Joseph Barber Lightfoot(13 April 1828 – 21 December 1889), known asJ. B. Lightfoot,was anEnglishtheologianandBishop of Durham.[2]
Joseph Lightfoot | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Durham | |
 | |
| Diocese | Durham |
| Elected | 15 March 1879 |
| In office | 10 April 1879 (conf.)–[1]1889 (died) |
| Predecessor | Charles Baring |
| Successor | Brooke Foss Westcott |
| Other post(s) | Hulsean Professor of Divinity(1861–1875) Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity(1875–1879) Deputy Clerk of the Closet(1875–?) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 April 1828 |
| Died | 21 December 1889(aged 61) Bournemouth,Hampshire,UK |
| Buried | Auckland Castlechapel |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Residence | Auckland Castle (as Bishop of Durham) |
| Parents | John Lightfoot & Ann Lightfoot (née Barber) |
| Spouse | never married |
| Profession | academic;biblical scholar;bible translator;theologian;tutor |
| Education | King Edward's School, Birmingham |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Ordination history of J. B. Lightfoot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Life
editLightfoot was born inLiverpool,where his father John Jackson Lightfoot was an accountant. His mother, Ann Matilda Barber, was from a family of Birmingham artists. He was educated atKing Edward's School, Birmingham,underJames Prince Lee.His contemporaries includedBrooke Foss WestcottandEdward White Benson.In 1847, Lightfoot went toTrinity College, Cambridge,and read for his degree along with Westcott. He graduated senior classic and 30thwrangler,and was elected a fellow of his college.[3]From 1854 to 1859 he edited theJournal of Classical and Sacred Philology.In 1857, he became tutor and his fame as a scholar grew. He was madeHulsean professorin 1861, and shortly afterwards chaplain to thePrince Consortand honorary chaplain in ordinary toQueen Victoria.[2]
In 1866, he was Whitehall preacher, and in 1871 he became canon ofSt Paul's Cathedral.[4]The Timeswrote after his death that
It was always patent that what he was chiefly concerned with was the substance and the life of Christian truth, and that his whole energies were employed in this inquiry because his whole heart was engaged in the truths and facts which were at stake.
In 1875, Lightfoot becameLady Margaret's Professor of Divinityin succession toWilliam Selwyn.In 1879, he was consecrated bishop of Durham in succession toCharles Baring;he was enthroned atDurham Cathedralon 15 May. He soon surrounded himself with a band of scholarly young men.[5]
Lightfoot was never married. He died atBournemouthand was succeeded in the episcopate by Westcott, his schoolfellow and lifelong friend.[5]He served asPresidentof the first day of the 1880Co-operative Congress.[6]
He is buried inAuckland Castle Chapel,with a memorial in Durham Cathedral close to the choir stalls.
Work
editLightfoot wrote commentaries on theEpistle to the Galatians(1865),Epistle to Philippians(1868) andEpistle to the Colossians(1875). In 1874, the anonymous publication ofSupernatural Religion,askepticalwork byWalter Richard Cassels,attracted much attention. In a series of rebuttals published in theContemporary Review,between December 1874 and May 1877, Lightfoot undertook the defense of theNew Testamentcanon. The articles were published in collected form in 1889. About the same time he was engaged in contributions toWilliam Smith'sDictionary of Christian Biography and Dictionary of the Bible,and he also joined the committee for revising the translation of the New Testament.[5]
The corpus of Lightfoot's writings include essays on biblical and historical subject matter, commentaries onPauline epistles,and studies on theApostolic Fathers.His sermons were posthumously published in four official volumes, and additionally in the Contemporary Pulpit Library series. At Durham he continued to work at his editions of theApostolic Fathers,and in 1885 published an edition of theEpistles ofIgnatiusandPolycarp,collecting also materials for a second edition ofClement of Rome,which was published after his death (1st edition, 1869). He defended the authenticity of theEpistles of Ignatius.[5]
Lightfoot had said that he was open to the idea of a diaconate that included women and in 1899Emily MarshallwroteA Suggestion for our Timeson this theme. Marshall said she was told by Lightfoot to give her idea of training women in his diocese, to take on this role, "a practical form". Lightfoot's death resulted in her idea being shut down. Marshall created a new religious order within the church based on Lightfoot's discussion of theThird Order of Saint Franciswho had historically consisted of men and women who did not live in monasteries or wear cowls. Marshall however regretted that diaconate idea had been lost due to his death.[7]
In 2014, it was announced thatInterVarsity Presshad agreed to publish about 1500 pages of previously unpublished biblical commentaries and essays by Lightfoot found inDurham Cathedral.[8]The first of the three volume set covers theActs of the Apostles,[9]the second is a commentary on theGospel of John[10]and the third is on theSecond Epistle to the Corinthiansand theFirst Epistle of Peter.[11]
Family
editLightfoot was the nephew of the artistsJoseph Vincent BarberandCharles Vincent Barberand grandson of the artist and founding member of theBirmingham School of Art,Joseph Barberand great-grandson of the founder of Newcastle's first library, Joseph Barber whose tomb is inNewcastle Cathedral.[12]
Bibliography
edit- Apostolic Fathers. Part I. (two vols).London: MacMillan and Co. 1890.
