John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the
Zulu and
biblical scholar
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...
, who served as the first
Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the
Zulu language
Zulu ( ), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language of the Nguni languages, Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa. Nguni dialects are regional or social varieties of the Nguni language, ...
. In his role as an
Anglican theologian, Colenso is now remembered for views of the Bible that set off intense controversy.
Early life and education
Colenso was born at
St Austell
Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon.
At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900.
History
St Austell was a village centred ...
, Cornwall, on 24 January 1814 the son of John William Colenso and Mary Ann Blackmore. His surname is Cornish and possibly originates from Colenso in the parish of
St Hilary, near
Penzance
Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...
in West Cornwall. It is a place name from the
Cornish language
Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...
''Kelyn dhu'', meaning "dark hollies". His father (John William Colenso) invested his capital into a mineral works in
Pentewan
Pentewan (, meaning ''foot of the radiant stream'') is a coastal village and former port in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at south of St Austell at the mouth of the St Austell River.
Pentewan is in the civil pari ...
, Cornwall, but the speculation proved to be ruinous when the investment was lost following a sea flood. His cousin
William Colenso
William Colenso (17 November 1811 – 10 February 1899) FRS was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an acco ...
was a missionary in New Zealand.
Family financial problems meant that Colenso had to take a job as an
usher in a private school before he could attend university. These earnings and a loan of £30 raised by his relatives paid for his first year at
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
where he was a
sizar
At Trinity College Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an Undergraduate education, undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in retur ...
.
Showing talent in mathematics, in 1836 he was
Second Wrangler
At the University of Cambridge in England, a "Wrangler" is a student who gains first-class honours in the Mathematical Tripos competition. The highest-scoring student is the Senior Wrangler, the second highest is the Second Wrangler, and so on ...
and
Smith's Prize
Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the names ...
man at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and in 1837 he became fellow of St John's.
Two years later he went to
Harrow School
Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
as mathematical tutor, but the step proved an unfortunate one. The school was at its lowest ebb, and Colenso not only had few pupils, but lost most of his property in a fire. He returned to Cambridge burdened by an enormous debt of £5,000. However, within a relatively short period he paid off this debt by diligent tutoring and the sale to
Longmans
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC.
Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is ...
of his copyright interest in the highly successful and widely read manuals he had written on algebra (in 1841) and arithmetic (in 1843).
Career
Colenso's early theological thinking was heavily influenced by
F. D. Maurice to whom he was introduced by his wife and by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...
.
In 1846 he became
rector of
Forncett St Mary
Forncett St Mary is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Forncett, in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located east of Attleborough and south-west of Norwich, close to the course of the River Tas.
History
For ...
, Norfolk, and in 1853 he was recruited by the
Bishop of Cape Town,
Robert Gray, to be the first
Bishop of Natal. He was consecrated as bishop on
St Andrew's Day
Saint Andrew's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Andrew or Andermas, is the feast day of Andrew the Apostle. It is celebrated on 30 November, during Scotland's Winter Festival. Saint Andrew is the disciple in the New Testament who introduc ...
, 30 November 1853, at
St Mary-at-Lambeth.
Life in Africa
Colenso was a significant figure in the history of the published word in 19th-century South Africa. He first wrote a short but vivid account of his initial journeying in Natal, ''Ten Weeks in Natal: A Journal of a First Tour of Visitation Among the Colonists and Zulu Kafirs of Natal''. Using the printing press he brought to his missionary station at Ekukhanyeni in
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
, and with William Ngidi he published the first
Zulu Grammar and English/Zulu dictionary. His 1859 journey across Zululand to visit
Mpande
Mpande kaSenzangakhona (c. 1798–18 October 1872) was monarch of the Zulu Kingdom from 1840 to 1872. He was a half-brother of Sigujana kaSenzangakhona, Sigujana, Shaka and Dingane, who preceded him as list of Zulu kings, Zulu kings. He came to ...
(the then Zulu King) and meet with
Cetshwayo
Cetshwayo kaMpande (; ; 1826 – 8 February 1884) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1884 and its Commander in Chief during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been transliterated as Cetywayo or Cetshwayo. Cetshwayo consistently ...
(Mpande's son and the Zulu King at the time of the Zulu War) was recorded in his book ''First Steps of the Zulu Mission''. The same journey was also described in the first book written by native South Africans in Zulu – ''Three Native Accounts'' by
Magema Fuze, Ndiyane and William Ngidi. He also translated the
New Testament
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
and other portions of Scripture into Zulu.
Religious debate
Through the influence of his talented and well-educated wife, Sarah Frances Bunyon, Colenso became one of only a handful of theologians to embrace
Frederick Denison Maurice
John Frederick Denison Maurice (29 August 1805 – 1 April 1872), commonly known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican priest and theologian. He was a prolific author and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since the Second World War ...
