Richard France has Passed Away

Peter Head makes the sad announcement about the passing of British NT scholar Richard France.

I learnt this morning that Dick France had died on 1oth Feb 2012. I studied Mark’s Gospel with Dick in 1985-86 at LBC. They were great times with a small group of us gathered round the text under Dick’s guidance. His books (especially Jesus and the Old Testament and Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher) have been a constant source of good judgement and good material for lectures, and his commentaries (on Matthew and Mark) exhibit his calm and thoughtful attention to reading the text. But it is Dick the teacher I will remember, the model he provided of Christian scholarship, and the encouragement he offered at several crucial moments.

I will remember Dick France mainly for his excellent work on the Gospels, esp. his commentaries on Mark and Matthew which I find myself using often. May he rest in peace and rise in glory!