David Fergusson
Biographic Data
| ID | 459884 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Fergusson |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Fergusson |
| SIGNATURE | FERGUSSON D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Edinburgh |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1990 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Social Christianity in Scotland and Beyond, 1800-2000
Explores Scottish and international Christian responses to social problems in urban-industrial societies since 1800 Analyses the complex movements known as ‘social Christianity’, ‘Christian socialism’, the ‘social gospel’, and ‘social reform’ in which Christians in Scotland and elsewhere struggled to revive and reinterpret the idea of the Kingdom of God Situates historical developments in Scottish religious life in their transnational and interna…
Church and university in Scotland
This paper was originally delivered as the third D. W. D. Shaw memorial lecture at the University of Aberdeen on 27 May 2024. It examines the shifting patterns in the relationship of church and academy in Scotland from the establishment of the four ancient universities to the present day. Despite historical changes, most notably the Reformation, the church and the academy maintained a cooperative relationship in the shared project of producing a …
Reformed Humanism
The volume comprises a collection of essays ordered in three parts, each of which describes broadly the sub-fields of theology to which these belong. The essays tackle core themes in Christian doctrine, the longstanding relationship of theology to philosophy, and a series of challenges facing churches today. While the volume represents a Reformed theological approach often with a historical focus, it self-consciously reflects an ecumenical and cr…
Holding church, academy and society together
The editorial board of Theology in Scotland wishes to mark an exceptional contribution of one of the founders of the journal, Rev Prof David Fergusson. After many years of ministry and work in Scotland, Prof Fergusson recently took up the post of Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, which also brought about his retirement from the editorial board. In this interview with Dr Joanna Leidenhag he shares a little of his own the…
The place of Christian theology in the academy today
Although Christian theology has been taught in the ancient universities of Europe since their foundation, its presence is intermittently questioned within a more secular culture. Despite this scepticism, several arguments can be offered in support of its retention as a robust confessional discipline. These include the following: the continuing interest in the subject albeit under significantly altered conditions; the spread of Christianity in the…
Theology in lockdown
The starting point for this paper is to reflect on Karl Barth’s assertion that that, when faced with a major crisis, the most appropriate response for Christian theology is to carry on as if nothing has happened. David Fergusson emphasises the need for humility and very careful thought in a situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, however this does not mean that we must remain silent. Three points for reflection are offered: (1) an examination of…
Politics, Society, and Law
From the sixteenth century, the Reformed movement was committed to a programme of social reform in which church and civil authorities worked together in partnership not only in the cause of ecclesiastical reform but with a view to establishing a ‘godly society’ in accordance with the Word of God. Sanctification thus extended to the entire social order, often through appeal to Old Testament ideals and the concept of ‘covenant’. This chapter explor…
The History of Scottish Theology, Volume I
Straddling over a millennium of theological work, these essays explore the beginnings of Scottish theology from the time of the Columban church through monasticism to the era of medieval scholasticism, and then from the Reformation (1560) to later traditions of Reformed orthodoxy until c .1700. Well-known figures including Scotus, Richard of St Victor, John Mair, John Knox, Andrew Melville, Samuel Rutherford, and Henry Scougall are explored, whil…
History of Scottish Theology, Volume I
Are we alone? And does it matter
Van Huyssteen’s 2004 Edinburgh Gifford Lectures raise the question of how human uniqueness is to be understood in evolutionary and theological terms. This has been defended in subsequent interaction with critics. In this article, his approach is explored in light of recent challenges to theological anthropocentrism. While a weak or benign form of anthropocentrism can be sustained along the lines mapped out by van Huyssteen, it is argued that this…
Alexander S. Jensen, Divine Providence and Human Agency
Confessing the Faith in a Plural Democracy
Scotland and the Netherlands
The strong links established between theologians in Scotland and the Netherlands are evident at the time of the Reformation and throughout the 17th century. Yet by the late 19th century, these Reformed links are much less evident. The reasons for this decline are largely attributable to the dominance of German theology and the tendency of Scottish theologians to study under Ritschl, Herrmann, Barth and Bultmann. More recent trends, however, might…
Persons in Relation
