The Lord Biggar | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Biggar in 2023 | |
| Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology | |
| In office 1 October 2007 – September 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Oliver O'Donovan |
| Succeeded by | Luke Bretherton |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 21 January 2025 Life peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nigel John Biggar (1955-03-14)14 March 1955 (age 70) Castle Douglas, Scotland |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Website | nigelbiggar |
| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Church | Church of England |
| Ordained | 1990 (deacon) 1991 (priest) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Doctoral advisor | James Gustafson |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Theology |
| Institutions | |
Nigel John Biggar, Baron Biggar (born 14 March 1955) is a BritishAnglican priest,theologian,ethicist, andlife peer. From 2007 to 2022, he wasRegius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at theUniversity of Oxford.
Nigel John Biggar was born on 14 March 1955 inCastle Douglas, Scotland.[3][4]
He was educated atMonkton Combe School, aprivate school nearBath, Somerset. He studied modern history atWorcester College, Oxford, graduating with aBachelor of Arts degree in 1976. As per tradition, his BA was promoted to aMaster of Arts degree in 1988.[3]
Biggar attended theUniversity of Chicago, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in religious studies in 1980; and the evangelicalRegent College in Vancouver, graduating with a Master of Christian Studies in 1981. He returned to the University of Chicago to study for his doctorate inChristian theology and completed aDoctor of Philosophy degree in 1986.[3]
On his return to Oxford in 1985, Biggar became librarian and research fellow atLatimer House, aconservative evangelical think tank in Oxford.[3] He additionally taughtChristian ethics atWycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1987 to 1994.[3]
He wasordained in theChurch of England as adeacon in 1990 and as apriest in 1991,[5] though he has never held a post in a parish church.[6] For most of the 1990s, he was chaplain and fellow ofOriel College, Oxford. In 1999, he took the Chair of Theology at theUniversity of Leeds, and in 2004, he moved to the Chair of Theology and Ethics atTrinity College, Dublin.[7]
In 2007, he becameRegius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford.[7][8] He also became acanon ofChrist Church Cathedral, Oxford.[5] He retired in September 2022.[9]
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In 2017, Biggar initiated a five-year project at Oxford University, entitled "Ethics and Empire". Its stated aim was to scrutinise critiques against the historical facts of empire.[10][11] Historians and academics widely criticised the project, claiming that it was "attempting to balance out the violence committed in the name of empire with its supposed benefits".[12][13][14] The project also received criticism for failing to engage with the wider scholarship on empire and not submitting itself to peer scrutiny and rigorous academic debate.[14]
Biggar addressed the ethics of colonialism in an op-ed forThe Times, arguing that the history of the British Empire was morally mixed and that guilt around Britain's colonial legacy may have gone too far. He also defended an article byBruce Gilley, titled "The Case for Colonialism", asserting that Gilley's appeal for a balanced reappraisal of the colonial past was both courageous and a call for Britain to moderate its post-imperial guilt.[15]
Biggar's 2023 book,Colonialism. A Moral Reckoning, which examines the morality of colonialism, was initially accepted byBloomsbury, but it chose not to publish it, with the suggestion that "public feeling on the subject does not currently support the publication of the book".[16] It was eventually published byHarperCollins, in 2023.[17]
The book has received both praise and criticism.Kenan Malik ofThe Guardian said that whileColonialism "claims to be a 'moral reckoning', moral questions are rarely taken seriously", and "in seeking to challenge what he regards as cartoonish views of imperial history, Biggar has produced something equally cartoonish, a politicised history that ill-serves his aim of defending 'western values'."[18]Rudrangshu Mukherjee wrote inThe Wire thatColonialism is an "immoral book" that ignores "the structural logic of empire" linking "the development of capitalism and prosperity in Britain with the political control, the economic exploitation and the impoverishment of the colonies", and that it fails "the most elementary test of scholarship".[19]
In contrast,Trevor Phillips inThe Sunday Times said that it "carries the intellectual force of aJavelin antitank missile", stating that he "find[s] it hard to disagree" with Biggar's thesis.[20]Jonathan Sumption in theLiterary Review described it as "an important book as well as a courageous one" and said that "in general, [Biggar's] approach is objective and he fairly addresses the contrary arguments".[21] InThe Daily Telegraph,Tim Stanley considered the book "thoughtful" and "compelling", one that introduced facts, some of which he was unaware of, indicating that "much that is benign about our civilisation has been forgotten", but concluded that Biggar "is spoiling for a fight, and I fear he's going to get one".[17]
In a review forThe Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, historianAlan Lester criticised Biggar for giving a favourable image of colonialism, describing Biggar's argument that anti-slavery dominated British policy during the second half of the empire's existence as "absurd", and sees a "persistentdouble standard" in how Biggar judges British versus non-British actions that "are hard to justify morally".[22] Biggar replied in the same journal, accusing Lester of "political bias, smearing by association, the erection ofstrawmen, careless reading, misrepresentation, misunderstanding, unsupported assertions, a disappointing absence of open thoughtfulness, and a striking lack of critical self-awareness".[23]
Biggar was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire in the2021 Birthday Honours, for services to higher education.[24]
In late 2024, Biggar was nominated for alife peerage byKemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party.[25][26][27] On 21 January 2025, he was made "Baron Biggar" of Castle Douglas in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright".[28] He wasintroduced to the House of Lords on 28 January,[29] where he sits as a Conservative peer.[30]
| Academic offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology University of Oxford 2007–2022 | Succeeded by |
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