Peter Kirby

This is too big an award to give for "all time", so let me break it down by period...


Who's made the greatest contribution to BC&H who is alive today?

Who's made the greatest contribution to BC&H in the 20th century?

Who's made the greatest contribution to BC&H in the 19th century?

Who's made the greatest contribution to BC&H in the 18th century?

Who's made the greatest contribution to BC&H in the 16th/17th centuries?

Who's made the greatest contribution to BC&H prior to 1500?

For fun...

Who's made the greatest contribution to IIDB's BC&H forum?

And for even more wicked fun...

Who's made the most dastardly contribution to BC&H in modern times?

For any of these questions, you may at your option pick the top 2 or 3, if you feel that it is a tie.

"BC&H" is to be read together, so a general historian like Toynbee shouldn't make the cut.

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Peter Kirby

Atheos

... In the category of IIDB BC&H contributions for his (still unfinished) thread, Shredding the Gospels.

Malachi151

Thomas Paine

Bruno Bauer

Arther Drews

Robert M. Price

This is coming from a non-student of this subject, who doesn't know anyone past the popular names

Rick Sumner

E P Sanders, Jacob Neusner, F M Cross.

Rudolf Bultmann, William Albright

(note that making a great contribution and being right aren't necessarily the same thing)

Strauss, Wellhausen

Reimarus

Martin Luther.

Don't know that I could pick one. I could think of a few that have made (relatively) minor contributions, but a single greatest? Or even a single few? Probably not. Augustine, Aquinas, Origen, even Josephus or Philo provide interesting commentary.

Vorkosigan (Michael Turton). (Though, as above, that doesn't necessarily mean I think he's right).

How modern? Luther offered some fairly loathsome commentary. So did Bousett. Ted Haggard is rather repugnant (and a contributor on a much larger scale), and rather more modern.

Regards,
Rick Sumner

Chris Weimer

I rather like Rick Sumner's list, though I think I may disagree with him on some points. But I don't really think its fair to divide them up by centuries. Rather, I'd prefer fields. The biggest contributer to textual criticism, redaction criticism, the synoptic problem, Matthean studies, etc...

Peter Kirby

The award goes to... Mark Goodacre. Goodacre is the giant today in Synoptic studies, let's just hope that he eventually lets the entire New Testament enjoy his critical eye.

Probably the most difficult of the questions to give a non-idiosyncratic answer. The study of both the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels find their fulcrum in the work of Rudolf Bultmann. Instead of seeking another, I will go with my gut and say Bultmann.

This distinction goes to Tischendorf, who prepared the critical apparatus used by generations of scholars.

J. J. Griesbach, who produced the first gospel synopsis.

Baruch Spinoza, who opened up the question of the authorship of the books of the Bible.

Probably some lost Muslim scholar.

I will bow out on my two "fun" questions.

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Peter Kirby

Diogenes the Cynic

The Jesus Seminar (I hope that's not cheating).
I'm going with Albert Schweitzer just for his influence on HJ research. There are some ANE archaeologists like Kenyon and Dever deserve honorable mention as well.
Strauss.
Reimarus
Erasmus.
I'd have to say Eusebius. Where would we be without him?
Peter Kirby (the ECW site alone is an invaluable source).
Hmmm...JP Holding, maybe?

And I don't know if "dastardly" is the right word, but I think C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity is not only grossly overrated but has also helped to serve a a template for more contemporary apologists hacks like Strobel and McDowell.

Peter Kirby

Bonus question:

Which BC&H researcher would you most like to have had a beer with, if they were alive today?

My vote is for Robert Funk.

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Peter Kirby

Tigers!

The authors of the Bible. Without them you would have nothing to talk about.

Rick Sumner

Paula Fredriksen.

Regards,
Rick Sumner