John Wenham
John William Wenham (1913 – 13 February 1996) was a conservative
, are also noted theologians.Wenham is known for his defense of biblical inerrancy and his belief in conditional immortality, a doctrine also known as annihilationism. He served as a Royal Air Force chaplain during World War II and held various academic positions throughout his career. His book Facing Hell is largely autobiographical, discussing his theological views. Wenham's academic work includes the well-regarded Elements of New Testament Greek and Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke, which examines the dating of the synoptic gospels. He is also known for his work Easter Enigma, which offers Bible exegesis arguing for the harmony of the gospel accounts. In Christ and the Bible, Wenham examines the traditional view of Christ's authoritative view on scripture and the reliability of the Bible text.
Career
Wenham was born in
Theological views
Wenham had the distinction of being a
Academic work
Among New Testament Greek scholars, Wenham's work The Elements of New Testament Greek is well regarded, and was the successor to Nunn's introductory Koine Greek textbook.[4]
In 1992 John Wenham published Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke which discusses the dating of these gospels and the relationship of the gospels to one another (prior to Wenham's work,
In his work Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke Wenham wrote regarding the book of Matthew the following: "The [Church] fathers are almost unanimous in asserting that Matthew the tax-collector was the author, writing first, for Hebrews in the Hebrew language: Papias (c. 60–130), Irenaeus (c. 130–200), Pantaenus (died c. 190), Origen (c. 185–254), Eusebius (c. 260–340), Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403), Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315-86) and others write in this vein. The Medieval Hebrew gospel of Matthew in Even Bohan could be a corrupted version of the original. Though unrivaled, the tradition has been discounted on various grounds, particularly on the alleged unreliability of Papias, from whom some would derive the whole tradition." (John Wenham, Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke (1991), p. 116). Wenham also argued for the Gospel of Mark being the second gospel written which he claims is consistent both with internal evidence and with the testimony of the church fathers.[5]
In his work Christ and the Bible Wenham sets out his case for Christ's authoritative view on scripture. In discussing the reliability of the Bible text in Chapter 7, Wenham describes the debate between critical and majority (Byzantine) text factions, himself leaning towards the Byzantine.[6] Wenham in, 'The New Testament Text' (Evangel, 1994), wrote that if the 'pro-Byzantine editors [...] are right, this would mean that the great preoccupation with textual matters in modern New Testament study has largely been an unnecessary use of time and energy, as far as the recovery of the original text is concerned, and its results seriously misleading.'[7]
Publications
Rev. John Wenham's works include:
- The Elements of New Testament Greek (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965).
- Key to the Elements of New Testament greek (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965).
- Christ and the Bible (London: The Tyndale Press, 1972).
- The Goodness of God (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1974)
- Easter Enigma, originally, Easter Enigma: Are the Resurrection Accounts in Conflict? (Exeter, Devon, UK: Paternoster Press, 1984; repr., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.).
- Redating Matthew, Mark and Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem IVP: 1992
- Facing Hell, An Autobiography 1913–1996 Paternoster Press: 1998
References
- ^ a b Beckwith, Roger (1999). "John Wenham". In Walter A. Elwell and J. D. Weaver (ed.). Bible Interpreters of the 20th Century. Grand Rapids: Baker. pp. 253–254.
- ^ "A Brief History of the Incumbents at St Nic's 1882 - Present". St Nicholas Church. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ Wenham, John W. (1994). "The New Testament Text". Evangel.
- S2CID 252300890. Archived from the originalon 17 August 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
- ^ Biblical Horizons Archived 2005-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0863470955.
- ^ Wenham, John W. (1994). "The New Testament Text". Evangel: 58.