John Vivian Mortland Sturdy (27 October 1933 – 6 July 1996) was an English clergyman and academic. He was

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

and in later years, also a part-time Librarian at the Faculty of Divinity based at St. John's College, on the corner of All Saints Passage. Sturdy studied at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He married Jill Evans in 1961, and they had twelve children including nine adoptions. Sturdy was executive editor of ''The Cambridge History of Judaism''. He wrote the commentary on the

Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...

for ''The Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible''; a review in the ''

Scottish Journal of Theology The ''Scottish Journal of Theology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal of systematic, historical and biblical theology. It was established in 1948 by Thomas F. Torrance and J. K. S. Reid. Former editors-in-chief include Iain Torrance ( ...

'' suggested that he maintained "a good balance between being informative and being gently critical of some of the values expressed in the text." Sturdy was working on a book on the

dating Dating is a stage of Romance (love), romantic relationships in which individuals engage in activity together, often with the intention of evaluating each other's suitability as a partner in a future intimate relationship. It falls into the cate ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

when he died. This was a response to J. A. T. Robinson's 1976 book ''Redating the New Testament''. Sturdy argued that the books of the New Testament were written later than the scholarly consensus believed. Sturdy's unfinished work was later published as ''Redrawing the Boundaries: The Date of Early Christian Literature'' (2007). He died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

on 6 July 1996. Sturdy was a

coin collector Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors include beautiful, rare, and historically significant pieces. Collectors may be interested, for example, in complete sets of a ...

, and after his death his widow donated 1,751 twentieth-century world coins from his collection to the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturdy, John V. M. 1933 births 1996 deaths Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English biblical scholars