ABSTRACT
The similarities and differences between Oxford and Cambridge have always been a source of fascination, not least to those who belong to either place (or both). This book explores the question of whether a ‘Cambridge tradition’ can be identified in theology for the ‘long nineteenth century’, stretching roughly from the time of the French Revolution to the First World War. Whereas the Oxford Movement is well-known and much written about, is it possible to talk about a Cambridge Movement in the same way?1 The suggestion of a difference goes back to the nineteenth century itself. Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904) wrote with characteristic self-assurance:
An interesting essay might, I fancy, be written upon the nature and origin of the difference between the Oxford and the Cambridge spirit. Whatever the cause, one distinction is marked. Oxford has long been fertile in prophets; in men who cast a spell over a certain number of disciples, and not only propagate ideas, but exercise a personal sway. At Cambridge no such leader, so far as I can remember, presented himself in my time; and, moreover, Cambridge men were generally inclined to regard their apparent barrenness with a certain complacency. Spiritual guides are troublesome personages. A prophet, perhaps we thought, is apt to be a bit of a humbug, and at any rate a cause of humbug in others.2
