Academic Seminar – 23rd October // Prof. Sarah Irving-Stonebraker – “History as an Apologetic: An Invitation to the Christian Story”
Academic seminars focus on early-stage research on questions at the intersection of Christian faith and scholarly enquiry. They are intended to be exploratory, generative for both presenter and participants, and accessible across disciplines.
Seminars run from 2-3pm, On most Fridays during the weeks of the University of Oxford’s full term
You are warmly invited to join us beforehand for community worship at 12.30pm and lunch in the Manor house (1-2pm).
Abstract:
In what I have termed the Ahistoric Age, contemporary English-speaking societies have lost the capacity to engage meaningfully with the past. This is due, not least, to a prevailing conception of the good life centred on self-invention, and to the pace of technological change, which renders us increasingly preoccupied with the future. Despite this, there is a persistent cultural yearning to be part of a larger story. Against this backdrop, this paper explores how history might be an important cultural apologetic in two ways.
First, presenting Christianity as a lived historical faith provides a means of articulating it as a coherent whole, encompassing Christianity’s doctrines and practices, as well as its civilisational legacy. Second, a theologically grounded conception of history can address widespread anxiety about the future and provide a framework for genuine hope.
I am currently developing a book project that draws upon these two forms of apologetic. An Invitation to the Christian Story is a general introduction to Christianity that aims to integrate doctrine, history, cultural apologetics, and spiritual formation.
About the speaker:
Sarah Irving-Stonebraker is Associate Professor of History and Western Civilisation at Australian Catholic University in North Sydney, which is part of the Ramsay Centre’s Western Civilisation Program.
She is an intellectual historian of early modern Britain with a particular interest in the intersections of theology, natural philosophy, and historical writing. She was awarded her BA with First Class Honours and the University Medal from the University of Sydney, and her PhD in History from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Commonwealth Scholar at King’s College. She then held a Junior Research Fellowship in History at Wolfson College, Oxford University.
Her first book, Natural Science and the Origins of the British Empire (London: 2008, reprinted 2016) was awarded the Royal Society of Literature and Jerwood Foundation Prize for Non-fiction. Her most recent book is Priests of History: Stewarding the Past in an Ahistoric Age (Zondervan/HarperCollins, 2024), which was awarded The Gospel Coalition’s 2024 Book of the Year (Culture Category) and shortlisted for Australian Christian Book of the Year.
In 2026 during her sabbatical leave she is a Visiting Scholar at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University, and an Academic Visitor for Michaelmas term at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University.
(Bio taken from stonebraker.com.au)
Registration is not required to attend the seminar, but is needed if you want to book in for the free lunch.
Date
23rd October 2026
Time
14:00 - 15:00
Price
Free (including lunch)
Speaker
Prof. Sarah Irving-Stonebraker
