John Webster (British theologian)

John Bainbridge Webster FRSE is a notable contemporary 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. He is currently Chair of Divinity at St. Mary's College, University of St Andrews, Scotland.^[1]

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 — 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.^[2]

Together with the Reverend Colin Gunton (1940–2003), Webster co-founded the International Journal of Systematic Theology. He is 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 is 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: “Distinguishing Between God and Man: Aspects of the Theology of Eberhard Jüngel” (1982).^[3] Subsequently, Webster’s translations and theological interaction with Jüngel are largely responsible for introducing him to the English speaking academy.^[4] Through study of Jüngel, Webster became well acquainted with the theology of Karl Barth 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.^[5] 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's renewal of Chalcedonian Christianity 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.^[6]

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 in Deerfield, Illinois.

Selected major works

Translations or works on Eberhard Jüngel

Webster, John (1991). Eberhard Jüngel: An Introduction to His Theology (2d ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jüngel, Eberhard (1995). Theological Essays II. Editor John Webster. Translators Arnold Neufeldt-Fast and J. B. Webster. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Jüngel, Eberhard (1998). Theological Essays I (2d ed.). Trans. John Webster. London: T & T Clark.
Jüngel, Eberhard (2001). God's Being is in Becoming: The Trinitarian Being of God in the Theology of Karl Barth. Trans. John Webster. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John, ed. (2006). Possibilities of Theology: Studies in the Theology of Eberhard Jüngel in his 60th Year (New ed.) Edinburgh: T & T Clark.

Works on Karl Barth

Webster, John (1995). Barth's Ethics of Reconciliation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webster, John (1998). Barth's Moral Theology: Human Action in Barth's Thought. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.
Webster, John, ed. (2000). The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webster, John (2004). Karl Barth (2d ed.). Outstanding Christian Thinkers. London: Continuum.
Webster, John (2004). Barth's Early Theology. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (2005). Barth's Earlier Theology: Four Studies. London: T & T Clark.

Constructive works

Webster, John (2002). Word and Church: Essays in Church Dogmatics. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (2003). Holiness. London: SCM.
Webster, John (2003). Holy Scripture: A Dogmatic Sketch. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Webster, John (2005). Confessing God: Essays in Christian Dogmatics II. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (2012). The Domain of the Word of God: Scripture and Theological Reason. London: T & T Clark.
Webster, John (forthcoming, 2014). God Without Measure: Essays in Christian Doctrine. London: T & T Clark.

Exhortative works

Webster, John (2011). The Grace of Truth. Farmington Hills, MI: Oil Lamp Books.

Sources

External links

• Webster's webpage at the University of St. Andrews
• Kantzer Lectures at the Henry Center
• Webster at Frost's Scottish Who's Who
• 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