GOODENOUGH, ERWIN R. (1893–1965), was an American historian of religions. After studying for the Methodist ministry at Drew Theological Seminary and Garrett Biblical Institute, Goodenough spent three years in New Testament and Jewish Studies at Harvard University, chiefly with George Foot Moore, before proceeding to Oxford University and earning a D. Phil. in 1923. Little influence of Oxford is discernible in his work, except perhaps in the sketch of Middle Platonism provided in his dissertation on Justin Martyr. In the published version (Jena, 1923) he mentions none of his teachers. The book does, however, foreshadow his later studies of Philo Judaeus, for in it Goodenough discovered the influence of Philo to be pervasive in early Christian theology.

Goodenough began teaching at Yale University in 1923 and remained there until his retirement, steadily producing articles and books to demonstrate that many sectors of Judaism had been receptive to Greco-Roman...