David Fergusson

Regius Professor of Divinity, Cambridge

Religion and Its Recent Critics

In his series of lectures, Fergusson responds to Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and Harris. Encouraging Christians to answer for the hope that is in them, he also believes that theology has much to learn from atheism. He stresses that religious discourse is of paramount importance in the wake of September 11, especially amid growing fears of militant religion. He concludes with a call to come to terms with the many religious choices today, with atheism being a credible alternative to faith. 

Biography

David Fergusson was born on 3 August 1956 in Glasgow, Scotland. Theologian and Presbyterian minister, the Queen appointed him Dean of the Chapel Royal and Dean of the Thistle. Assistant Minister of St Nicholas Parish Church and St Mungo’s Parish Church from 1983, he became Lecturer at Edinburgh in 1985. Appointed Professor of Systematic Theology at Aberdeen in 1990, he returned to Edinburgh as Professor of Divinity in 2000. Since 2021, he has held one of the oldest professorships at Cambridge, Regius Professor of Divinity. 

Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he was also Associate Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues. Made OBE in 2016, he participated in the 2023 Coronation and was Lead Minister at the Presentation of the Honours of Scotland. Fergusson also gave the Cunningham, Bampton, and Warfield Lectures. Notable works include Bultmann (1992), The Cosmos and the Creator (1998), Community Liberalism and Christian Ethics (1998), Church, State, and Civil Society (2004), Scottish Philosophical Theology (2007), and the Blackwell Companion to 19th Century Theology (2010). 

Published/Archival Resources
Published as Faith and Its Critics.