Basil Ferris Campbell Atkinson (1895–1971) was the under-librarian of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and Keeper of Manuscripts from 1925 to 1960, and a writer on theology. He was born in Tonbridge, Kent and attended

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

before, in 1919, entering

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, where he read for a

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

degree and took a double first.Pollock, J.C. ''A Cambridge Movement'' John Murray, London (1953) p.220 He went on to obtain a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1926. He was actively involved with the

Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union The Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union, usually known as CICCU, is the University of Cambridge's most prominent student Christian organisation, and was the first university Christian Union to have been founded. It was formed in 1877, bu ...

for many years and in the formation of the Inter Varsity Fellowship (now the ''Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship''), and also as a writer of academic literature, and Christian books and Bible commentaries. He remained in Cambridge until his death.

Activities in the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union

Atkinson had considered work on the mission field but concluded that he should stay in Cambridge where he became a valued adviser of Christian Union, where for some years in the 1930s, he was the only member of the university staff who gave the Union his full support and his house was used for garden parties on Sunday afternoons.

Writings

Linguistics

''Ancient Ilyrian'' (1931); ''The Greek Language'' (1932); ''A Theology of Prepositions'' as an application of

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

to Theology 1945.

Biblical studies and theological writings

Atkinson's principal theological works include ''Is the Bible True?'' (1934); ''Valiant in Fight'' (1937), an overview of

Church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

from an evangelical perspective, the title being taken from

Hebrews The Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which pre ...

11:34). Atkinson's biblical studies include ''The War with Satan'' (1940), an

historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

interpretation of

The Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible. Written in Greek, its title is derived from the first w ...

in which he adopts the Thomas Brightman view of the seven churches, the synchronicity principle of

Joseph Mede Joseph Mede (1586 in Berden – 1639) was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow in 1613. He is now remembered as a biblical scholar. He was also a naturalist ...

, and several of the ideas of

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

; ''The Christian's use of The Old Testament'' (1952); and ''The Times of the Gentiles'' (1968), a commentary on the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and Prophecy, prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish Babylonian captivity, exile in Babylon ...

, intended to complement ''The War with Satan''. Atkinson also wrote a series of commentaries on the books of Genesis to Numbers between 1952 and 1962. He formatted his commentaries with reference to chapter and verse in the left margin, instructed his readers to refer to the appropriate Bible texts as they study. Atkinson was most notable for his advocacy of

soul sleep Christian mortalism is the Christian belief that the human soul is not naturally immortal and may include the belief that the soul is "sleeping" after death until the Resurrection of the Dead and the Last Judgment, a time known as the intermedi ...

and conditional immortality. within the

(CICCU) and the ''Inter Varsity Fellowship'' in the 1920s where he influenced, among others, John W. Wenham. His views formed the substance of his final work, published privately, is his ''Life and Immortality'' in which he deployed all of his

rhetorical Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or writ ...

skills to promote the doctrine of conditional immortality. Atkinson was a

creationist Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation, and is often pseudoscientific. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary' ...

and was a founding member of the

Evolution Protest Movement The Creation Science Movement (CSM, founded in 1932 as the Evolution Protest Movement) is a British Creationist organisation which lays claim to the title "the oldest creationist movement in the world". It was a member of the Evangelical Alliance u ...

in 1935.

Literary style

Atkinson was keen to cover a broad scope, especially historical, in his subjects and to avoid specialist terminology. In the foreword to 'The Greek Language", for example, he states it is "a summary history of the whole language from its origins to the present day" and of the difficulty of "the tendency of the

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

chapters to become too technical and those upon literature too elementary". Nevertheless, as a Latin scholar he is unafraid of giving even whole verbatim quotations from the original sources in that language in his evangelical works intended for wider readership. In the latter works, while he writes in

plain language Plain language is writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly, easily, and completely as possible. Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids verbose, convoluted language and jargon. In many countr ...

and draws on a wide range of facts, his style often becomes highly

in criticism of The Roman Catholic Church (particularly the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

) and

Liberal Christianity Liberal Christianity, also known as liberal theology and historically as Christian modernism (see Catholic modernism and fundamentalist–modernist controversy), is a movement that interprets Christian teaching by prioritizing modern knowle ...

. In many ways he was the pioneer of popular evangelical literature written in a plain style.Obituary i
''Grace Magazine''
/ref>

Activities in the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union

Writings

Linguistics

Biblical studies and theological writings

Literary style

See also

References

Further reading