Kittel and Co.

clayton stirling bartholomew c.s.bartholomew at worldnet.att.net
Sat Oct 24 17:08:47 EDT 1998


Edward Hobbs wrote:
> 
*Snip*
> 
> "Silva's criticism (and others, for that matter) of this type of study
> is that there is more to a biblical concept that a single word.  For
> example, "to sin" is a biblical concept that cannot be confined to a
> single Greek word."

*snip*
> But this is a gross misreading of the Kittel project.  It was planned as a
> study of "Begriffe" in the NT. (Beware of an etymological translation of
> "Woerterbuch"!)  Anyone who has used this remarkable tool in any depth is
> thankfully aware of this fact.  
>         It was begun 65 years ago, and the earlier volumes may be out of
> date in places (disagreement about which places, of course).
>         Some of its contributors before 1945 were Nazis or Nazi-
> sympathizers.
> 

Edward does us all a great favor by checking the unbridled criticism of a
major reference work. Some of us (myself included) who have read James Barr
years ago  have only a foggy memory of the real substance of Barr's
criticisms. But like a pack of jackals we gang up on Kittel's, often failing
to offer any new insight by repeating third hand clichés. I must admit I am a
chief offender in this manner. Quick to find fault with works that have take
untold millions of scholar-hours worth of labor to produce. 

Edward's comment,

>         Some of its contributors before 1945 were Nazis or Nazi-
> sympathizers.

leads me to ask a new question. Has anyone ever seen a study done on NT
Scholarship in Germany between 1930-45 which specifically deals with the
ideological aspects of Nazism? This is not an idle question, one of my old
friends is a historian who specializes in this era in German history.

This question is way off topic so please respond in private.

Thank you.  

-- 
Clayton Stirling Bartholomew
Three Tree Point
P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062



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