Wednesday, April 10, 2013

B. H. Streeter and Lewis Carroll

I am grateful to a friend who drew to my attention to a connection between B. H. Streeter (1876-1937), famed for his contributions to Gospels scholarship, and Charles Dodgson, better known under his pen name Lewis Carroll.

After a little searching, I found this interesting tidbit in the Oxford Magazine for February 13, 1901, under "Queen's":
ADDISON SOCIETY: The Rev. B. H. Streeter (hon. member) read a paper on "Alice and Her Wonderland," on Thursday.
I wonder if the paper survives?  My friend tells me that Streeter also read the paper to the Addison Society in 1925, and that he had composed it as an undergraduate, while Dodgson was still alive.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Whoa! So that's where the idea came from? Does that mean gospel hypothesis/Q studies makes one mad as a hatter?

Mark Goodacre said...

Haha; I like it!

Stephen Goranson said...

Interesting. I haven't found the article, but as you may know Streeter quotes from Alice in The Primitive Church (1929) page ix:
The hypotheses of a primitive diversity in Christian institutions may, or may not, succeed in commending itself to the judgement of scholars; but in the meantime it has, at any rate, one merit. It is not likely to add fuel to the flames of ecclesiastical controversy. Indeed, if my hypothesis is correct, then, in the classic words of Alice in Wonderland, "Everyone has won and all shall have prizes'.