, who was raised a
Unitarian but joined the Church of England to help it "purify and elevate the mind of the nation". Before his missionary career Colenso's volume of sermons dedicated to Maurice signalled the critical approach he would later apply to biblical interpretation and the baleful impact on native Africans of colonial expansion in southern Africa.
Colenso first courted controversy with the publication in 1855 of his ''Remarks on the Proper Treatment of Polygamy'', one of the most cogent Christian-based arguments for tolerance of polygamy.
Colenso's experiences in Natal informed his development as a religious thinker. In his commentary on St Paul's ''
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that Salvation (Christianity), salvation is offered ...
'' (1861), he countered the doctrine of eternal punishment and the contention that Holy Communion was a condition to salvation. He also questioned the presence of a distinctly Christian Church in Rome, stating - "Was there, in fact, any Christian Church at Rome at all, at this time, distinct and definitely marked off from the Jewish community? There would seem to have been none whatever..." Colenso, as a missionary, would not preach that the ancestors of newly Christianised Africans were condemned to eternal damnation.
The thought-provoking questions put to him by students at his missionary station encouraged him to re-examine the contents of the ''
Pentateuch
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...
'' and the ''
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...
'' and question whether certain sections of these books (e.g.,
Noah's Ark,
the Deluge, the
Crossing of the Red Sea
The Parting of the Red Sea or Crossing of the Red Sea (, lit. "parting of the sea of reeds") is an episode in The Exodus, a foundational story in the Hebrew Bible.
It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egypt ...
,
the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yəṣīʾat Mīṣrayīm'': ) is the Origin myth#Founding myth, founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four of the five books of the Torah, Pentateuch (specif ...
, etc.), should be understood as literally or historically accurate. His conclusions, positive and negative, were published in a series of treatises on the ''
Pentateuch
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...
'' and the ''
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...
'', from 1862 to 1879. The publication of these volumes created a scandal in England and were the cause of a number of counter-blasts from those (clergy and laity alike) who refused to countenance the possibility of biblical fallibility. Colenso's work attracted the notice of biblical scholars on the continent such as
Abraham Kuenen
Abraham Kuenen (16 September 1828 – 10 December 1891) was a Dutch Protestant theologian.
Kuenen was born in Haarlem, the son of an apothecary. On his father's death it became necessary for him to leave school and take a humble place in the busi ...
and played an important role in the development of Old Testament criticism in Britain; not only in relation to the
theological
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...
/
doctrinal
Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system. The etymolog ...
issues of the Bible's
inerrancy,
infallibility
Infallibility refers to unerring judgment, being absolutely correct in all matters and having an immunity from being wrong in even the smallest matter. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. Th ...
, and
literalism (rather than
allegorism), and not only in relation to its increasingly-demonstrated scientific,
historical
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
,
geographical
Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
, and
chronological
Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...
inaccuracies, and the consequent
controversies about the age of the Earth, but, also, in relation to the precise accuracy of the translations-of-the-original presented in
particular versions,
[This, for example, became a significant issue in relation to the production of the ]Revised Version
The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late-19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first (and remains the only) officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Vers ...
of the King James Version of the Bible in the second half of the 19th century. as well as the separate question of how the Bible itself had developed and which parts (when written, and by whom) of which particular texts (and in what order)
should be included in the Bible itself.
Colenso's biblical criticism and his high-minded views about the treatment of African natives created a frenzy of alarm and opposition from the
High Church
A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...
party in South Africa and in England. As controversy raged in England, the South African bishops headed by
Bishop Robert Gray pronounced Colenso's deposition in December 1863. Colenso, who had refused to appear before this tribunal otherwise than by sending a proxy protest (delivered by his friend
Wilhelm Bleek
Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel Bleek (8 March 1827 – 17 August 1875) was a German linguist. His work included ''A Comparative Grammar of South African Languages'' and his great project jointly executed with Lucy Lloyd: The Bleek and Lloyd Archive ...
), appealed to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...
in London. The Privy Council eventually decided that the Bishop of
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
had no coercive jurisdiction and no authority to interfere with the
Bishop of Natal. In view of this finding of ''
ultra vires
('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act that requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...
'' there was no opinion given upon the allegations of heresy made against Colenso. The first
Lambeth Conference
The Lambeth Conference convenes as the Archbishop of Canterbury summons an assembly of Anglican bishops every ten years. The first took place at Lambeth in 1867.
As regional and national churches freely associate with the Anglican Communion, ...
was convened in 1867 to address concerns raised by the Privy Council's decision in favour of Colenso.
