R.W.L. Moberly

Robert Walter Lambert Moberly (; born 26 March 1952),

Early life and ancestry Robert Walter Lambert Moberly is the younger child and only son of Elise Maria Hubertina (née Gitmans, a Dutch national) and Robert Basil Moberly. His father was a civil servant who was also known for his writings on Mozart and operas. He has an elder sister, Elizabeth Rosamund Moberly, born in 1949. The Moberly family had a long tradition of association with the Anglican Church. His grandfather, the Revd. Robert Hamilton Moberly was Bishop of Stepney and Dean of Salisbury. His great-grandfather, Canon Robert Campbell Moberly, served in the Ecclesiastical Household of both Queen Victoria and Edward VII. His great-great-grandfather, George Moberly, was headmaster of Winchester College before becoming Bishop of Salisbury. Moberly is thus a great-nephew of the philosopher-theologian and university administrator Sir Walter Hamilton Moberly (his grandfather's eldest brother). Like many members of his family, Moberly was educated at Winchester College.

Academic career Moberly completed his undergraduate studies in Classics at New College, Oxford, where he earned an MA. He went on to study for an MA in Theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge alongside ordination training in the Anglican faith at Ridley Hall. However, he postponed his ordination to pursue a PhD, under the supervision of John A. T. Robinson. Moberly was based at Trinity College, Cambridge for his PhD and received his degree in 1981. He has also worked with the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey. In 2018, Moberly served as President of the Society for Old Testament Study. In 2020, he was chosen to deliver the Hulsean Lectures at Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. The 6-lecture series, entitled "The God of Christian Scripture", was delivered between 29 January and 4 March and formed the basis of his book, "The God of the Old Testament: Encountering the Divine in Christian Scripture". In 2025, he delivered the annual Hayward lecture series at Acadia Divinity College in Canada. In the same year, he was keynote speaker at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary's fourth annual academic symposium, delivering an address titled "Orthodox Biblical Scholarship: Possibilities and Prospects".

Moberly has cited Jon D. Levenson as his "academic hero", as well as Brevard S. Childs and Nicholas Lash as his influences.

As of 2026, Moberly's academic title is Professor Emeritus.

Views on homosexuality

Durham University has named Moberly as one of its theologians who are "driving the discussion forward on same-sex relationships and equal marriage". His notable writing on this topic is a paper on the use of scripture in debates about homosexuality, published in the journal Theology in 2000. Without taking an explicit stance in favour of or against homosexuality, Moberly argued that Christians should listen to what gay and lesbian rights advocates have to say, and not "exercise judgement in the sense of passing sentence on people as people. That kind of judgement is the sole prerogative of God". At the same time, the paper urged LGBTQ+ rights advocates to refrain from describing all opposition to homosexuality and same-sex marriage as "homophobic" or "oppressive", equating such practice to the "misunderstanding and misrepresentation" directed towards gays and lesbians themselves.

Personal life Moberly was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1981 and a priest in 1982. Prior to his academic career at Durham, from 1981 to 1985, he was a curate at Knowle Parish Church, near Birmingham.

Moberly was a junior international chess player in his youth. He represented the University of Oxford in the annual varsity matches against Cambridge in 1971, 1973, and 1974.

Moberly and his wife Jennifer have 2 children. The Rev Dr Jennifer Moberly is an ordained Anglican minister, a tutor at Cranmer Hall, and an honorary research fellow in Theology at Durham University.

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Articles & chapters