The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term—in other words, the knowledge of God." A Gifford Lectures appointment is one of the most prestigious honours in Scottish academia.
University calendars record that at the four Scottish universities, the Gifford Lectures are to be "public and popular, open not only to students of the university but also to the whole community (for a tuition fee) without matriculation. Besides a general audience, the Lecturer may form a special class of students for the study of the subject, which will be conducted in the usual way and tested by examination and thesis, written and oral". The lectures are normally presented as a series over an academic year and given with the intent that the edited content be published in book form. A number of these works have become classics in the fields of theology or philosophy and the relationship between religion and science.
In 1889, those attending the Gifford Lectures at the University of St. Andrews were described as "mixed" and included women as well as male undergraduates. The first woman appointed was Hannah Arendt who presented in Aberdeen between 1972 and 1974.
A comparable lecture series is the John Locke Lectures, which are delivered annually at the University of Oxford.
List of lectures
Aberdeen YearSpeaker(s)Lecture(s)ISBN1889–91E. B. TylorThe Natural History of Religion1892–94Andrew Martin FairbairnThe Philosophy of the Christian Religion1896–98James WardNaturalism and Agnosticism1898–00Josiah RoyceThe World and the Individual1904–06James Adam The Religious Teachers of Greece1907–08Hans DrieschThe Science and Philosophy of the Organism1911–13Andrew Seth Pringle-PattisonThe Idea of God in the light of Recent Philosophy1914–15William Ritchie SorleyMoral Values and the Idea of God 1927–29Ernest Barnes Scientific Theory and Religion ISBN 9780521730228 1930–32Etienne Gilson The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy1936–38Karl Barth The Knowledge of God and the Service of God according to the Teaching of the Reformation1939–40Arthur Darby NockHellenistic Religion - The Two Phases1949–50Gabriel MarcelThe Mystery of Being and Faith and Reality1951–52Michael PolanyiPersonal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy1953–54Paul TillichSystematic Theology (3 vols.)1963–65Alister Hardy The Living Stream and The Divine Flame1965–67Raymond AronLa Conscience historique dans la pensée et dans l'action1970–72Arend Theordore van Leeuwen The Critique of Heaven and Earth1972–74Hannah ArendtLife of the Mind1982–84Richard Swinburne The Evolution of the Soul1984–85Freeman Dyson Infinite In All Directions1989–91Ian BarbourReligion in an Age of Science1992–93Jaroslav Pelikan Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter With Hellenism1994–95John W. RogersonFaith and Criticism in the Work of William Robertson Smith, 1846-1894M. A. StewartNew Light and EnlightenmentPeter JonesScience and Religion before and after HumeJames H. BurnsThe Order of NatureAlexander BroadieThe Shadow of Scotus1997–98Russell Stannard The God Experiment2000–01John S. Habgood The Concept of Nature2003Eleonore Stump Wandering in the Darkness2003–04John Haldane Mind, Soul and Deity2007Stephen Pattison Seeing Things: Deepening Relations with Visual Artefacts2009Alister McGrathA Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology2012Sarah Coakley Sacrifice Regained: Evolution, Cooperation and God2014David N. LivingstoneDealing with Darwin: Place, Politics and Rhetoric in Religious Engagements with Evolution2016Mona SiddiquiStruggle, Suffering and Hope: Explorations in Islamic and Christian Traditions2017David NovakAthens and Jerusalem: God, Humans, and Nature2018N. T. WrightDiscerning the Dawn: History, Eschatology and New Creation, published as History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology, 20192022John Dupré A Brief History of FormTim Whitmarsh Religion and Ancient Mediterranean ThoughtLisa Sideris Unnatural Theology in the AnthropoceneRobert McCauleyReligions and their Cognitive KinJohn Witte Jr.A New Calvinist Reformation of Rights2024Miri RubinThe Feminine and the Religious Imagination2025Miroslav VolfAmor Mundi: God and the Character of Our Relation to the World2026Jeremy BegbieTBCTBDCatherine PickstockTBC
Edinburgh YearSpeaker(s)Lecture(s)ISBN1889–90James Hutchison StirlingPhilosophy and Theology1891George Gabriel StokesNatural Theology1892–94Otto PfleidererPhilosophy and Development of Religion1896–98Cornelis TieleOn the Elements of the Science of Religion1900–02William JamesThe Varieties of Religious Experience1909–10William Warde FowlerThe Religious Experience of the Roman People1911–12Bernard BosanquetThe Principle of Individuality and Value1913–14Henri BergsonThe Problem of Personality1915–16William Mitchell Ramsay Asianic Elements in Greek Civilization1919–21George Stout Mind and Matter pub. 19311921–23Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison Studies in the Philosophy of Religion1923–35James George FrazerThe Worship of Nature1926–27Arthur Eddington The Nature of the Physical World1927–28Alfred North WhiteheadProcess and Reality: An Essay in Cosmology1928–29John Dewey The Quest for Certainty: A Study of the Relation of Knowledge and Action1934–35Albert Schweitzer The