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 HolmesDictionary of National Biography, article Holmes, Robert (1748–1805). The Prophecies and Testimony of John the Baptist, and the parallel Prophecies of Jesus Christ 1783 – John Cobb Eight sermons preached before the University of Oxford 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 KettBiography: Anonymous on Rev. Henry Kett . A Representation of the Conduct and Opinions of the Primitive Christians, with Remarks on Gibbon and Priestley 1791 – Robert Morres Eight sermons preached before the University of Oxford 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 ReasonNares used de Luc to support a conservative stance in his 1805 Bamptons, which was still sympathetic to geology unlike his later works. , 2006. 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' Against the views of Edward Evanson. PDF , pp. 26–29. 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 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 AgeDictionary of Welsh Biography, The National Library of Wales. 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 GoddardOxford Dictionary of National Biography, Goddard, Charles (1769/70–1848), Church of England clergyman by W. M. Jacob. 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 ScriptureInternet Archive.
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 TheologyStrongly attacked by John Henry Newman's pamphlet Elucidations of Dr. Hampden's Theological StatementsAnglican History. 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 withdrewDictionary of National Biography. 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 JustificationJustification. 1846 – Augustus Short The Witness of the Spirit with our Spirit 1847 – Walter Augustus ShirleyBishop Shirley died, having given only two of the lectures 1848 – Edward Garrard Marsh The Christian Doctrine of Sanctification 1849 – Richard Michell The Nature and Comparative Value of the Christian EvidencesConcise Dictionary of National Biography.
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 A Critical History of Free Thought in reference to the Christian Religion 1863 – John Hannah The Relation between the Divine and Human Elements in Holy Scripture 1864 – Thomas Dehany Bernard The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament 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 InspirationFor many years the Bampton Lectures at Oxford had been considered as adding steadily and strongly to the bulwarks of the old orthodoxy. [...] But now there was an evident change. The departures from the old paths were many and striking, until at last, in 1893, came the lectures on Inspiration by the Rev. Dr. Sanday, Ireland Professor of Exegesis in the University of Oxford. In these, concessions were made to the newer criticism, which at an earlier time would have driven the lecturer not only out of the Church but out of any decent position in society ... 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 (online text)
1900–1949 1901 – Archibald Robertson Regnum Dei 1903 – William Holden Hutton The Influence of Christianity Upon National Character 1905 – Frederick William Bussell Christian Theology and Social Progress