Editing Hugh J. Schonfield

{{Short description|British biblical scholar specialising in the New Testament (1901-1988)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
'''Hugh Joseph Schonfield''' (17 May 1901 – 26 January 1988) was a British Bible scholar specialising in the [[New Testament]] and the early [[History of Christianity|development of the Christian religion and church]]. He was born and died in London, and educated there at [[St Paul's School (London)|St Paul's School]] and [[King's College London|King's College]], doing additional studies in the [[University of Glasgow]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=28 January 1988 |title=H.J. Schonfield, 81, Author and Editor of Books on Religion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/28/obituaries/hj-schonfield-81-author-and-editor-of-books-on-religion.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=12 June 2023}}</ref> He was one of the founders and president of the [[Pacifism|pacifist]] organisation [[Commonwealth of World Citizens]] "Mondcivitan Republic".

==Religious and political beliefs==
Born Jewish, Schonfield became a [[liberal Christianity|liberal]] [[Hebrew Christian movement|Hebrew Christian]] who sometimes referred to himself as a [[Nazarene (sect)|Nazarene]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jamison |first1=A.L. |date=1948 |title=Review of The Jew of Tarsus: An Unorthodox Portrait of Paul, by Hugh J. Schonfield |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/004057364800500321 |journal=Theology Today |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=441–443 |doi=10.1177/004057364800500321 |s2cid=170657899 |access-date=12 June 2023}}</ref> In 1937 Schonfield was excluded from membership of the [[International Hebrew Christian Alliance]] (IHCA),<ref name="Langton2010"/> of which he had been a founding member since 1925, due to his unwillingness to affirm the [[deity of Jesus]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Harvey |first=Richard |date=2002 |title=Passing over the Plot? The Life and Work of Hugh Schonfield (1901-1988) |url=https://www.caspari.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/mishkan37.pdf |journal=Mishkan: A Forum on the Gospel and the Jewish People |issue=37 |pages=35–48 |access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Power |first=Owen |date=2013 |title=Hugh Schonfield: A Case Study of Complex Jewish Identities |url=https://wipfandstock.com/9781620322673/hugh-schonfield/ |location=Eugene, Oregon |publisher=Wipf & Stock |isbn=9781620322673}}</ref> He later associated with Messianic Judaism for a while, but was bitterly disillusioned by the experience.<ref name="Rausch1982"/> He called himself "the Jewish historian of Christian beginnings",<ref>{{cite news |last=Dearing |first=Vinton A. |date=30 March 1986 |title=The Original New Testament edited and translated from the Greek by Hugh J. Schonfield |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-30-bk-1512-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=12 June 2023}}</ref> and at the time of his death he was described in obituaries as a "non-practicing Jew."<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=2 February 1988 |title=Hugh J. Schonfield, 86; Biblical Scholar, Author |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-02-mn-39869-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=12 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=28 January 2023 |title=Scholar H.J. Schonfield; Wrote Passover Plot |work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

At one time he was president of the [[H. G. Wells]] Society. He founded the "Mondcivitan Republic," [[Commonwealth of World Citizens]], in 1956.<ref name="wat"/>

He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a [[world constitution]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Letters from Thane Read asking Helen Keller to sign the World Constitution for world peace. 1961 |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B149-F04-022.1.8 |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=Helen Keller Archive |publisher=American Foundation for the Blind}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Letter from World Constitution Coordinating Committee to Helen, enclosing current materials |url=https://www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive?a=d&d=A-HK01-07-B154-F05-028.1.6 |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Helen Keller Archive |publisher=American Foundation for the Blind}}</ref> As a result, for the first time in human history, a [[World Constituent Assembly]] convened to draft and adopt a [[Constitution for the Federation of Earth]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preparing earth constitution {{!}} Global Strategies & Solutions {{!}} The Encyclopedia of World Problems |url=http://encyclopedia.uia.org/en/strategy/193465 |url-status= |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=The Encyclopedia of World Problems {{!}} Union of International Associations (UIA)}}</ref>

==Works==

Schonfield wrote over 40 books including commercially successful books in the fields of history and biography as well as religion. In 1958 his non-ecclesiastical historical translation of the New Testament was published in the UK and the US, titled ''The Authentic New Testament''. This aimed to show without idealised interpretation the meaning intended by the writers while maintaining the original structures. A revised version appeared in 1985 titled ''The Original New Testament''. In 1965 he published the controversial ''[[The Passover Plot]]'', a book the thesis of which is that the [[Crucifixion]] was part of a larger, conscious attempt by Jesus to fulfill the Messianic expectations rampant in his time, and that the plan went unexpectedly wrong. According to Steve Turner, this was one of the books John Lennon was reading when he commented that the Beatles were "[[More popular than Jesus]]".

