Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough (1893-1965) was a scholar in the history of religion. He is specifically noted for his study of the influence of Greek culture on Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

, what some call Hellenistic Judaism

Hellenistic Judaism

Hellenistic Judaism was a movement which existed in the Jewish diaspora that sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism...

.

Born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, he studied at Hamilton College, Drew Theological Seminary, and then received a bachelors degree in theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 from Garrett Biblical Institute in 1917. He went on to Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 for three years, then three more years at Oxford University, where he received the D.Phil.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 degree in 1923.

He then began teaching at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1923, where he taught until he retired in 1962. He went on Brandeis University

Brandeis University

Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...

, then was given an office in the Widener Library

Widener Library

The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, commonly known as Widener Library, is the primary building of the library system of Harvard University. Located on the south side of Harvard Yard directly across from Memorial Church, Widener serves as the centerpiece of the 15.6 million-volume Harvard...

 at Harvard. He received honorary degrees from Yale, Hebrew Union College

Hebrew Union College

The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...

, and the University of Uppsala.

He edited the Journal of Biblical Literature

Journal of Biblical Literature

The Journal of Biblical Literature is one of three theological journals published by the Society of Biblical Literature .First published in 1881, JBL is the flagship journal of the field...

from 1934-1942.

His papers are archived at Yale. After his death, he was honored by a volume of studies in his honor, Religions in Antiquity: Essays in Memory of Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough, edited by Jacob Neusner, published by E.J. Brill in 1968 (reprinted by Wipf and Stock in 2004).

Publications

• 1923. The Theology of Justin Martyr
  Justin Martyr
  Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
  
  .
• 1929. The Jurisprudence of the Jewish Courts in Egypt.
• 1935. The Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism.
• 1938. The Politics of Philo Judaeus, with a General Bibliography of Philo.
• 1940. An Introduction to Philo Judaeus.
• 1953--. Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period. multiple volumes over many years.
• 1955. Toward a Mature Faith.