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Translating, Summarising and Hidden Attribution: R. H. Lightfoot's Problematic Use of German Scholarship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2020

Brandon Massey Open the ORCID record for Brandon Massey [Opens in a new window]
Brandon Massey*
Affiliation:
St Mary's University, Twickenham, Waldegrave Rd, TwickenhamTW1 4SX, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The form-critical method found an English-speaking champion in R. H. Lightfoot of Oxford University. Through multiple publications he promoted the ideas of Rudolf Bultmann, Martin Dibelius and Ernst Lohmeyer. However, a close comparison of their texts reveals that Lightfoot sometimes simply translated the words of Dibelius and Lohmeyer, at times without appropriate attribution, and presented their ideas as his own. Recently discovered letters in the Lightfoot archive at Oxford University provide a more complete picture of Lightfoot's travels and interaction with German NT scholars. These discoveries call for a reassessment of Lightfoot's place in the history of NT scholarship.

Keywords

LightfootRobert Henry (1883–1953)LohmeyerErnst (1890–1946)DibeliusMartin (1883–1947)BultmannRudolf (1884–1976)JeremiasJoachim (1900–79)
Type
Articles
Information
New Testament Studies , Volume 66 , Issue 4 , October 2020 , pp. 601 - 629
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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4 I am grateful to Julia Otto and Stefan Rettner for permission to publish the letters of Ernst and Melie Lohmyer, to Jörg Jeremias for permission to publish the letters of Joachim Jeremias, and to Konrad Hamann for permission to publish the letters of Rudolf Bultmann.

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11 Taylor, Formation, vi. Additionally, Taylor attempted to use form criticism to not only confirm the historical reliability of the Gospels, but also the inspiration and preservation of the tradition: ‘We see Jesus better, for we behold Him, not only in the final form which the tradition assumes in the Gospels, but also in the lives, thoughts, and desires of men throughout the formative period. We are also enabled to appreciate the Gospels better, for we see earlier forms and stages out of which they emerged, and are enabled to mark the influences which shaped their growth. How great are these works with such a history behind them! Far from losing the idea of Inspiration, we are led to see that the Spirit of God must have been at work upon a grander scale, not coercing men or using them as blind instruments, but elevating their minds to perceive, to transmit, and to interpret the best elements in the tradition. Literature has no books which can justly be compared with the Gospels, which indeed come to us from men, but in the last analysis are the gifts of God, seals of His grace and sacraments of His love’ (Formation, 189). Cf. Taylor, V., The Historical Evidence for the Virgin Birth (Oxford: Clarendon, 1920) iiiGoogle Scholar.

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32 Dibelius, From Tradition to Gospel, 48 (emphasis original).

33 Lightfoot, History and Interpretation, 46.

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37 Dibelius, Die Formgeschichte, 46–7.

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39 Lightfoot, History and Interpretation, 48.

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41 Dibelius, From Tradition to Gospel, 48.

42 Lightfoot, History and Interpretation, 48.

43 Powley, ‘The Place of R. H. Lightfoot’, 72.

44 The only attestation is from Nineham, ‘R. H. Lightfoot’, 99. Court, Generation, 47 described Lohmeyer as one of ‘the German scholars with whom [Lightfoot] worked’, but simply stated that Lightfoot met with ‘Bultmann and Dibelius among others’ when in Germany. Riches, J., ‘Lightfoot, R. H.’, Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters (ed. D. McKim; Downers Grove: IVP, 2007) 665–8Google Scholar, at 666, simply listed Bultmann and Dibelius.

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46 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot Papers, MS 16109/14 E. Lohmeyer to R. H. Lightfoot, 19 April 1938; Lightfoot, Locality and Doctrine, ix.

47 Personal correspondence with J. R. Edwards, 18 June 2019.

48 Lightfoot, Locality and Doctrine, ix.

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59 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 12 November 1949.

60 AKöhn, ., Der Neutestamentler Ernst Lohmeyer: Studien zu Biographie und Theologie (WUNT ii.180; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004) 140Google Scholar; Edwards, J. R., Between the Swastika and Sickle: The Life, Disappearance, and Execution of Ernst Lohmeyer (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019) 230–43Google Scholar. In a letter, Jeremias passes the rumour that Lohmeyer remained imprisoned in Poland to Lightfoot: Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 21 March 1951.

61 Lightfoot, Gospel Message, ix.

62 Lohmeyer, ‘Die Reinigung des Tempels’, 259.

63 Lightfoot, Gospel Message, 62.

64 Lohmeyer, ‘Die Reinigung des Tempels’, 257.

65 Lightfoot, Gospel Message, 60.

66 Lohmeyer, ‘Die Reinigung des Tempels’, 260.

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79 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, M. Lohmeyer to R. H. Lightfoot, undated. The original letter from Melie Lohmeyer is lost. The text is from Lightfoot's undated, hand-written copy. Lightfoot visited the Lohmeyers in December 1938 and the references to the New Year and Lightfoot's previous visit date the letter early 1939. The letter from Ernst Lohmeyer that Melie Lohmeyer refers to at the end of this letter is not contained in the Oxford archive.

80 Anton Friedrichsen (1888–1953) was professor of exegesis at Uppsala University and a close confidant of Ernst Lohmeyer.

81 Lohmeyer's Matthew commentary was left incomplete at the time of his death. The manuscript was edited and prepared for publication by Werner Schmauch. Lohmeyer, E., Das Evangelium Matthäus (ed. W. Schmauch; KEK Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1956)Google Scholar.

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84 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, R. Bultmann to R. H. Lightfoot, 5 January 1939.

85 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 3 January 1949.

86 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 19 January 1949.

87 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 1 July 1949.

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90 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 15 October 1949.

91 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 12 November 1949.

92 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 21 March 1951.

93 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 2 September 1952.

94 Bodleian Library, Oxford, R. H. Lightfoot papers, MS 16109/14, J. Jeremias to R. H. Lightfoot, 11 September 1952.