Obituary for Robin Wilson

AN OBITUARY FOR ROBIN WILSON has been published in the Scotsman and elsewhere:

Obituary: Rev Prof Robin McLachlan Wilson, Kirk minister and New Testament expert

Published Date: 05 July 2010

By JOHNSTON McKAY

Rev Professor Robin McLachlan Wilson, minister and university lecturer.

Born: 13 February, 1916.

Died: 27 June, 2010, aged 94.

ROBIN Wilson once described his career as "spanning the space between the fountain pen and online publications". Although he was a New Testament scholar, his main contribution was to the study of an alternative movement to Christianity which flourished in the second century AD. This was Gnosticism, which made a distinction between an evil god who ruled this world and a far higher God who was revealed in Jesus Christ. Gnosticism also believed the hidden wisdom or knowledge of this religion had been revealed to a select group only. While some scholars regarded Gnosticism as having existed long before New Testament times, Wilson argued from the outset of his academic career it was in essence a different phenomenon from the second century rival to Christianity.

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I agree with him on that, incidentally. Regular readers of PaleoJudaica will not find much new in this obituary (cf. here and follow the links), but I note it for completeness. If you have any trouble accessing it without registering with the Scotsman, you can also read it, for example, here.