Shirley Jackson Case

Shirley Jackson Case (1872–1947) was an historian of early Christianity, and a liberal theologian. He served as dean of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago.

The Reverend Shirley Jackson Case
Born	(1872-09-28)September 28, 1872 Hatfield Point, New Brunswick, Canada
Died	December 5, 1947(1947-12-05) (aged 75) Lakeland, Florida, US
Nationality	Canadian
Ecclesiastical career
Religion	Christianity (Baptist)
Academic background
Alma mater	Acadia University Yale University
Influences	Adolf von Harnack[1] Albrecht Ritschl[1]
Academic work
Discipline	History theology
Sub-discipline	Ecclesiastical history
School or tradition	Theological liberalism
Institutions	University of Chicago Florida Southern College

Biography

Case was born on September 28, 1872, in Hatfield Point, New Brunswick. He received a BA (1893) and MA (1896) in mathematics from Acadia University.^[2] He taught mathematics at the New Hampton Library Institute.^[2] In 1904, he obtained a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a Doctor of Philosophy degree^[2] in 1908.^{[citation needed]} He was professor of New Testament literature and interpretation at University of Chicago Divinity School until 1925.^[2] In 1924, he served as president of the American Society of Church History^[3] and, in 1926, served as president of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis.^[4]

Case is known for his research into the person of Jesus, who he argued was a historical person.^[5]

He edited The American Journal of Theology and its successor The Journal of Religion. Case considered himself a historian of Christianity. He was drawn to liberal theology.^[6] He was convinced that Jesus was an historical person and criticized the arguments of Christ myth theory proponents.^[7]

He died on December 5, 1947, in Lakeland, Florida.^[2]

Selected publications

Books

• The Historicity of Jesus: A Criticism of the Contention that Jesus Never Lived, a Statement of the Evidence for His Existence, an Estimate of His Relation to Christianity (1912)
• The Evolution of Early Christianity: A Genetic Study of First-Century Christianity in Relation to Its Religious Environment (1914)
• The Revelation of John: A Historical Interpretation (1919)
• The Social Origins of Christianity (1923)
• Jesus: A New Biography (1927)
• Experience With the Supernatural in Early Christian Times (1929)
• The Social Triumph of the Ancient Church (1933)
• Makers of Christianity: From Jesus to Charlemagne (1934)
• Christianity in a Changing World (1941)
• The Christian Philosophy of History (1943)
• The Origins of Christian Supernaturalism (1946)

Papers

• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1910). Is Jesus a Historical Character? Evidence for an Affirmative Opinion. The American Journal of Theology 15 (2): 205–227.
• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1910). The Missionary Idea in Early Christianity. The Biblical World 36 (2): 113–125.
• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1911). Jesus' Historicity: A Statement of the Problem. The American Journal of Theology 15 (2): 265–268.
• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1911). Recent Books on the Question of Jesus' Existence. The American Journal of Theology 15 (4): 626–628.
• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1911). The Historicity of Jesus an Estimate of the Negative Argument. The American Journal of Theology 15 (1): 20–42.
• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1913). The Problem of Christianity's Essence. The American Journal of Theology 17 (4): 541–562.
• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1920). Reviewed Work: The Jesus Problem. A Restatement of the Myth Theory by J. M. Robertson. The Harvard Theological Review 13 (3): 295–296.
• Case, Shirley Jackson. (1921). The Historical Study of Religion. The Journal of Religion 1 (1): 1–17.

See also

• Free Will Baptist