John Bainbridge Webster (1955–2016) was an Anglican priest and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

writing in the area of

systematic Systematic may refer to: Science * Short for systematic error * Systematic fault * Systematic bias, errors that are not determined by chance but are introduced by an inaccuracy (involving either the observation or measurement process) inheren ...

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, and

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

. Born in

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market t ...

, England, on 20 June 1955, he was educated at the independent

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational independent day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination, except for the sixth form, where admission is based on GCSE results. The school ...

and at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. After a distinguished career, he died at his home in Scotland on 25 May 2016 at the age of 60. At the time of his death, he was the Chair of Divinity at

St. Mary's College Saint Mary's College (in French, ''Collège Sainte-Marie''), is the name of several colleges and schools: Australia *St Mary's College, Ipswich, an all-girls Catholic school in Queensland *St Mary's College, Maryborough, a co-educational school i ...

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

Career

Webster began his career as a chaplain and tutor at St John's College, Durham University (1982–86) and went on to teach systematic theology at Wycliffe College at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

– one of the seven colleges that comprise the

Toronto School of Theology The Toronto School of Theology (TST) is an ecumenical consortium of seven theological colleges and is affiliated with the University of Toronto. TST is the largest ecumenical consortium for theological education in Canada. Its seven member schools ...

(1986–1996) – before becoming the

Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity The Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity is a senior professorship in Christ Church of the University of Oxford. The professorship was founded from the benefaction of Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509), mother of Henry VII. Its holders were ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, a prestigious chair in which he was immediately preceded by

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bi ...

who later became

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. The four historic Welsh dioceses had previously formed part of the Province of Canterbury, and so came unde ...

(1999–2002) and then

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

(2002–2012). 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 , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. In Summer 2013, he became Chair of Divinity at the University of St Andrews. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 2005. Together with

Colin Gunton Colin Ewart Gunton (19 January 1941 – 6 May 2003) was an English Reformed systematic 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, Lond ...

(1940–2003), Webster co-founded the ''International Journal of Systematic Theology''. He was 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 was 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 Eberhard Jüngel (5 December 1934 – 28 September 2021) was a German Lutheran theologian. He was Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology and the Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Tübingen. Lif ...

: ''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 Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist 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 Declara ...

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 The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

's renewal of

Chalcedonian Christianity Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...

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.Webster, "Theological Theology." In ''Confessing God: Essays in Christian Dogmatics II'', 20, 26, 29. Cf. Ford, David F. "British Theology After A Trauma: Divisions and Conversations." ''Christian Century'' 117 No. 12 (2000): 425-32. 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 Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is an academic divinity school founded in 1897 and located in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. It is part of and located on the main campus of Trinity International University. It� ...

Deerfield, Illinois Deerfield is a north shore suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion extending into Cook County, Illinois. The population was 19,196 at the 2020 census. Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens Bo ...

Selected works

Thesis

Translations or works on Eberhard Jüngel

* * * * *

Works on Karl Barth

* * * * * * *

Constructive works

* * * * * * *

Exhortative works

Other

* *

Articles

* * * * * * *

Sources

External links

Webster's webpage at the University of AberdeenKantzer Lectures
at the Henry Center
John Webster at Theopedia

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, John 1955 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Anglican theologians 20th-century English Anglican priests English Anglican theologians Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy People from Mansfield Systematic theologians Academics of the University of Aberdeen Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British chaplains Anglican chaplains Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Academics of the University of St Andrews Academics of Durham University Lady Margaret Professors of Divinity University of Toronto faculty English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers