Paul Fiddes

Paul Stuart Fiddes, FBA (born 30 April 1947)[1] is a British Baptist theologian and novelist. He holds the Title of Distinction of Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford and was formerly Principal of Regent's Park College and Chairman of the Theology Faculty. He has been described as "one of the leading contemporary Baptist theologians",[2] "one of the leading scholars of theology and literature writing today",[3] "one of Christianity's most distinguished scholars",[4] and "one of the foremost theological thinkers of the modern age".[5] His book The Creative Suffering of God is "considered to be one of the major contributions to theology in the last decades of the 20th century".[6][7][8][9]

The Reverend Professor

Paul Stuart Fiddes
Born (1947-04-30) 30 April 1947
NationalityBritish
EducationDrayton Manor Grammar School
Alma materSt Peter's College, Oxford
Regent's Park College, Oxford
Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
Known forPrincipal of Regent's Park College, Oxford
Chairman of Theology Faculty, Oxford
Professor of Systematic Theology, Oxford
Notable work
The Creative Suffering of God (Oxford, 1988)
AwardsHon DD Bucharest 2004
Hon Fellow St Peter's College, Oxford 2004
Ecumenical Prebendary St Endellion 2012
Hon Ecumenical Canon Christ Church 2012
For the Sake of the Church (Festschrift) (2014)
Within the Love of God (Festschrift) (2014)
WebsiteProfessor Paul Fiddes

Education

Fiddes was educated at Drayton Manor Grammar School.[10] In 1965 he went up to St Peter's College, Oxford to read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. He quickly changed his course and ended up with a Double First in English Language and Literature and Theology. The relationship between these disciplines has formed a major part of his subsequent scholarship. He then embarked on a doctoral thesis entitled The hiddenness of wisdom in the Old Testament and later Judaism, which he completed in 1976, before spending a year at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen undertaking post-doctoral studies, and attending seminars of Jürgen Moltmann and Eberhard Jüngel.

Meanwhile, Fiddes studied at Regent's Park College (the Baptist Permanent Private Hall at Oxford) for ordination as a minister in the Baptist Union of Great Britain. From 1972-75 he was Junior Research Fellow in Old Testament and Hebrew at Regent's Park, became Fellow and Tutor in Christian Doctrine there in 1975 and from 1979-85 he was additionally Lecturer in Theology at St Peter's.

Career

Fiddes was a member of the Oxford Theology Faculty Board from 1989-2007, serving as Chairman 1996-98, and having been a senior member of the Faculty since 1972. He was appointed Principal of Regent's Park in 1989 and was awarded the Title of Distinction of Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Oxford in 2002. In 2007 he resigned the Principalship of Regent's Park and was appointed Principal Emeritus, Professorial Research Fellow, and Director of Research.

In 2004 Fiddes was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Peter's, on which occasion he was described as being "recognised internationally as one of the leading scholars in the fields of theology and literature".[11] Later in that year, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, the highest that the University confers. In 2002 he was chosen to preach the University Sermon on the Grace of Humility, and in 2005 he was appointed to deliver the Oxford Bampton Lectures, choosing as his topic Seeing the world and knowing God: ancient wisdom and modern doctrine. In 2004 he became an Honorary Doctor of Divinity of the University of Bucharest.[10] He is also a Trustee Fellow of Georgetown College.[12]

Fiddes is currently writing a biography of Charles Williams. He delivered a lecture on 'Charles Williams and a Vision of Co-Inherence' at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin.[13]

Professional activities

Fiddes is a member of the editorial board of Ecclesiology: The Journal for Ministry, Mission and Unity and Ecclesial Practices. He is a consultant editor for Studies in Baptist History and Thought, published by Paternoster Press, and a series editor of New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies (Ashgate). He is General Editor of the Regent's Study Guides series, published jointly by the college and the American publisher Smyth & Helwys.[14]