His adversaries, though unable to remove him from his episcopal office, succeeded in restricting his ability to preach both in Natal and in England. Bishop Gray not only excommunicated him but consecrated a rival bishop (
William Macrorie
The Rt Revd William Kenneth Macrorie (1831–1905) was bishop of Maritzburg, while John Colenso was bishop of the Diocese of Natal.
Macrorie was born at Liverpool on 8 February 1831, was eldest son of David Macrorie, a Liverpool physician, by ...
), who took the title of "Bishop of Maritzburg" (the latter a common name for
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...
). The contributions of the missionary societies were withdrawn, but an attempt to deprive him of his episcopal income and the control of St Peter's Cathedral in Pietermaritzburg was frustrated by another court ruling. Colenso, encouraged by a handsome testimonial raised in England to which many clergymen subscribed, returned to his diocese. A rival cathedral was built but it has long been sold and moved. The new
Cathedral of the Nativity, beside St Peter's, honours both Bishop Colenso and Bishop Macrorie in the names it has given to its halls.
Songs were written by
Samuel John Stone as a response to the schism within the Church of South Africa. It inspired him to write a set of
hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...
s titled ''Lyra Fidelium; Twelve Hymns on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles' Creed'' (1866). Among them was "
The Church's One Foundation
"The Church's One Foundation" is a Christian hymn written in the 1860s by Samuel John Stone.
Background
The song was written as a direct response to the schism within the Church of South Africa caused by John William Colenso, first Bishop of ...
".
Advocacy of native African causes
Colenso devoted the latter years of his life to further labours as a biblical commentator and as an advocate for native Africans in Natal and Zululand who had been unjustly treated by the colonial regime in Natal. In 1874 he took up the cause of
Langalibalele
Langalibalele ( isiHlubi: meaning 'The blazing sun', also known as Mthethwa, Mdingi (c 1814 – 1889), was king of the amaHlubi, a Bantu tribe in what is the modern-day province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
He was born on the edge of the ...
and the Hlubi and Ngwe tribes in representations to the Colonial Secretary,
Lord Carnarvon. Langalibalele had been falsely accused of rebellion in 1873 and, following a charade of a trial, was found guilty and imprisoned on
Robben Island
Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...
. In taking the side of Langalibalele against the Colonial regime in Natal and
Theophilus Shepstone
Theophilus Shepstone
Sir Theophilus Shepstone (8 January 181723 June 1893) was a British South African statesman who was responsible for the annexation of the Transvaal to Britain in 1877. Shepstone is the great-great-grandfather of internat ...
, the Secretary for Native Affairs, Colenso found himself even further estranged from colonial society in Natal.
Colenso's concern about the misleading information that was being provided to the Colonial Secretary in London by Shepstone and the Governor of Natal prompted him to devote much of the final part of his life to championing the cause of the
Zulus
Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
They originated from Nguni communities who took p ...
against
Boer
Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...
oppression and
official encroachments. He was a prominent critic of
Sir Bartle Frere
Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet, (29 March 1815 – 29 May 1884) was a British colonial administrator. He had a successful career in India, rising to become Governor of Bombay (1862–1867). However, as High Commissioner for South ...
's efforts to depict the Zulu kingdom as a threat to Natal. Following the conclusion of the Anglo-Zulu War he interceded on behalf of
Cetshwayo
Cetshwayo kaMpande (; ; 1826 – 8 February 1884) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1884 and its Commander in Chief during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been transliterated as Cetywayo or Cetshwayo. Cetshwayo consistently ...
with the British government and succeeded in getting him released from Robben Island and returned to Zululand.
He was known as 'Sobantu' (father of the people) to the native Africans in Natal and had a close relationship with members of the Zulu royal family; one of whom, Mkhungo (a son of Mpande), was taught at his school in Bishopstowe. After his death his wife and daughters continued his work supporting the Zulu cause and the organisation
that eventually became the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...
.
Polygenism
Colenso was a
polygenist
Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that humans are of different origins (polygenesis). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism, which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views find little merit ...
; he believed in
Co-Adamism, i.e. that races had been created separately. Colenso pointed to monuments and artefacts in Egypt to debunk monogenist beliefs that all races came from the same stock, i.e. from Adam and Eve. Ancient Egyptian representations of races, for example, showed exactly how the races looked today. Egyptological evidence indicated the existence of remarkable permanent differences in the shape of the skull, bodily form, colour and physiognomy between different races. Colenso believed that racial variation between races was so great, that it was impossible that all the races could have come from the same stock just a few thousand years ago. He was unconvinced that the climate could change racial variation. With other biblical polygenists, Colenso believed that monogenists had interpreted the Bible incorrectly.
