Rowland Williams (16 August 1817 – 18 January 1870) was a Welsh theologian and educationalist. He was vice-principal and Professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

at St David's College, Lampeter, from 1849 to 1862 and one of the most influential theologians of the nineteenth century. He supported biblical criticism and pioneered comparative

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

in Britain. He was also a priest 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, ...

, and the vicar of Broad Chalke in Wiltshire, where he is buried. Williams is also credited with introducing

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

to Wales; Lampeter's team was the first to be established in the nation.

Early life

Williams was the son of the Welsh clergyman and writer Rowland Williams (d. 1854). He was born at Halkyn, Flintshire and educated at Eton and then King's College Cambridge. Following in his father's footsteps, he was ordained deacon in 1842 and priest in 1843. He was classical tutor of King's College for eight years; at this time he developed an interest in oriental studies. In 1848 he was awarded a university prize for a dissertation which compared Christianity and Hinduism. He was appointed vice-principal and Professor of Hebrew at St David's College, Lampeter in 1850. There he worked hard to improve the conditions and standards of the college. At this point, he was thought likely to become the first truly Welsh bishop in Wales for almost two centuries.

Theological controversy

In December 1854, as select preacher in Cambridge, Williams delivered a course of sermons, entitled Rational godliness''.' He argued that everything that was doubtful in the Bible could be surrendered, with little or no disadvantage to Christian essentials. Williams's views were regarded as not altogether orthodox, although the work appears fairly conservative to later generations. In 1855 the bishop of Llandaff forced him to resign his post as examining chaplain in his diocese. Williams attempted to defend his views in ''Lampeter theology,'' but this only made matters worse. He then published ''Christianity and Hinduism,'' an extended version of his submission for the Cambridge prize. In the dialogue, three Europeans and three Hindus present their views. The younger Christian interlocutor, Blancombe, is generally thought to represent Williams's own opinions.

Essays and reviews

Williams contributed a review of Baron von Bunsen's ''Biblical researches'' to ''

Essays and Reviews ''Essays and Reviews'', published by John William Parker in March 1860, is a Broad church, broad-church volume of seven essays on Christianity. The topics covered the biblical research of the German critics, the evidence for Christianity, religio ...

,'' published in 1860. Williams commended the critical approach to the Bible, which was already established in Germany. He advocated a more acceptable interpretation of some Christian doctrines, for instance arguing that atonement should be understood as 'salvation from evil through sharing the Saviour's spirit' not as 'purchase from God through the price of his bodily pangs'. Williams compared those opposed to the new biblical criticism to "degenerate senators before Tiberius." Williams was tried and condemned for heresy in the Court of Arches, together with Henry Bristow Wilson, the editor of ''Essays and reviews''. Both had been accused of denying the inspiration of scripture. Their acquittal, on appeal 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 ...

, afforded a valuable protection to liberty of thought within the

Later years

In 1859 Williams married Ellen, daughter of Charles Cotesworth RN, a Liverpool merchant. The couple had no children. Williams left Lampeter for Broad Chalke, near Salisbury, in June 1862. He had accepted the living there in 1858 and was to stay there for the rest of his life. He is buried in Broad Chalke; there is a memorial window to him in the church. Lord Elis-Thomas, Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales, opened a new research centre at the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter () was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest Academic degree, degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited degree awarding powers sinc ...

, on Friday 8 April 2005, named in honour of Williams: ''The Rowland Williams Research Centre for Theology and Religion''. In attendance at the first conference were three great-great nephews of Rowland Williams.

References

* *Parker, J.W. (ed.) (1860). ''Essays and reviews.'' London: John W. Parker. Also available from Google books.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Rowland 1817 births 1870 deaths Linguists from Wales Welsh theologians Welsh scholars and academics People associated with the University of Wales, Lampeter 19th-century Welsh Anglican priests 19th-century Anglican theologians Academics of the University of Wales, Lampeter