William Belden Noble Lectures is an American series of annual presentations by accomplished individuals, held at Harvard University.
The Lectures were established in 1898 through a bequest by Nannie Yulee Noble in memory of her husband, a divinity student who died while preparing for the ministry. Speakers deliver a systematized collection of lectures on a theme of Christian thought.
According to the terms of the bequest: “The object of the Founder of the Lectures is to continue the mission of her husband, whose supreme desire was to extend the influence of Jesus as ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life,’ and to illustrate and enforce the words of Jesus — ‘I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.’ The Founder has in view the presentation of the personality of Jesus as given in the New Testament, or unfolded in the history of the Christian Church, or illustrated in the inward experience of His followers, or as the inspiration to Christian Missions for the conversion of the world. The scope of the Lectures is believed to be as wide as the highest interests of humanity.”
Lecturers
1898 - Francis G. Peabody 1899 – George Herbert Palmer 1900 – William Henry Fremantle 1904 – William Boyd Carpenter 1907 – Charles Henry Brentbook form of the lecture 1909 – Henry Churchill King 1910 – Theodore Roosevelt 1911 – Wilfred Thomason Grenfellbook form of the lectures 1911 – John Neville Figgis 1924 – Arthur Cayley HeadlamPublished as Jesus Christ in History and Faith: Being the William Belden Noble Lectures Delivered in Harvard University, 1924 1925 – Henry Major 1957 – Alexander "Lex" Miller 1968 – Harvey Cox 1969 – Frederick Buechner (lectures published under title, The Alphabet of Grace, in 1970)Buechner, Frederick (1983). Now and Then: a memoir of vocation. San Francisco: HarperCollins. p. 85. Eugene McCarthy 1981 – Dr Edward D.A. Hulmes, (see www.edwardhulmes.co.uk) 1982 – Robert N. Bellah Archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury Hans Küng 1995 – J. Barrie Shepherd Paul Tillich (schedule for 1995, but died before the date) 1998 – Armand Nicholi 2000 – John Shelby Spong 2003 – Francis S. Collins 2004 – Dr. Tim Johnson 2005 – Owen Gingerich 2006 – N. T. Wright"Theologian, Anglican Bishop Wright to deliver Belden Noble Lectures". Harvard University Gazette 2008 – Stephen Prothero 2013 – Janet McKenzie 2014 – Joshua DuBois 2015 - Stanley Nelson"Drew Faust Interviews Stanley Nelson" 2016 – Marilynne Robinson"Lecture Archive, William Belden Noble Lectures" 2019 - Rev. Raphael Warnock"Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock: Reforming the criminal justice system" 2022 - John Green"William Belden Noble Lecture Series: John Green" 2022 - Dr. Norman Wirzba"William Belden Noble Lecture Series: Professor Norman Wirzba"
References
External links Michelstein, Erica R. "Nicholi Lectures on Moral Law". The Harvard Crimson (October 6, 1998) (guest speaker Armand Nicholi) "Harvard's Noble Lectures". Pietisten (Winter 2004–2005) (guest speaker Dr. Tim Johnson) "Theologian, Anglican Bishop Wright to deliver Belden Noble Lectures". Harvard University Gazette (October 12, 2006) (guest speaker Nicholas Thomas Wright) "Joshua DuBois, Former Pastor-In-Chief, Lectures on Faith in Politics". "The Harvard Crimson" (April 7, 2014) (guest speaker Joshua DuBois)