Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, (14 September 1856 – 9 January 1924) was a British orientalist, Fellow of

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, and Professor of Theology at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Biography

Conybeare was born in

Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London since 1965. Prior to this it was part of the historic county of Surrey. History The loc ...

, Surrey, the third son of a barrister, John Charles Conybeare, and grandson of the

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

William Daniel Conybeare William Daniel Conybeare FRS (7 June 178712 August 1857), dean of Llandaff, was an English geologist, palaeontologist and clergyman. He is probably best known for his ground-breaking work on fossils and excavation in the 1820s, including import ...

. He took an interest in the

Order of Corporate Reunion The Order of Corporate Reunion (OCR), officially the Christian, Ecumenical, and Fraternal Order of Corporate Reunion, is an ecumenical association of clergy and laity of Anglican origin. The OCR was founded by Frederick George Lee, Thomas Wimber ...

, an

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great Chu ...

organisation, becoming a Bishop in it in 1894. Also in the 1890s he wrote a book on the

Dreyfus case The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

, as a Dreyfusard, and translated the ''

Testament of Solomon The Testament of Solomon is a pseudepigraphical composite text ascribed to King Solomon but not regarded as canonical scripture by Jews or Christian groups. It was written in the Greek language, based on precedents dating back to the early 1st m ...

'' and other early Christian texts. As well, he did influential work on

Barlaam and Josaphat Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are legendary Christian saints. Their life story was based on the life of the Gautama Buddha, and tells of the conversion of Josaphat to Christianity. According to the legend, an Indian ...

. He was an authority on the

Armenian Church Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

. From 1904 to 1915 he was a member of the

Rationalist Press Association The Rationalist Association, originally the Rationalist Press Association, is an organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1885 by a group of freethinkers who were unhappy with the increasingly political and decreasingly intellectual tenor ...

, founded in 1899. One of his best-known works is ''Myth, Magic, and Morals'' from 1909, later reissued under the title ''The Origins of Christianity''. This has been read both as strong criticism of the Jesus myth theory, making Conybeare a supporter of the

historical Jesus The term "historical Jesus" refers to the reconstruction of the life and teachings of Jesus by critical historical methods, in contrast to religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived. ...

; but also as an attack on aspects of orthodox Christianity itself. He returned later in 1914 to make a direct assault on leading proponents of the time of the Jesus-myth theory. He died in 1924 aged 68 and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, London. His wife Mary Emily was a translator of

Wilhelm Scherer Wilhelm Scherer (26 April 18416 August 1886) was a German philologist and historian of literature. He was known as a positivist because he based much of his work on "hypotheses on detailed historical research, and rooted every literary phenomeno ...

Works

Books

* ''Outlines of a Philosophy of Religion by

Hermann Lotze Rudolf Hermann Lotze (; ; 21 May 1817 – 1 July 1881) was a German philosopher and logician. He also had a medical degree and was well versed in biology. He argued that if the physical world is governed by mechanical laws and relations, then de ...

'' (1892) translator
''The Armenian Apology and Acts of Apollonius, and Other Monuments of Early Christianity''
(1896)
''The Demonology of the New Testament. I''
(1896) * ''About the Contemplative Life; or the Fourth Book of the Treatise Concerning Virtues, by

Philo Judaeus Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's dep ...

'' (1895) editor * ''

The Key of Truth ''The Key of Truth'' is a text identified as a manual of either a Paulician or Tondrakian Tondrakians ( hy, Թոնդրակեաններ) were members of an anti-feudal, heretical Christian sect that flourished in medieval Armenia between the earl ...

, a Manual of the

Paulician Paulicianism ( Classical Armenian: Պաւղիկեաններ, ; grc, Παυλικιανοί, "The followers of Paul"; Arab sources: ''Baylakānī'', ''al Bayāliqa'' )Nersessian, Vrej (1998). The Tondrakian Movement: Religious Movements in the ...

Church of Armenia'' (1898) * ''The Story of Ahikar from the Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Greek and Slavonic Versions'' (1898) with J. Rendel Harris and Agnes Smith Lewis
''The Dreyfus Case''
(1899) * ''Rituale Armenorum Being the Administration of the Sacraments & the Breviary Rites of the Armenian Church Together with the Greek Rites of Baptism & Epiphany edited from the oldest manuscripts'' (1905) with Arthur John Maclean * ''Selections from the Septuagint According to the Text of

Swete Swete is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Henry Barclay Swete (1835–1917), English Biblical scholar and professor of divinity *John Swete (1752–1821), English clergyman, artist, antiquary, and topographer See also *Sweet ...

'' (1905) with St. George Stock, later as A Grammar of Septuagint Gree
online
* ''The Armenian version of Revelation, Apocalypse of John the Divine'' (1907) editor * ''Myth, Magic, and Morals: A Study of Christian Origins'' (1909)
''History of New Testament Criticism''
(1910) * ''The Ring of Pope Xystus, Together with the Prologue of Rufinus'' (1910) * ''The Life of Apollonius of Tyana: The Epistles of Apollonius and the Treatise of Eusebius.

Philostratus Philostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus (; grc-gre, Φιλόστρατος ; c. 170 – 247/250 AD), called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born probab ...

'' (1912) translator, Loeb Classical Library, two volumes * ''A Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts in the British Museum'' (1913)
''The Historical Christ; or, An investigation of the views of Mr. J. M. Robertson, Dr. A. Drews, and Prof. W. B. Smith''
(1914) * ''Russian Dissenters'' (1921) * ''The Armenian Church: Heritage and Identity.'' (St. Vartan Press: New York, 2001) edited by the Rev. Nerses Vrej Nersessian

Articles

(translation), ''Jewish Quarterly Review'' (October 1898)
The History of Christmas
, ''The American Journal of Theology'' 3 (1899), 1–22

" (translation), ''English Historical Review'' 25 (1910), 502–517
The Philosophical Aspects of the Doctrine of Divine Incarnation
''Jewish Quarterly Review'' (July 1895)
The Demonology of the New Testament. I
''Jewish Quarterly Review'' July 1896
Christian Demonology. II
''Jewish Quarterly Review'' October 1896
Christian Demonology. III
''Jewish Quarterly Review'' April 1897
''The Eusebian Form of the Text of Matthew 28:19''
Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (a journal) 2 (1901): 275–88
The Survival of Animal Sacrifices inside the Christian Church
''The American Journal of Theology'' January 1903
The History of the Greek Church
''The American Journal of Theology'' July 1903

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conybeare, Frederick Cornwallis 1856 births 1924 deaths British orientalists Critics of the Christ myth theory British historians of religion Fellows of University College, Oxford Burials at Brompton Cemetery 19th-century British people 20th-century British people Fellows of the British Academy People from Coulsdon