GREGORY, CASPAR RENÉ. – Protestant theologian and critic, born in Philadelphia (U.S.A.) on 6 November 1846. He studied there and at Princeton in the Presbyterian Seminary. He devoted himself to New Testament criticism and became Privatdozent in 1884, außerordentlicher Professor in 1889, and honorary professor at Leipzig in 1891. At the age of 68 he enlisted as a volunteer in the war and fell on 9 April 1917 at Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne. He was highly esteemed as a man for his sociable disposition. He collaborated with C. Tischendorf, after whose death, in 18 years of work, he composed the Prolegomena to the 8th edition (critica maior) of L. F. C. Tischendorf’s Testamentum Graece, Leipzig 1884–94.
He later published these Prolegomena, considerably enlarged with new materials acquired during many journeys, under the title: Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, Leipzig 1900–1909. He introduced a new classification of New Testament manuscripts. With regard to the history of the text of the New Testament, he came very close to the Westcott-Hort theory; according to G., the Vatican and Sinaitic codices represent a good second-century text, almost equivalent to the original text. He wished to publish a critical edition of the New Testament, but was prevented from doing so by death. How he conceived this edition is shown by his work Vorschläge für eine kritische Ausgabe des Neuen Testaments (Leipzig 1911). The text, according to his declarations, would have differed little from the Westcott-Hort text.
Other works: Canon and text of the New Testament (Edinburgh 1907); Das Freer-Logion (Leipzig 1908); Einleitung in das Neue Testament (there 1909); Wellhausen und Johannes (there 1911); Die Coridiethi-Evangelien (with G. Beermann, there 1913); Zu Fuss in Bibellanden (published by H. Guthe (there 1919).