The Epistles of 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter - (Lightfoot Legacy Set) by J B Lightfoot (Hardcover)

About the Book

Recently discovered in the Durham Cathedral Library, J. B. Lightfoot's commentaries on the Epistles of 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter are of great significance to both church and academy.

Book Synopsis

Recently discovered in the Durham Cathedral Library, J. B. Lightfoot's commentaries on the Epistles of 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter are of great significance to both church and academy. Carefully transcribed and edited, these texts give us a new appreciation for Lightfoot's contributions to biblical scholarship, completing the Lightfoot Legacy Set.

Review Quotes

"From Bede, the greatest European scholar of the seventh century, to today's world-class university sharing a world heritage site with a majestic cathedral, creative and careful study has long stood alongside prayer and worship here in Durham. It is therefore fitting that this amazing discovery of Lightfoot's handwritten manuscripts was made by one of the world's leading biblical scholars in the cathedral library. For within these pages, Lightfoot embodies that Durham tradition-outstanding independent scholarship offered humbly in the service of God."

"Harnack said it best: Lightfoot was a true liberal for he was 'an independent, free scholar . . . in the absolute sense of the word. He has never defended tradition for the tradition's sake.' We need more liberals like that today!"

"Joseph Barber Lightfoot has been, for me, in many ways the epitome of what the commentator on New Testament and early church texts can and should aspire to. His detailed knowledge of the literature of the time was unsurpassed, and his ability to shed the light of that knowledge on the New Testament writings was without peer. His commentaries on New Testament texts and the early Fathers retain a relevance and a value to this day almost unique for nineteenth-century scholarship. That a fuller publication of his writings is now available in these volumes is a wonderful bonus for those who want to hear these New Testament and early church texts as they were first heard."

"Thanks to Witherington and his associates and to IVP for bringing this cache of material from the great J. B. Lightfoot into the public domain. His previously published works have remained important (his multivolume study of the apostolic fathers is essential for these writings), and this hitherto unpublished material will now also likely come to be seen as a valuable resource."

"The discovery and publication of previously unpublished commentaries on the New Testament by Joseph Barber Lightfoot is a highly significant event in the history of New Testament scholarship. For a start, these shed valuable light on the reception of the New Testament in the nineteenth century, representing the work of the foremost English scholar of that era whose linguistic and historical skills exhibit a quality of scholarship that few today can match. . . . Ben Witherington, Todd Still and Jeanette Hagen are to be warmly congratulated for their remarkable success in making such a significant voice from the past resound again today."

"The discovery of hitherto unknown exegetical works by J. B. Lightfoot is a rare gift, full of potential for fresh insight both about the man himself (acknowledged worldwide as the leading scholar of his day) and, as he would have wished, about texts which he knew so well and which themselves express the heart of the gospel. Hearty congratulations to finder, editor and publisher on an unexpected and exciting addition to the core library of seminal biblical studies."

"The work of J. B. Lightfoot, along with that of his close collaborators B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort, remains of landmark significance to contemporary New Testament studies. The editors and their assistants are to be thanked and congratulated for their labors in bringing to publication these previously unpublished notes on 2 Corinthians and 1 Peter, along with various essays by and about Lightfoot. These materials will be of interest to all who work on the historical interpretation of these letters and on the history of their interpretation."

"This book is significant for understanding the development of NT Scholarship in the nineteenth century. Thus, for reception-historical purposes, it is an invaluable tool."

"We are greatly in debt to Ben Witherington, Todd Still and their collaborators for bringing this material to light for our day."

About the Author

Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828-1889), also known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian, preacher, canon of St Paul's Cathedral and bishop of Durham.

Todd D. Still (PhD, University of Glasgow) is Charles J. and Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Dean and the William M. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. He is the author of Thinking through Paul: A Survey of His Life, Letters, and Theology (coauthored with Bruce W. Longenecker), Philippians Philemon, and Jesus and Paul Reconnected: Fresh Pathways into an Old Debate.

Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and is on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. He is the author of over forty books, including the two-volume New Testament Theology and Ethics.