Gifford_Lectures

Gifford Lectures

Gifford Lectures

Annual series of lectures on natural theology


The Gifford Lectures (/ˈɡɪfərd/) 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.[1][2][3]

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 the whole community (for a tuition fee[4]) 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".[5] 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.[6] The first woman appointed was Hannah Arendt who presented in Aberdeen between 1972 and 1974.[7]

A comparable lecture series is the John Locke Lectures, which are delivered annually at the University of Oxford.

List of lectures

Aberdeen

More information Year, Speaker(s) ...

Edinburgh

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Glasgow

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St Andrews

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Support from Templeton Religion Trust

Established at the behest of John Templeton, the Gifford Lectures website was designed to increase the strategic impact of the Gifford program. Developed and managed by Templeton Press through May 2021, the website is now managed through a grant from Templeton Religion Trust.


References

  1. Long, Eugene Thomas (1988). "Lord Gifford and his Lectures: The First Year (1888-1889)". Studies in Scottish Literature. 23 (1).
  2. Spurway, Neil (2013). "Gifford Lectures". Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_471.
  3. "HDS Dean Hempton to Deliver Prestigious Gifford Lectures". Harvard Divinity School. 29 September 2021.
  4. "100 Years of Lectures on Natural Theology - Lord Adam Gifford's Will TRUST DISPOSITION and SETTLEMENT of the late Adam Gifford, sometime one of the Senators of the College of Justice, Scotland, dated 21st August 1885". The Gifford Lectures. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2022. I [Lord Adam Gifford] suggest that the fee should be as small as is consistent with the due management of the lectureships, and the due appreciation of the lectures. Besides a general and popular audience, I advise that the lecturers also have a special class of students conducted in the usual way, and instructed by examination and thesis, written and oral.
  5. The St. Andrews University Calendar for the Year 1922. University of St Andrews. 1922. p. 46. ...the lectures are to be public and popular, open not only to students of the university, but the whole community 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.
  6. Hutchinson -Boyd, A. (1892). 25 Years At St Andrews. p. 324-26. Retrieved 14 February 2022. Our First Gifford Lecturer [at the University of St Andrews - Andrew Lang] - ...a large mixed audience, men and women, undergraduates and grown-ups and aged folk...
  7. Addison, Sam (n.d.). "Home :: Lecturers & Authors :: Hannah Arendt". The Gifford Lectures. Retrieved 25 February 2021. Arendt, the first female Gifford Lecturer, delivered her lectures in Aberdeen between 1972 and 1974.
  8. "The Gifford Lectures". abdn.ac.uk. University of Aberdeen.
  9. "Gifford Lectures". ed.ac.uk. University of Edinburgh.
  10. "2012-13 Gifford Lecture". Professor Steven Pinker: "The Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity". University of Edinburgh College of Humanities and Social Science website. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  11. "The Glasgow Gifford Lectures". gla.ac.uk. University of Glasgow.
  12. "Herbert Butterfield". The Gifford Lectures. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  13. "The St Andrews Gifford Lectures". st-andrews.ac.uk. University of St Andrews.
  14. Kahan, D. (18 August 2014). "The Gifford Lectures". The Gifford Lectures. Retrieved 31 January 2022. Andrew Lang - The Making of Religion - 1889 to 1890 University of St. Andrews
  15. "Norm and Action". The Gifford Lectures. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  16. "Gifford Lecture Series - Books". 21 June 2008. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  17. "Gifford lectures 2021". The St Andrews Gifford Lectures. 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2021-10-28.

Bibliography

  • Stanley Jaki, Lord Gifford and His Lectures: A Centenary Retrospect (1987). Scottish Academic Press, ISBN 0-7073-0465-2.
  • Larry Witham, The Measure of God: Our Century-Long Struggle to Reconcile Science & Religion (2005), HarperSanFrancisco hardcover: ISBN 0-06-059191-9; reprinted as The Measure of God: History's Greatest Minds Wrestle with Reconciling Science and Religion (2006), paperback: ISBN 0-06-085833-8.

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