![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2024\/11\/download-12.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMy doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two other future great scholars,\u00a0 Charles Cranfield and David Daube, and\u00a0 Dodd was working possible influences on the Fourth Gospel.\u00a0 On this particular day he was lecturing on the Corpus Hermeticum.\u00a0 He came to class as usual with his brown satchel, placed it on his desk, reached in to get his copy of the Corpus Hermeticum, and discovered he had left it at no.\u00a0 \u00a0\u2018No matter,\u2019 he said, and then proceeded to fill the blackboard with line after line of the Corpus from memory.\u00a0 \u00a0 Barrett later said to me,\u00a0 \u2018I knew right then we were in for some heavy weather\u2019.\u00a0 The bar had just been raised on what it meant to be a serious scholar of ancient sources.<\/p>\n
But I have a tale about another Cambridge don, namely J.B. Lightfoot, without question, as Adolph von Harnack said, the greatest English speaking Biblical scholar of the second half of the nineteenth century.\u00a0 I had the good fortune of finding a whole box of Lightfoot\u2019s lecture notes on 2 Corinthians, the Gospel of John, and Acts, which had never been published but now through the good offices of InterVarsity Press are all in print.\u00a0 But these notes were in Lightfoot\u2019s handwriting. They were not in typed form, and they had to be deciphered, which was no small task and many thanks to Todd Still and Jeanette Hagan for their help with this huge task.\u00a0 But one of the notable regular features of page after page was Lightfoot\u2019s citation of an enormous amount of primary source quotes\u2013 in Greek, in Latin, in Hebrew, etc.\u00a0 You get the picture.\u00a0 At first I thought\u2014 well, he\u2019s operating next to the Cambridge library which has all these sources, he must be doing these notes at the library with a pile of books on the table.\u00a0 But no\u2026 he was doing this in his own study in his college at Cambridge, and he did not have all those books to hand.\u00a0 In fact, he was citing these original language sources FROM MEMORY, and occasionally you would find in a minority of cases, there would be a little notation next to the citation, with the word \u2018checked\u2019 and a check mark.\u00a0 In short, he had an encyclopedic memory, what we might call a photographic memory, the same as my Princeton prof, Bruce Metzger.<\/p>\n
In an age where most everything is ready to hand on the internet if one just looks hard enough, what has happened to scholarship is an increasing dependency on the internet, and a decreasing of memorizing valuable information.\u00a0 The human memory is being replaced by Google cloud or external drives and the like. This is not entirely a bad thing, but it is also not entirely a good thing.\u00a0 It is easier now to check what you think you remember, and easier to bring up a verbatim of what you need to cite, but in fact, as Barrett and others have said, this sort of dependency on the internet tends to disable one\u2019s own memory, never mind one\u2019s own critical thinking and processing of data. The temptation to be lazy and just depend on things like Wikipedia without looking up the primary source and evaluating the material for yourself is often too great.<\/p>\n
And now we have an even greater challenge called AI, and the temptation to let it do your research and also your composition is a serious temptation.\u00a0 Plagiarism is already running riot in some quarters, and the question to be pondered is\u2014 is there a difference between finding and using sources, and actually learning the source material, properly critically evaluating it and then writing.\u00a0 \u00a0And I would say yes there is.\u00a0 A big difference. There is a difference between being a learned scholar,\u00a0 and a scholar who knows how to use the internet and AI.<\/p>\n
Think on these things.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two other future great scholars,\u00a0 Charles Cranfield and David Daube, and\u00a0 Dodd was working possible influences on the Fourth Gospel.\u00a0 On this particular day he was lecturing on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":68284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14983],"class_list":["post-68281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-scholars-in-the-age-of-the-internet"],"yoast_head":"\n
Of Scholars of a Bygone Era<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Of Scholars of a Bygone Era\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-08T06:31:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-01T14:54:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2024\/11\/download-12.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"183\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"275\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281\",\"name\":\"Of Scholars of a Bygone Era\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-08T06:31:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-01T14:54:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\"My doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Of Scholars of a Bygone Era\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Of Scholars of a Bygone Era","description":"My doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Of Scholars of a Bygone Era","og_description":"My doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2024-11-08T06:31:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-01T14:54:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":183,"height":275,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2024\/11\/download-12.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281","name":"Of Scholars of a Bygone Era","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-11-08T06:31:17+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-01T14:54:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":"My doktorvater C.K. Barrett had many tales to tell about his time at Cambridge, studying with great scholars like C.H. Dodd.\u00a0 He was in a class with two","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=68281#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Of Scholars of a Bygone Era"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}