Although their work can be situated within wider British and European intellectual trends, the interaction of philosophy, theology and psychotherapy was particularly marked among several important Scottish thinkers of the mid-twentieth century. Their cross-disciplinary interactions gave rise to distinctively personalist approaches in psychotherapy and counselling, often including theological elements. Such interactions were significant both for d…
The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth‐Century Theology
Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth-Century Theology
The Theology of Providence
The classical doctrine of providence has generally been treated as a subdivision of the doctrine of creation. In stressing the sovereign and wise rule of God over nature and history, it has too often veered in an unduly determinist and philosophical direction that fails adequately to register scriptural notions of the differentiated action of the triune God. A more modest and intellectually tentative account of providence is outlined here, negati…
Burden and consequences of child maltreatment in high-income countries
Faith and Its Critics
Creation
The doctrine of creation has undergone a resurgence of interest in recent years. The ecological crisis has encouraged study of the theology of the natural environment, while also recalling the problematic legacy of earlier church teaching and practice in this field. Physicists have reinvigorated the case for older cosmological and design arguments for the existence of God as creator. At the same time, biblical scholars have rediscovered how perva…
Church, State and Civil Society
At a time when secular liberalism is in crisis and when the civic contribution of religion is being re-assessed, the rich tradition of Christian political theology demands renewed attention. This book, based on the 2001 Bampton Lectures, explores the relationship of the church both to the state and civil institutions. Arguing that theological approaches to the state were often situated within the context of Christendom and are therefore outmoded,…
Callum G. BROWN, The Death of Christian Britain
Meaning, Truth and Realism in Bultmann and Lindbeck
The philosopher Michael Dummett has argued that a commitment to realism in a given domain must display the following marks: a conception of reality as determinate and mind-independent, the correspondence theory of truth, and a truth conditions theory of meaning. In his own and others' philosophy we see a series of arguments at work in the theory of meaning, in epistemology and in the philosophy of science which converge upon a common rejection of…
Persons in Relation
Although their work can be situated within wider British and European intellectual trends, the interaction of philosophy, theology and psychotherapy was particularly marked among several important Scottish thinkers of the mid-twentieth century. Their cross-disciplinary interactions gave rise to distinctively personalist approaches in psychotherapy and counselling, often including theological elements. Such interactions were significant both for d…
Meaning, Truth and Realism in Bultmann and Lindbeck
The philosopher Michael Dummett has argued that a commitment to realism in a given domain must display the following marks: a conception of reality as determinate and mind-independent, the correspondence theory of truth, and a truth conditions theory of meaning. In his own and others' philosophy we see a series of arguments at work in the theory of meaning, in epistemology and in the philosophy of science which converge upon a common rejection of…
Callum G. BROWN, The Death of Christian Britain
Church, State and Civil Society
At a time when secular liberalism is in crisis and when the civic contribution of religion is being re-assessed, the rich tradition of Christian political theology demands renewed attention. This book, based on the 2001 Bampton Lectures, explores the relationship of the church both to the state and civil institutions. Arguing that theological approaches to the state were often situated within the context of Christendom and are therefore outmoded,…
Creation
The doctrine of creation has undergone a resurgence of interest in recent years. The ecological crisis has encouraged study of the theology of the natural environment, while also recalling the problematic legacy of earlier church teaching and practice in this field. Physicists have reinvigorated the case for older cosmological and design arguments for the existence of God as creator. At the same time, biblical scholars have rediscovered how perva…
Burden and consequences of child maltreatment in high-income countries
Faith and Its Critics
The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth‐Century Theology
Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth-Century Theology
The Theology of Providence
The classical doctrine of providence has generally been treated as a subdivision of the doctrine of creation. In stressing the sovereign and wise rule of God over nature and history, it has too often veered in an unduly determinist and philosophical direction that fails adequately to register scriptural notions of the differentiated action of the triune God. A more modest and intellectually tentative account of providence is outlined here, negati…
Persons in Relation
Although their work can be situated within wider British and European intellectual trends, the interaction of philosophy, theology and psychotherapy was particularly marked among several important Scottish thinkers of the mid-twentieth century. Their cross-disciplinary interactions gave rise to distinctively personalist approaches in psychotherapy and counselling, often including theological elements. Such interactions were significant both for d…
