Dr. Peter Craigie

Academic Biography

Peter Craigie was born the son of Hugh Brechin Craigie and Lilia Campbell Murray. He was born at Lancaster on August 18, 1938. His secondary schooling was at The Edinburgh Academy.

After completing his schooling Peter served in the Royal Air Force 1956-58 achieving the rank of Pilot Officer. He ended his military career, stationed in the R.A.F. Administration Branch 2i/c Mountain Rescue Unit, with a mountain rescue in South Wales.

Following his military service Peter traveled to Canada. In Canada he worked as a ranch hand and lumberjack. He also did his earliest Biblical Studies as a student at Prairie Bible Institute, Three Hills, Alberta.

Returning to Scotland Peter enrolled in an Honours Program in Semitic Languages and Literature at the University of Edinburgh, earning an M.A. (Hons) degree in 1965. He then entered the Department of Theology, University of Durham where he completed a two-year program for those intending ordination. There he met Steve Wilson, a classmate in the same program. The two became friends for life. In 1967 Peter was awarded a Diploma in Theology (with distinction). Moving to the University of Aberdeen Peter completed the Master of Theology in 1968, a degree very close in quality to a North American Ph.D., with a thesis on “Ancient Semitic War Poetry.”

In 1968 Peter returned to Canada and enrolled in the Doctoral Program at McMaster University. In 1970 he graduated with a Ph.D., his dissertation work having been done under the supervision of Eugene Combs. Speaking of Peter as a graduate student Eugene Combs says, “He studied and learned with ease, with a delicate touch that seemed to waste no effort…his writing was objective in the best sense of the word; freed of himself it was the best of himself.” Peter and his teacher, Eugene Combs, remained close friends for life. Peter’s research focused on the Hebrew Bible in relation to its Near Eastern context, in particular its relation to the literature and life of the Canaanites. His Ph.D. thesis was titled: “Earliest Israelite Religion: A Study of the Song of Songs (Exodus 15:1-18).”

Following graduation from McMaster, Peter taught for one year at Carleton University, Ottawa, before returning to an appointment as Assistant Professor at McMaster University where he remained until 1974. In 1974 Peter was appointed Associate Professor and joined Harold Coward and Terence Penelhum who were in the throes of starting a new Religious Studies department at the University of Calgary. At the same time Peter had been offered the position of Principal at Huron College, University of Western Ontario, an offer he declined. At Calgary Peter played an active role in helping to shape the new program. In a Department which stressed excellence in teaching, Peter was consistently recognized as a first rate teacher. He was named “Best Humanities Instructor in the Faculty of Arts and Science (1975)”, and “Superior Teacher (1976)”. He was promoted to the rank of Professor in 1978.

In its early years the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary depended on its development and support from the religious communities of the city. Peter’s original appointment was funded by Calgary Interfaith with contributions from both Jewish and Christian congregations. Along with the other early normal teaching load, he also devoted much of his time to offering lectures for clergy and lay people in the community. His lectures for the Anglican Diocese were a particular high point, consistently drawing overflowing crowds. In recognition of his service to the church community he was awarded a D.D. (Honoris Causa) by St. Stephen’s College, University of Alberta, and was named a Canon by the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese in Calgary. The number of general talks given by Peter to various community groups would be hard to estimate. From the Burns’ Society to the Calgary Police, the Alberta Teachers’ Association to the Jewish Ladies’ Guild, Peter was in constant demand. He seldom declined a request to speak, and the requests were unending.

In academic life Peter’s earlier administrative training in the military stood him in good stead. His talents in this area were quickly recognized. He served as Head, Department of Religious Studies 1977-78; Dean, Faculty of Humanities 1979-84; Associate Vice-President (Academic) 1984-85, and Vice-President (Academic) July 1985 until his death in September 1985. He served on many of the important committees of the University, in particular General Faculties Executive Committee, Dean’s Council Executive Committee and the President’s Executive Advisory Committee. Outside the University Peter served as President of the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion (1979-81); President of the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies (1985), and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities. He served on several Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Adjudication Committees and on the Council for the Society of Biblical Literature (U.S.A.). He played a major role in the Alberta Task Force on Organ Transplantation.