Fiddes has served as a member of ecumenical study commissions for the British Council of Churches and its successor Churches Together in Britain and Ireland,[15] Chairman of the Doctrine and Worship Committee of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Convenor of the Division for Theology and Education of the European Baptist Federation, Chair of the Baptist Doctrine and Inter-Church Cooperation Study Commission of the Baptist World Alliance. A committed ecumenist, Fiddes was Baptist Chair of the Anglican Communion-Baptist World Alliance International Conversations from 2000 until 2005[16] and has also been, together with the Most Reverend Dr Arthur J. Serratelli, Co-Moderator of the second series of Roman Catholic-Baptist World Alliance International Conversations (Second Series 2006-10).[17][18] He is also an Ecumenical Representative to the General Synod of the Church of England.[19] The Anglican community has honoured him in 2012[20] as an Honorary Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (ex officio a member of the Greater Chapter of the Cathedral)[21] and as the first ever Ecumenical Prebendary of the Collegiate Church of St Endellion.[22] He shares the latter honour with Rowan Williams, whom he "vested in the traditional fur almuce" upon the occasion of his admission and installation as a prebendary.[23]

Lectures

In 2009, Fides delivered the Holley-Hull Lectures at Samford University on the subject Telling the Christian Story in Our World Today (for a full report see Sean Flynt, "Self and God: Elusive Subjects in Modern Literature: Fiddes", Samford University Seasons (Winter 2009), p. 20). In 2009 he delivered the Nordenhaug Lectures at the International Baptist Theological Seminary of the European Baptist Federation in Prague on the subject "Post Modernity and Wisdom". These lectures will be prepared for future publication.[24] (Previous Nordenhaug Lecturers include Miroslav Volf, Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, I. Howard Marshall, Professor of New Testament Exegesis in the University of Aberdeen, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, Jürgen Moltmann, Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Tübingen.)[25] In 2010 (7–9 July) Fiddes was Main Speaker at the conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools/Australian and New Zealand Society for Theological Studies, on "The Future of God", at Trinity College (University of Melbourne). At the same time he also spoke, as a keynote speaker, at the Melbourne College of Divinity Centenary Conference (5–7 July).[19][26] Fiddes was a keynote speaker at "The Power of the Word: Poetry, Theology and Life", a conference held jointly between Heythrop College and the Institute of English Studies.[27] Fiddes was also a keynote speaker at the 2010 Biennial Conference of the International Society for Religion, Literature and Culture, St Catherine's College, Oxford (23–26 September 2010) on the topic "Attending to the Other: Critical Theory and Spiritual Practice".[28]

Studies of Fiddes's theology

Past Event and Present Salvation: the Christian Idea of Atonement (London: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 1989), one of Fiddes's most important works, was studied by the Reverend Father Eamonn Mulcahy, C.S.Sp., in his doctoral thesis at the Pontifical Gregorian University under the supervision of the distinguished Australian Jesuit scholar Gerald O'Collins. His thesis, which was entitled The Cause of Our Salvation: Soteriological Causality According to Some Modern British Theologians, 1988-98, also considered works by Colin Gunton, Vernon White, and John McIntyre. The thesis is now published as Eamonn Mulcahy, The Cause of Our Salvation: Soteriological Causality according to some Modern British Theologians, 1988-98 (Tesi Gregoriana Serie Teologia 140, Roma: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 2007).

Fiddes is also the subject of Daniel John Sutcliffe-Pratt, Covenant and church for rough sleepers: a Baptist ecclesiology in conversation with the trinitarian pastoral theology of Paul S. Fiddes (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage studies, Occasional papers, vol. 14; Oxford: Regent's Park College, 2017).

The Revd Alistair Cuthbert, minister of Falkirk Baptist Church, is currently writing his doctoral thesis on the theology of Paul Fiddes at the University of St Andrews.[29]

Novelist

Fiddes has recently published his first novel, A Unicorn Dies: A Novel of Mystery and Ideas (Oxford: Firedint Publishing, 2018). It is said to be, 'the first novel to reflect the modern cultural preoccupation with the image of the unicorn.' The Revd John Barton, DLitt, FBA, lately Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, has said of the book, 'This is such an intriguing and interesting novel. The plot is absolutely ingenious and both characterization and dialogue are wonderful.'[30] A Unicorn Dies was also reviewed for the online newspaper The Baptist Times by Hugh Whittaker, Director of the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies and Professor in the Economy and Business of Japan, University of Oxford, and Tutor for Admissions, St Antony's College. Professor Whittaker concludes, "A Unicorn Dies operates on several levels. It is both gripping and complex. I very much enjoyed this quest with Giles, and look forward to the next novel. It won’t be an easy act to follow."[31] Fiddes's novel received a north American launch at University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Virginia on 21 March 2018.[32]

Publications

Fiddes has written eleven books (including one novel), and more than 115 articles or book chapters.[19][33] He has edited or co-edited a dozen books and he has jointly authored five more books. His work is published by some of the world's leading publishers, including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, University of Wales Press, Mercer University Press, Sheffield Academic Press, Blackwell, Ashgate, Springer, Liturgical Press, Paternoster, Eerdmans, SPCK, SCM, DLT, and Marshall Pickering.

