Arthur Samuel Peake (1865–1929) was an English biblical scholar, born at
Leek, Staffordshire
Leek is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is situated about north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1 ...
, and educated at
St John's College, Oxford
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...
. He was the first holder of the
Rylands Chair of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
, from its establishment as an independent institution in 1904. He was thus the first non-Anglican to become a professor of divinity in an English university.
[iyc.uo Arthur Samuel Peake Papers](_blank)
John Rylands Library
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...
, Manchester
Peake popularized modern biblical scholarship, including the new "
higher criticism
Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...
." He approached the Bible not as the
infallible
Infallibility refers to an inability to be wrong. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in both epistemology and theology, and its meaning and significance in both fi ...
word of God, but as the record of revelation written by fallible humans.
Early life
Arthur Peake was born in Leek on 24 November 1865 into a family of long-established
Primitive Methodists
The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).
In the United States, the Primiti ...
, of which his father was a minister. He had four brothers and two sisters. The family moved several times during Arthur's childhood, with longest stays at
Leintwardine
Leintwardine ( ) is a small to mid-size village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire.
History
Roman
A popular misconception is that the Romans called the village ''Branogenium''. Branogenium in f ...
, from where Arthur attended
Ludlow Grammar School
Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...
, and
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, where he studied at
King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon. There he won a
classical scholarship to study at
St John's College, Oxford
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...
.
[memoir by Leslie Sillman Peake, his son]
Arriving in Oxford in 1883, he studied the classics without great success for two years,
[ but then switched to the study of theology, in which he excelled, winning a first-class degree and a further scholarship. Although he formed at this time an intention to seek ordination in the Church of England, he was never ordained, remaining a Methodist layman for the rest of his life.][Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry]
/ref>
Academic career
In 1890-92 he was a lecturer at Mansfield College, Oxford
Mansfield College, Oxford is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist (Protestantism), Non ...
, and from 1890 to 1897 held a fellowship at Merton College
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
.[
In 1892, however, he was invited to become tutor at the Primitive Methodist Theological Institute in ]Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, which was renamed Hartley College in 1906.[ He was largely responsible for broadening the curriculum which intending Primitive Methodist ministers were required to follow, and for raising the standards of the training.][
In 1895-1912 he served as lecturer in the ]Lancashire Independent College
The British Muslim Heritage Centre, formerly the GMB National College, College Road, Whalley Range, Manchester, is an early Gothic Revival building. The centre was designated a Grade II* listed building on 3 October 1974.
History and descript ...
, from 1904 to 1912 also in the United Methodist College
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at Manchester. In 1904 he was appointed Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in the (Victoria) University of Manchester. (This chair was in the Faculty of Theology established in that year; it was renamed "Rylands Professor, etc." in 1909.)
Peake was also active as a layman in wider Methodist circles, and did a great deal to further the reunion of Methodism which took effect in 1932, three years after his death. In the wider ecumenical sphere Peake worked for the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches
National may refer to:
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* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
, serving as president in 1928, and was a member of the World Conference on Faith and Order held in Lausanne in 1927. He published and lectured extensively, but is best remembered for his one-volume commentary on the Bible (1919), which, in its revised form, is still in use.[
The ]University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
made him an honorary D. D. in 1907. He was a governor of the John Rylands Library
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...
. In 1924 he was president of the Society for Old Testament Study The Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS) is a learned society, based in the British Isles, of professional scholars and others committed to the study of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament.
History
SOTS was inaugurated at King's College, London on ...
.
Personal life
Peake married Harriet Mary Sillman (of Oxford) on 29 June 1892: their three sons were Leslie Sillman Peake (b. 1900), Arnold Arthur Peake (b. 1903) and Clive Talbot Peake (b. 1905).[Wilkinson ''Arthur Samuel Peake'', 1971, p. xi]
Selected publications
Among Dr. Peake's publications are:
* ''A Guide to Biblical Study'' (1897)
* ''The Problem of Suffering in the Old Testament'' (1904)
* ''The Religion of Israel'' (1908)
* ''Critical Introduction to the New Testament'' (1909)
* ''Heroes and Martyrs of Faith'' (1910)
* ''The Bible: its Origin, its Significance, and its Abiding Worth'' (1913)
* ''Germany in the Nineteenth Century'' (1915)
* '' A Commentary on the Bible'' (with the assistance of A. J. Grieve for the New Testament) (1919)
* ''The Servant of Yahweh'': lectures given at London and Manchester, 1904-26 (1931) (edited posthumously)
Dr. Peake also wrote separate commentaries on Hebrews (1902; Century Bible), Colossians (1903; Expositor's Greek Testament), Job (1905; Century Bible), Jeremiah (1910–12; Century Bible), and Isaiah xl-lxvi (1912).
A portrait of him is at the John Rylands University Library, University of Manchester.
References
* Obituary in ''Bulletin of the John Rylands Library'', XIV, pp. 1–8
Further reading
* Timothy Laursen, "A.S. Peake, the Free Churches and modern biblical criticism." ''Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester'' (2004) 86#3 pp 23–53.
*Young, D. M. (2017) ''Change and Decay: Primitive Methodism from late Victorian times till World War 1'' (Stoke-on-Trent: Tentmaker Publications)
*www.primitivemethodism.com
Primary sources
*Peake, A. S.; (Howard, W. F., ed.) (1938) ''Recollections and Appreciations''. London: Epworth Press (includes some of his minor works, mainly obituary notices of other scholars)
*Peake, Leslie Sillman (1930) ''Arthur Samuel Peake: a memoir''. London: Hodder and Stoughton (by Peake's eldest son)
*Wilkinson, John T., ed. (1958) ''Arthur Samuel Peake, 1865-1929: essays in commemoration by Elsie Cann, W. E. Farndale ... nd others and selections from his writings''. London: Epworth Press
*Young, D. M. (2017) ''Change and Decay: Primitive Methodism from late Victorian times till World War 1'' (Stoke-on-Trent: Tentmaker Publications)
*www.primitivemethodism.com
A.S. Peake Papers
John Rylands Library
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...
University of Manchester
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peake, Arthur Samuel
People from Leek, Staffordshire
British biblical scholars
1865 births
1929 deaths
People educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry
Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
Fellows of Merton College, Oxford
Bible commentators
Academics of the University of Manchester
19th-century Christian biblical scholars
20th-century Christian biblical scholars
Methodist biblical scholars
Clergy from Staffordshire
John Rylands Research Institute and Library
Presidents of the Society for Old Testament Study