The Epistle of St. James

Fenton John Antony Hort (1828-1892) was Professor of Divinity at Cambridge and the editor, with B.F. Westcott, of an influential edition of the Greek New Testament. His detailed commentary on the Greek text of the Epistle (Letter) of St James was left incomplete at his death. When it was published in 1909, the editor wrote 'Each word and phrase and sentence has been examined in the light of the whole available evidence with characteristic freshness, and with a singularly delicate sense both of the meaning of words, and of subtle variations of grammatical structure.' The Introduction situates the Epistle in its New Testament context, and reflects on issues of authorship, reception and content. Hort's scholarly insights remain of interest to modern theologians. His work also bears witness to the strenuous efforts made by late Victorian theologians to create a textual bulwark against the growth of religious scepticism.