5 September 1909 A.D. George Ernest Wright Born—Presbyterian Churchman, Old Testament Scholar, ANE Archaeologist, & Harvard Professor

5 September 1909 A.D.  George Ernest Wright Born—Presbyterian Churchman, Old Testament Scholar, ANE Archaeologist, & Harvard Professor

George Ernest Wright (September 5, 1909–August 29, 1974), was a leading Old Testament scholar and biblical archaeologist. Expert in Ancient Near Eastern archaeology, he was especially known for his work in the study and dating of pottery.

Contents

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• 1 Biography
• 2 Archaeological expeditions
• 3 Bibliography
• 4 References

Biography

He was born on September 5, 1909,^[1] in Ohio, son of a Presbyterian minister. He received his B.A. from the College of Wooster (Ohio) and his Bachelor of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in 1934.^[1] The same year he was ordained in the Presbyterian church.

He studied with William Foxwell Albright at Johns Hopkins University, where he received his M.A. (1936) and PhD. (1937).^[1] He taught Old Testament History and Theology at McCormick Seminary from 1939-1958. He joined the faculty of Harvard Divinity School in 1958, where he was Parkman Professor and the Curator of the Semitic Museum (the latter beginning in 1961) until his death from a heart attack on August 29, 1974.^[1]

Professor Wright published numerous monographs and articles on subjects ranging from biblical theology to Palestinian archaeology. He was also the founder of the periodical The Biblical Archaeologist, a magazine now known as Near Eastern Archaeology Magazine. He was a staunch defender of the relevance of Old Testament study to the Christian faith.

Archaeological expeditions

During his teaching career, professor Wright directed three archaeological expeditions:

• (1956–1974) Drew-McCormick Archaeological Expedition to Shechem;
• (1964–1965) Hebrew Union College Biblical and Archaeological School Expedition at Tell Gezer;
• (1971–1974) Joint American Expedition to Idalion, Cyprus (1971–1974).

Bibliography

Some of his publications include:

• The pottery of Palestine from the earliest times to the eighteenth century B.C (1937);
• Iron: the date of its introduction into common use in Palestine (1939)
• The Old Testament: Impediment or bulwark of the Christian faith? -McCormick Seminary addresses-(1945);
• God Who Acts, Biblical Theology as Recital (1952);
• The faith of Israel (1952);
• The Biblical doctrine of man in society -Ecumenical biblical studies- (1954);
• The pottery of Palestine from the earliest times to the end of the early Bronze Age (1962);
• Archaeology, history, and theology (1964);
• The challenge of Israel's faith (1956);
• The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible (1956);
• Biblical Archaeology (1957);
• Bringing Old Testament times to life (1957);
• The Book of the Acts of God: Christian Scholarship Interprets the Bible, with Reginald H. Fuller (1957) Full text. Doubleday.
• A hiding place of sinners: An exposition of Jeremiah 7:1-15 ... -A sermon delivered in the McCormick Seminary Chapel, Feb. 3; to the pre-Lenten conference ... of Harvard Divinity School on Feb. 12.- (1958);
• An introduction to Biblical archaeology -Studies in theology- (1960);
• The Bible and the ancient Near East: Essays in honor of William Foxwell Albright (1961);
• Isaiah (1964);
• Biblical Archaeology (1962);
• The Old Testament Against Its Environment (1962);
• Shechem, Biography of a Biblical City (1965);
• The Book of the acts of God: Modern Christian scholarship interprets the Bible (1965);
• The Old Testament and Theology (1969);
• The thousand years before Christ (1969);
• The book of Isaiah -The Layman's Bible commentary-(1972);

References

1.       ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c d} Hicks, R. Lansing (2007). "Wright, George Ernest". In Donald K. McKim. Dictionary of major biblical interpreters (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic. pp. 1060–1065. ISBN 9780830829279.