Colenso said "It seems most probable that the human race, as it now exists, had really sprung from more than one pair." Colenso denied that polygenism caused any kind of racist attitudes or practices; like many other polygenists, he claimed that monogenesis was the cause of slavery and racism. Colenso claimed that each race had sprung from a different pair of parents, and that all races had been created as equals by God.
Death
Colenso died at
Durban
Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Situated on the east coast of South ...
, South Africa, on 20 June 1883, and was buried in front of the altar in his church, St Peter's,
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...
. His daughter
Frances Colenso
Frances Ellen Colenso (30 May 1849 – 28 April 1887) was an English historian of the Zulu Wars.
Life
Colenso was born in Forncett in Norfolk in 1849. Her father was John Colenso and her mother was Frances Colenso. She was known as "Fanny" by ...
(1849–1887) published two books on the relations of the Zulus to the British (''History of the Zulu War and Its Origin'' in 1880 and ''The Ruin of Zululand'' in 1885) that explained recent events in Zululand from a pro-Zulu perspective. His oldest daughter,
Harriette Colenso (1847 – 1932), took up Colenso's mantle as advocate for the Zulus in opposition to their treatment by the authorities appointed by Natal, especially in the case of
Dinizulu in 1888–1889 and in 1908–1909.
Personal life
Colenso married Sarah Frances Bunyon in 1846, and they had five children,
Harriette Emily,
Frances Ellen, Robert John, Francis "Frank" Ernest, and Agnes. (In the marriage register, her name is spelt Bunyan. There had long been variations in the spelling of a surname that goes back at least to the 12th century in England and in Normandy.) Sarah's sister
Harriette McDougall was a missionary.
In popular culture
* In the 1979 film ''
Zulu Dawn
''Zulu Dawn'' is a 1979 American adventure war film directed by Douglas Hickox and written by Anthony Storey and Cy Endfield. It is based on Endfield's book of the same name about the historical Battle of Isandlwana in 1879 between British and ...
'', Colenso is sympathetically portrayed by
Freddie Jones
Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for ...
, as a principled critic of the decision to declare war on
Cetshwayo
Cetshwayo kaMpande (; ; 1826 – 8 February 1884) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1884 and its Commander in Chief during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been transliterated as Cetywayo or Cetshwayo. Cetshwayo consistently ...
and the Zulus.
A minor town
Colenso in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is named after him.
The Zulu people of his era nicknamed him 'Sobantu', a name that translates to father of the people. The township Sobantu in the city of Pietermaritzburg is named after him.
Published works
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Part I: ''The Pentateuch Examined as an Historical Narrative'' (pp. 1–72).
Part II: ''The Age and Authorship of the Pentateuch Considered'' (pp. 73–160).
Part III: ''The Book of Deuteronomy'' (pp. 161–272).
Part IV: ''The First Eleven Chapters of Genesis'' (pp. 273–356).
Part V: ''The First Eleven Chapters of Genesis (continued)'' (pp. 357–428).
* (The 1st and 2nd series of the Natal Sermons have been re-printed, but the 3rd and 4th series, published only in South Africa and extremely rare, have not yet been reprinted.)
*
''The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined: Part VI: The Later Legislation of the Pentateuch'' London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1871.
*
''The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined by the Right Rev. John William Colenso, D.D., Bishop of Natal: Part VII: The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua compared with the other Hebrew Scriptures'' Longmans, Green, and Co. 1879.
*
*
*
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* (Though somewhat hagiographical, Cox's work is of major importance, containing as it does many of Bishop Colenso's letters.)
*
*
*
* Guy, J.J. (1983a), "The Religious Thinking of J.W. Colenso: The Theology of a Heretic", ''Religion in Southern Africa'', Vol.4, No.2, (July 1983), pp. 3-20.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
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* Mosothoane, Ephraim (1991), ''Scottish Journal of Theology'', Vol.44, No.2, (May 1991), pp. 215–236.
*
*
*
* Vance, Norman (2013), "The Crisis of Biblical Authority", pp. 59–91 in Norman Vance, ''Bible and Novel: Narrative Authority and the Death of God'', Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Books written in response to Colenso's views on the Pentateuch
*
*
*
*
*
*
* O'Malley, Joseph (1871)
''Noah's Ark Vindicated and Explained: A Reply to Dr Colenso's Difficulties'' Melbourne: Thomas Verga.
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Material relating to Colenso at Lambeth Palace Library*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colenso, John William
1814 births
1883 deaths
19th-century British mathematicians
19th-century British translators
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Anglican biblical scholars
Anglican bishops of Natal
British Anglican theologians
Christian Hebraists
Christian missionaries from Cornwall
British emigrants to South Africa
People excommunicated by the Church of England
People from St Austell
Second Wranglers
South African people of Cornish descent
Translators of the Bible into Zulu
British missionary linguists
19th-century Anglican theologians