Robert H. Gundry

Robert Horton Gundry is a Biblical scholar. He received his Ph.D. from Manchester University in 1961 and has taught for several decades at Westmont College in California. He became a prominent member of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), and as such signed their statement affirming Biblical inerrancy.

In 1973 Gundry published "The Church and the Tribulation: A Biblical Examination of Posttribulationism." In 1977 he followed up with another book addressing the controversy regarding the timing of the Second Coming when he published "First the Antichrist: Why Christ Won't Come Before The Antichrist Does."

In 1982 he published "Matthew: A Commentary on His Literary and Theological Art" analyzing the Gospel of Matthew. Gundry used redaction criticism in his work. He thus argued that Matthew adapted the story of Jesus to appeal to the intended audience. Especially problematic was Gundry's assertion that Matthew made ahistorical additions to the infancy story in Matthew 1 and 2.

This sparked a major controversy in the Evangelical Theological Society. Gundry contended his work did not question the inerrancy of Matthew. Rather he argued that inerrancy must be considered in light of authorial intent. Matthew, Gundry claims, "treats us to history mixed with elements that cannot be called historical in a modern sense" [Robert H. Gundry, "Matthew: A Commentary on His Literary and Theological Art" (1982) Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 623] . Thus, the book of Matthew should not be measured against the standards of the genre of modern historical writing in order to be called inerrant. On the other hand, "Luke states a historical purpose along lines that run closer to modern history writing..." [Ibid. p. 628] Gundry's view was supported by a significant portion of the ETS. The Society's executive looked into the matter and at first cleared Gundry. However a campaign against Gundry was launched, spearheaded by Norman Geisler. This campaign succeeded and in December 1983 Gundry was expelled from the ETS.

External links

* [http://www.westmont.edu/_academics/pages/departments/religious_studies/pages/gundry.html Westmont College profile]
* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/146/42.0.html Report on Gundry's expulsion from the ETS]
* [http://www.raptureready.com/who/Robert_Gundry.html Who's Who of Prophecy]

Footnotes