Nationality British Occupation Theologian | Name Frederick Tennant | |
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Born Sept. 1st, 1866 Burslem, Staffordshire, England Died September 9, 1957, Cambridge Books The origin and propagati, The Concept of Sin, The sources of the doctri, Philosophy of the sciences, Philosophical theology | ||
Frederick Robert Tennant (1866-1957) studied mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry at Caius College, Cambridge (1885–89) prior to becoming a theologian. After hearing the 1889 Huxley lectures, Tennant’s interest in religion grew in the 1890s ultimately leading him to prepare for ordination in the Church of England. While he was ordained he taught science at Newcastle-under-Lyme High School (1891–94), and became a lecturer in Theology and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1913.
As an Anglican theologian, Tennant assimilated much of Huxley’s lectures culminating in the 1901-1902 Hulsean Lecture entitled Origin and Propagation of Sin where he integrated evolutionary ideas into a Christian synthesis.
One of Tennant's goals in his writings was an integrative synthesis of the doctrines of the fall and original sin with Huxley’s claims of conflict between Darwinian thought and Christianity.
Evolution and purpose
Tennant believed that the existence of a god was needed to explain the purposive quality of evolution. Tennant was the first theist widely known to put forward such an argument. In volume 2 of his book Philosophical Theology he says.
the multitude of interwoven adaptations by which the world is constituted a theatre of life, intelligence, and morality, cannot reasonably be regarded as an outcome of mechanism, or of blind formative power, or aught but purposive intelligence