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The Rev Dennis Nineham obituary The Rev Dennis Nineham obituary
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More an Anglican intellectual than a theologian, Dennis Nineham, who has died aged 94, combined radical criticism of the New Testament gospels with lifelong loyalty to the established church. He served the Church of England on its Synod and its Doctrine Commission. He held professorships at London, Cambridge and Bristol and was warden of Keble College, Oxford.More an Anglican intellectual than a theologian, Dennis Nineham, who has died aged 94, combined radical criticism of the New Testament gospels with lifelong loyalty to the established church. He served the Church of England on its Synod and its Doctrine Commission. He held professorships at London, Cambridge and Bristol and was warden of Keble College, Oxford.
He entered the public arena when his commentary on the Gospel of St Mark was published by Pelican in 1963 – the same year as Bishop John Robinson’s Honest to God. “Our image of God must go” was the Observer’s headline for Robinson. Nineham argued for a similar dismissal and revision of the conventional image of Jesus. It could not, he argued in lucid detail, be based on the sort of history St Mark wrote. His Gospel, though ostensibly biographical, was “a spiritual message addressed to the church for which it was originally written”. The past of Jesus and St Mark was, as Nineham would often quote from LP Hartley, altogether “another country”. His work on St Mark, still much read, was to achieve an irrevocable shift in the understanding of the Gospels.He entered the public arena when his commentary on the Gospel of St Mark was published by Pelican in 1963 – the same year as Bishop John Robinson’s Honest to God. “Our image of God must go” was the Observer’s headline for Robinson. Nineham argued for a similar dismissal and revision of the conventional image of Jesus. It could not, he argued in lucid detail, be based on the sort of history St Mark wrote. His Gospel, though ostensibly biographical, was “a spiritual message addressed to the church for which it was originally written”. The past of Jesus and St Mark was, as Nineham would often quote from LP Hartley, altogether “another country”. His work on St Mark, still much read, was to achieve an irrevocable shift in the understanding of the Gospels.
The rest of Nineham’s thinking and writing explored the implications of the commentary on the public and on the church, within which he was the object of grave suspicion. His ability to analyse complex issues and to make a case would, one of his friends observed, have made him an excellent high court judge. It was fundamental to his success at Keble. And it moved Allen Lane, the publisher of his commentary, to offer him a senior editorial position at Penguin. He refused.The rest of Nineham’s thinking and writing explored the implications of the commentary on the public and on the church, within which he was the object of grave suspicion. His ability to analyse complex issues and to make a case would, one of his friends observed, have made him an excellent high court judge. It was fundamental to his success at Keble. And it moved Allen Lane, the publisher of his commentary, to offer him a senior editorial position at Penguin. He refused.
The only child of Stanley, a clerk, and Bessie (nee Gaill), a schoolteacher in Southampton, and afflicted by polio, Nineham attended King Edward VI school in the city and admired the unsparing rigour of his classics teacher. He was introduced to New Testament criticism by the curate of his parish, Christopher Evans.The only child of Stanley, a clerk, and Bessie (nee Gaill), a schoolteacher in Southampton, and afflicted by polio, Nineham attended King Edward VI school in the city and admired the unsparing rigour of his classics teacher. He was introduced to New Testament criticism by the curate of his parish, Christopher Evans.
A scholar of Queen’s College, Oxford, with two firsts in classics, he went on to read theology under RH Lightfoot, a modest and retiring fellow of New College, Oxford, who had visited Germany in 1931 and found his intuitions of the Gospels – that, historically, they were the imaginative creations of their writers rather than the factual records desired by modern Christians – confirmed by the great German scholars Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Dibelius. Nineham was persuaded by Lightfoot and became a brilliant Oxford tutor in his turn.A scholar of Queen’s College, Oxford, with two firsts in classics, he went on to read theology under RH Lightfoot, a modest and retiring fellow of New College, Oxford, who had visited Germany in 1931 and found his intuitions of the Gospels – that, historically, they were the imaginative creations of their writers rather than the factual records desired by modern Christians – confirmed by the great German scholars Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Dibelius. Nineham was persuaded by Lightfoot and became a brilliant Oxford tutor in his turn.
