Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, (14 September 1856 – 9 January 1924) was a British
orientalist, Fellow of
University College, Oxford, and Professor of Theology at the
University of Oxford.
Biography
Conybeare was born in
Coulsdon, Surrey, the third son of a barrister, John Charles Conybeare, and grandson of the
geologist 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 impor ...
. 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 Wimberl ...
, an
Old Catholic 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'' and other early Christian texts. As well, he did influential work on
Barlaam and Josaphat. He was an authority on the
Armenian Church.
From 1904 to 1915 he was a member of the
Rationalist Press Association, 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; 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, London.
His wife Mary Emily was a translator of
Wilhelm Scherer.
See also
*
Paulicianism
*
Apology of Aristides
Works
Books
* ''Outlines of a Philosophy of Religion by
Hermann Lotze'' (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'' (1895) editor
* ''
The Key of Truth, a Manual of the
Paulician 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'' (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'' (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
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{{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