Charles Kingsley Barrett, who has died aged 94, stood alongside CH Dodd as the greatest British New Testament scholar of the 20th century. Barrett regarded commentary on the texts as the primary task of the biblical scholar, and his meticulous commentaries have provided solid foundations for students and clergy for more than 50 years. He was a Methodist minister for nearly 70 years and, during his time as lecturer and professor of divinity at Durham University (1945-82), and in retirement there, he preached most Sundays in the city or a nearby village. His opposition to the scheme for Anglican-Methodist reunion in the 1960s brought him into contact with a wider public as a church leader, as well as a renowned teacher.
He was born into a Primitive (Calvinist) Methodist clergy family in Salford. He was sent to Shebbear college, in Devon, where he became captain of cricket and a promising opening batsman. At Pembroke College, Cambridge, he distinguished himself in the mathematical tripos before transferring to theology. His supervisor, Noel Davey, directed him to what turned out to be the last course of lectures on the theology and ethics of the New Testament by EC Hoskyns.
Thirty years ago when a student at King’s College London I consulted often his commentary on the Gospel according to John. A brilliant work – clear, readable and breathing faith through the deep scholarship.
Fr. Tee,
I could say virtually the same thing about Barrett’s masterful two-volume commentary on Acts in the prestigious ICC (International Critical Commentary) series, except that the Acts volumes are less readable. However, that’s largely due to the ponderous style of that erudite series.
C. K. Barrett was indeed a model exegete, although his primary expertise was lavished on Paul, not on John or Acts. I suspect that his most influential commentaries were actually the shorter, simpler ones on Romans and both the Corinthian epistles. I think those three volumes display Barrett’s combination of deep faith (and profound pastoral concern) with a true academic’s mastery of the scholarly literature. But above all, Barrett’s exegetical work was marked by a remarkable judiciousness. His judgments were almost always fair, well-grounded, and quite persuasive (although I myself disagree with Barrett about the Gospel of John being indebted to Mark; I find Ray Brown more convincing on that score).
This obit praises Barrett and C. H. Dodd as the two greatest British NT scholars of the 20th century. That may perhaps be true, but if so, I’d award the bronze medal to one of my mentors, the great Anglican scholar Reginald Fuller (R.I.P.), who also died in his 90s, and was at least equally devoted to Christ and his Church. Or some might prefer to award that honor to the great Anglo-Catholic hero Sir Edwyn Hoskyns, who also taught at Cambridge, alongside C. H. Dodd (who was a Congregatiojnalist). Hoskeyn’s profoundly orthodox [b]The Riddle of the New Testament[/b] was incredibly influential in the 1940s and 50s (one of the few English works on the NT translated into German), holding back the tide of Liberalism for almost a generation. Or some might claim that honor for Charlie Moule, also of Cambridge and more evangelical.
Of course, in our own time, there’s N. T. Wright… Anyway, Charles Barrett will be missed and fondly remembered. May he rest in peace, and rise in glory!
David Handy+
David, I would like to add an honorable mention to Barnabas Lindars SSF, who I knew well, and who taught at Cambridge before taking up the Rylands chair at Manchester. A rather dry lecturer, truth be told, but leavened by an equally dry wit, and like Charle Moule, a man of modesty and utter lack of any pomposity, truly concerned for the welfare of others. Of Charlie I heard it said: ‘If an undergraduate came into the room and there was no chair available Charlie Moule would be the first person to get up and offer him his own seat.’ Is it a sign of creeping age that we wonder why scholars are not cut from the same cloth these days?