A.N. Sherwin-White

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Adrian Nicholas Sherwin-White (born 1911, died January 11, 1993) was an Oxford historian and member of the British Academy who specialized in Roman history.

Sherwin-White is often quoted by conservative Christian scholars regarding his strong affirmation of the historicity of the Book of Acts.


A.N. Sherwin-White wrote of Acts:

"For the New Testament of Acts, the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming... any attempt to reject its basic historicity, even in matters of detail, must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted. {A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), p. 189).


In addition, Sherwin-White is often cited for the following remark about New Testament form criticism:

"The agnostic type of form-criticism would be much more credible if the compilation of the Gospels were much later in time.... Herodotus enables us to test the tempo of myth-making, [showing that] even two generations are too short a span to allow the mythical tendency to prevail over the hard historic core." (A.N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, (Oxford: Clarendon Press), 1963. pp. 189-190).


[edit] Publications

  • A. N. Sherwin-White. The Roman Citizenship. (1939)
  • A. N. Sherwin-White. Violence in Roman Politics. (1956)
  • A. N. Sherwin-White. Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament. (1963)
  • A. N. Sherwin-White. The Letters of Pliny. (Oxford, 1966)
  • A. N. Sherwin-White. Fifty Letters of Pliny. (London, 1969)
  • A. N. Sherwin-White. Roman Foreign Policy in the East. (1984)

[edit] Further reading

  • N.P. "A.N. Sherwin-White, 1911–1994: [Obituary]", The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 84. (1994), pp. xi–xiv.