Henry Parry Liddon (1829–1890), also known as H. P. Liddon, was an English theologian. From 1870 to 1882, he was Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Biography

The son of a naval captain, Liddon was born on 20 August 1829 at North Stoneham, near Eastleigh,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. He was educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...

, and at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

, where he graduated, taking a second class, in 1850. As vice principal of the

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

college at Cuddesdon (1854–1859) he wielded considerable influence, and, on returning to Oxford as vice-principal of St Edmund Hall, became a force among the undergraduates, exercising his influence in opposition to the liberal reaction against

Tractarianism The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

, which had set in after

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and ...

's conversion to Catholicism in 1845. In 1864 Walter Kerr Hamilton, the

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

, whose examining chaplain Liddon had been, appointed him

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buil ...

. In 1866 he delivered his

Bampton Lectures The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...

on the doctrine of the divinity of Christ, published as ''The Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ'' (1867). From that time his fame as a preacher was established. In 1870 he was made canon of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

, London. He had before this published ''Some Words for God'' against the scepticism of the day. His preaching at St Paul's soon attracted vast crowds. The afternoon sermon, which fell to the canon in residence, had usually been delivered in the choir, but soon after Liddon's appointment it became necessary to preach the sermon under the dome, where from 3000 to 4000 persons used to gather to hear him. Liddon was praised for grasp of his subject, clarity and lucidity, use of illustration, vividness of imagination, elegance of diction, and sympathy with the intellectual position of those whom he addressed. In the arrangement of his material, he is thought to have imitated the French preachers of the age of

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

. In 1870 Liddon had also been made Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. The combination of the two appointments gave him extensive influence over 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 Brit ...

. With Dean Church he restored the influence of the Tractarian school, and he succeeded in popularising the opinions which, in the hands of

Edward Bouverie Pusey Edward Bouverie Pusey (; 22 August 180016 September 1882) was an English Anglican cleric, for more than fifty years Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford. He was one of the leading figures in the Oxford Movement. Early years ...

and

John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, was named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...

, had appealed to thinkers and scholars. His opposed the Church Discipline Act of 1874, and denounced the Bulgarian atrocities of 1876. In 1882 he resigned his professorship and travelled in Palestine and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

; and showed his interest in the Old Catholic movement by visiting Döllinger at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. In 1886, he became chancellor of St Paul's, and declined more than one offer of a bishopric. Liddon was a friend of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

, who accompanied him on a trip to Moscow where Liddon made approaches to leading

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

clergy, seeking closer links between them and the

. He died on 9 September 1890 at the height of his reputation, having nearly completed a biography of Pusey, whom he admired; this work was completed after his death by John Octavius Johnston and Robert Wilson. His entry in the 1911 ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' asserts that Liddon's influence during his life was due to his personal fascination and his pulpit oratory rather than to his intellect. As a theologian his outlook was old-fashioned; to the last he maintained the narrow standpoint of Pusey and Keble, in defiance of modern thought and modern scholarship. The publication in 1889 of '' Lux Mundi'' edited by

Charles Gore Charles Gore (22 January 1853 – 17 January 1932) was a Church of England bishop, first of Worcester, then Birmingham, and finally of Oxford. He was one of the most influential Anglican theologians of the 19th century, helping reconcile the c ...

, a series of essays attempting to harmonise Anglican Catholic doctrine with modern thought, showed that even at

Pusey House Pusey House is an Anglican religious institution located on St Giles', Oxford, United Kingdom, immediately to the south of Pusey Street. It is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book tradition of the Church of England, and was founded ...

, established as the citadel of Puseyism at Oxford, the principles of Pusey were being departed from. He was the last of the classical pulpit orators of the English Church, the last great popular exponent of the traditional Anglican orthodoxy, with the exception of John Charles Ryle (1816-1900), the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool (1880-1900). Henry Parry Liddon's grave (from St

Liddon is buried in the Chapel of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral,"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" Sinclair, W. p. 465: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909. close to the grave of Henry Hart Milman.

Works

Besides the works mentioned, Liddon published several volumes of sermons, including a book on sermons on the Magnificat, a volume of

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Jesus, temptation by Satan, according ...

lectures entitled ''Some Elements of Religion'' (1870), and a collection of ''Essays and Addresses'' on such themes as Buddhism,

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...

, etc. Liddon wrote ''Explanatory Analysis of Paul's Epistle to the Romans'' published in 1899 and ''Explanatory Analysis of Paul's First Epistle to Timothy'' published in 1897. Both were published posthumously. Liddon was chosen to preach to the International Medical Congress at St. Paul's Cathedral in London in 1881. During the sermon, he addressed the subject of Darwinian evolution, which was a point of great debate among leading scientists and physicians of the day: He is also noted for his translation and abridgement of Rosmini's '' Of the Five Wounds of the Holy Church''.

References

* John Octavius Johnston (1904), ''Life and Letters'' *W. E. Kusselt (1903), ''H. P. Liddon'' *A. B. Donaldson (1900), ''Five Great Oxford Leaders'', from which the life of Liddon was reprinted separately in 1905.
Canon Liddon: A Memoir, at Project Canterbury

Notes

External links

"The Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: 8 lectures preached before the University of Oxford 1866" (published 1867)

Canon Liddon: A Memoir
with his five last sermons (1890)
Henry Parry Liddon papers, 1879-1889
at Pitts Theology Library,

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also o ...

*Liddon Hous
papers
at

. ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Liddon, Henry Parry 1829 births 1890 deaths People educated at King's College School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People from North Stoneham 19th-century English Anglican priests English Anglican theologians English Anglo-Catholics Chancellors of St Paul's Cathedral Dean Ireland's Professors of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English theologians Anglo-Catholic theologians Anglo-Catholic clergy 19th-century English male writers Burials at St Paul's Cathedral