Joseph Lightfoot | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Durham | |
 | |
| Diocese | Durham |
| Elected | 15 March 1879 |
| In office | 10 April 1879 (conf.)–[1] 1889 (died) |
| Predecessor | Charles Baring |
| Successor | Brooke Foss Westcott |
| Other posts | Hulsean Professor of Divinity (1861–1875) Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity (1875–1879) Deputy Clerk of the Closet (1875–?) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1828-04-13)13 April 1828 |
| Died | 21 December 1889(1889-12-21) (aged 61) Bournemouth,Hampshire, UK |
| Buried | Auckland Castle chapel |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Residence | Auckland Castle (as Bishop of Durham) |
| Parents | John Lightfoot & Ann Lightfoot (née Barber) |
| Spouse | never married |
| Profession | academic;biblical scholar;bible translator;theologian;tutor |
| Education | King Edward's School, Birmingham |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Ordination history of J. B. Lightfoot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Joseph Barber Lightfoot (13 April 1828 – 21 December 1889), known asJ. B. Lightfoot, was anEnglishtheologian andBishop of Durham.[2]
Lightfoot was born inLiverpool, where his father John Jackson Lightfoot was an accountant. His mother, Ann Matilda Barber, was from a family of Birmingham artists. He was educated atKing Edward's School, Birmingham, underJames Prince Lee. His contemporaries includedBrooke Foss Westcott andEdward White Benson. In 1847, Lightfoot went toTrinity College, Cambridge, and read for his degree along with Westcott. He graduated senior classic and 30thwrangler, and was elected a fellow of his college.[3] From 1854 to 1859 he edited theJournal of Classical and Sacred Philology. In 1857, he became tutor and his fame as a scholar grew. He was madeHulsean professor in 1861, and shortly afterwards chaplain to thePrince Consort and honorary chaplain in ordinary toQueen Victoria.[2]
In 1866, he was Whitehall preacher, and in 1871 he became canon ofSt Paul's Cathedral.[4]The Times wrote after his death that
It was always patent that what he was chiefly concerned with was the substance and the life of Christian truth, and that his whole energies were employed in this inquiry because his whole heart was engaged in the truths and facts which were at stake.
In 1875, Lightfoot becameLady Margaret's Professor of Divinity in succession toWilliam Selwyn. In 1879, he was consecrated bishop of Durham in succession toCharles Baring; he was enthroned atDurham Cathedral on 15 May. He soon surrounded himself with a band of scholarly young men.[5]
Lightfoot was never married. He died atBournemouth and was succeeded in the episcopate by Westcott, his schoolfellow and lifelong friend.[5] He served asPresident of the first day of the 1880Co-operative Congress.[6]
He is buried inAuckland Castle Chapel, with a memorial in Durham Cathedral close to the choir stalls.
Lightfoot wrote commentaries on theEpistle to the Galatians (1865),Epistle to Philippians (1868) andEpistle to the Colossians (1875). In 1874, the anonymous publication ofSupernatural Religion, askeptical work byWalter Richard Cassels, attracted much attention. In a series of rebuttals published in theContemporary Review, between December 1874 and May 1877, Lightfoot undertook the defense of theNew Testament canon. The articles were published in collected form in 1889. About the same time he was engaged in contributions toWilliam Smith'sDictionary of Christian Biography and Dictionary of the Bible, and he also joined the committee for revising the translation of the New Testament.[5]
The corpus of Lightfoot's writings include essays on biblical and historical subject matter, commentaries onPauline epistles, and studies on theApostolic Fathers. His sermons were posthumously published in four official volumes, and additionally in the Contemporary Pulpit Library series. At Durham he continued to work at his editions of theApostolic Fathers, and in 1885 published an edition of theEpistles ofIgnatius andPolycarp, collecting also materials for a second edition ofClement of Rome, which was published after his death (1st edition, 1869). He defended the authenticity of theEpistles of Ignatius.[5]
Lightfoot had said that he was open to the idea of a diaconate that included women and in 1899Emily Marshall wroteA Suggestion for our Times on this theme. Marshall said she was told by Lightfoot to give her idea of training women in his diocese, to take on this role, "a practical form". Lightfoot's death resulted in her idea being shut down. Marshall created a new religious order within the church based on Lightfoot's discussion of theThird Order of Saint Francis who had historically consisted of men and women who did not live in monasteries or wear cowls. Marshall however regretted that Lightfoot's diaconate idea had been lost due to his death.[7]
In 2014, it was announced thatInterVarsity Press had agreed to publish about 1500 pages of previously unpublished biblical commentaries and essays by Lightfoot found inDurham Cathedral.[8] The first of the three volume set covers theActs of the Apostles,[9] the second is a commentary on theGospel of John[10] and the third is on theSecond Epistle to the Corinthians and theFirst Epistle of Peter.[11]
Lightfoot was the nephew of the artistsJoseph Vincent Barber andCharles Vincent Barber and grandson of the artist and founding member of theBirmingham School of Art,Joseph Barber and great-grandson of the founder of Newcastle's first library, Joseph Barber, whose tomb is inNewcastle Cathedral.[12]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lightfoot, Joseph Barber".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 626–627. Works by or aboutJ. B. Lightfoot atWikisource
| Church of England titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Bishop of Durham 1879–1889 | Succeeded by |