WESTCOTT, BROOKE FOSS: Church of England, bishop of Durham; b. near Birmingham Jan.
12, 1825; d. at The Castle, Bishop Auckland (9 m.
s.s.e. of Durham), July 27, 1901. He was educated
at
Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1848; fellow,
1849; M.A., 1851; B.D.; 1864; D.D., 1870); was
ordained deacon and priest (1851); assistant master at Harrow School (18529); examining chaplain
to the bishop of Peterborough (1868-83); canon
residentiary (1869-83); rector of Somersham with
Pidley and Colne, Hunts (1870-82); honorary chaplain to the queen (187rr79); select preacher at Oxford (1877-80); in 1870 became regius professor of
divinity, Cambridge; in 1879, chaplain in ordinary
to the queen; in 1882, fellow of King's College,
Cambridge; in 1883, examining chaplain to the
archbishop of Canterbury; in 1884, canon of Westminster; and in 1890, bishop of Durham. During
1881-83 he served as a member of the royal commission on ecclesiastical courts; and was also a
member of the New Testament Revision Company
(1870-81). He is one of the brightest examples of
English scholarship and industry, and is as remarkable for the fine quality of his work as for
the nuul-
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bar of volumes which he produced. He will prob
ably be longest remembered for his joint production
with
Fenton John Anthony Hort (q.v.) of
The New
Testament in the Original Greek (2 vols., 1881).
But
the range of his studies was far wider than this,
covering the New Testament canon, contributions
on philosophy, and exegetical work of the highest
rank. He was hardly less noted as a preacher than
as a scholar. He was in demand as a speaker on
topics of national, industrial, and social interest,
and in 1892 almost alone succeeded in securing set
tlement of a dispute between coal-miners and em
ployers which threatened to wreck the industries
and works of transportation in the United Kingdom.
He was a valued contributor to William Smith's
Dictionary of the Bible (1863)
and to the same edi
tor's and Dean Henry Wace's
Dictionary of Chris
tian Biography (1877-87).
His independent publi
cations, some of which passed through numerous
editions, comprise:
Elements of
Gospel Harmony (Cambridge, 1851; Norrisian
essay);
A General Survey of
the History of
the Canon of
the
New Testament during the First Four Centuries (London,
1855);
Characteristics of
the Gospel Miracles (1859);
Intro
duction to the Study of
the Gospels (1860);
The Bible in the
Church (1864);
The Gospel of
the Resurrection (1866);
A
General View of
the History of
the English Bible (1868);
Christian Life Manifold and One (sermons; 1872);
Some
Points in the Religious Once of
the Universities (1873);
The
Revelation of
the Risen Lord (London, 1882);
The Gospel ac
cording to St. John (1882);
The Historic Faith (lectures on
the Apostles' Creed (1883);
Epistles of
St. John, Greek Text,
Notes, and Es3ays (1883);
Revelation of
the Father: Titles of
the Lord (1884);
Chnstus Consummator: Some Aspects of
the
Work and Person of
Christ in Relation to Modern Thought
(sermons; 1886);
Social Aspects of
Christianity (1887); Vic
tory of
the Cross: Sermons in Hbly Week (1888);
Epistle to
the Hebrews: Greek Test, with Notes (1889);
Gifts for the
Ministry: From Strength to Strength: Three Sermons (1890);
Gospel of Life: a Study of Christian Doctrine (1892);
Bishop
Lightfoot (1894);
The Incarnation and Common Life (1894,
2d ed.. 1908);
Christian Aspects of Life (1897);
Some Les
sons of the Revised Version of the New Testament (1897);
Les
sons from Work (1901); and the posthumous
Words of
Faith and Hope (1902);
Christian Social Union Addresses
(1903);
Peterborough Sermons (1904);
Village Sermons
(1906); and
The Two Empires; the Church and the World
(1909).
Bibliography:
A. Westeott, Life and Letters of Brooke Foss
Weslcott, 2 vols., London, 1903, abridged ed., 1905; Mrs.
H. Porter, Secret of a great Influence: Notes on Bishop
W estcott's Teaching, ib. 1905; J. Clayton, Bishop Westcott, in Leaders of
the Church, 1880-1900, ib. 1907; H. S.
Holland, Brooke Foss Westeott, ib. 1910.
