Bampton Lectures
The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. On a number of occasions, especially in the 19th century, they attracted great interest and controversy.
Originally a series of lectures was held annually. In 1896 the income from the agricultural estate which formed the original bequest had reduced so much that the year's lectures were cancelled; since then they have usually been every two years. They continue to concentrate on Christian theological topics. It is a condition of the Bampton Bequest that the lectures are published by the lecturer; they have traditionally been published in book form, and recent ones are available as video recordings.
Lecturers (incomplete list)
Links to the text of some of the lectures up to 1920 are available at the Project Canterbury Web site.1780–1799
- 1780 – James Bandinel Eight Sermons preached before the University of Oxford
- 1781 – Timothy Neve Eight Sermons preached before the University of Oxford
- 1782 – Robert Holmes The Prophecies and Testimony of John the Baptist, and the parallel Prophecies of Jesus Christ
- 1783 – John Cobb
- 1784 – Joseph White Mahometism and Christianity
- 1785 – Ralph Churton On the Prophecies Respecting the Destruction of Jerusalem
- 1786 – George Croft Eight Sermons preached before the University of Oxford
- 1787 – William Hawkins Discourses on Scripture Mysteries
- 1788 – Richard Shepherd The Ground and Credibility of the Christian Religion
- 1789 – Edward Tatham Chart and Scale of Truth
- 1790 – Henry Kett A Representation of the Conduct and Opinions of the Primitive Christians, with Remarks on Gibbon and Priestley
- 1791 – Robert Morres
- 1792 – John Eveleigh Eight Sermons Preached before the University of Oxford
- 1793 – James Williamson The Truth, Inspiration, Authority, and End of the Scriptures, considered and defended
- 1794 – Thomas Wintle Expediency, Prediction, and Accomplishment of the Christian Redemption Illustrated
- 1795 – Daniel Veysie The Doctrine of Atonement illustrated and defended
- 1796 – Robert Gray Sermons on the Principles Upon Which the Reformation of the Church of England was Established
- 1797 – William Finch Objections of Infidel Historians and Other Writers Against Christianity
- 1798 – Charles Henry Hall Fulness of Time
- 1799 – William Barrow ''Answers to some Popular Objections against the Necessity or the Credibility of the Christian Revelation''
1800–1824
- 1800 – George Richards The Divine Origin of Prophecy Illustrated and Defended
- 1801 – George Stanley Faber Horae Mosaicae
- 1802 – George Frederic Nott Religious Enthusiasm
- 1803 – John Farrer Sermons on the Mission and Character of Christ and on the Beatitudes
- 1804 – Richard Laurence An attempt to illustrate those articles of the Church of England, which the Calvinists improperly consider as Calvinistical
- 1805 – Edward Nares A View of the Evidences of Christianity at the End of the Pretended Age of Reason
- 1806 – John Browne, Fellow of Corpus Christi College Eight un-named sermons
- 1807 – Thomas Le Mesurier The Nature and Guilt of Schism
- 1808 – John Penrose An Attempt to Prove the Truth of Christianity
- 1809 – John Bayley Somers Carwithen A view of the Brahminical religion
- 1810 – Thomas Falconer Certain Principles in Evanson's Dissonance of the 'Four generally received Evangelists'
- 1811 – John Bidlake The Truth and Consistency of Divine Revelation
- 1812 – Richard Mant An Appeal to the Gospel
- 1813 – John Collinson A Key to the Writings of the Principal Fathers of the Christian Church who flourished during the first three centuries
- 1814 – William Van Mildert The General Principles of Scripture-Interpretation
- 1815 – Reginald Heber The Personality and Office of the Christian Comforter
- 1816 – John Hume Spry Christian Union Doctrinally and Historically Considered
- 1817 – John Miller The Divine Authority of Holy Scripture
- 1818 – Charles Abel Moysey The Doctrines of Unitarians Examined
- 1819 – Hector Davies Morgan A Compressed View of the Religious Principles and Practices of the Age
- 1820 – Godfrey Faussett The Claims of the Established Church to exclusive attachment and support, and the Dangers which menace her from Schism and Indifference, considered
- 1821 – John Jones The Moral Tendency of Divine Revelation
- 1822 – Richard Whately The Use and Abuse of Party Feeling in Matters of Religion
- 1823 – Charles Goddard The Mental Condition Necessary to a due Inquiry into Religious Evidence
- 1824 – John Josias Conybeare ''An Attempt to Trace the History and to Ascertain the Limits of the Secondary and Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture''
1825–1849
- 1825 – George Chandler The Scheme of Divine Revelation Considered
- 1826 – William Vaux The Benefits Annexed to a Participation in the Two Christian Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper
- 1827 – Henry Hart Milman Character and Conduct of the Apostles Considered as an Evidence of Christianity
- 1828 – Thomas Horne The Religious Necessity of the Reformation
- 1829 – Edward Burton Inquiry into the Heresies of the Apostolic Age
