Godfrey Faussett (c.1781–1853) was an English clergyman and academic, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford from 1827. He was known as a controversialist. As a churchman he exemplified the high-and-dry tradition.

Life

He was the son of Henry Godfrey Faussett of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

(son of

Bryan Faussett Bryan Faussett (30 October 1720 – 20 February 1776) was an English antiquary. Faussett formed a collection that was rich in Anglo-Saxon objects of personal adornment, such as pendants, brooches, beads and buckles. He discovered the Kingston B ...

) and Susan Sandys. He graduated B.A. at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

in 1801, and M.A. in 1804 as a Fellow of

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

. He became B.D. in 1822 and D.D. in 1827, the year in which he was elected Lady Margaret Professor. Faussett was

Bampton Lecturer The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have sometimes been biennial ...

, publishing ''The Claims of the Established Church to exclusive attachment and support, and the Dangers which menace her from Schism and Indifference, considered'' (1820). He took the conservative side of the religious issues in the university, opposing the 1834 bill of George William Wood to allow dissenters to enter (on a committee with Edward Burton,

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...

Edward Pusey Edward Bouverie Pusey (; 22 August 180016 September 1882) was an English Anglican cleric, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. He was one of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement, with interest ...

and William Sewell), and defending subscription to the '' Thirty Nine Articles'' in 1835 with Vaughan Thomas and Newman. Faussett's 1838 sermon ''The Revival of Popery'' was provoked by the

Tractarian The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Uni ...

publication of the ''Remains'' of Hurrell Froude, who had died in 1836; in it Faussett denounced Newman and

John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, is named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...

. It echoed an 1831 sermon of Burton preached against Henry Bellenden Bulteel. It also proved a turning point as far as traditional High Church support for the Oxford Movement went within the university, since Faussett's alienation reflected the views of others in the camp. Newman replied in a "Letter to Faussett" in June of that year, significant in its abandonment of his previous views on the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...

. In 1843 Faussett complained to the vice-chancellor Philip Wynter about a sermon by Pusey. The outcome was that Pusey was banned from preaching for two years.

Works

In 1830, Faussett attacked

Henry Hart Milman Henry Hart Milman (10 February 1791 – 24 September 1868) was an English historian and ecclesiastic. Life He was born in London, the third son of Sir Francis Milman, 1st Baronet, physician to King George III (see Milman Baronets). Educa ...

's ''History of the Jews'' (1829) in a sermon ''Jewish History Vindicated from the Unscriptural View of it Displayed in the History of the Jews''. ''The Alliance of Church and State Explained and Vindicated'' (1834) protested against the power of non-Anglicans to legislate for 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, ...

Family

Faussett married first Marianne-Elizabeth Bridges of

Thanet Thanet may refer to: * Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England * Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College * Thanet Ca ...

; they had two sons and two daughters. Thomas Godfrey Faussett was his son by his second wife Sarah Wethered of

Great Marlow Great Marlow is a civil parishes in England, civil parish within Wycombe district in the England, English county of Buckinghamshire, lying north of the town of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, Marlow and south of High Wycombe. The parish includes the ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faussett, Godfrey 1781 births 1853 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Lady Margaret Professors of Divinity