John Bright (1908–1995) was an American
biblical scholar, the author of several books including the influential ''A History of Israel'' (1959), currently in its fourth edition (2000). He was closely associated with the American school of
biblical criticism pioneered by
William F. Albright, which sought to marry
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
to a defence of the reliability of the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
, especially the earlier books of the
Old Testament.
Biography
Born on September 25, 1908, in
Chattanooga,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, and attended
Presbyterian College where he earned his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in 1928. He received a
Bachelor of Divinity degree from
Union Theological Seminary in Virginia in 1931, followed by a
Master of Theology
Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a sta ...
degree in 1933. His master's thesis was titled ''A Psychological Study of the Major Prophets''. In the winter of 1931–32, Bright participated in an archaeological campaign at
Tell Beit Mirsim
Tell Beit Mirsim is an archaeological site in Israel, on the border between the lowlands of Shfela and Mount Hebron. It is located in the eastern region of Lachish about 20 kilometers southwest of Hebron and about 13 kilometers southeast of La ...
, where he met the renowned
William Foxwell Albright
William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars."
...
of
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
, who became his mentor. He also participated in a dig at
Bethel in 1935. In the autumn of that year he studied under Albright at Johns Hopkins University but dropped out later due to insufficient funds to continue his studies, and took a position as the assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
, which did not last long. He was able to resume his studies at Johns Hopkins while he was the pastor of Catonsville Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, and completed his doctoral degree in 1940. His dissertation was titled ''The Age of King David: A Study in the Institutional History of Israel''. He then went back to Union Theological Seminary where he was appointed to the Cyrus H. McCormick Chair of Hebrew and Old Testament Interpretation, a position he held until his retirement in 1975. He died in
Richmond,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, on March 26, 1995.
Influence and legacy
Bright's work ''A History of Israel'' was published in 1959, with a second and third edition in 1972 and 1981. The second edition (1972) included new information from the
Adad-nirari III stele of
Tell al-Rimah
Tell al-Rimah is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Nineveh Province (Iraq). Its ancient name may have been either Karana or Qattara. It is located in Nineveh Province (Iraq), roughly west of Mosul and ancient Nineveh in the Sinjar re ...
, published in 1968, and the Hebrew
ostracon
An ostracon (Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeological or epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer to sherds or even small pieces of ston ...
found at
Mesad Hashavyahu Meṣad Hashavyahu is an ancient fortress on the border of the ancient Kingdom of Judah facing the Philistine city of Ashdod near the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 1.7 km south of Yavne-Yam (the seaport) and 7 km northwest of Yavne (the main ...
, published in 1962. His third edition (1981) included a thorough revision of the first four chapters. While including new data, Bright maintained his theological conviction that "the heart of Israel's faith lies in its covenantal relationship with YHWH."
In an appendix to the fourth edition (2000) of Bright's work,
William P. Brown outlined some of the changes in the field of historical research since the third edition. Brown notes:
Published works
* ''The Age of King David: A Study in the Institutional History of Israel'' (doctoral dissertation 1940) (Union Seminary Review, 53
942pp. 87–109).
* ''The Kingdom of God: The Biblical Concept and Its Meaning for the Church'' (New York/Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1953)
* ''Early Israel in Recent History Writing'' (Westminster, 1956)
* ''A History of Israel'' (Westminster, 1959)
* ''Jeremiah: A Commentary'' (Anchor Bible 21: Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1965).
* ''The Authority of the Old Testament'' (Baker, 1975)
* ''Covenant and Promise: The Prophetic Understanding of the Future in Pre-Exilic Israel'' (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976).
See also
*
Biblical archaeology
Biblical archaeology is an academic school and a subset of Biblical studies and Levantine archaeology. Biblical archaeology studies archaeological sites from the Ancient Near East and especially the Holy Land (also known as Palestine, Land o ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, John
1908 births
1995 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century Christian biblical scholars
20th-century Presbyterian ministers
Academics from Tennessee
American biblical scholars
American male non-fiction writers
Calvinist and Reformed biblical scholars
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Old Testament scholars
People from Chattanooga, Tennessee
Presbyterian Church in the United States ministers
Presbyterian College alumni
Presbyterians from Tennessee
Presbyterians from Virginia
Religious leaders from Tennessee
Religious leaders from Virginia
Union Presbyterian Seminary alumni
Union Presbyterian Seminary faculty
20th-century American clergy