He was ordained in 1944 and appointed chaplain of Queen’s. When he was appointed to a theology chair at King’s College London in 1954, he edited a collection of strikingly original and independent-minded essays in Lightfoot’s memory, Studies in the Gospels. Its contributors included practically all the leading New Testament scholars of the day, among them Austin Farrer who (unlike Nineham) kept his brilliant criticism of the Gospels apart from his professed orthodoxy.He was ordained in 1944 and appointed chaplain of Queen’s. When he was appointed to a theology chair at King’s College London in 1954, he edited a collection of strikingly original and independent-minded essays in Lightfoot’s memory, Studies in the Gospels. Its contributors included practically all the leading New Testament scholars of the day, among them Austin Farrer who (unlike Nineham) kept his brilliant criticism of the Gospels apart from his professed orthodoxy.
Nineham’s professorial lectures were popular for the clarity he brought to complex texts and issues. Reflecting his virtues as an administrator, they had some of the character of an audit, the subject laid out in precise articulation with numbers, percentages, diagrams and so on. Meanwhile he toiled at St Mark, which he described in the introduction to his commentary as “not a photographic panorama of the whole of Christ’s life, based on the personal recollections of eye-witnesses, but a series of essentially independent stories, each one of which was preserved, and to some extent modified, in the context of the Church’s life and worship”.Nineham’s professorial lectures were popular for the clarity he brought to complex texts and issues. Reflecting his virtues as an administrator, they had some of the character of an audit, the subject laid out in precise articulation with numbers, percentages, diagrams and so on. Meanwhile he toiled at St Mark, which he described in the introduction to his commentary as “not a photographic panorama of the whole of Christ’s life, based on the personal recollections of eye-witnesses, but a series of essentially independent stories, each one of which was preserved, and to some extent modified, in the context of the Church’s life and worship”.
Now well known, he was made regius professor of divinity at Cambridge. It looked like a good move. Liberally minded colleagues such as his old friend Geoffrey Lampe were there, and Harry Williams was recasting Christianity in a psychological mould. The radical Don Cupitt was flexing his intellectual muscles.Now well known, he was made regius professor of divinity at Cambridge. It looked like a good move. Liberally minded colleagues such as his old friend Geoffrey Lampe were there, and Harry Williams was recasting Christianity in a psychological mould. The radical Don Cupitt was flexing his intellectual muscles.
But the New Testament seminar was firmly in the hands of the Rev CFD Moule, a conservative scholar with great charm and an enthusiastic following. Moreover, Nineham’s old tutor in philosophy, the eccentric Donald MacKinnon, was propounding something he called “brute facticity” and denouncing enlightened liberalism and all its works. A dispute arose about the resurrection: spiritual or physical, fiction or fact? Mollie Butler, wife of Rab, then master of Trinity College, loved to tell of Dennis at her breakfast table at that time. “And do you believe in the resurrection, Professor Nineham?” she asked. “Of course not,” came the prompt reply: “Would you please pass the mustard?”But the New Testament seminar was firmly in the hands of the Rev CFD Moule, a conservative scholar with great charm and an enthusiastic following. Moreover, Nineham’s old tutor in philosophy, the eccentric Donald MacKinnon, was propounding something he called “brute facticity” and denouncing enlightened liberalism and all its works. A dispute arose about the resurrection: spiritual or physical, fiction or fact? Mollie Butler, wife of Rab, then master of Trinity College, loved to tell of Dennis at her breakfast table at that time. “And do you believe in the resurrection, Professor Nineham?” she asked. “Of course not,” came the prompt reply: “Would you please pass the mustard?”
