Raymond E. Brown
The Rev. Dr. Raymond E. Brown Union Theological Seminary | |
---|---|
Academic background | |
Alma mater | St. Mary's University, Baltimore |
Thesis | The Sensus Plenior of Sacred Scripture (1955) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Union Theological Seminary (UTS) |
Raymond Edward Brown
Brown was professor emeritus at Union Theological Seminary (UTS) in New York City, where he taught for 29 years. He was the first Catholic professor to gain tenure there, where he earned a reputation as a superior lecturer.[1]
Life
Born in
Following his studies, Brown taught at his
Brown was appointed in 1972 to the
Brown died at
Scholarly views
Brown was one of the first Catholic scholars in the United States to use the
In 1943, reversing the approach that had existed since
New Testament Christology
In a detailed 1965 article in the journal Theological Studies examining whether Jesus was ever called "God" in the New Testament, Brown wrote, "Even the fourth Gospel never portrays Jesus as saying specifically that he is God" and "there is no reason to think that Jesus was called God in the earliest layers of New Testament tradition." He wrote that, "Gradually, in the development of Christian thought God was understood to be a broader term. It was seen that God had revealed so much of Himself in Jesus that God had to be able to include both Father and Son."[9]
Thirty years later, Brown revisited the issue in an introductory text for the general public, writing, "three reasonably clear instances in the NT (Hebrews 1:8–9, John 1:1, 20:28) and in five instances that have probability, Jesus is called God," a usage Brown regarded as a natural development of early references to Jesus as "Lord".[10]
Gospel of John
Brown analyzed the
Brown identified three layers of text in John: 1) an initial version Brown considers based on personal experience of Jesus; 2) a structured literary creation by the evangelist which draws upon additional sources; and 3) the edited version that readers of the Bible know today.[11]
Reactions
Support
Brown has been described as "the premier Johannine scholar in the English-speaking world."
Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, complimented Brown saying that he "would be very happy if we had many exegetes like Father Brown".[16] Later on however, Ratzinger would critique the overuse of historical criticism and parts of Brown's scholarship, saying that "we need a self-criticism of the historical method".[17][18]
Criticism
Brown's scholarship was controversial for questioning the
Other writers, critical of historical Christian claims about Jesus, criticized Brown for excessive caution, arguing that he was unwilling to acknowledge the radical implications of the critical methods he was using. Literary critic
Works
Thesis
- Brown, Raymond E. (1955). The Sensus Plenior of Sacred Scripture (Ph.D.). Baltimore, MD: St. Mary's University. – This was his dissertation in partial fulfillment of his doctorate in Sacred Theology. Brown did much to define the term sensus plenior and had an enormous influence on the twentieth-century debate concerning the term.
Books
His total of 25 books on biblical subjects include:
- ——— (1965). New Testament Essays. Milwaukee: Bruce Pub. Co. OCLC 6530571.
- ——— (1966). The Gospel According to John: Chapters 1-12: translated, with introduction, notes, and commentary. Anchor Bible. Vol. 29. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. OCLC 350246.
- ——— (1970). The Gospel According to John: Chapters 13–21: translated, with introduction, notes, and commentary. Anchor Bible. Vol. 29A. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. OCLC 350246.
- ——— (1977). The Birth of the Messiah: a commentary on the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. OCLC 2967987.
- ——— (1979). The Community of the Beloved Disciple. New York: Paulist Press. OCLC 4944691.
- ——— (1981). The Critical Meaning of the Bible. New York: Paulist Press. OCLC 8020578.
- ——— (1982). The Epistles of John: translated, with introduction, notes, and commentary. Anchor Bible. Vol. 30. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. OCLC 7925227.
- ——— (1985). Biblical Exegesis and Church Doctrine. New York: Paulist Press. OCLC 13076569.
- ——— (1990). Responses to 101 Questions on the Bible. New York: Paulist Press.
- ——— (1993). The Birth of the Messiah: a commentary on the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke. infancy gospels.
- ——— (1994). The Death of the Messiah: from Gethsemane to the grave : a commentary on the Passion narratives in the four Gospels - in 2 Vols. OCLC 27432279.
- ——— (1997). An Introduction to the New Testament.
Editor
See also
- John Shelby Spong#Criticism
- Catholic modernism
References
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c Felix Corley, "Obituary: The Rev Raymond E. Brown", The Independent, London, 19 August 1998 [1]
- ^ "Honorary Doctors of the Faculty of Theology – Uppsala University, Sweden". www.uu.se (in Swedish). Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ a b King, Henry V. (September 10, 1998). "Library : Traditional Catholic Scholars Long Opposed Fr. Brown's Theories". Catholic Culture. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ R.Kendall Soulen, Handbook of Biblical Criticism, Westminster John Knox Press (2001), p. 49
- ^ William James O'Brian, Riding Time Like a River: The Catholic Moral Tradition Since Vatican II, Georgetown University Press, 1993, p. 76.
- ^ Dei verbum, 11.
- ^ Raymond Brown, The Critical Meaning of the Bible, Paulist Press (1981), p. 18.
- S2CID 53007327.
- ISBN 978-0-8091-3516-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8091-2174-8.
- ^ Francis J Moloney, 'The Legacy of Raymond E Brown and Beyond', in John R Donahue, ed, Life in Abundance: Studies of John's Gospel in Tribute to Raymond E. Brown, Liturgical Press, 2005, p. 19.
- ^ Most Reverend Terrence T. Prendergast, 'The Church's Great Challenge: Proclaiming God's Word in the New Millennium', in John R Donahue, ed, Life in Abundance: Studies of John's Gospel in Tribute to Raymond E. Brown, Liturgical Press, 2005, pp. 3–4
- ^ James T. Bretzke, Consecrated Phrases: A Latin Theological Dictionary, Liturgical Press (1998), p. 90.
- ^ The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Ed. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990.[page needed]
- ^ Francis J Moloney, 'The Legacy of Raymond E Brown and Beyond', in John R Donahue, ed, Life in Abundance: Studies of John's Gospel in Tribute to Raymond E. Brown, Liturgical Press, 2005, p. 251, footnote quoting Origins, 17/35, (February 11, 1988), p. 595.
- ^ Ratzinger, Joseph (1988). "Biblical Interpretation in Crisis - The 1988 Erasmus Lecture". FirstThings. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- ISSN 1468-0025. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- ^ a b Kelly, George A. (January 2000). "Library : A Wayward Turn in Biblical Theory". Catholic Culture. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ Felix Corley (August 19, 1998). "Obituary: The Rev Raymond E. Brown". The Independent. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
- ^ Frank Kermode, New York Review of Books, 29 June 1978, pp. 39–42.
- Geza Vermes, The Nativity: History and Legend, London, Penguin, 2006, p. 21
- ^ "Responses to 101 Questions on the Bible". 1991.
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(help) - ^ Description, "Look inside" preview (from Amazon.com). Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ Johnson, Luke Timothy (1997). "Books in Review: An Introduction to the New Testament". www.leaderu.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ Andreas J. Köstenberger (1998). Book review of An Introduction to the New Testament, Faith and Mission, 15/2. Retrieved October 1, 2018
- ^ "An Introduction to the New Testament". Yale University Press. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
External links
- Biblical Theology Bulletin obituary notice
- A Wayward Turn in Biblical Theory Msgr. George A. Kelly, (1999). Critical article from the traditionalist point of view.
- Felix Corley, "Obituary: The Rev Raymond E. Brown", The Independent, London, 19 August 1998
- Quotables from R.E. Brown, S.S.