- 1830 – Henry Soames An inquiry into the doctrines of the Anglo-Saxon church
- 1831 – Thomas William Lancaster The Popular Evidence of Christianity
- 1832 – Renn Dickson Hampden The Scholastic Philosophy considered in its relation to Christian Theology
- 1833 – Frederick Nolan Analogy of Revelation and Science Established
- 1834 – Richard Laurence An Attempt to illustrate those Articles of the Church of England which the Calvinists improperly consider as Calvinistical
- 1836 – Charles Atmore Ogilvie Eight Sermons
- 1837 – Thomas S. L. Vogan The Principal Objections against the Doctrine of the Trinity
- 1838 – Henry Arthur Woodgate The Authoritative Teaching of the Church
- 1839 – William Daniel Conybeare An analytical examination into... the writings of the Christian Fathers during the Ante-Nicene period
- 1840 – Edward Hawkins Connected Principles
- 1841 – Samuel Wilberforce was invited to lecture but withdrew following the death of his wife Emily
- 1842 – James Garbett Christ, as Prophet, Priest, and King
- 1843 – Anthony Grant The Past and Prospective Extension of the Gospel By Missions to the Heathen
- 1844 – Richard Wiliam Jelf An inquiry into the means of grace, their mutual connection, and combined use, with especial reference to the Church of England
- 1845 – Charles Abel Heurtley Justification
- 1846 – Augustus Short The Witness of the Spirit with our Spirit
- 1847 – Walter Augustus Shirley
- 1848 – Edward Garrard Marsh The Christian Doctrine of Sanctification
- 1849 – Richard Michell ''The Nature and Comparative Value of the Christian Evidences''
1850–1874
- 1850 – Edward Meyrick Goulburn The Resurrection of the Body
- 1851 – Henry Bristow Wilson The Communion of Saints
- 1852 – Joseph Esmond Riddle The Natural History of Infidelity and Superstition in contrast with Christian Faith
- 1853 – William Thomson The Atoning Work of Christ viewed in Relation to some Ancient Theories
- 1854 – Samuel Waldegrave New Testament Millenarianism
- 1855 – John Ernest Bode The Absence of Precision in the Formularies of the Church of England
- 1856 – Edward Arthur Litton The Mosaic Dispensation Considered as Introductory to Christianity
- 1857 – William Edward Jelf Christian Faith, Comprehensive, not Partial; Definite, not Uncertain
- 1858 – Henry Longueville Mansel The Limits of Religious Thought
- 1859 – George Rawlinson Historic Evidence for the Truth of the Christian Records
- 1860 – James Augustus Hessey On Sunday: its Origin, History, and Present Obligation
- 1861 – John Sandford The Mission and Extension of the Church at Home
- 1862 – Adam Storey Farrar
- 1863 – John Hannah The Relation between the Divine and Human Elements in Holy Scripture
- 1864 – Thomas Dehany Bernard
- 1865 – James Bowling Mozley Miracles
- 1866 – Henry Parry Liddon The Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
- 1867 – Edward Garbett Dogmatic Faith, an inquiry into the relation subsisting between revelation and dogma
- 1868 – George Moberly The Administration of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ
- 1869 – Robert Payne Smith Prophecy a Preparation for Christ
- 1870 – William Josiah Irons Christianity as Taught by St. Paul
- 1871 – George Herbert Curteis Dissent, in Its Relation to the Church of England
- 1872 – John Richard Turner Eaton The Permanence of Christianity
- 1873 – Isaac Gregory Smith Characteristics of Christian Morality
- 1874 – Stanley Leathes ''The Religion of the Christ''
1875–1899
- 1875 – William Jackson, FSA Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford The Doctrine of Retribution
- 1876 – William Alexander The Witness of the Psalms to Christ and Christianity
- 1877 – Charles Adolphus Row Christian evidences viewed in relation to modern thought
- 1878 – Charles Henry Hamilton Wright Zechariah and his Prophecies Considered in Relation to Modern Criticism
- 1879 – Henry Wace The Foundations of Faith
- 1880 – Edwin Hatch The Origin of Early Christian Churches
- 1881 – John Wordsworth The One Religion: truth, holiness and peace desired by the nations, and revealed by Jesus Christ
- 1882 – Peter Goldsmith Medd The One Mediator
- 1883 – William Henry Fremantle The World as the Subject of Redemption
- 1884 – Frederick Temple The Relations between Religion and Science
- 1885 – Frederic William Farrar The History of Interpretation
- 1886 – Charles Bigg The Christian Platonists of Alexandria
- 1887 – William Boyd Carpenter Permanent Elements of Religion
- 1888 – Robert Edward Bartlett The Letter and the Spirit
- 1889 – Thomas Kelly Cheyne The Origin and Contents of the Psalter
- 1890 – Henry William Watkins Modern Criticism considered in its Relation to the Fourth Gospel
- 1891 – Charles Gore The Incarnation of the Son of God
- 1892 – Alfred Barry Some Light of Science on the Faith
- 1893 – William Sanday Inspiration
- 1894 – John Richardson Illingworth Personality, Human and Divine
- 1895 – Thomas Banks Strong Christian Ethics
- 1897 – Robert Lawrence Ottley Aspects of the Old Testament
- 1899 – William Ralph Inge ''Christian Mysticism''