James Moffatt

James Moffatt (July 4, 1870 – June 27, 1944) was a Scottish theologian, biblical scholar, and translator of the Bible.

Quotes

• Gamaliel had a reputation for mildness and moderation, but his brilliant young pupil flung himself with fanatical zeal into the task of stamping out the new heresy of the Nazarenes.
  • Paul and Paulinism. Houghton Mifflin. 1910. p. 8. 

• 'The theology of the gospels!' some will exclaim in dismay, 'and we verily thought the gospels were a refuge from theology!'
  • The Theology of the Gospels. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1913. p. 1. 

• Hell is an element of any religion which is morally healthy.
  • as quoted by Miles H. Krumbine in: (1930). "Review of What Is Hell?". The Journal of Religion 10 (3): 435–436. ISSN 0022-4189. DOI:10.1086/480965.

• ... since the Sacred Book is a phenomenon of religion in general, and as isolation is a fruitful source of wrong judgment in the historical investigation of ideas and institutions, we decline to detach our Sacred Book from similar books of its class in other faiths of the world. Now, in surveying the history of religion, I seem to detect four negative truths about the Sacred Book. (i) Not every religion possesses a sacred book. (ii) The sacred book does not lie beside the cradle of the faith in question. (iii) No religion lives by its sacred book alone. And (iv) no sacred book can be judged apart from the specific ethos of the faith out of which it rose and for which it exists.
  • (1934). "The Sacred Book in Religion". Journal of Biblical Literature 53 (1): 1–12. ISSN 00219231. DOI:10.2307/3259335.