Charles Harold Dodd (1884–1973) was a Welsh

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

scholar and influential

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He is known for promoting "

realized eschatology Realized eschatology is a Christian eschatological theory popularized by J.A.T. Robinson, Joachim Jeremias, Ethelbert Stauffer (1902- 1979), and C. H. Dodd (1884–1973) that holds that the eschatological passages in the New Testament do not refe ...

", the belief that

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

' references to the kingdom of God meant a present reality rather than a future apocalypse. He was influenced by

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th ce ...

and Rudolf Otto.

Life

Dodd was born on 7 April 1884 in the Welsh town of

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. He was brother of the historian A. H. Dodd. He studied classics at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, from 1902. After graduating in 1906 he spent a year in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, where he studied under the influential Adolf von Harnack. He studied for the ministry at

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist students. It moved to Oxford in 1886 and was renamed Man ...

, and was ordained in 1912. He was a Congregationalist minister for three years in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

, before going into academia. From 1915 he was Yates Lecturer in New Testament at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He became Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

in 1930. He was

Norris–Hulse Professor of Divinity The Norris–Hulse Professorship of Divinity is one of the senior professorships in divinity at the University of Cambridge. History The Norrisian chair was founded in 1777 by a bequest from John Norris. Among the original stipulations of the beq ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

from 1935, becoming emeritus in 1949. His students from Cambridge include

David Daube David Daube (8 February 1909, in Freiburg, Germany – 24 February 1999, in Berkeley, California) was the twentieth century's preeminent scholar of ancient law. He combined a familiarity with many legal systems, particularly Roman law and biblica ...

and W. D. Davies. The three together, each through his own work, ushered in changes in New Testament studies that led to the New Perspective on Paul and the scholarship of Davies's student, E. P. Sanders. He directed the work of the ''

New English Bible The New English Bible (NEB) is an English translation of the Bible. The New Testament was published in 1961 and the Old Testament (with the Apocrypha) was published on 16 March 1970. In 1989, it was significantly revised and republished as the R ...

'' translators, from 1950. He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1946. He was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1961. Dodd died on 21 September 1973 in

Goring-on-Thames Goring-on-Thames (or Goring) is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about south of Wallingford and northwest of Reading. It had a population of 3,187 in the 2011 census, put at 3,335 in 2019. Goring ...

, Oxfordshire, England. His daughter Rachel married the Old Testament scholar Eric William Heaton in 1951.

Works

Books

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Journal articles

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References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

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Biography
(National Library of Wales)
Preaching and Teaching in the Early Church
Chapter 1 of ''Gospel and Law: The Relation of Faith and Ethics in Early Christianity'' (1951) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodd, C. H. 1884 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Christian biblical scholars Norris–Hulse Professors of Divinity Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Alumni of University College, Oxford British theologians Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour New Testament scholars People from Wrexham Welsh biblical scholars