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TheNorris–Hulse Professorship of Divinity is one of the senior professorships indivinity at theUniversity of Cambridge.
The Norrisian chair was founded in 1777 by a bequest fromJohn Norris. Among the original stipulations of the bequest were that the holder should be between 30 and 60 years old, and that he should be fined 21 shillings from his salary if any student at his lectures were not provided with copies of theOld andNew Testaments, and a Pearson on the Creed.
John Hulse (1708–1790) was an English clergyman fromMiddlewich,Cheshire. On his death, he bequeathed a large proportion of his estate to found a prize essay, two scholarships, and the positions of 'Hulsean Lecturer' and 'Christian Advocate'. The Hulsean Lecturer was originally required to deliver 20 sermons each year on the evidence of Christianity or scriptural difficulties, and the position continues to this day, although the number of lectures has been reduced greatly. In 1860 the Christian Advocate became the 'Hulsean Professor of Divinity'.
In 1934 the Norrisian and Hulsean Professorships were merged to form the Norris–Hulse Professorship. The expertise of the incumbent is generally expected to include philosophical theology, although the post does not formally require this.[citation needed]
In 2005 the Norris–Hulse professorship was frozen by theUniversity of Cambridge.[citation needed] Then on 18 October 2006, the university announced the election ofSarah Coakley to the position. Upon the retirement of Professor Coakley, the university conducted an international search that resulted in the appointment ofCatherine Pickstock to the position in March 2018.[1]