Feb 2002 1915 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Anglican theologians 20th-century British historians 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century Anglican theologians 21st-century British historians 21st-century British male writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century evangelicals Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Anglican writers British Anglican theologians British evangelicals British historians of religion British male non-fiction writers British religious writers Evangelical Anglican theologians Fuller Theological Seminary faculty Historians of Christianity People from Turton People educated at Bolton School {{christianity-historian-stub