Schonfield followed ''The Passover Plot'' with a sequel in 1968, ''Those Incredible Christians''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fiske |first=Edward B. |date=21 July 1968 |title=The Villain is Paul; Those Incredible Christians |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/07/21/archives/the-villain-is-paul-those-incredible-christians-by-hugh-j.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=13 June 2023}}</ref> This was also described as controversial,{{cn|date=November 2021}} but had less impact than the earlier book.<ref name="Lunn2004"/>{{not in source|date=November 2021}}

An additional aspect of his work was the revision of the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] writing system.<ref name="SchonfieldianScript"/> In ''The New Hebrew Typography'', published in 1932, he argued for a significantly revised version of the [[Hebrew alphabet]] modelled after the [[Latin alphabet]], including a capital-lowercase distinction, no final forms, a vertical emphasis, and serifs. This alphabet has not been adopted.

== Selected bibliography ==
* An Old Hebrew Text of St. Matthew's Gospel, Translated ''(translator, with notes and appendices, 1927)''
* The Lost 'Book of the Nativity of John' ''(1929)''
* Letters to Frederick Tennyson ''(editor, 1930)''
* The New Hebrew Typography ''(1932)''
* An Astounding Scientific Discovery: The Authentic Photograph of Christ: His Face, and Whole Figure as Marvellously Appearing on the [[Shroud of Turin|Shroud]] Which Was Thrown over His Body after the Crucifixion ''(by Kazimir de Proszynski; edited with an historical supplement by Hugh J. Schonfield)''
* The Speech That Moved the World ''(1932)''
* For the Train: Five Poems and a Tale ''(by [[Lewis Carroll]]; arranged poem order, wrote preface, 1932)''
* The Book of British Industries ''(editor, 1933)''
* Jesus Christ, Nineteen Centuries After: The Search Symposium by Leaders of the Great World Faiths ''(1933)''
* [https://archive.org/stream/TheHistoryOfJewishChristianity/HistoryOfJewishChristianity#page/n1/mode/2up The History of Jewish Christianity from the First to the Twentieth Century] ''(1936)''
* Richard Burton, Explorer ''(1936)''
* Ferdinand De Lesseps ''(1937)''
* According to the Hebrews: a New Translation of the Jewish Life of Jesus (the Toldoth Jeshu), with an Inquiry into the Mature of its Sources and Special Relationship to the Lost Gospel according to the Hebrews ''(1937)''
* Travels and Researches in South Africa
* The Suez Canal ''(1939)''
* Jesus: A Biography ''(1939)''
* The Treaty of Versailles, The Essential Text and Amendments ''(1940)''
* Readings from the Apocryphal Gospels ''(editor, 1940)''
* The Divine Plan of World Government: An Introduction to the Doctrine of a Holy Nation ''(1940)''
* Italy and Suez ''(1941)''
* Judaism and World Order ''(1943)''
* This Man Was Right: Woodrow Wilson Speaks Again ''(editor, 1943)''
* The Jew of Tarsus: An Unorthodox Portrait of Paul ''(1947)''
* Saints Against Caesar: The Rise and Reactions of the First Christian Community ''(1948)''
* The Suez Canal in World Affairs ''(1952)''
* Egypt: Cross-Road on a World Highway ''(1953)''
* Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Studies Towards their Solution ''(1956)''
* The Bible Was Right: An Astonishing Examination of the New Testament ''(1956)''
* The Song of Songs ''(editor and translator, 1960)''
* A Popular Dictionary of Judaism ''(1962)''
* A History of Biblical Literature ''(1962)''
* [[The Passover Plot]]: New Light on the History of Jesus ''(1965)''
* Reader's A-to-Z Bible Companion ''(1967)''
* Those Incredible Christians ''(1968)''
* Suez Canal in Peace and War ''(1969)''
* Travels in Tartary and Thibet ''(1970)''
* Politics of God ''(1970)''
* The Jesus Party ''(published in the UK as ''The Pentecost Revolution: The Story of the Jesus Party in Israel, A.D. 36–66,'' 1974)''
* For Christ's Sake: A Discussion of the Jesus Enigma ''(1975)''
* The Shroud of Turin
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091016021659/http://www.tyndalearchive.com/Scriptures/ont.htm The Original New Testament] ''(originally published in 1958 as '''The Authentic New Testament''', updated and re-published under this title in 1985)''
* The Essene Odyssey: The Mystery of the True Teacher and the Essene Impact on the Shaping of Human Destiny ''(1984)''
* After the Cross ''(1981)''
* Proclaiming the Messiah: The Life and Letters of Paul of Tarsus, Envoy to the Nations ''(1997)''
* The Mystery of the Messiah ''(1998)''
* Jesus: Man, Mystic, Messiah ''(2004)''
'''Articles'''
* ''Wells as religious humanist''<ref>Religious humanism: Volume 3 Fellowship of Religious Humanists – 1969 WELLS AS RELIGIOUS HUMANIST By Hugh J. Schonfield – Experiment in Autobiography, by HG Wells"</ref>

