The Foundation of the Melbourne College of Divinity

Abstract

This article provides the first substantial account of the foundation of the Melbourne College of Divinity in 1910. It reveals the ecclesiastical, academic, and civic perceptions of theology in Australia in the first decade of the twentieth century. The article sets the establishment of the College against the background of the modernisation of higher education, especially secularism and the exclusion of the teaching of divinity at the University of Melbourne. It demonstrates the roles played by several churches in the formation of the College, and traces its origin to early Protestant interdenominational cooperation. Although the College's architects failed in their aim of having divinity accepted within the University of Melbourne, and thereby ensuring theology was in constant dialogue with the wider academy, they succeeded in establishing high academic standards in theological education and facilitating ministerial formation in an Australian context.