- Apostolic Fathers. Part II. (three vols).London: MacMillan and Co. 1885–89.
- Apostolic Fathers Abridged.London: MacMillan and Co. 1891.
- Biblical Essays.London: MacMillan and Co. 1893.
- Cambridge Sermons.London: MacMillan and Co. 1890.
- Dissertations on the Apostolic Age.London: MacMillan and Co. 1892.
- Essays on Supernatural Religion.London: MacMillan and Co. 1889.
- Fresh Revision of the English New Testament.London: MacMillan and Co. 1871.
- Leaders in the Northern Church.London: MacMillan and Co. 1890.
- Historical Essays.London: MacMillan and Co. 1895.
- Notes on the Epistles of St. Paul from Unpublished Commentaries.London: MacMillan and Co. 1895.
- Ordination Addresses.London: MacMillan and Co. 1890.
- Primary Charge.London: MacMillan and Co. 1882.
- St. Clement of Rome.London: MacMillan and Co. 1869.
- Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians.London: MacMillan and Co. 1865.
- Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon.London: MacMillan and Co. 1875.
- Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians.London: MacMillan and Co. 1868.
- The Christian Ministry.1868.
- Sermons preached in St. Paul's.London: MacMillan and Co. 1891.
- Special Sermons.London: MacMillan and Co. 1891.
- The Contemporary Pulpit Library: Sermons by Bishop Lightfoot.London: Swan Sonnenschein. 1892.
References
edit- ^"col. A".Church Times.No. 847. 18 April 1879. p. 253.ISSN0009-658X.Retrieved4 January2021– via UK Press Online archives.
- ^abChisholm 1911,p. 626.
- ^"Lightfoot, Joseph Barber (LTFT847JB)".A Cambridge Alumni Database.University of Cambridge.
- ^Chisholm 1911,pp. 626–627.
- ^abcdChisholm 1911,p. 627.
- ^"Congress Presidents 1869-2002"(PDF).February 2002. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 28 May 2008.Retrieved10 May2008.
- ^Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004)."The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/42195.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/42195.Retrieved10 January2023.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^Ben Witherington III, "Text Archaeology: The Finding of Lightfoot's Lost Manuscripts,"Biblical Archaeology Review,Vol. 40, No. 2 (March/April 2014), pp. 28, 71.
- ^Lightfoot, J. B. (2014).The Acts of the Apostles: A Newly Discovered Commentary.InterVarsity Press.ISBN978-0-8308-9673-8.
- ^Lightfoot, J. B. (2015). The Gospel of St. John: A Newly Discovered Commentary. InterVarsity Press.ISBN978-0-8308-2945-3
- ^Lightfoot, J. B. (2016). The Epistles of 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter: A Newly Discovered Commentary. InterVarsity Press.ISBN978-0-8308-2946-0
- ^Chrystal & Laundon 2015,p. 120.
Sources
edit- Treloar, Geoffrey R. (1998).Lightfoot the Historian: The Nature and Role of History in the Life and Thought of J.B. Lightfoot (1828–1889) as Churchman and Scholar.Mohr Siebeck.ISBN978-3-16-146866-7.
- McIntire, C.T. (2001). "Review of Lightfoot the Historian".Anglican and Episcopal History.70(2): 254–256.ISSN0896-8039.JSTOR42612184.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Lightfoot, Joseph Barber".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 626–627.
- Hort, Fenton John Anthony(1893)..InLee, Sidney(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Barrett, C. K. "Lightfoot, Joseph Barber (1828–1889)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16650.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- Chrystal, Paul; Laundon, Stan (2015).Secret Newcastle.Amberley.ISBN978-1-4456-4139-3.
External links
edit
Works by or aboutJ. B. LightfootatWikisource- Works by J. B. LightfootatProject Gutenberg
- Works by Joseph Barber LightfootatProject Gutenberg
- Works by or about J. B. Lightfootat theInternet Archive
- Works by J. B. LightfootatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
- Bibliographic page on Lightfoot,Project Canterbury
- Portraits of J. B. Lightfootat theNational Portrait Gallery, London