After five years in Cambridge, Nineham returned to Oxford as warden of Keble College. Over the following decade he transformed the place. Supported by the younger fellows, he raised its educational standards, raised also funds to build a new quadrangle, secured the admission of women and undid for the future the requirement that the warden be an Anglican clergyman. His wife, Ruth, entertained and supported the wives and families of the fellowship. He attended chapel as faithfully as dinner in hall. His administrative tact and talents were in full play.After five years in Cambridge, Nineham returned to Oxford as warden of Keble College. Over the following decade he transformed the place. Supported by the younger fellows, he raised its educational standards, raised also funds to build a new quadrangle, secured the admission of women and undid for the future the requirement that the warden be an Anglican clergyman. His wife, Ruth, entertained and supported the wives and families of the fellowship. He attended chapel as faithfully as dinner in hall. His administrative tact and talents were in full play.
He brought out his thoughts about biblical interpretation in a substantial treatise, The Use and Abuse of the Bible (1976). It spelled out his main concerns: the otherness of the Bible’s cultural milieu compared with our own, the uncertainty of our knowledge of Jesus, the pastness of the past. Lucid and insistent as usual, it was enriched by his deep and wide reading of philosophy, literary criticism and social anthropology, of Lionel Trilling, Richard Southern and Ernst Troeltsch.He brought out his thoughts about biblical interpretation in a substantial treatise, The Use and Abuse of the Bible (1976). It spelled out his main concerns: the otherness of the Bible’s cultural milieu compared with our own, the uncertainty of our knowledge of Jesus, the pastness of the past. Lucid and insistent as usual, it was enriched by his deep and wide reading of philosophy, literary criticism and social anthropology, of Lionel Trilling, Richard Southern and Ernst Troeltsch.
But his general views hardened. In 1977 his concluding contribution to the volume The Myth of God Incarnate (the very title infuriated the orthodox) warned his fellow contributors that their proposals to modernise Jesus – as “the man for others”, “the man for God”, the perfect moral example and so on – were precarious. To his exacting mind they seemed to have no idea of the extreme difficulty, even impossibility, of proving such claims historically.But his general views hardened. In 1977 his concluding contribution to the volume The Myth of God Incarnate (the very title infuriated the orthodox) warned his fellow contributors that their proposals to modernise Jesus – as “the man for others”, “the man for God”, the perfect moral example and so on – were precarious. To his exacting mind they seemed to have no idea of the extreme difficulty, even impossibility, of proving such claims historically.
He was aptly given an engraved portrait of Voltaire when he left Keble in 1979 for his final post as professor of theology at Bristol. There he proved a sympathetic and effective head of department, enjoying the return from collegiate to university life.He was aptly given an engraved portrait of Voltaire when he left Keble in 1979 for his final post as professor of theology at Bristol. There he proved a sympathetic and effective head of department, enjoying the return from collegiate to university life.
He finally retired to Iffley, near Oxford, where he had one last shot at enforcing the pastness of the past with Christianity Medieval and Modern (1993), centred on the year 1000. He enjoyed the reading groups which he believed to be the model for the church of the future, replacing any kind of authority. He loved company and conversation. Samuel Johnson was his idol and Boswell’s Life was, you might say, his bible.He finally retired to Iffley, near Oxford, where he had one last shot at enforcing the pastness of the past with Christianity Medieval and Modern (1993), centred on the year 1000. He enjoyed the reading groups which he believed to be the model for the church of the future, replacing any kind of authority. He loved company and conversation. Samuel Johnson was his idol and Boswell’s Life was, you might say, his bible.
Dennis and Ruth, who died a month before him, had four children, whose careers in academic administration, scholarship, the law and political activism pleased him very much. He is survived by his daughter Biddy and his sons Hugh and Christopher; his daughter Clare predeceased him. A son of the enlightenment to the last, Nineham left his brain to the project on cognitive function and ageing studies at the John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford. Dennis and Ruth, who died a month before him, had four children, whose careers in academic administration, scholarship, the law and political activism pleased him very much. He is survived by his daughter Biddy and his sons, Hugh and Christopher; his daughter Clare predeceased him. A son of the enlightenment to the last, Nineham left his brain to the project on cognitive function and ageing studies at the John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford.
• Dennis Eric Nineham, theologian, born 27 September 1921; died 9 May 2016• Dennis Eric Nineham, theologian, born 27 September 1921; died 9 May 2016