Scofield Never Agreed with Westcott and Hort
THE NETWORKS OF WESTCOTT & HORT
THE NETWORKS OF WESTCOTT & HORT
BISHOP LIGHTFOOT
Bible Attacker
LIGHTFOOT, JOSEPH BARBER (1828—1889), English theologian and bishop of Durham, was born at Liverpool on the 13th of April 1828. His father was a Liverpool accountant. He was educated at King Edward’s school, Birmingham, under James Prince Lee, afterwards bishop of Manchester, and had as contemporaries B. F. Westcott and E. W. Benson. In 1847 Lightfoot went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, and there read for his degree with Brook Foss Westcott. He graduated senior classic and 3oth wrangler, and was elected a fellow of his college. From 1854 to 1859 he edited the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology. In 5857 he became tutor and his fame as a scholar grew rapidly. He was made Hulsean professor in 1861, and shortly afterwards chaplain to the Royal Prince Consort and honorary Chaplain (Spiritual Advisor) in ordinary to the Royal Queen of England. In 1866 he was Whitehall preacher, and in 1871 he became Canon of St Paul’s.
His sermons were not remarkable for eloquence, but a certain solidity and balance of judgment, an absence of partisanship, a sobriety of expression combined with clearness and force of diction, attracted hearers and inspired them with confidence. As was written of him in The Times after his death," his personal character carried immense weight, but his great position depended still more on the universally recognized fact that his belief in Christian truth and his defence of it were supported by learning as solid and comprehensive as could be found anywhere in Europe, (within the usual circles of Textual Criticism which were the standard at the time),and by a temper not only of the utmost candour but of the highest "scientific" capacity.
The days in which his university influence was asserted were a time of much shaking of old beliefs. In other words, because of the Fraudulent influence of Textual Criticism, people were wrongly coming to the conclusion that the Bible - the KJV and its predecessors - could not be trusted. In Germany, the Fraudulent attack on the Bible was working.
The disintegrating speculations of an influential school of Textual criticism in Germany were making their way among English men of culture just about the time, as is usually the case, when the tide was turning against them in their own country.
The peculiar service which was rendered at this juncture by the ‘Cambridge School’ [Of Westcott & Hort] was that, instead of opposing a mere dogmatic opposition to the Tubingen critics, they met them frankly on their own ground; and instead of arguing that their conclusions ought not to be and could not be true, they simply proved that their facts and their premisses could still be accepted, even if their conclusions could not be supported. In other words, the Cambridge School at this time in history was simply asserting the principles of Textual Criticism in its own "original" way.
It was a characteristic of equal importance that Dr Lightfoot, like Dr Westcott, never discussed these subjects in the mere spirit of controversy. It was always patent that what he was chiefly concerned with was the substance and the life of Christian truth, and that his whole energies were employed in this inquiry because his whole heart was engaged in the truths and facts which were at stake. He was not diverted by controversy to side-issues; and his labour was devoted to the positive elucidation of the sacred documents in which the Christian truth is enshrined."
In 1872 the anonymous publication of his work "Supernatural Religion" created considerable sensation. In a series of masterly papers in the Contemporary Review, between December 1874 and May 1877, Lightfoot successfully undertook the defence of the New Testament canon, at least as asserted by Westcott & Hort. The articles were published in collected form in 1889. About the same time he was engaged in contributions to W. Smith’s Dictionary of Christian Biography and Dictionary of the Bible (which have yet to be expunged), and he also joined the Revision committee for revising the translation of the New Testament under the direction of his old colleagues Westcott and Hort.
In. 1875 he became Lady Margaret professor of divinity in succession to William Selwyn. He had previously written his commentaries on the epistles to the Galatians (1865), Philippians (1868) and Colossians (1875), the notes to which were distinguished by sound judgment and enriched from his large store of patristic and classical learning, by which he departed from stricly Biblical commentaries and included information on Greek Philosophy.
These commentaries may be described as to a certain extent a new departure in New Testament exegesis. [That means that Lightfoot invented things that no one had seen in 2000 years of Christianity].
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We want to show you how Textual Critics write. Here is what Lightfoot's friends say he did.
" Before Lightfoot’s time commentaries, especially on the epistles, had not infrequently consisted either of short homilies on particular portions of the text, or of endeavours to enforce foregone conclusions, or of attempts to decide with infinite industry and ingenuity between the interpretations of former commentators. Lightfoot, on the contrary, endeavoured to make his author interpret himself, and by considering the general drift of his argument to discover his meaning where it appeared doubtful. Thus he was able often to recover the meaning of a passage which had long been buried (???) under a heap of contradictory glosses, and he founded a school in which sobriety and common sense were added to the industry and ingenuity of former commentators.
Interesting, isen't it ? where the paragraph says first that Lightfoot:
1) endeavoured to make his author interpret himself, and then
2) to discover his meaning where it appeared doubtful.
If the meaning of the Author appears doubtful, then how could Lightfoot be endeavoring to make that author interpret himself ?
That is an example of a technique called "Double-Speak", where people deliberately try to confuse others. Please also note the rest of the statement "to recover the meaning of a passage which had long been buried". What Christians believe and know is that the Bible is reliable and can be understood at face value. What Textual Critics attempt to suggest is that the Bible is so confused, it does not know what it was trying to say...until the Textual critics come along, and "help us" to understand the Bible.
When the paragraph says that the meaning of a passage has "long been burried", it means that Christians have never understood correctly...what the Bible passage was attempting to convey. That is simply a "textual critic" method for trying to suggest that the Bible cannot be taken at face value. One day ...of this kind of doublespeak...is confusing enough.
What do you think happens to young students ----> who are exposed to this in Seminary or at University, day after day ? Can you understand how their point of view about the Bible and its authenticity would be seriously affected ?
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Arrogantly enough, lightfoot perceived his own additions to standard Biblical commentaries as the real basis for the value of commentaries, despite the previous work of the Reformation and authors such as Luther, Calvin, Owen, Baxter and others.
In 1879 Lightfoot was consecrated Bishop of Durham in succession to C. Baring. This was right before this very position would be given to B.F. Westcott. His moderation, good sense, wisdom, temper, firmness and erudition made him as successful in this position as he had been when professor of theology, and he speedily surrounded himself with a band of scholarly young men. He endeavoured to combine his habits of theological study with the practical work of administration. He continued to work at his editions of the Apostolic Fathers, which ensured the perpetuation of his biases into a new generation.
His defence of the authenticity of the Epistles of Ignatius (???) is one of the most important contributions to that very difficult controversy. His unremitting labours impaired his health and shortened his splendid career at Durham. He was never married. He died at Bournemouth on the 21st of December 1889. and was succeeded in the episcopate by B.F. Westcott, his schoolfellow and lifelong friend.
Source: Ency Brit 1910 and other sources
Lightfoot - Part 2
Existentialism ( & existentialists) - Flaws of a Secularist Model
No Harm, no foul ? Consequences of Occult Dabbling & Occult/Satanic Practices
Prayer for those involved with the Occult/witchcraft/spiritism
Prayers that count - the prayers that God hears
Prayer Requests - (Your Own...for you, About You)
Questions to ask your pastor - Questions you Should ask a Pastor
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