Problem of Natural Theology and Natural Ethics (unpublished)1937–38Charles SherringtonMan on His Nature1938–40Reinhold NiebuhrThe Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation 1947–49Christopher Dawson Vol. 1 Religion and Culture Vol. 2 Religion and the Rise of Western Culture (1950)1949–50Niels Bohr Causality and Complementarity: Epistemological Lessons of Studies in Atomic Physics1950–52Charles Earle Raven Natural Religion and Christian Theology1952–53Arnold J. ToynbeeAn Historian's Approach to Religion1954–55Rudolf BultmannHistory and Eschatology: The Presence of Eternity1961–62John Baillie The Sense of the Presence of God 1970–71Eric Lionel Mascall The Openness of Being1973–74Owen ChadwickThe Secularisation of the European Mind in the 19th Century1974–76Stanley Jaki The Road of Science and the Ways to God1978–79Sir John Eccles The Human Mystery and The Human Psyche1979–80Ninian Smart The Varieties of Religious Identity, published as Beyond Ideology: Religion and the Future of Western Civilisation1980–81Seyyed Hossein Nasr Knowledge and the Sacred1981–82Iris Murdoch Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals1983–84David Daiches God and the Poets1984–85Jurgen MoltmannGod in Creation: A New Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God1985–86Paul Ricoeur Oneself as another1986–87John Hick An Interpretation of Religion1987–88Alasdair MacIntyre Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry1988–89Raimon PanikkarTrinity and Theism1989–90Mary DouglasClaims on God: published (much revised) as In the Wilderness1990 SpringMary MidgleyScience and Salvation: published as Science As Salvation1991–92Annemarie SchimmelDeciphering the Signs of God: A Phenomenological Approach to Islam1992–93Martha C. NussbaumUpheavals of Thought: A Theory of the Emotions1993–94John PolkinghorneScience and Christian Belief: Theological Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker1995–96G. A. CohenIf you're an Egalitarian, how come you're so Rich?1996–97Richard SorabjiEmotions and How to Cope with Them, published as Emotion and Peace of Mind: From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation1997–98Holmes Rolston III Genes, Genesis and God1998–99Charles TaylorLiving in a Secular Age, published as A Secular Age1999–00David Tracy This side of God2000–01Onora O'Neill Autonomy and Trust in Bioethics2001–02Mohammed Arkoun Inaugurating a Critique of Islamic Reason2002–03Michael IgnatieffThe Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror2003–04J. Wentzel van HuyssteenAlone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology2004–05Margaret AnsteeStephen ToulminNoam ChomskyDelivered a series of lectures dedicated to Edward Said who was scheduled to give the 2004–05 series before his death in 20032005–06Jean Bethke Elshtain Sovereign God, Sovereign State, Sovereign Self2006–07Simon Conway MorrisDarwin 's Compass: How Evolution Discovers the Song of CreationJonathan Riley-SmithThe Crusades and Christianity2007–08Alexander Nehamas"Because it was he, because it was I": Friendship and Its Place in Life2008Robert M. VeatchHipprocratic, Religious and Secular Medical Ethics: The Point of Conflict2008–09Diana Eck The Age of Pluralism [April–May 2009]2009–10Michael GazzanigaMental Life [October 2009]Terry EagletonThe God Debate [March 2010]2010–11Peter Harrison Science, Religion and the Modern World, published as The Territories of Science and Religion Gordon BrownThe Future of Jobs and Justice2011–12Lord Sutherland of Houndwood David Hume and Civil SocietyDiarmaid MacCullochSilence in Christian History: the witness of Holmes' DogJim Al-KhaliliAlan Turing: Legacy of a Code Breaker – one-off joint lecture between the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the School of Informatics2012–13Bruno Latour"Once Out of Nature" - Natural Religion as a PleonasmSteven PinkerThe Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity2013–14Onora O'NeillFrom Toleration to Freedom of ExpressionRowan WilliamsMaking representations: religious faith and the habits of languageCatherine O'Regan"What is Caesar's?" Adjudicating faith in modern constitutional democracies2014–15Jeremy WaldronOne Another's Equals: The Basis of Human EqualityHelga NowotnyBeyond Innovation. Temporalities. Re-use. Emergence.2015–16Kathryn TannerChristianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism2016–17Richard English Nationalism, Terrorism and ReligionJeffrey StoutReligion Unbound: Ideals and Powers from Cicero to King2017–18Agustín FuentesWhy We Believe: evolution, making meaning, and the development of human naturesElaine Howard EcklundScience and Religion in Global Public Life2018–19Mary BeardThe Ancient World and Us: From Fear and Loathing to Enlightenment and Ethics2019–20Michael WelkerIn God's Image: Anthropology2020–21David HemptonNetworks, Nodes, and Nuclei in the History of Christianity, c. 1500-20202021–22Susan NeimanHeroism for a Time of Victims2022–23John DupréA Process Perspective on Human Life2023–24Cornel WestA Jazz-soaked Philosophy for our Catastrophic Times: From Socrates to Coltrane2024–25Alexandra WalshamReligious Movements: Motion and Emotion in Early Modern Christian History2025–26Paula FredriksenThe Conversions of Christianity2026–27Alondra NelsonTBC
Glasgow