William Sanday FBA (1843-1920) was an English Anglican theologian and priest. He was the Dean Ireland's Professor of Exegesis of Holy Scripture from 1883-95 and the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity from 1895-1919, both of which chairs were at the University of Oxford. He had previosuly been Master of Bishop Hatfield's Hall, University of Durham. Born in Holme Pierrepoint, Nottinghamshire, he was educated at Repton School, Derby, and ordained as a deacon in 1867 and as a priest in 1869. He was the author of several theological works, was one of the editors of the 1880 Variorum Bible, and contributed articles to the Encyclopaedia Biblica and The American Journal of Theology. He received an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) degree from the University of Cambridge in May 1902 and became a Fellow of the British Academy in 1903. The Gospels in the Second Century: An Examination of the Critical Part of a Work Entitled "Supernatural Religion" was first published in 1876, written at the request of the Christian Evidence Society.