Henry Nutcombe Oxenham (15 November 1829 – 23 March 1888) was an English

ecclesiologist In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its polity, its discipline, its eschatology, and its leadership. In its early history, one of the Chu ...

, theologian, author and translator. Originally ordained in the Church of England, he later converted to the Roman Catholic faith and was received into that Church.

Biography

He was born at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

to William Oxnam and Mary Susanna (née Carter), where William Oxnam was a master, and was baptised at

Eton, Buckinghamshire Eton ( ) is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had ...

on 8 January 1830, where his uncle was

Thomas Thellusson Carter Thomas Thellusson Carter (19 March 1808 – 28 October 1901), often known as T. T. Carter, was a significant figure in the Victorian Church of England. He was responsible for reintroducing some Catholic practices to the church and bein ...

. The family name changed from Oxnam to Oxenham in 1834, when Henry was four years old. From Harrow, Oxenham went to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he was

President of the Oxford Union Past elected presidents of the Oxford Union are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. ''Iterum'' indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rule ...

in Trinity term, 1852. He took Anglican orders in 1854, but became a Roman Catholic in 1857. At first his thoughts turned towards the priesthood, and he spent some time at the

London Oratory The London Oratory ("the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in London") is a Catholic community of priests living under the rule of life established by its founder, Philip Neri (1515-1595). It is housed in an Oratory House, next to t ...

and at

St Edmund's College, Ware St Edmund's College is a coeducational independent day and boarding school in the British public school tradition, set in in Ware, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1568 as a seminary, then a boys' school, it is the oldest continuously operating and ...

. Being unable, however, to surrender his belief in the validity of

Anglican orders The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. "Ministry" commonly refers to the office of ordained clergy: the ''threefold order'' of bishops, priests and deacons. More accurately, Anglica ...

, he proceeded no further than

minor orders Minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders —priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders—acolyte, exorcist, lec ...

in the Roman Church. In 1863 he made a prolonged visit to Germany, where he studied the language and literature, and formed a close friendship with

Döllinger Dollinger and Döllinger are surnames of German origin. They may refer to: * Günther Dollinger (born 1960), German physicist and professor * Ignaz Döllinger (1770–1841), German physician and university professor * Ignaz von Döllinger (1799–1 ...

, whose ''First Age of the Christian Church'' he translated in 1866. Oxenham was a regular contributor to the ''Saturday Review''. A selection of his essays was published in ''Short Studies in Ecclesiastical History and Biography'' (1884), and ''Short Studies, Ethical and Religious'' (1885). In 1876, he translated the second volume of Bishop Hefele's ''History of the Councils of the Church'', and published several pamphlets on the reunion of

Christendom Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...

. His ''Catholic Doctrine of the Atonement'' (1865) and ''Catholic

Eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negati ...

and

Universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching th ...

'' (1876) are standard works.

Death

He died on 23 March 1888 at

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London, of undisclosed causes, aged 58. He never married.

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxenham, Henry Nutcombe 1829 births 1888 deaths English theologians 19th-century English historians Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism 19th-century English Anglican priests English Roman Catholics People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware English translators People from Harrow, London 19th-century British translators English male non-fiction writers 19th-century male writers Ecclesiologists Presidents of the Oxford Union