Essays and Reviews

Comprising seven essays by learned contributors and controversially advocating a rationalist Christianity this work became a sensation upon publication in 1860. Frederick Temple (18211902) later Archbishop of Canterbury wrote on the cultural contributions of non-Christians; Roland Williams (181770) Professor of Hebrew at Lampeter questioned Old Testament prophesies; Baden Powell (17961850) Oxford Professor of Geometry challenged belief in miracles and embraced Darwinism; Henry Bristow Wilson (180388) questioned literal biblical history; the only lay contributor Egyptologist Charles Wycliffe Goodwin (181778) embraced geology; Mark Pattison (181384) tutor at Lincoln College wrote on the history of rationalist theology; and Benjamin Jowett (181793) Oxford Professor of Greek advocated a historical reading of the Bible. Wilson and Williams were later found guilty of heresy by a Church court though this was overturned on appeal. For readers interested in the theological controversies of the Victorian era these essays remain invaluable.