Benjamin Jowett (April 15, 1817 – October 1, 1893) was an English scholar and theologian, Master of Balliol College, Oxford. April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason) means reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God. ... College name Balliol College Named after John de Balliol Established 1263 Sister College St Johns Master Andrew Graham JCR President Jack Hawkins Undergraduates 403 Graduates 228 Homepage Boatclub Balliol College, founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ...

Benjamin Jowett

He was born in Camberwell. His father was one of a Yorkshire family who, for three generations, had been supporters of the Evangelical movement in the Church of England. His mother was a Langhorne, in some way related to the poet John Langhorne. At twelve the boy was placed on the foundation of St Paul's School (then in St Paul's Churchyard), and in his nineteenth year he obtained an open scholarship to Balliol. In 1838 he gained a fellowship, and graduated with first-class honours in 1839. Brought up amongst pious Evangelicals, he came to Oxford at the height of the Tractarian movement, and through the friendship of W.G. Ward was drawn for a time in the direction of High Anglicanism; but a stronger and more lasting influence was that of the Arnold school, represented by A.P. Stanley. Jowett was thus led to concentrate his attention on theology, and in the summers of 1845 and 1846, spent in Germany with Stanley, he became an eager student of German criticism and speculation. Amongst the writings of that period he was most impressed by those of F.C. Baur. But he never ceased to exercise an independent judgment, and his work on St Paul, which appeared in 1855, was the result of much original reflection and inquiry. Image File history File links Benjamin_Jowett. ... Image File history File links Benjamin_Jowett. ... Camberwell is a district of London in the London Borough of Southwark. ... Yorkshire is the largest traditional county of Great Britain, covering some 6,000 sq. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of conservative Christianity, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... John Langhorne (1735‑1779), poet, son of a clergyman, was born at Kirkby Stephen; having taken orders, he was for two years a curate in London, and from 1776 Rector of Blagdon, Somerset, and Prebendary of Wells. ... St Pauls School St Pauls School is one of Britains oldest and most pre-eminent public schools. ... A scholarship is an award of access to an institution or a financial aid award for an individual (a scholar) for the purposes of furthering their education. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... For the 20th century Oxford Movement or Group see Moral Rearmament The Oxford Movement was a loose affiliation of High Church Anglicans who sought to demonstrate that the Church of England was a direct descendant of the Christian church established by the Apostles. ... William George Ward (March 21, 1812 - July 6, 1882), was an English Roman Catholic theologian, whose career illustrates the development of religious opinion at a time of crisis in the history of English religious thought. ... High Church is a term that may now be used in speaking of viewpoints within a number of denominations of Protestant Christianity in general, but it is one which has traditionally been employed in Churches associated with the Anglican tradition in particular. ... Caricature from Punch, 1881: Admit that Homer sometimes nods, That poets do write trash, Our Bard has written Balder Dead, And also Balder-dash Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic, who worked as an inspector of schools. ... Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (December 13, 1815 _ July 18, 1881), was an English churchman, dean of Westminster. ... Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason) means reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God. ... Ferdinand Christian Baur (June 21, 1792 - 1860), was a German theologian and leader of the Tübingen school of theology. ... Saul, also known as Paul, Paulus, and Saint Paul the Apostle (c. ...

He was appointed to the Greek professorship in the autumn of that year. He had been a tutor of Balliol and a clergyman since 1842, and had devoted himself to the work of tuition with unexampled zeal. His pupils became his friends for life. He discerned their capabilities, studied their characters, and sought to remedy their defects by frank and searching criticism. Like another Socrates, he taught them to know themselves, repressing vanity, encouraging the despondent, and attaching all alike by his unobtrusive sympathy. This work gradually made a strong impression, and those who cared for Oxford began to speak of him as "the great tutor." As early as 1839, Stanley had joined with Archibald Campbell Tait, the future Archbishop of Canterbury, in advocating certain university reforms. From 1846 onwards Jowett threw himself into this movement, which in 1848 became general amongst the younger and more thoughtful fellows, until it took effect in the commission of 1850 and the act of 1854. Socrates (Greek: , invariably anglicized assɔkɹətiːz, Sǒcratēs; 470?–399 BCE) was a ancient Greek philosopher who is widely credited for laying the foundation for Western philosophy. ... Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 1811 _ 3 December 1882) was an archbishop of Canterbury. ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

