Friday, July 01, 2005

Neville Birdsall

I have just heard from my colleague David Parker that Neville Birdsall died in the night, just after midnight. The funeral is to be on Monday 11 July at St Andrews Church, Haughton-le-Skerne, Darlington Co Durham (to be conducted by the Vicar, Revd Dr David Bryan), at 14.00, to be followed by crematorium at Darlington crematorium at 15.15. They have asked for family flowers only. They will nominate an appropriate charity should people wish to make a donation in memoriam. The service will include a requiem mass and communicant members of all denominations will be invited to take communion.

Neville Birdsall was a fine scholar who made a major contribution to New Testament textual criticism and he will be greatly missed. I was lucky enough to get the chance to see Neville recently at the Fourth Birmingham Colloquium on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament (see the picture there of Neville entertaining a group with his anecdotes), which turns out to have been his public swan song.

Update (Tuesday, 23.01): Stephen Carlson comments on Hypotyposeis.

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