Fenton John Anthony Hort (23 April 1828 – 30 November 1892), known as F. J. A. Hort, was an Irish-born theologian and editor, with

Brooke Foss Westcott Brooke Foss Westcott (12 January 1825 – 27 July 1901) was an English bishop, biblical scholar and theologian, serving as Bishop of Durham from 1890 until his death. He is perhaps most known for co-editing ''The New Testament in the Orig ...

of a critical edition of ''

The New Testament in the Original Greek ''The New Testament in the Original Greek'' is a Greek-language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828 ...

''.

Life

He was born on 23 April 1828 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, the great-grandson of

Josiah Hort Josiah Hort (c. 1674 – 14 December 1751), was an English clergyman of the Church of Ireland who ended his career as archbishop of Tuam. Born in Marshfield, Gloucestershire, son of John Hort, and brought up as a Nonconformist, Hort went to sc ...

Archbishop of Tuam The Archbishop of Tuam ( ; ) is an Episcopal polity, archbishop which takes its name after the town of Tuam in County Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The title was used by the Church of Ireland until 1839, and is still in use by the Cathol ...

in the eighteenth century. In 1846 he passed from

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he was the contemporary of E. W. Benson, B. F. Westcott and J. B. Lightfoot. The four men became lifelong friends and fellow workers. In 1850 Hort took his degree, being third in the classical ''

tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

''. In 1851 he also took the recently established triposes in moral science and natural science, and in 1852 he became fellow of his college. In 1854, in conjunction with John E. B. Mayor and Lightfoot, he established the ''Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology'', and plunged eagerly into theological and patristic study. He had been brought up in the strictest principles of the evangelical movement, but at Rugby, under the influence of

Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were widel ...

and

Archibald Campbell Tait Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) is an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England. Life Tait was born ...

, and through his acquaintance with F. D. Maurice and

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

, he finally moved towards

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

. In 1857 he was married, and accepted the college living of

St Ippolyts St Ippolyts (historically St Ippollitts) is a village and civil parish on the southern edge of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. As well as the village itself, the parish includes the hamlet of Gosmore and southern parts of the Hitchin built up ...

, near

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

, in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, where he remained for fifteen years. During his time there he took part in discussions on university reform, continued his studies, and wrote essays for various periodicals. In 1870 he was appointed a member of the committee for revising the translation 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 ...

, and in 1871 he delivered the

Hulsean Lectures The Hulsean Lectures were established from an endowment made by John Hulse to the University of Cambridge in 1790. At present, they consist of a series of four to eight lectures given by a university graduate on some branch of Christian theology. ...

before the university. Their title was ''The Way, the Truth, and the Life'', but they were not prepared for publication until many years after their delivery. In 1872 he accepted a fellowship and lectureship at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

.Emmanuel College
/ref> In 1873 he became a

fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

. In 1878 he was made Hulsean Professor of Divinity and in 1887

Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity The Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity is the oldest professorship at the University of Cambridge. It was founded initially as a readership in divinity by Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of King Henry VII, in 1502. Since its re-endowment ...

. Hort died on 30 November 1892 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. He is buried in the Mill Road Cemetery, Cambridge.

Works

In 1881 he published, with his friend Westcott, an edition of the text of the New Testament based on their text critical work. The Revision Committee had largely accepted this text, even before its publication, as a basis for their translation of the New Testament. Its appearance created a sensation among scholars, and it was attacked in many quarters, but on the whole, it was received as being much the nearest approximation yet made to the original text of the New Testament. The introduction was the work of Hort. His first principle was, "Knowledge of Documents should precede Final Judgments upon Readings". Next to his Greek Testament, his best-known work i
''The Christian Ecclesia''
(1897). Other publications are
''Judaistic Christianity''
(1894); ''Village Sermons'' (two series)
''Cambridge and other Sermons''''Prolegomena to ... Romans and Ephesians''
(1895)
''The Ante-Nicene Fathers''
(1895); and tw
''Dissertations''
(1876) on the reading of a Greek word in John i.18, and on ''The Constantinopolitan and other Eastern Creeds in the Fourth Century.'' All are models of exact scholarship and skilful use of materials. His ''Life and Letters'' was edited by his son, Sir

Arthur Hort Sir Arthur F. Hort (1864–1935) was a schoolmaster at Harrow School. He is known for his translation of Theophrastus's '' Enquiry into Plants''. Biography Arthur Fenton Hort was born in 1864 to Fanny Henrietta Hort and the biblical scholar Fent ...

, in two volumes published in 1896
''Volume 1''''Volume 2''

Other

Hort was a member of the

Cambridge Apostles The Cambridge Apostles (also known as the Conversazione Society) is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar. History Student ...

and is credited with writing the oath of secrecy taken by new members, in or around 1851.

References

External links

*
''The Way, the Truth, the Life: Hulsean Lectures for 1871''
(first printed 1893)

with variants * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hort, Fenton John Anthony 1828 births 1892 deaths 19th-century British writers Writers from Dublin (city) English Anglican theologians British biblical scholars New Testament scholars People educated at Rugby School Presidents of the Cambridge Union Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Anglican biblical scholars Lady Margaret's Professors of Divinity 19th-century Christian biblical scholars 19th-century Anglican theologians Hulsean Professors of Divinity

Life

Works

Other

See also

References

External links