Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough (24 October 1893 – 20 March 1965) was an American

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

in the

history of religion The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The Prehistoric religion, prehistory of reli ...

. He is specifically noted for his study of the influence of

Greek culture The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cultu ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

, what some call

Hellenistic Judaism Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic culture and religion. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellen ...

, and for his discovery and studies on

Synagogal Judaism Synagogal Judaism or Synagogal and Sacerdotal Judaism, named by some common Judaism or para-rabbinic Judaism, was a branch of Judaism that emerged around the 2nd century BCE in the wider context of Hellenistic Judaism with the construction of the ...

. Goodenough was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, the son of Mary Belle (Ramsdell) and Ward Hunt Goodenough. He studied at

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

Drew Theological Seminary Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...

, and then received a bachelor's degree in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from

Garrett Biblical Institute Garrett may refer to: Places in the United States * Garrett, Illinois, a village * Garrett, Indiana, a city * Garrett, Floyd County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, Meade County, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Garrett, ...

in 1917. He went on to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

for three years, then three more years at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he received the D.Phil. degree in 1923. He then began teaching at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1923, where he taught until he retired in 1962. He went on to

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

, then was given an office in the

Widener Library The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, housing some 3.5million books, is the centerpiece of the Harvard Library system. It honors 1907 Harvard College graduate and book collector Harry Elkins Widener, and was built by his mother Eleanor Elki ...

at Harvard. He received honorary degrees from Yale,

Hebrew Union College Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

, and the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

. He edited the ''

Journal of Biblical Literature The ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' (''JBL'') is one of three academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academ ...

'' from 1934–1942. His papers are archived at Yale. After his death, he was honored by a volume of studies in his honor, ''Religions in Antiquity: Essays in Memory of Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough'', edited by

Jacob Neusner Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books. Neusner's application of form criticism� ...

, published by E.J. Brill in 1968 (reprinted by

Wipf and Stock Wipf and Stock is a publisher in Eugene, Oregon, publishing works in theology, biblical studies, history and philosophy. History Wipf and Stock was established in 1995 following a joint venture between John Wipf of the Archives Bookshop in Pasade ...

in 2004). His first marriage, to Helen Miriam (Lewis), produced two noted professors: University of Pennsylvania anthropologist

Ward Goodenough Ward Hunt Goodenough II (May 30, 1919 – June 9, 2013) was an American anthropologist, who has made contributions to kinship studies, linguistic anthropology, cross-cultural studies, and cognitive anthropology. Biography and major works G ...

(1919–2013) and University of Texas solid-state physicist

John B. Goodenough John Bannister Goodenough ( ; July 25, 1922 – June 25, 2023) was an American materials scientist, a solid-state physicist, and a Nobel laureate in chemistry. From 1986 he was a professor of Materials Science, Electrical Engineering and Mechani ...

(1922-2023, who in 2019 became the oldest-ever Nobel laureate); and his second marriage, to Evelyn (Pitcher), produced two more:

Ursula Goodenough Ursula W. Goodenough (born March 16, 1943) is a retired Professor of Biology Emerita at Washington University in St. Louis, where she researched on eukaryotic algae. She authored the textbook ''Genetics'' and the best-selling book ''The Sacred ...

and Daniel Goodenough.

Publications

*1923. ''The Theology of

Justin Martyr Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr (; ), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and Philosophy, philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The ''First Apolog ...

''. *1929. ''The Jurisprudence of the Jewish Courts in Egypt''. *1930. ''The Church in the Roman Empire''. *1935. ''The Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism''. *1937. ''Religious Tradition and Myth''. *1938. ''The Politics of

Philo Judaeus Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian Jew ...

, with a General Bibliography of Philo''. *1940. ''An Introduction to Philo Judaeus''. *1953-1968. ''Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period''. Twelve volumes of text and illustrations, plus a thirteenth of indexes, maps and corrigenda over many years. An abridged version with the same title was edited by

(Princeton 1988). *1955. ''Toward a Mature Faith''. *1968. ''Religions in Antiquity: Essays in Memory of Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough''. Ed. by Jacob Neusner (1968).

References

External links

* Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough (MS 723). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodenough, Erwin Ramsdell Historians of Jews and Judaism 1893 births 1965 deaths Hamilton College (New York) alumni Harvard University alumni Yale University faculty Brandeis University faculty

Publications

Further reading

References

External links