Nowhere, over the field of Christian doctrine, is the gulf between the biblical viewpoint and the outlook of modern secularism so yawning as in the matter of eschatology.
–J.A.T. Robinson, In The End, God (London: Collins, 2nd Edition, 1968), p. 15.
Nowhere, over the field of Christian doctrine, is the gulf between the biblical viewpoint and the outlook of modern secularism so yawning as in the matter of eschatology.
–J.A.T. Robinson, In The End, God (London: Collins, 2nd Edition, 1968), p. 15.
I don’t often agree with the late J. A. T. “Honest to God” Robinson. But I suspect he’s right this time.
David Handy+
I’ve never read Honest to God. I have read The Priority of John which was published after Robinson’s death and based on his lectures. The book challenged the reigning complacency in dismissing John as of no historical value. Perhaps Robinson is not so easy to peg; perhaps he outgrew Honest to God. The Priority of John is still harshly critical of the creeds, but the criticism is now based on a Biblical theology, that, in terms of method and feel, is very similar to N. T. Wright.
#2, I’m no fan of Robinson’s attempt at redating all the NT books before AD 70, but you’re right that he wasn’t predicatably liberal all the time. I think he also was inclined to favor the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.
But most of all, John A. T. Robinson had enough sense to return to academia where he belonged, as the genuine (if eccentric) biblical scholar he was. He should never have been made a bishop.
Alas, ++Rowan Williams hasn’t yet done the same wise thing and gone back to Oxford or some similar place.
David Handy+