Another educational reform, the opening of the Indian civil service to competition, took place at the same time, and Jowett was one of the commission. He had two brothers who served and died in India, and he never ceased to take a deep and practical interest in Indian affairs. A great disappointment, his repulse for the mastership of Balliol. also in 1854, appears to have roused him into the completion of his book on The Epistles of St Paul. This work, described by one of his friends as "a miracle of boldness," is full of originality and suggestiveness, but its publication awakened against him a storm of theological prejudice, which followed him more or less through life. Instead of yielding to this, he joined with Henry Bristow Wilson and Rowland Williams, who had been similarly attacked, in the production of the volume known as Essays and Reviews. This appeared in 1860 and gave rise to a strange outbreak of fanaticism. Jowett's loyalty to those who were prosecuted on this account was no less characteristic than his persistent silence while the augmentation of his salary as Greek professor was withheld. This petty persecution was continued until 1865, when E.A. Freeman and Charles Elton discovered by historical research that a breach of the conditions of the professorship had occurred, and Christ Church, Oxford raised the endowment from £40 a year to £500. Henry Bristow Wilson (1803–1888) was a theologian and a fellow of St Johns College, Oxford. ... Reverend Professor Rowland Williams (1817-1870) was vice-principal and Professor of Hebrew at St David’s College, Lampeter from 1849 to 1862 and was one of the most influential theologians of the nineteenth century. ... Essays and Reviews, published in 1860, is a collection of seven essays on religion, covering topics including the Biblical researches of the German critics, the evidences of Christianity, religious thought in England, and the cosmology of Genesis. ... Edward Augustus Freeman (August 2, 1823 - March 16, 1892) was an English historian. ... Charles Isaac Elton (December 6, 1839 _ April 23, 1900) was an English lawyer and antiquary. ... College name Christ Church Named after Jesus Christ Established 1546 Sister College Trinity College Dean The Very Revd Christopher Andrew Lewis JCR President William Dorsey Undergraduates 426 MCR or GCR President {{{MCR President}}} Graduates 154 Home page Boat Club Christ Church (Latin: Ædes Christi, the temple or house of Christ...

Meanwhile Jowett's influence at Oxford had steadily increased. It culminated in 1864, when the country clergy, provoked by the final acquittal of the essayists, had voted in convocation against the endowment of the Greek chair. Jowett's pupils, who were now drawn from the university at large, supported him with the enthusiasm which young men feel for the victim of injustice. In the midst of other labours Jowett had been quietly exerting his influence so as to conciliate all shades of liberal opinion, and bring them to bear upon the abolition of the theological test, which was still required for the M.A. and other degrees, and for university and college offices. He spoke at an important meeting upon this question in London on June 10, 1864, which laid the ground for the University Tests Act of 1871. 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The degree of Master of Arts degree is an undergraduate degree awarded by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge as well as by the University of Dublin. ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

In connection with the Greek professorship, Jowett had undertaken a work on Plato which grew into a complete translation of the Dialogues with introductory essays. At this he laboured in vacation time for at least ten years. But his interest in theology had not abated, and his thoughts found an outlet in' occasional preaching. The university pulpit, indeed, was closed to him, but several congregations in London delighted in his sermons, and from 1866 until the year of his death he preached annually in Westminster Abbey, where Stanley had become dean in 1863. Three volumes of selected sermons have been published since his death. The years 1865–1870 were occupied with assiduous labour. Amongst his pupils at Balliol were men destined to high positions in the state, whose parents had thus shown their confidence in the supposed heretic, and gratitude on this account was added to other motives for his unsparing efforts in tuition. In 1870, by an arrangement which be attributed to his friend Robert Lowe, afterwards Lord Sherbrooke (at that time a member of Gladstone's ministry), Scott was promoted to the deanery of Rochester and Jowett was elected to the vacant mastership by the fellows of Balliol. From the vantage-ground of this long-coveted position the Plato was published in 1871. It had a great and well-deserved success. While scholars criticized particular renderings (and there were many small errors to be removed in subsequent editions), it was generally agreed that he had succeeded in making Plato an English classic. For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... The Abbeys western façade The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to as Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ... A sketch portrait of Robert Lowe Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke (December 4, 1811 - July 27, 1892), British statesman, was born at Bingham, Nottinghamshire, where his father was the rector. ... William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809–19 May 1898) was a British Liberal Party statesman and Prime Minister (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886 and 1892–1894). ... Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ...

Benjamin Jowett, by Carlo Pellegrini, 1876.