Fiddes has also been honoured with two Festschriften:

  • Anthony Clarke, ed., For the Sake of the Church: Essays in Honour of Paul S. Fiddes, with a foreword by Rex Mason (Centre for Baptist History and Heritage studies, 3; Oxford: Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, Regent's Park College: 2014)
  • Anthony Clarke and Andrew Moore, eds., Within the Love of God: Essays on the Doctrine of God in Honour of Paul S. Fiddes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014)

Further reading

References
  1. "Birthday's today". The Telegraph. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2014. the Rev Prof Paul Fiddes, Professorial Research Fellow, Regent's Park College, Oxford, 65
  2. Jeff B. Pool, PhD, Special Assistant to the President, Director of Baptist Studies, and Professor of Theology, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, "The Baptist Library: Notes of books, past and present, by and about Baptists", The Baptist Studies Bulletin vol. 1 no. 5 (May 2002)
  3. "Scholars at Baylor Symposium to Examine Religion's Fate in Modern Times", Baylor University (28 September 2009). Accessed 3 March 2010.
  4. Paul Fiddes, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Local Radio, Sunday Nights (11 July 2010). Accessed 29 March 2011.
  5. The Revd Dr Robert Ellis, quoted in Andy Goodliff, 'In honour of Paul Fiddes', The Baptist Times (26 November 2014).
  6. Brookwood Baptist Church Sunday 6 September 2009. Accessed 2 March 2010 Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Brookwood Baptist Church Sunday 13 September 2009. Accessed 2 March 2010 Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Theologian Paul Fiddes to Present Annual Holley-Hull Lectures", Samford News (20 August 2009). Accessed 2 March 2010
  9. Biographical sketch on Global Baptist Peace Conference website. Accessed 2 March 2010 Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "FIDDES, Rev. Prof. Paul Stuart", Who's Who 2008, A & C Black, 2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 27 March 2008
  11. "St Peter's College, Oxford, Old Members' Newsletter" (PDF). St Peter's College, Oxford. Spring 2004. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
  12. Georgetown College Trustees Archived 7 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  13. 'The Other Inklings', University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford. Accessed 17 June 2020.
  14. Regent's Study Guides Archived 8 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Eamonn Mulcahy, The Cause of Our Salvation: Soteriological Causality according to some Modern British Theologians, 1988-98 (Tesi Gregoriana Serie Teologia 140, Roma: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 2007), p. 117.
  16. "Work with the Baptists" Episcopal News Service 24 June 2005, accessed 9 August 2009
  17. Research Assessment Exercise 2008
  18. Pro Unione
  19. Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools/Australian and New Zealand Society for Theological Studies Conference 2010. Accessed 29 June 2010. Archived 19 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  20. 'First ever Lay and Ecumenical Canons', Christ Church website.
  21. Greater Chapter, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (Updated: Monday 19 January 2015 20:53). Archived 5 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  22. 'Three New Prebendaries', The Coracle: News from the Diocese of Truro (December 2012), p. 7. Archived 5 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  23. 'New St Endellion Prebends installed' (31 January 2014). Archived 5 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  24. "International Baptist Theological Seminary of the European Baptist Federation: News 2009". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  25. "Nordenhaug Lectures". Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  26. "Melbourne College of Divinity Conference. Accessed 29 June 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  27. The Power of the Word: Poetry, Theology and Life. Page updated 29 June 2010. Accessed 29 June 2010. Archived 30 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  28. Program: 2010 ISRLC Conference (Oxford, 23-26 Sep. Updated 15 June 2010. Accessed 29 June 2010.
  29. 'Theology Live 2020', The Baptist Times. Accessed 17 June 2020.
  30. Firedint Publishing Oxford: Recently Published. Accessed 18 June 2018.
  31. Professor D.H. Whittaker, Ph.D., "Cracking the Code of the Unicorn", The Baptist Times (23 March 2018). Accessed 18 June 2018.
  32. The Word (University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, Virginia), vol. 70, no. 9 (6 March 2018). Accessed 18 June 2018.
  33. Regent's Park College website. Accessed 29 June 2010.
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