author
Adam Storey Farrar
1826–1905
A Victorian churchman and scholar, he is best remembered for writing clearly about religious doubt, belief, and the history of ideas. His work brought academic learning to big questions that were alive in 19th-century England.
1 Audiobook
History of Free Thought in Reference to The Christian Religion
by Adam Storey Farrar
About the author
Adam Storey Farrar was an English clergyman, historian, and academic who lived from 1826 to 1905. He served as Professor of Divinity and Ecclesiastical History at the University of Durham, and he also became a canon of Durham, building a career that joined university teaching with church life.
He is especially known for writing on the history of religious thought and skepticism. His best-known book, A Critical History of Free Thought in Reference to the Christian Religion, grew out of the Bampton Lectures he delivered at Oxford in 1862 and helped establish his reputation as a serious interpreter of belief, doubt, and modern intellectual change.
Farrar wrote in a learned but purposeful way, trying to explain how Christianity had been challenged across the centuries and how thoughtful believers responded. For listeners interested in theology, Victorian intellectual life, or the history of doubt, his work offers a window into the religious debates of his age.