From 1866 his authority in Balliol had been paramount, and various reforms in college had been due to his initiative. The opposing minority were now powerless, and the younger fellows who had been his pupils were more inclined to follow him than others would have been. There was no obstacle to the continued exercise of his firm and reasonable will. He still knew the undergraduates individually, and watched their progress with a vigilant eye. His influence in the university was less assured. The pulpit of St Mary's was no longer closed to him, but the success of Balliol in the schools gave rise to jealousy in other colleges, and old prejudices did not suddenly give way; while a new movement in favour of "the endowment of research" ran counter to his immediate purposes. Image File history File links Benjamin_Jowett. ... Image File history File links Benjamin_Jowett. ... Carlo Pellegrini (1838‑1889) was a caricaturist, born in Capua; came to London and worked for Vanity Fair. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Meanwhile, the tutorships in other colleges, and some of the headships also, were being filled with Balliol men, and Jowett's former pupils were prominent in both houses of parliament and at the bar. He continued the practice, which he had commenced in 1848, of taking with him a small party of undergraduates in vacation time, and working with them in one of his favourite haunts, at Askrigg in Wensleydale, or Tummel Bridget or later at WestMalvern. The new hall (1876), the organ there, entirely his gift (1835) and the cricket ground (1889), remain as external monuments of the master's activity. Neither business nor the many claims of friendship interrupted literary work. The six or seven weeks of the long vacation, during which he had pupils with him, were mainly employed in writing. The translation of Aristotle's Politics, the revision of Plato, and, above all, the translation of Thucydides many times revised, occupied several years. The edition of the Republic, undertaken in 1856, remained unfinished, but was continued with the help of Professor Lewis Campbell. For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... Media:Example. ... Bust of Thucydides residing in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. ... Lewis Campbell (September 3, 1830 - October 25, 1908), British classical scholar, was born at Edinburgh. ...

Other literary plans were not to take effect—an Essay on the Religions of the World, a Commentary on the Gospels, a Life of Christ, a volume on Moral Ideas. Such plans were frustrated, not only by his practical avocations, but by his determination to finish what he had begun, and the fastidious self-criticism which it took so long to satisfy. The book on Morals might, however, have been written but for the heavy burden of the vice-chancellorship, which he was induced to accept in 1882, by the hope, only partially fulfilled, of securing many improvements for the University. The vice-chancellor was ex officio a delegate of the Press, where he hoped to effect much; and a plan for draining the Thames Valley, which he had now the power of initiating, was one on which his mind had dwelt for many years. A Vice-Chancellor (commonly called the VC) of a university in the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and some universities in Hong Kong, is the de facto head of the university. ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... The Thames Valley is generally the region that drains into the River Thames, England, but is used in a more specific term by the government. ...

The exhausting labours of the vice-chancellorship were followed by an illness (1887); and after this he relinquished the hope of producing any great original writing. His literary industry was thenceforth confined to his commentary on the Republic of Plato, and some essays on Aristotle which were to have formed a companion volume to the translation of the Politics. The essays which should have accompanied the translation of Thucydides were never written. Jowett, who never married, died on 1 October 1893. The funeral was one of the most impressive ever seen in Oxford. The pall-bearers were seven heads of colleges and the provost of Eton, all old pupils. October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a prestigious and internationally known Public School for boys. ...

Theologian, tutor, university reformer, a great master of a college, Jowett's best claim to the remembrance of succeeding generations was his greatness as a moral teacher. Many of the most prominent Englishmen of the day were his pupils and owed much of what they were to his precept and example, his penetrative sympathy, his insistent criticism, and his unwearying friendship. Seldom have ideal aims been so steadily pursued with so clear a recognition of practical limitations. Jowett's theological work was transitional, and yet has an element of permanence. As has been said of another thinker, he was "one of those deeply religious men who, when crude theological notions are being revised and called in question seek to put new life into theology by wider and more humane ideas." In earlier life he had been a zealous student of Immanuel Kant and Georg Hegel, and to the end he never ceased to cultivate the philosophic spirit; but he had little confidence in metaphysical systems, and sought rather to translate philosophy into the wisdom of life. As a classical scholar, his scorn of littlenesses sometimes led him into the neglect of minutiae, but he had the higher merit of interpreting ideas. His place in literature rests really on the essays in his Plato. When their merits are fully recognized, it will be found that his worth, as a teacher of his countrymen, extends far beyond his own generation. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Immanuel Kant (22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804), was a German philosopher from Königsberg in East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Undoubtedly Jowett was a great scholar, but what did the undergraduates think of their master? One of them, H. C. Beeching, wrote a rhyme which in various forms has become quite famous (which incidentally tells us he pronounced his name to rhyme with 'Blow-it', not the more prevalent rhyming with 'How-it'). It was published in 1881 in a broadsheet entitled The Masque of B-ll--l : Henry Charles Beeching (15 May 1859 - 1919) was an English clergyman, author and poet. ...

First come I. My name is Jowett.

There's no knowledge but I know it.

I am the Master of this College,

What I don't know isn't knowledge.

Jowett is buried in Oxford's St Sepulchre's Cemetery. St Sepulchres Cemetery is located in Jericho, central Oxford, England. ...

References

• The Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett, E.A. Abbott and Lewis Campbell (1897).
• Benjamin Jowett, Lionel Tollemache (1895).

Edwin Abbott Abbott (December 20, 1838 – 1926), English schoolmaster and theologian, is best known as the author of the mathematical satire Flatland (1884). ...

External link

• Quotations
• Works by Benjamin Jowett at Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

See also

• List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Oxford