Confessing the Faith in a Plural Democracy
Scotland and the Netherlands
The strong links established between theologians in Scotland and the Netherlands are evident at the time of the Reformation and throughout the 17th century. Yet by the late 19th century, these Reformed links are much less evident. The reasons for this decline are largely attributable to the dominance of German theology and the tendency of Scottish theologians to study under Ritschl, Herrmann, Barth and Bultmann. More recent trends, however, might…
Are we alone? And does it matter
Van Huyssteen’s 2004 Edinburgh Gifford Lectures raise the question of how human uniqueness is to be understood in evolutionary and theological terms. This has been defended in subsequent interaction with critics. In this article, his approach is explored in light of recent challenges to theological anthropocentrism. While a weak or benign form of anthropocentrism can be sustained along the lines mapped out by van Huyssteen, it is argued that this…
Alexander S. Jensen, Divine Providence and Human Agency
The History of Scottish Theology, Volume I
Straddling over a millennium of theological work, these essays explore the beginnings of Scottish theology from the time of the Columban church through monasticism to the era of medieval scholasticism, and then from the Reformation (1560) to later traditions of Reformed orthodoxy until c .1700. Well-known figures including Scotus, Richard of St Victor, John Mair, John Knox, Andrew Melville, Samuel Rutherford, and Henry Scougall are explored, whil…
History of Scottish Theology, Volume I
Politics, Society, and Law
From the sixteenth century, the Reformed movement was committed to a programme of social reform in which church and civil authorities worked together in partnership not only in the cause of ecclesiastical reform but with a view to establishing a ‘godly society’ in accordance with the Word of God. Sanctification thus extended to the entire social order, often through appeal to Old Testament ideals and the concept of ‘covenant’. This chapter explor…
The place of Christian theology in the academy today
Although Christian theology has been taught in the ancient universities of Europe since their foundation, its presence is intermittently questioned within a more secular culture. Despite this scepticism, several arguments can be offered in support of its retention as a robust confessional discipline. These include the following: the continuing interest in the subject albeit under significantly altered conditions; the spread of Christianity in the…
Theology in lockdown
The starting point for this paper is to reflect on Karl Barth’s assertion that that, when faced with a major crisis, the most appropriate response for Christian theology is to carry on as if nothing has happened. David Fergusson emphasises the need for humility and very careful thought in a situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, however this does not mean that we must remain silent. Three points for reflection are offered: (1) an examination of…
Holding church, academy and society together
The editorial board of Theology in Scotland wishes to mark an exceptional contribution of one of the founders of the journal, Rev Prof David Fergusson. After many years of ministry and work in Scotland, Prof Fergusson recently took up the post of Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, which also brought about his retirement from the editorial board. In this interview with Dr Joanna Leidenhag he shares a little of his own the…
Social Christianity in Scotland and Beyond, 1800-2000
Explores Scottish and international Christian responses to social problems in urban-industrial societies since 1800 Analyses the complex movements known as ‘social Christianity’, ‘Christian socialism’, the ‘social gospel’, and ‘social reform’ in which Christians in Scotland and elsewhere struggled to revive and reinterpret the idea of the Kingdom of God Situates historical developments in Scottish religious life in their transnational and interna…
Church and university in Scotland
This paper was originally delivered as the third D. W. D. Shaw memorial lecture at the University of Aberdeen on 27 May 2024. It examines the shifting patterns in the relationship of church and academy in Scotland from the establishment of the four ancient universities to the present day. Despite historical changes, most notably the Reformation, the church and the academy maintained a cooperative relationship in the shared project of producing a …
Reformed Humanism
The volume comprises a collection of essays ordered in three parts, each of which describes broadly the sub-fields of theology to which these belong. The essays tackle core themes in Christian doctrine, the longstanding relationship of theology to philosophy, and a series of challenges facing churches today. While the volume represents a Reformed theological approach often with a historical focus, it self-consciously reflects an ecumenical and cr…
Philosophy (18 works) · Theology (14 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Religious studies (9 works) · Political science (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Faith (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Christian Theology and Mission (5 works) · Environmental ethics (5 works)