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Nigel Biggar

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The Reverend Canon
Nigel Biggar
CBE
Nigel Biggar, wearing dark blazer and light blue shirt, sitting on a salmon-coloured sofa, looking directly at camera with serious gaze
Biggar in 2023
Born
Nigel John Biggar

(1955-03-14) 14 March 1955 (age 69)
Castle Douglas, Scotland
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionChristianity
ChurchChurch of England
Ordained1990 (deacon)
1991 (priest)
Academic background
Alma mater
Doctoral advisorJames Gustafson
Influences
Academic work
DisciplineTheology
Institutions
Websitenigelbiggar.uk

Nigel John Biggar CBE (born 14 March 1955) is a British Anglican priest, theologian, and ethicist. From 2007 to 2022, he was the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford. In December 2024, Biggar was nominated for a life peerage.[3]

Early life and education

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Nigel John Biggar was born on 14 March 1955 in Castle Douglas, Scotland.[4][5]

He was educated at Monkton Combe School, a private school near Bath, Somerset. He studied modern history at Worcester College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976. As per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts degree in 1988.[4]

Biggar attended the University of Chicago, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in religious studies in 1980; and the evangelical Regent College in Vancouver, graduating with a Master of Christian Studies in 1981. He returned to the University of Chicago to study for his doctorate in Christian theology and completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1986.[4]

Career

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On his return to Oxford in 1985, Biggar became librarian and research fellow at Latimer House.[4] He additionally taught Christian ethics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1987 to 1994.[4]

He was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1990 and as a priest in 1991.[6] For most of the 1990s, he was chaplain and fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. In 1999, he took the Chair of Theology at the University of Leeds, and in 2004, he moved to the Chair of Theology and Ethics at Trinity College, Dublin.[7]

In 2007, he became Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford.[7][8] He also became a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.[6] He retired in September 2022.[9]

Ethics and Empire project

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At Scruton Veres Pálné, Budapest, Hungary

In 2017, Biggar initiated a five-year project at Oxford University, entitled "Ethics and Empire". Its stated aim was to scrutinise critiques against the historical facts of empire.[10][11] Historians and academics widely criticised the project, claiming that it was "attempting to balance out the violence committed in the name of empire with its supposed benefits".[12][13][14] The project also received criticism for failing to engage with the wider scholarship on empire and not submitting itself to peer scrutiny and rigorous academic debate.[14]

Biggar addressed the ethics of colonialism in an op-ed for The Times, arguing that the history of the British Empire was morally mixed and that guilt around Britain's colonial legacy may have gone too far. He also defended an article by Bruce Gilley, titled "The Case for Colonialism", asserting that Gilley's appeal for a balanced reappraisal of the colonial past was both courageous and a call for Britain to moderate its post-imperial guilt.[15]

Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

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Biggar's 2023 book, Colonialism. A Moral Reckoning, which examines the morality of colonialism, was initially accepted by Bloomsbury, but it chose not to publish it, with the suggestion that "public feeling on the subject does not currently support the publication of the book".[16] It was eventually published by HarperCollins, in 2023.[17]

The book has received both praise and criticism. Kenan Malik of The Guardian said that while Colonialism "claims to be a 'moral reckoning', moral questions are rarely taken seriously", and "in seeking to challenge what he regards as cartoonish views of imperial history, Biggar has produced something equally cartoonish, a politicised history that ill-serves his aim of defending 'western values'."[18] Rudrangshu Mukherjee wrote in The Wire that Colonialism is an "immoral book" that ignores "the structural logic of empire" linking "the development of capitalism and prosperity in Britain with the political control, the economic exploitation and the impoverishment of the colonies," and that it fails "the most elementary test of scholarship".[19]

In contrast, Trevor Phillips in The Sunday Times said that it "carries the intellectual force of a Javelin antitank missile", stating that he "find[s] it hard to disagree" with Biggar's thesis.[20] Jonathan Sumption in the Literary Review described it as "an important book as well as a courageous one", and that "in general, [Biggar's] approach is objective and he fairly addresses the contrary arguments".[21] In The Daily Telegraph, Tim Stanley considered the book "thoughtful" and "compelling", one that introduced facts, some of which he was unaware of, indicating that "much that is benign about our civilisation has been forgotten", but concluded that Biggar "is spoiling for a fight, and I fear he's going to get one".[17]

