Robertson Smith, William

Born November 8, 1846 in Aberdeenshire .

At the age of 15, he entered the University of Aberdeen , from where in 1866 he was transferred to New Russian College Edinburgh University with the goal of becoming a cleric.

In 1870, after graduation, he came to work at the Department of Hebra Studies at Christ College .

In 1875, he wrote a significant number of religious articles in the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica . At the same time, he acquired a great reputation due to the trial, where he was accused of propagating heresy in his articles in the encyclopedia, because he critically approached the Bible as a source, which cost him a teaching position in Christ College in 1881 ^[4] .

After leaving Christ College, he became an assistant professor ( English Reader ) of Arabic studies at Cambridge University , having gone all the way to a university librarian, professor of Arabic studies and a research fellow at Christ College ^[5] .

In 1881, the Old Testament in the Jewish Church tract was published, and the Prophets of Israel in 1882.

In 1887, Robertson Smith became the publisher of Britannica instead of the deceased Thomas Beinis .

In 1889, the main work of Robertson-Smith, Religion of the Semites, was published, where for the first time a generalized description of the Jewish religion was presented using the method of sociological analysis of the phenomenon of religion.

In 1889 - 1894, Robertson-Smith occupied the chair of the Adams professor of Arabic at Cambridge University .

He died on March 31, 1894 from tuberculosis .

His views on the historical method of biblical criticism can be represented as follows ^[6] :

Ancient books reached us through the veil of millennia before the invention of printing prevented many absurdities. Some of them were preserved only in unsuitable lists, written by the hand of a scribe from ignorant ages. Others were distorted by publishers who introduced alien into the original text. Very often the necessary book falls out of sight for many years, and when it is discovered, then all its true content is lost; and old books usually lack title pages and forewords . And when this nameless scroll fell into circulation again, then some ignorant reader or scribe was not averse to giving him his name, which was then passed down from generation to generation, as if it were originally. Or, the exact meaning and content of the book often becomes incomprehensible after centuries, which leads to misinterpretations. I repeat, antiquity has left us many manuscripts with obvious signs of falsification, like some of the apocrypha , or Sibylline predictions , or the letters of Falaris , which became the subject of Bentley's famous critical essay. In all the cases described, historical criticism must get rid of inert views in the name of the triumph of truth. She must revise dubious headlines, clean out inserts, expose fakes; but it should only proclaim the truth, show the truthful face of antiquity as it is. The book is really ancient and really valuable, it is not afraid of criticism, which will only give it an assessment of conscience and affirm its authority on a more solid basis.

Original text

Ancient books coming down to us from a period many centuries before the invention of printing have necessarily undergone many vicissitudes. Some of them are preserved only in imperfect copies made by an ignorant scribe of the dark ages. Others have been disfigured by editors, who mixed up foreign matter with the original text. Very often an important book fell altogether out of sight for a long time, and when it came to light again all knowledge of its origin was gone; for old books did not generally have title-pages and prefaces. And, when such a nameless roll was again brought into notice, some half-informed reader or transcriber was not unlikely to give it a new title of his own devising, which was handed down thereafter as if it had been original. Or again, the true meaning and purpose of a book often became obscure in the lapse of centuries, and led to false interpretations. Once more, antiquity has handed down to us many writings which are sheer forgeries, like some of the Apocryphal books, or the Sibylline oracles, or those famous Epistles of Phalaris which formed the subject of Bentley's great critical essay. In all such cases the historical critic must destroy the received view, in order to establish the truth. He must review doubtful titles, purge out interpolations, expose forgeries; but he does so only to manifest the truth, and exhibit the genuine remains of antiquity in their real character. A book that is really old and really valuable has nothing to fear from the critic, whose labors can only put its worth in a clearer light, and establish its authority on a surer basis.

• 1889 - Lectures on the religion of the Semites ( Lectures on the Religion of the Semites ).

• Fück J. Die arabischen Studien in Europe. - Leipzig , 1955. - S. 198, 210, 281.