Charles Cutler Torrey (20 December 1863 – 12 November 1956) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and scholar. He is known for, presenting through his books, manuscript evidence supporting alternate views on the origins of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic religious texts. He founded the American School of Archaeology at

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1901. Torrey taught

Semitic language The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigrant a ...

s at the

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

(1892–1900) and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

(1900–32). Some of Torrey's studies are included in ''The Origins of The Koran: Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book'', edited by

Ibn Warraq Ibn Warraq is the pen name of an anonymous author critical of Islam. He is the founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society and used to be a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, focusing on Quranic criticism. ...

Books

*''The Mohammedan Conquest of Egypt and North Africa'' (1901), based on the Arabic work of Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, of which he subsequently published an edition (1922).
The Jewish Foundation of Islam
(1933). *''The Composition and Historical Value of Ezra-Nehemiah'' (1896) *
Ezra Studies
' (1910) *''The Chronicler's History of Israel'' (1954). * In ''The Second Isaiah: A New Interpretation'' (1928), he argued that Isa. 34–35 and 40–66 should be dated c. 400 BC. *''Original Prophecy'' (1930) presents his theory that the canonical book of Ezekiel is a revision of a 3rd-century

pseudepigraphon Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...

. *''The Translations Made from the Original Aramaic Gospels'' (1912) *
The Four Gospels: A New Translation
' (1933) *''Our Translated Gospels'' (1936), Torrey held that the four Gospels were Greek translations from Aramaic originals. *''Apocalypse of John'' (1958) argues that Revelation was a translation of an Aramaic original written in AD 68.

References

External links

The Four Gospels: A New Translation
at Universal Digital Library. 1863 births 1956 deaths 20th-century American archaeologists 20th-century American historians American biblical scholars American male non-fiction writers American orientalists Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Scholars of medieval Islamic history {{US-historian-stub