The Hollis Chair of Divinity is an

endowed chair A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

. It was established in 1721 by Thomas Hollis, a wealthy English merchant and benefactor of the university, at a salary of £80 per year. It is the oldest endowed chair in the United States, the first professorship in theology in the country, and in the early 19th century it was considered to be "the most prestigious endowed professorship in America".

History, denominational issues

The terms for the new position were drawn up in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 22 August 1721. Requirements for the professor were not very sectarian, although Hollis made a requirement of character: "That he should be a man of solid learning in divinity, of sound, or orthodox principles, one well gifted to teach, of a sober and pious life, and of a grave conversation." Traditionally, the chair's occupant has the right to graze a cow on the

Harvard Yard Harvard Yard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the oldest part of the Harvard University campus, its historic center and modern crossroads. It contains most of the freshman dormitories, Harvard's most important libraries, Memorial Church, seve ...

, but until 2009 none but the first two Hollis professors had done so; in 2009, upon his retirement, theologian

Harvey Cox Harvey Gallagher Cox Jr. (born May 19, 1929) is an American theologian who served as the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, until his retirement in October 2009. Cox's research and teaching focus on theological developments in ...

restored the tradition and chose Faith, a Jersey cow belonging to the Farm School in

Athol, Massachusetts Athol is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,945 at the 2020 census. History Originally called Pequoiag when settled by Native Americans, the area was subsequently settled by five families in Sept ...

. Although Hollis was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

, he had enough faith in the liberal and tolerant atmosphere at Harvard to endow the chair and allow the president and faculty of the university to appoint theologians to the chair, with the condition "that none be refused on account of his belief and practice of adult baptism." Hollis's "sound and orthodox principles" initially meant Congregationalist or

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

. The chair's first occupant,

Edward Wigglesworth (1732–1794) Edward Wigglesworth (1732–1794), the son of Edward Michael Wigglesworth (c. 1693–1765), occupied the Hollis Chair of divinity at the Harvard Divinity School from 1765 to 1792. His father had been the first to hold that position. He gradu ...

, had to swear allegiance to the ''Medulla Theologiae'', a Calvinist theological manual by

William Ames William Ames (; Latin: ''Guilielmus Amesius''; 157614 November 1633) was an English Puritan minister, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands, and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Cal ...

. The chair was first unoccupied, briefly, from 1803 to 1805, when the

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

s at Harvard ceded power to the Unitarians; in 1805, Unitarian Henry Ware assumed the post. Proponents of the Unitarian faction pointed out that it would be impossible to find a man orthodox enough for the 1720s in the early nineteenth century; "orthodox" they interpreted as following "the general sentiment of the country." In the 1830s, Harvard found itself in financial trouble and at the same time was moving away from the teaching of religion.

Josiah Quincy III Josiah Quincy III (; February 4, 1772 – July 1, 1864) was an American educator and political figure. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1805–1813), mayor of Boston (1823–1828), and President of Harvard University (1829� ...

, then-president of Harvard, refused to nominate a successor for Henry Ware, and the post was left unoccupied a second time. It also seems that the original endowment had dried up. In the meantime, to lessen the possible charge of a "narrowly sectarian education" the chair was moved to the Divinity School, which had been formed in 1816.

Chairholders and denomination

* Edward Wigglesworth (1722–1765); Calvinist Congregationalist * Edward Wigglesworth (son of the previous occupant; 1765–1792); Calvinist Congregationalist *

David Tappan David Tappan (1752–1803) was an American theologian. He occupied the Hollis Chair at Harvard Divinity School until his death in 1803. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sci ...

(1792–1803); Calvinist Congregationalist * Henry Ware (1805–1840); Unitarian Congregationalist *

David Gordon Lyon David Gordon Lyon (24 May 1852 – 4 December 1935) was an American theologian. He was born in Benton, Alabama, the son of a doctor. In 1875 he received his AB from Howard College in Marion Alabama. (Howard is now Samford University and locat ...

(1882–1910); Baptist *

James Hardy Ropes James Hardy Ropes (September 3, 1866January 7, 1933) was an American theologian. He graduated from Harvard College in 1889 and was an instructor there from 1895 to 1898 and an assistant professor until 1903. Ropes was then appointed the Bussey Pr ...

(1910–1933); Trinitarian Congregationalist *

Henry Cadbury Henry Joel Cadbury (December 1, 1883 – October 7, 1974) was an American biblical scholar, Quaker historian, writer, and non-profit administrator. Life A graduate of Haverford College, Cadbury was a Quaker throughout his life, as well as ...

(1934–1954); Quaker * Amos Niven Wilder (1956-1963); Congregationalist *

George Huntston Williams George Huntston Williams (April 7, 1914, in Huntsburg – October 6, 2000) was an American professor of Unitarian theology and historian of the Socinian movement. Williams' father was a Unitarian minister in Ohio. Williams studied at St. Lawr ...

(1963-1980);Unitarian *

(198?–2009); Baptist *

Karen Leigh King Karen Leigh King (born 1954, raised in Sheridan, Montana) is a historian of religion working in the field of Early Christianity, who is currently the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, in the oldest endowed chair in the United S ...

(2009– ) Episcopalian

References

External links

History of Harvard Divinity School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Professor of Divinity, Hollis 1721 establishments in Massachusetts Financial endowments Divinity, Hollis Divinity, Hollis