John Bainbridge Webster

Infobox Person
name = John Webster
image_size = 150px
birth_name = John Bainbridge Webster
birth_date = June 20, 1955
birth_place = Mansfield, England
residence = Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
nationality = British
education = MA, PhD (Cambridge)
employer = King’s College
University of Aberdeen
occupation = Professor, Theologian
title = Chair of Systematic Theology
religion = Anglican Communion

Professor John B. Webster, MA, PhD, DD, 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 June 20, 1955, he was educated at the independent co-educational Bradford Grammar School and at the University of Cambridge.

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-). 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. Among other administrative tasks in the university, he is convenor of the research committee for the School of Divinity, Philosophy, and History. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2005. ["The Royal Society of Edinburgh: The Fellowship, Current Fellows". 18 October 2007. [online] . [Accessed 26 December 2007] . Available from World Wide Web: ]

Together with the late Reverend Professor 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). [Cambridge University Library Manuscripts & Theses (Newton Catalogue)] Subsequently, Webster’s translations and theological interaction with Jüngel are largely responsible for introducing him to the English speaking academy [Webster, "Eberhard Jüngel: An Introduction to His Theology", back cover] . 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. [see * [http://www.abdn.ac.uk/divinity/staff/details.php?id=j.webster Webster's personal page] ] 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. [Webster, “Theological Theology." In "Confessing God: Essays in Christian Dogmatics II", 20, 26, 29. Cf. Ford, David F. "British Theology After A Trauma: Divisions and Conversations." "Christian Century" 117 No. 12 (2000): 425-32.]

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.

Links to Audio Lectures

* [http://www.henrycenter.org/audio.php?link=kantzerlectures Perfection and Presence: God With Us, According to the Christian Confession] Kantzer Lectures in Revealed Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
* [http://media.switchpod.com/users/jordanbarrett/JohnWebsterMercy32807Garrett.m4a On Mercy] 2007 Christianity and Ethics Conference at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary

Sources

External links

* [http://www.abdn.ac.uk/divinity/staff/details.php?id=j.webster Webster's page] at the University of Aberdeen
* [http://www.henrycenter.org/kantzerlectures.php Kantzer Lectures] at the Henry Center
* [http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/mfwhoswho/individuals/W_mfwwi/john_webster.html Prof. John Webster] at Frost's Scottish Who's Who
* [http://www.theopedia.com/John_Webster John Webster] at Theopedia