C. K. Barrett

Who was C. K. Barrett?

Charles Kingsley Barrett was a British biblical scholar. He served as Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham, and wrote commentaries on John, Romans, 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians.

Barrett was born in Salford, and studied at Shebbear College, Devon, Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Wesley House in Cambridge. He was ordained to the ministry in the Methodist Church, and appointed lecturer in Divinity at the University of Durham in 1945, where he was elected professor in 1958. Barrett was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1961, and was awarded its Burkitt Medal in 1966. He served as President of the Society for New Testament Studies in 1973.

In 1982, a Festschrift was published in his honour. Paul and Paulinism: Essays in Honour of C.K. Barrett included contributions from Morna Hooker, F. F. Bruce, I. Howard Marshall, Martin Hengel, and John Painter.

Barrett has been described as standing alongside C. H. Dodd as "the greatest British New Testament scholar of the 20th century."