The Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture (until 1991 the Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture) is a chair in theology, particular Old Testament studies, at the University of Oxford. Oriel College, Oxford, decided in 1876 to establish a chair in theology, funded by the revenue from a canonry at Rochester Cathedral controlled by the college. The first professor, John Wordsworth, was appointed in 1883. The chair was renamed in 1991 to mark a donation from the Laing Foundation that secured its endowment. The professorship carries with it a fellowship of Oriel College.
John Keble was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, is named after him.
John Barton is a British Anglican priest and biblical scholar. From 1991 to 2014, he was the Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Oriel College. In addition to his academic career, he has been an ordained and serving priest in the Church of England since 1973.
John Wordsworth was an English Anglican bishop and classical scholar. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1883 to 1885, and Bishop of Salisbury from 1885 to 1911.
The Oxford Faculty of Theology and Religion co-ordinates the teaching of theology at the University of Oxford. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division.
James Barr was a Scottish Old Testament scholar, known for his critique of the notion that the vocabulary and structure of the Hebrew language may reflect a particular theological mindset. At the University of Oxford, he was the Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture from 1976 to 1978, and the Regius Professor of Hebrew from 1978 to 1989.
Sarah Anne Coakley is an English Anglican priest, systematic theologian, and philosopher of religion with interdisciplinary interests. She commenced as an honorary professor at the Logos Institute, the University of St Andrews, after retiring from the position of Norris–Hulse Professor of Divinity (2007–2018) at the University of Cambridge. She is also an honorary professor at the Australian Catholic University, and an honorary fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
Andrew Keith Malcolm Adam, known as A. K. M. Adam, is a biblical scholar, theologian, author, priest, technologist and blogger. He is Tutor in New Testament and Greek at St. Stephen's House at Oxford University. He is a writer, speaker, voice-over artist, and activist on topics including postmodern philosophy, hermeneutics, education, and the social constitution of meaning.
Charles Fox Burney was a biblical scholar at Oxford University, England.
John Bainbridge Webster (1955–2016) was an Anglican priest and theologian writing in the area of systematic, historical, and moral theology. Born in Mansfield, England, on 20 June 1955, he was educated at the independent Bradford Grammar School and at the University of Cambridge. After a distinguished career, he died at his home in Scotland on 25 May 2016 at the age of 60. At the time of his death, he was the Chair of Divinity at St. Mary's College, University of St Andrews, Scotland.
The position of Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture was established at the University of Oxford in 1847. This professorship in the critical interpretation or explanation of biblical texts, a field known as exegesis, was instituted by John Ireland, who was Dean of Westminster from 1816 until his death in 1842. He founded scholarships in his lifetime at the University of Oxford, which are still awarded after an examination to undergraduates "for the promotion of classical learning and taste". In his will, he left £10,000 to the university, with the interest arising to be applied to the professorship. The first professor, Edward Hawkins, was appointed in 1847. The second Dean Ireland's Professor, Robert Scott, had won an Ireland scholarship in 1833 while studying at Christ Church.
Robert Henry Lightfoot was an Anglican priest and theologian, who was Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1934 to 1949.
Christopher R. Seitz is an American Old Testament scholar and theologian known for his work in biblical interpretation and theological hermeneutics. He is the senior research professor of biblical interpretation at Toronto School of Theology, Wycliffe College. He is also an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, and served as canon theologian in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas (2008-2015).
Ernest Wilson Nicholson, was a British scholar of the Old Testament and Church of England priest. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1979 to 1990 and served as Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, from 1990 to 2003.
George Albert Cooke was a British Anglican clergyman and academic. He held two senior chairs at the University of Oxford: Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture from 1908 to 1914, and Regius Professor of Hebrew from 1914 to 1936.
David Capell Simpson, known as D. C. Simpson, was a British biblical scholar, academic and Church of England clergyman. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1950.
Hindy Najman is an American academic specialising in Jewish studies and the Hebrew Bible. Since July 2015, she has been Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford. Previously, she was Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto from 2008 to 2012, and Professor of Religious Studies and Classics at Yale University from 2012 to 2015.
Reinhard Gregor Kratz is a German biblical scholar, historian of ancient Judaism, and Protestant theologian. He currently serves as professor of Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Göttingen, in Germany. In his various authorial, editorial, advisory, and administrative capacities, Kratz has had a sizeable impact on research into the Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism.
Hedley Frederick Davis Sparks, was a British biblical scholar and Church of England priest. From 1946 to 1952, he was Cadbury Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham. From 1952 to 1976, he was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford.