The Dudleian lectures are a series of prestigious

lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical inform ...

s on

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where they are the oldest endowed lectureship. They were held annually and without interruption from 1755 to 1857 when they were suspended by the board of trustees "in order that the Fund, now in their judgment insufficient to support the charge of the same, may accumulate." They began again in 1888. The lectures were endowed by Paul Dudley in 1750 with a sum of £133 6s 8d. Dudley specified that the topic of the lectures should rotate among four themes, so that students would hear each one before graduation: # The principles of

natural religion Natural religion most frequently means the "religion of nature", in which God, the soul, spirits, and all objects of the supernatural are considered as part of nature and not separate from it. Conversely, it is also used in philosophy to describe s ...

. # The truths of scriptural revelation. # "The detecting and convicting and exposing the

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...

of the Romish church, their

tyranny A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

, usurpations, damnable

heresies Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, fatal errors, abominable

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...

s, and other crying wickedness in their high places". # "The validity of the presbyterial

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

of ministers" (specifically, in the form practiced at the time in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, and among Englishmen who opposed the episcopal ordination of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

). In accordance with these precepts, the Dudleian lecturers of the 18th century did faithfully promote the doctrines of New England's anti-authoritarian Low-Church

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, and — as L.K. Gilbert argues — wedded them to principles of

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

rationality by associating ecclesiastical with civil

. By the 19th century, however, the virulent anti-Catholicism had been much tempered, and in the middle of the 20th century, Clifford K. Shipton could note that "for many years past it has not been deemed expedient by the college authorities to honor the donor’s wishes in this respect." Contemporary Dudleian lectures tend to be highly academic in nature, and are often delivered by Catholic or non-Christian theologians or priests. In a more ecumenical, less religiously polemical age the third topic has been reinterpreted to intend relations among the Christian denominations: The first Catholic who gave the Dudleian lecture under this rubric was Fr.

Henri Nouwen Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian. His interests were rooted primarily in psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice and commu ...

. Notable Dudleian lecturers have included

Jason Haven Jason Haven (March 2, 1733 – May 17, 1803) was the longest serving minister of the First Church and Parish in Dedham. Personal life Haven was born on March 2, 1733, in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1754. Whil ...

William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of America ...

Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologi ...

John LaFarge, Jr. John LaFarge Jr. (February 13, 1880 – November 24, 1963) was an American Society of Jesus, Jesuit Catholic priest known for his activism against racism and anti-semitism. Involved in the heyday (and eventual breakup) of Thomas Wyatt Turner ...

Seyyed Hossein Nasr Seyyed Hossein Nasr (; fa, سید حسین نصر, born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian philosopher and University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran, Nasr completed his education in Iran and the United St ...

Carlo Maria Martini Carlo Maria Martini (15 February 1927 – 31 August 2012) was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering i ...

, Maria Pilar Aquino.

References

* * {{cite journal , last = Kuhn Bryant , first = Rene , date = June 1958 , title = No Son Unsung , journal =

American Heritage Magazine ''American Heritage'' is a magazine dedicated to covering the history of the United States for a mainstream readership. Until 2007, the magazine was published by Forbes.

, volume = 9 , issue = 4 , url = http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1958/4/1958_4_28.shtml , access-date = 2006-05-20 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929123023/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1958/4/1958_4_28.shtml , archive-date = 2007-09-29 , url-status = dead

External links

* Online video recordings (

RealPlayer RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimedia realm, including MP ...

) of recent Dudleian Lectures: ** 2003
In the Beginning of Creation was Consciousness
by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

** 2006

by Susannah Heschel
Andover-Harvard Theological Library website for the Dudleian Lectures
Harvard University Christian theological lectures