In a review for The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, historian Alan Lester criticised Biggar for misrepresentations of sources that tend towards a favourable image of colonialism, describing Biggar's argument that anti-slavery dominated British policy during the second half of the empire's existence as "absurd", and sees a "persistent double standard" in how Biggar judges British versus non-British actions that "are hard to justify morally".[22] Biggar replied in the same journal, accusing Lester of "political bias, smearing by association, the erection of strawmen, careless reading, misrepresentation, misunderstanding, unsupported assertions, a disappointing absence of open thoughtfulness, and a striking lack of critical self-awareness".[23]

Honours

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Biggar was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 Birthday Honours, for services to higher education.[24]

Selected publications

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  • The Hastening that Waits: Karl Barth's Ethics (1993)
  • Good Life: Reflections on What We Value Today (1997)
  • The Revival of Natural Law: Philosophical, Theological and Ethical Responses to the Finnes-Grisez School, with Rufus Black (2000)
  • Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict (2001)
  • Aiming to Kill: The Ethics of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (2003)
  • Religious Voices in Public Places (2009)[25]
  • Behaving in Public: How to Do Christian Ethics (2011)
  • In Defence of War (2013)
  • Between Kin and Cosmopolis: An Ethic of the Nation (2014)
  • What's Wrong with Rights? (2020)
  • Colonialism. A Moral Reckoning (2023)[17][26]

References

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  1. ^ Biggar, Nigel (2010). "Karl Barth's Ethics Revisited". In Migliore, Daniel L. (ed.). Commanding Grace: Studies in Karl Barth's Ethics. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-8028-6570-0.
  2. ^ Jensen, David (17 August 2018). "Oxford's Nigel Biggar: Anglicanism Sustains Democracy & Religious Freedom". Juicy Ecumenism. Washington: Institute on Religion and Democracy. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Political Peerages December 2024". gov.uk. 20 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Biggar, Rev. Canon Prof. Nigel John, (born 14 March 1955), Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, since 2007 and Director, McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life, since 2008, University of Oxford; Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, since 2007". Who's Who 2020. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2019. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U245063.
  5. ^ Biggar, Nigel (2014). "Review of Honey from the Lion: Christianity and the Ethics of Nationalism, by Doug Gay". Scottish Journal of Theology. 67 (3): 365. doi:10.1017/S0036930614000167. ISSN 1475-3065. S2CID 145516959.
  6. ^ a b "Nigel John Biggar". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Professor Nigel Biggar – Christ Church, Oxford University". University of Oxford.
  8. ^ "Professor Nigel Biggar – Faculty of Theology and Religion". University of Oxford.
  9. ^ "Professor Nigel Biggar". Faculty of Theology and Religion. University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Ethics and Empire". mcdonaldcentre.org.uk.
  11. ^ Kennedy, Dominic (28 December 2017). "Academics accused of 'stirring up mob' against Nigel Biggar in free speech row". The Times. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  12. ^ McDougall, James (3 January 2018). "The History of Empire Isn't About Pride – or Guilt". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Adams, Richard. "Oxford University accused of backing apologists of British colonialism". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  14. ^ a b Wilson, Jon (22 November 2017). "A Collective statement on 'Ethics and Empire'". Medium.
  15. ^ Biggar, Nigel (30 November 2017). "Don't Feel Guilty About Our Colonial History". The Times.
  16. ^ Lai, Charlotte (4 February 2023). "Don in publisher row over "cancelled" colonialism book". Cherwell.
  17. ^ a b c Stanley, Tim (26 January 2023). "Colonialism by Nigel Biggar review: defending the British empire, this book is spoiling for a fight". The Daily Telegraph.
  18. ^ Malik, Kenan (20 February 2023). "Colonialism by Nigel Biggar review – a flawed defence of empire". The Guardian.
  19. ^ Mukherjee, Rudrangshu (10 March 2023). "An Immoral Defence of the British Empire". The Wire.
  20. ^ Phillips, Trevor. "Colonialism by Nigel Biggar: don't be ashamed of empire". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  21. ^ "Jonathan Sumption – Cruel Britannia?". Literary Review. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  22. ^ "On Colonialism: A Response to Nigel Biggar's Reply". Snapshots of Empire. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  23. ^ Biggar, Nigel (2 June 2023). "On Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning : A Reply to Alan Lester". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 51 (4): 796–824. doi:10.1080/03086534.2023.2209948. ISSN 0308-6534.
  24. ^ "No. 63377". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2021. p. B8.
  25. ^ Biggar, Nigel; Hogan, Linda, eds. (2009). Religious Voices in Public Places. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199566624.
  26. ^ Lester, Alan (2023). "The British Empire in the Culture War: Nigel Biggar's Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 51 (4): 763–795. doi:10.1080/03086534.2023.2209947.
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Academic offices
Preceded by Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology
University of Oxford
2007–2022 		Succeeded by
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