Donald Guthrie

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Donald Guthrie (born February 21, 1916 in Ipswich , Suffolk , † September 8, 1992 in Pinner , London Borough of Harrow ) was a British Baptist New Testament scholar who taught in London and wrote a widespread introduction to the New Testament .

Life

Guthrie holds degrees from BD , Th.M. and Ph.D. at the University of London . From 1949 to 1982 he was a lecturer in New Testament biblical studies at London Bible College , now called the London School of Theology . Most recently he was vice-principal there from 1978 to 1982 and rector (president) from 1983 until his death.

Guthrie was married to Mary Freeman. The marriage resulted in four sons and two daughters.

New Testament textbooks

Guthrie authored two 1000-page books: An Introduction to the New Testament and a New Testament Theology. In doing so, he took a biblical theologically conservative standpoint. In his NT theology this is already evident in the structure: Guthrie arranges the material according to topics (including God, Christian life, the church) and considers the individual New Testament authors and writings within a topic, since he is fundamentally of the unity of the New Testament is convinced. In contrast, other New Testament scholars divide the material primarily according to author and then differentiate between the theology of the Synoptic, the Johannine and Pauline theology. Guthrie sees the relationship between the theology of Paul and the teaching of Jesus as the main problem with the differences recognizable in the NT.

Guthrie's NT introduction was considered “internationally as the most competent overall presentation of a New Testament scholar with an evangelical character”. His conservative assessments of the authenticity of the New Testament books are reminiscent of Theodor Zahn ; both trace the four gospels back to apostles and disciples. Often, however, Guthrie makes more cautious judgments than Zahn. As for dating, Guthrie leaves it open for nearly half of the New Testament books, including all four of the Gospels.

Guthrie's textbooks received widespread attention even from those colleagues who represent a different line. Werner Georg Kümmel , for example , dealt with Guthrie's views at many points in his NT introduction.

In addition to his two major works, Guthrie wrote commentaries on the pastoral, Galatian and Hebrew letters. The question of pseudepigraphy was also an important topic for him .

Works

  • New Testament Introduction , in 3 volumes from 1961, combined into one volume in the 3rd edition 1970, 4th edition Intervarsity Press, Illinois (USA) 1990. Digitized
  • New Testament Theology . Inter-Varsity Press, Leicester 1981.
  • The Pastoral Epistles (= Tyndale New Testament Commentaries). London 1957.
  • The Development of the Idea of ​​Canonical Pseudepigrapha in New Testament Criticism . In: Vox Evangelica 1, 1962, pp. 43-59.
  • Christianity and the Computer . In: TSF Bulletin 42, Summer 1965, pp. 9-11 ( review of two books on the subject ).
  • Galatians (= The New Century Bible Commentary). Nelson 1969.
  • Hebrews (= Tyndale New Testament Commentaries). Inter-Varsity Press, Leicester 1983.

literature

  • Steve Motyer: Donald Guthrie . In: Walter A. Elwell, JD Weaver (Ed.): Bible Interpreters of the 20th Century. A Selection of Evangelical Voices . Baker, Grand Rapids 1999, pp. 287-298.
  • Donald Guthrie . In: James Leo Garrett, jr. (Ed.): Baptist Theology. A four-century study . Macon GA (USA) 2009, p. 395f.
  • Armin Daniel Baum : The introduction to the New Testament. In: Heinz-Werner Neudorfer, Eckhard J. Schnabel (ed.): The study of the New Testament . Vol. 2: Exegetical and hermeneutical basic questions. Wuppertal 2000, pp. 87-118.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. Obituary: Donald Guthrie , The Independent, September 18, 1992, accessed March 9, 2014
  2. ^ Website of the London School of Theology
  3. The AW Roberts Library  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. apparently has the manuscript of an autobiography of his, entitled: I stand for truth: the autobiography of Donald Guthrie, 1916-1992 .@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / ilink.swbts.edu  
  4. Obituary: Donald Guthrie , The Independent, September 18, 1992, accessed March 10, 2014
  5. Guthrie: NT Theology, 1981, pp. 51-54. Taken up by Andreas J. Köstenberger: Diversity and unity of the New Testament . In: Heinz-Werner Neudorfer, Eckhard J. Schnabel (ed.): The study of the New Testament . Vol. 2, Wuppertal 2000, p. 239.
  6. ^ So Baum: Introduction to the NT , 2000, p. 101.
  7. Baum: Introduction to the NT , 2000, p. 115.
  8. Baum: Introduction to the NT , 2000, p. 101.
  9. Baum: Introduction to the NT , 2000, p. 106, diagram (comparison of 9 NT introductions in their assessment of authorship and time of origin).
  10. See a review of Guthrie's NT-Theologie in: Journal for the Study of the New Testament 7, 1984, p. 110f: "Donald Guthrie's weighty contributions to NT scholarship are wideley known and, like the man himself, greatly respected."