Herbert Cutner

Herbert Cutner (1881–1969) was an English artist, etcher and freethought writer.

Herbert Cutner
Born1881
Hull
Died1969
London
OccupationEtcher, writer

Biography

Cutner was born in Hull. He was educated at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.[1] During World War I (1916–1919) he served as a Private in the British Army.[2] He was an etcher and his works can be found in the British Museum and at exhibitions.[2] He was married to artist Effie Spring-Smith.[3] Many of his etchings have been recorded in fine prints.[4]

Cutner was a Jewish atheist and had praised the works of Robert Taylor.[5][6] He has been described as a "freethought scholar".[7]

He was a regular contributor to the Freethinker and known for debating controversial topics. Jim Herrick has written that Cutner was a "controversialist with somewhat right-wing views."[8]

He was Vice-President of the Thomas Paine Society.[9] He wrote the introduction to G. W. Foote's Defence of Free Speech, 1932.

Christ myth theory

Cutner was an advocate of the Christ myth theory and is best known for his book Jesus: God, Man, or Myth?, 1950. George H. Smith has described it as an "excellent defense of the mythicist thesis".[10]

Cutner once debated Archibald Robertson on the historicity of Jesus at Essex Hall. Robertson later negatively reviewed Cutner's book in The Literary Guide and Rationalist Review. In response, he attacked Robertson's Origins of Christianity in the Truth Seeker.[11]

Publications
  • Pagan Elements in Christianity (Pioneer Press, 1936)
  • A Short History of Sex Worship (Watts & Co, 1940)
  • The Devil's Chaplain: Robert Taylor (Pioneer Press, 1940)
  • Teach Yourself Etching (Hodder & Stoughton, 1947)
  • Teach Yourself Commercial Art (English Universities Press Ltd, 1949)
  • Jesus: God, Man, or Myth? (Truth Seeker Company, 1950)
  • What is the Sabbath Day? (Pioneer Press, 1950)
  • Hell: A Christian Doctrine (Truth Seeker Company, 1953) [with Marshall Gauvin and Woolsey Teller]
  • G. W. Foote: His Life and Times (1955)[12]

References
  1. "Herbert Cutner". William Shannon Fine Art.
  2. Schmalhausen, Samuel Daniel; Calverton, Victor Francis. (1931). Woman's Coming of Age: A Symposium. H. Liveright, Inc. p. 568.
  3. "Effie Spring-Smith (1907–1974)". Suffolk Painters.
  4. Kenneth M. Guichard. (1977). British Etchers 1850–1940. Garton. p. 34. ISBN 978-0906030004
  5. Salonon, Sidney. (1939). The Jews of Britain. Hutchinson & Company. p. 159
  6. Levy, Leonard W. (1995). Blasphemy: Verbal Offense Against the Sacred, From Moses to Salman Rushdie. University of North Carolina Press. p. 641. ISBN 978-0807845158
  7. O'Hair, Madalyn Murray. (1972). What on Earth Is an Atheist! Ayer Company Publishers. p. 247. ISBN 978-0405038020
  8. Herrick, Jim. (1982). Vision and Realism: A Hundred Years of the Freethinker. G. W. Foote & Co Ltd. p. 99, p. 106. ISBN 978-0950824307
  9. "Bulletin of the Thomas Paine Society". No. 3. Vol 3. Spring, 1969.
  10. Smith, George H. (1991). Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies. Prometheus Books. p. 178. ISBN 978-0879755775
  11. Robertson, Archibald. (1959). Religion, Socialism, and Views of Men and Events: Connected With the Movement of Social Struggle, Stated in Eight Letters to the Editor. The Word, Volumes 21–25. Strickland Press. pp. 33–34.
  12. Smith, Warren Allen. (2000). Who's Who in Hell: A Handbook and International Directory for Humanists, Freethinkers, Naturalists, Rationalists, and Non-theists. Barricade Books. p. 259. ISBN 978-1569801581
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