Hugh Joseph Schonfield (London, 17 May 1901 – 26 January 1988, London) was a British Bible scholar specialising in the New Testament and the early development of the Christian religion and church. He was born in London, and educated there at St Paul's School and King's College, doing additional studies in the University of Glasgow. [1] He was one of the founders and president of the pacifist organisation Commonwealth of World Citizens "Mondcivitan Republic".
Born Jewish, Schonfield became a liberal Hebrew Christian who sometimes referred to himself as a Nazarene. [2] In 1937 Schonfield was excluded from membership of the International Hebrew Christian Alliance (IHCA), [3] of which he had been a founding member since 1925, due to his unwillingness to affirm the deity of Jesus. [4] [5] He later associated with Messianic Judaism for a while, but was bitterly disillusioned by the experience. [6] He called himself "the Jewish historian of Christian beginnings", [7] and at the time of his death he was described in obituaries as a "non-practicing Jew." [8] [9]
At one time he was president of the H.G. Wells Society. He founded the "Mondcivitan Republic," Commonwealth of World Citizens, in 1956. [10]
He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. [11] [12] As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt a Constitution for the Federation of Earth. [13]
Schonfield wrote over 40 books including commercially successful books in the fields of history and biography as well as religion. In 1958 his non-ecclesiastical historical translation of the New Testament was published in the UK and the US, titled The Authentic New Testament. This aimed to show without idealised interpretation the meaning intended by the writers while maintaining the original structures. A revised version appeared in 1985 titled The Original New Testament. In 1965 he published the controversial The Passover Plot, a book the thesis of which is that the Crucifixion was part of a larger, conscious attempt by Jesus to fulfill the Messianic expectations rampant in his time, and that the plan went unexpectedly wrong. According to Steve Turner, this was one of the books John Lennon was reading when he commented that the Beatles were " More popular than Jesus".
Schonfield followed The Passover Plot with a sequel in 1968, Those Incredible Christians. [14] This was also described as controversial,[ citation needed] but had less impact than the earlier book. [15][ failed verification]
An additional aspect of his work was the revision of the Hebrew writing system. [16] In The New Hebrew Typography, published in 1932, he argued for a significantly revised version of the Hebrew alphabet modelled after the Latin alphabet, including a capital-lowercase distinction, no final forms, a vertical emphasis, and serifs. This alphabet has not been adopted.
Articles
Schonfield was expelled from the Executive Committee of IHCA, of which he was a member from 1925 to 1937.
Note 43. It is interesting that Daniel Juster, the Spiritual Leader of Beth Messiah Congregation in Rockville, Maryland, corresponded with Schonfield several years ago. Schonfield confirmed to him that he indeed had had a bad experience with the… He said that after that experience he began to rethink everything and came to new conclusions… Schonfield indicated to Juster that Juster's faith in Messianic Judaism was naive and that he would have to someday "grow up" as Hugh Schonfield had done.
Dr. Schonfield was one of the original researchers working on the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran and his most notable book on Biblical history is The Passover Plot. He applied the code to some of the scrolls that ...
Hugh Joseph Schonfield (London, 17 May 1901 – 26 January 1988, London) was a British Bible scholar specialising in the New Testament and the early development of the Christian religion and church. He was born in London, and educated there at St Paul's School and King's College, doing additional studies in the University of Glasgow. [1] He was one of the founders and president of the pacifist organisation Commonwealth of World Citizens "Mondcivitan Republic".
Born Jewish, Schonfield became a liberal Hebrew Christian who sometimes referred to himself as a Nazarene. [2] In 1937 Schonfield was excluded from membership of the International Hebrew Christian Alliance (IHCA), [3] of which he had been a founding member since 1925, due to his unwillingness to affirm the deity of Jesus. [4] [5] He later associated with Messianic Judaism for a while, but was bitterly disillusioned by the experience. [6] He called himself "the Jewish historian of Christian beginnings", [7] and at the time of his death he was described in obituaries as a "non-practicing Jew." [8] [9]
At one time he was president of the H.G. Wells Society. He founded the "Mondcivitan Republic," Commonwealth of World Citizens, in 1956. [10]
He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. [11] [12] As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt a Constitution for the Federation of Earth. [13]
Schonfield wrote over 40 books including commercially successful books in the fields of history and biography as well as religion. In 1958 his non-ecclesiastical historical translation of the New Testament was published in the UK and the US, titled The Authentic New Testament. This aimed to show without idealised interpretation the meaning intended by the writers while maintaining the original structures. A revised version appeared in 1985 titled The Original New Testament. In 1965 he published the controversial The Passover Plot, a book the thesis of which is that the Crucifixion was part of a larger, conscious attempt by Jesus to fulfill the Messianic expectations rampant in his time, and that the plan went unexpectedly wrong. According to Steve Turner, this was one of the books John Lennon was reading when he commented that the Beatles were " More popular than Jesus".
Schonfield followed The Passover Plot with a sequel in 1968, Those Incredible Christians. [14] This was also described as controversial,[ citation needed] but had less impact than the earlier book. [15][ failed verification]
An additional aspect of his work was the revision of the Hebrew writing system. [16] In The New Hebrew Typography, published in 1932, he argued for a significantly revised version of the Hebrew alphabet modelled after the Latin alphabet, including a capital-lowercase distinction, no final forms, a vertical emphasis, and serifs. This alphabet has not been adopted.
Articles
Schonfield was expelled from the Executive Committee of IHCA, of which he was a member from 1925 to 1937.
Note 43. It is interesting that Daniel Juster, the Spiritual Leader of Beth Messiah Congregation in Rockville, Maryland, corresponded with Schonfield several years ago. Schonfield confirmed to him that he indeed had had a bad experience with the… He said that after that experience he began to rethink everything and came to new conclusions… Schonfield indicated to Juster that Juster's faith in Messianic Judaism was naive and that he would have to someday "grow up" as Hugh Schonfield had done.
Dr. Schonfield was one of the original researchers working on the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran and his most notable book on Biblical history is The Passover Plot. He applied the code to some of the scrolls that ...