John Bainbridge Webster | |
---|---|
Born |
Mansfield, England |
20 June 1955
Died | 25 May 2016 Aberdeen, Scotland |
(aged 60)
Residence | Scotland |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Professor, theologian |
Title | Chair of Divinity |
Academic background | |
Education | MA, PhD (Cambridge) |
Thesis title | Distinguishing Between God and Man: Aspects of the Theology of Eberhard Jüngel |
Thesis year | 1982 |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Biblical studies |
Institutions |
Durham University University of Toronto University of Oxford St. Mary's College, University of St Andrews |
Main interests | systematic, historical and moral theology |
John Bainbridge Webster DD FRSE (20 June 1955 – 25 May 2016) was a British theologian of the Anglican Communion writing in the area of systematic, historical, and moral theology. Born in Mansfield, England on 20 June 1955, he was educated at the independent co-educational Bradford Grammar School and at the University of Cambridge. 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, University of St Andrews, Scotland.
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 — one of the seven colleges that comprise the Toronto School of Theology, University of Toronto (1986–96) — before becoming the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, a prestigious chair in which he was immediately preceded by Rowan Williams who later became Archbishop of Wales (1999–2002) and then Canterbury (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, Scotland. 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 in 2005.