Although his teaching and administrative contributions were of the highest order, Peter’s most significant and lasting contribution will be through his academic publications. He initiated a worldwide Ugaritic Newsletter which he edited until the time of his death. His books focused on two areas: Bible Commentaries on Deuteronomy, Psalms, Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets and Jeremiah; and general and thematic introductions to the Old Testament, e.g. The Problem of War in the Old Testament, and Ugarit and the Old Testament, and The Old Testament: Its Origin, Growth and Content. He also published some thirty-four articles in journals such as Vetus Testamentum, and The Journal of Biblical Literature, the Journal of Biblical Archaeology, Ugarit-Forschungen, the Tyndale Bulletin, Semitism, Interpretation, and Studies in Religion. In addition to publishing high quality technical research, Peter also thought it important to make the results of Biblical scholarship known to the general public. To this end he published some thirteen pieces in more popular journals such as Christianity Today, The Chelsea Journal and Crux. He was twice honoured by being invited to Cambridge England by the Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical and Theological Research to give special lectures in 1970 and 1982.

In his short academic career, Peter Craigie made a very large contribution. In his own work and in his teaching of others, he exhibited scholarship of the highest quality. Although sought after as an administrator and teacher, Peter’s greatest joy was in his research and writing.To work quietly away on an article or book, to discover a Ugaritic parallel that gave new meaning to a Hebrew word, to reflect in a broad way on Spinoza or the philosophy of education, these were Peter’s truly happy moments. One year before his death, Peter and his family moved west of the City of Calgary to an acreage. The white house, situated on the crest of a hill, faes west to a panorama of the Rockies. Peter’s study faced these mountains. It was his plan to gradually withdraw from administrative activities and devote his life to writing in this quiet and inspiring environment. His early death denied him this scholarly delight. It denied to us the creativity, stimulation and wisdom those writings would have given.

Confucius’ characterization of the “gentleman scholar” as being a blend of li and jen or human-heartedness is an apt description of the way Peter functioned as administrator, teacher and scholar. Added to these were the qualities of Scottish humour and Christian love that made Peter Craigie a very special colleague. He is deeply missed.

Harold Coward

University of Calgary

BOOKS

Craigie, Peter C. (1976). The Book of Deuteronomy. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-802-82355-7. OCLC 2390603.

——— (1976). Ugaritic Studies I, 1972-1976. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary, Dept. of Religious Studies. OCLC 6943702.

——— (1978). The Problem of War in the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802817426. OCLC 3966010.

——— (1980). Ugaritic Studies II, 1976-1979. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary, Dept. of Religious Studies. OCLC 6770323.

——— (1983). Psalms 1-50. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Dallas, TX: Word. ISBN 978-0-849-90218-5. OCLC 48898166.

——— (1983). Ezekiel. Daily Study Bible. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ISBN 978-0-664-24574-0. OCLC 9413227.

——— (1983). Ugaritic Studies III, 1980-1983. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary, Dept. of Religious Studies. OCLC 10789260.

——— (1983). Ugarit and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-802-81928-4. OCLC 8805927.

——— (1984). Twelve Prophets, Vol. 1: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah. Daily Study Bible. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ISBN 978-0-664-24577-1.

——— (1985). Twelve Prophets, Vol. 2: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Daily Study Bible. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ISBN 978-0-664-24582-5.

——— (1986). The Old Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press. ISBN 978-0-687-28751-2. OCLC 13823142.

———; Kelley, Page H.; Drinkard, Joel F. (1991). Jeremiah 1-25. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 26. Dallas, TX: Word. ISBN 978-0-849-90225-3. OCLC 24679281.

Peter Craigie Memorial Lecture. Department of Classics and Religion, University of Calgary. https://arts.ucalgary.ca/classics-religion/about/peter-craigie-memorial-lecture

SELECT ARTICLES

——— (1969). “The Conquest and Early Hebrew Poetry”. Tyndale Bulletin. 20: 76–94.
——— (June 1972). “Reconsideration of Shamgar Ben Anath (Judg 3:31 and 5:6)”. Journal of Biblical Literature. 91 (2): 239–240.
——— (1976). “Deuteronomy and Ugaritic Studies”. Tyndale Bulletin. 27: 155–169.