Name F. Gingrich | ||
Died October 19, 1993, Reading, Pennsylvania, United States Books Shorter lexicon of the Greek New Testament, A History of Albright College, 1856-1956 Education University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago | ||
Felix Wilbur Gingrich (27 September 1901 – 19 October 1993) was an educator, scholar of Biblical Greek and Christian layman who spent his entire career working with students at Schuylkill and Albright Colleges. He published many books and articles in his lifetime including the definitive translation of a Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament. The recipient of many awards and honors, he is chiefly remembered as one of the finest teachers in the history of Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania.
Contents
Personal life
Gingrich was born on September 27, 1901 in Annville, Pennsylvania, the son of the Rev. Felix Moyer Gingrich and his wife, Minnie (Shiffer) Gingrich. Gingrich had two brothers, Wendell and Newell, and a sister, Esther. On March 28, 1929 he married Lola Engel and they had three children, John, Barbara and Carolsue. Lola Gingrich died on March 24, 1984. Gingrich died in Reading, Pennsylvania October 19, 1993 and is buried in Forest Hills Memorial Park in Reiffton, Pennsylvania.
Education
Gingrich attended the Northeast High School in Philadelphia. He obtained the Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Lafayette College in 1923. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa while at the school. After doing research work at the University of Pennsylvania from 1923 to 1925, he went to the University of Chicago where he received his master’s and doctorate degrees in 1927 and 1932 respectively. Gingrich’s doctoral dissertation, carried out in the Department of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, was entitled Paul’s Ethical Vocabulary, a treatise on the language and style of Saint Paul’s letters.
Teaching
After graduation from Lafayette College in 1923, Gingrich was hired by Schuylkill College, Reading, Pa., as an assistant professor, teaching Greek, Latin, German, and the Bible. Schuylkill College was an institution of the Evangelical Church, newly reunited from the United Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Association. In 1928, it was decided to merge Albright College at Myerstown with Schuylkill College. The merged institution became Albright College, located on the Schuylkill campus in Reading. Gingrich became Professor of Greek and head of the Classical Languages Department, a position he held until his retirement in 1972.
Research
In the fall of 1949, Gingrich was granted a leave of absence to work on a new Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament, translating and adapting the work of Walter Bauer’s Greek-German lexicon in collaboration with William F. Arndt. The work actually took 5 ½ years. Gingrich returned to his teaching duties in February 1955.
The 1957 publication of the first edition of A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: Translation and Adaptation of Walter Bauer's Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der übrigen urchristlichen Literatur, fourth revised and augmented edition, 1952 was the first lexicon since the 1880s and was internationally recognized. In 1979, Gingrich and Frederick William Danker produced a second English edition from Bauer’s 5th German edition. In 1965, Gingrich published the Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Danker revised this in 1983 and that version was the basis of the Portuguese translation by Júlio P. T. Zabatiero. His most important study book was a matter of integrity named "Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament", which was also published by the University of Chicago in1957. Arndt had nothing to do with it and some scholars (friends of Gingrich and associates say He did so to cover his credibility, as Arndt bullied his theology into "Baurer's translation by adding to the Greek word "psallo" a lie about the translation of the german lexicon did not have. This addition is in the Unabridged Lexicon of 1957 by Arndt and Gingrich. This shorted lexicon shows Gingrich to be in noncompliance with Arndt. Arndt died in 1957 and wanted to add his lexiconal theology to this word and did so. Gingrich by Dr. Danker and Dr. McCord corresponded about this clear error and addition to Bauers german Lexicon and Gingrich used his notes and still in 1957 put out the short Lexicon and does "psallo" correctly, to cover his integrity as a scholar, which Dr. Arndt had compromised for his "theology". This work by Gingrich is of the same Bauer materials they had researched for several years in German and have a clear difference in translating Bauer's german Lexicon, showing Dr. Arndt's error and uninspired championing mechanical instruments in worshipping. This book is a must in every honest student's library for a chronicle query about its place, why and difference with Arndt in translating Bauer's german Lexicon. It ought to be seen by every student of the Greek Text, yet you or few others even mention it, likely for the scandal it would raise and the truth about "psallo" among other words corrupted by the 1957 Unabridged Lexicon. In addition to his work on the lexicon, Gingrich published many articles and book reviews, some of which are listed in the list of selected works.
In 1956, the centennial year of the founding of Albright College and its predecessors, Gingrich and Dr. Eugene Barth wrote A History of Albright College, 1856-1956. Barth later updated and continued the work in Discovery and Promise: A History of Albright College, 1856-1981.
Awards and recognition
At a retirement dinner in 1972, Gingrich was cited for his contributions to education and his research on New Testament Greek. A Festschrift was published in his honor that year. The library at Albright College was renamed the F. Wilbur Gingrich Library in May 1980, and the college awarded him an honorary doctor of letters in 1983. In addition to international recognition for his years of work, he also received many awards and prizes honoring his research and teaching.