James Barr (biblical scholar)

The Revd. Professor James Barr FBA (born March 20, 1924, Glasgow, Scotland; died October 14, 2006, Claremont, California) was a Scottish Old Testament scholar.

He held professorships at Manchester and Vanderbilt University in the United States of America. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford from 1976 to 1978 and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford from 1978 to 1989.

Arguably his most influential work was "The Semantics of Biblical Language" (1961), in which he criticized the tendency of many scholars to rely on linguistically flawed arguments, such as arguments from etymology or based upon misconceptions about the relation between Hebrew thought and language. Much of the critique was built upon the work of French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. In turn, Barr's student Moisés Silva built on Barr's work in "Biblical Words and Their Meaning" (1983).

He was also an outspoken critic of conservative evangelicalism, which he attacked in his 1977 book "Fundamentalism". In particular he criticized evangelical scholars such as Bernard Ramm and J.I. Packer for the doctrine of scriptural inerrancy, the teaching that the Bible is without error. However, he also had high praise for evangelicals who he thought deserved to be treated as serious scholars, such as F. F. Bruce and Donald Guthrie. Barr's other works about fundamentalism include "The Scope and Authority of the Bible" (1980) and "Escaping Fundamentalism" (1984).

Important works

* "The Semantics of Biblical Language" (1961)
* "Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament" (1968)
* "Fundamentalism" (1977)
* "The Scope and Authority of the Bible" (1980)
* "Escaping From Fundamentalism" (1984) (titled "Beyond Fundamentalism" in the United States)"
* "The Variable Spellings of the Hebrew Bible" (Schweich Lectures for 1986)
* "Biblical Faith and Natural Theology" (Gifford Lectures for 1990-91; [http://www.giffordlectures.org/Browse.asp?PubID=TPBFNT&
] )
* "The Concept of Biblical Theology: An Old Testament Perspective" (1999)
* "History and Ideology in the Old Testament: Biblical Studies at the End of a Millennium" (2005)

He contributed the article “Of Metaphysics and Polynesian Navigation” to the anthology "Seeing God Everywhere" (World Wisdom, 2004)

External links

* [http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases/2006/10/17/bible-scholar-james-barr-dead-at-82-taught-at-vanderbilt-divinity-school-from-1989-to-1998 Press release from Vanderbilt University on Barr's death]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2408528,00.html Times obituary]
* [http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jul1985/v42-2-bookreview8.htm "Beyond Fundamentalism" review by William J Abraham]