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Langton2010">{{cite book |title=The Apostle Paul in the Jewish Imagination: A Study in Modern Jewish–Christian Relations |page=155 |author=Daniel R. Langton |year=2010 |quote=Schonfield was expelled from the Executive Committee of IHCA, of which he was a member from 1925 to 1937.}}</ref>

<ref name="Lunn2004">{{cite book |author=Martin Lunn |title=Da Vinci Code Decoded: The Truth Behind the New York Times #1 Bestseller |year=2004 |page=119 |quote=Dr. Schonfield was one of the original researchers working on the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran and his most notable book on Biblical history is ''The Passover Plot''. He applied the code to some of the scrolls that ...}}</ref>

<ref name="Rausch1982">{{cite journal |author=David A. Rausch |title=Messianic Judaism: its history, theology, and polity |journal=Hebrew Christian Alliance Quarterly |year=1982 |pages=48–49 |quote=Note 43. It is interesting that Daniel Juster, the Spiritual Leader of Beth Messiah Congregation in Rockville, Maryland, corresponded with Schonfield several years ago. Schonfield confirmed to him that he indeed had had a bad experience with the…  He said that after that experience he began to rethink everything and came to new conclusions…  Schonfield indicated to Juster that Juster's faith in Messianic Judaism was naive and that he would have to someday "grow up" as Hugh Schonfield had done.}}</ref>

<ref name="SchonfieldianScript">{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/snortar/schonfield.html |title=The Schonfieldian Script Page |accessdate=2007-05-06 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030825024608/http://www.geocities.com/snortar/schonfield.html |archivedate=2003-08-25}}</ref>

<ref name="wat">The Cramoisy Queen: A Life of [[Caresse Crosby]] – Page 168 Linda Hamalian – 2009 All that was required, she thought, was formal official status, and so she merged with the legally established Commonwealth of World Citizens founded by Dr. Hugh Schonfield, a British historian and scholar of what the West called..."
* The politics of God, Hugh Joseph Schonfield – 1970 "There shall be identical treatment of those outside the Commonwealth as of those within it, treatment that is founded on reverence for the human personality. 3. The Commonwealth of World Citizens shall ever promote and actively assist ..."
* World citizenship and mundialism: a guide to the building of a ... – Page 23 John Charles de Villamar Roberts – 1999 "The Commonwealth of World Citizens offered itself as an example of a new "nation" devoted solely to serving humanity. Its founder, Dr. Hugh Schonfield, a distinguished Biblical scholar, had worked for world citizenship and mundialism ..."
* Alternative approaches to world government Hanna Newcombe – 1967 "The Commonwealth of World Citizens, or Mondcivitans , was founded long before [[Garry Davis]]. In 1938, Dr. Hugh Schonfield, distinguished British Jewish scholar and diplomat, conceived the civilized world's need for a new "independent and ...
* No Sense of Obligation: Science and Religion in an Impersonal Universe – Page 141 Matt Young – 2001 "Hugh Schonfield was a New Testament scholar who was educated at King's College, London, and earned a doctorate in sacred literature at the University of Glasgow. He was a prolific author but received attention mostly for ''The Passover Plot''..."</ref>
</references>

== External links ==
* [http://www.schonfield.org/ The Hugh & Helene Schonfield World Service Trust ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106134432/http://www.schonfield.org/ |date=6 November 2017 }}
* [http://www.ilbs.org/ The International Leadership and Business Society ( A business society based on the ideas of Hugh Schonfield)]
* [http://www.caspari.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/mishkan37.pdf 'Passing over the Plot: The Life and Work of Hugh Schonfield' (in Mishkan ISSUE NO 37 Fall 2002, Caspari Centre, Jerusalem)]
* [https://www.facebook.com/Mondcivitania Mondcivitania page on Facebook]
* [https://www.amazon.com/Life-Mankind-Biography-Joseph-Schonfield-ebook/dp/B00SU6HTOG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1496410271&sr=8-2&keywords=biography+of+hugh+schonfield/ A Life for Mankind: The Biography of Hugh Schonfield]
* [https://wipfandstock.com/9781620322673/hugh-schonfield/ Hugh Schonfield: A Case Study of Complex Jewish Identities]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schonfield, Hugh}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:British biblical scholars]]
[[Category:British Jews]]
[[Category:Translators of the Bible into English]]
[[Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]
[[Category:Jewish translators of the Bible]]
[[Category:20th-century British translators]]
[[Category:Swoon hypothesis]]
[[Category:World Constitutional Convention call signatories]]