Philip R. Davies (1945–2018) was a British biblical scholar. He was

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of biblical studies at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, England. In the late 1990s, he was the Director for the Centre for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was also the

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and editorial director of Sheffield Academic Press. He was the author of books and articles on ancient

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

history and religion, including ''Scribes and Schools'' (1998) in the Library of Ancient Israel. Davies promoted the theory of

cultural memory Because memory is not just an individual, private experience but is also part of the collective domain, cultural memory has become a topic in both historiography ( Pierre Nora, Richard Terdiman) and cultural studies (e.g., Susan Stewart). These ...

. He and David Clines edited the ''

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament The ''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'' (JSOT) is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of Biblical studies. The editors-in-chief are David Shepherd (Trinity College Dublin) and Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer ( Örebro School of Theol ...

'' and its Supplement Series. Davies was a part of The Copenhagen School dubbed biblical minimalism by detractors (other figures include

Niels Peter Lemche Niels Peter Lemche (born 6 September 1945) is a biblical scholar at the University of Copenhagen, whose interests include early Israel and its relationship with history, the Old Testament, and archaeology. Career In 1971 Lemche received his underg ...

, Keith Whitelam, and

Thomas L. Thompson Thomas L. Thompson (born January 7, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American-born Danish biblical scholar and theologian. He was professor of theology at the University of Copenhagen from 1993 to 2009. He currently lives in Denmark. Thompson is ...

), a loosely knit group of scholars who hold that the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

is a composite work, and that those Books in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Christ myth theory The Christ myth theory, also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory, is the view that "the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology", possessing no "substantial claims to historical fact". Alternative ...

debate in the article ''Does Jesus Exist?'' at bibleinterp.com. He applauded the book ''Is This Not the Carpenter?: The Question of the Historicity of the Figure of Jesus'' edited by

writing "the rather fragile historical evidence for Jesus of Nazareth should be tested to see what weight it can bear," criticizing scholars like

Bart D. Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including t ...

who write with near certainty about Jesus' existence, and concluding "I don’t think, however, that in another 20 years there will be a consensus that Jesus did not exist, or even possibly didn’t exist, but a recognition that his existence is not entirely certain would nudge Jesus scholarship towards academic respectability."Davies' article ''Does Jesus Exist?'' at bibleinterp.arizona.edu
/ref>

Notable works

* ''1QM: the War Scroll from Qumran: Its Structure and History'' (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1977) * ''The Damascus Document'' (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1982) * ''Cities of the Biblical World: Qumran'' (Cambridge: Lutterworth, 1982) * ''Daniel'' (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1985) * ''Scribes and Schools'' (Westminster John Knox, 1998) * ''In Search Of "Ancient Israel"'' (London and New York: T. & T. Clark Publishers, Ltd. 1992) * ''The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls'', written with George J. Brooke, Phillip R. Callaway (London: Thames & Hudson, June 2002) * ''Whose Bible Is It Anyway?'' (London and New York: T. & T. Clark Publishers, Ltd. 2004)

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * *

Notable works

Footnotes

References

External links