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Xavier Léon-Dufour

French theologian (1912–2007)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 12, 2026
Entity authorityQ1985649 ↗
Source-derived summary

Xavier Léon-Dufour (Paris, 7 March 1912–13 November 2007) was a French Jesuit biblical scholar and theologian. He was professor of the Bible at the centre Sèvres and director of collections at éditions du Seuil and éditions du Cerf.

Xavier Léon-Dufour made the choice to become a priest at the age of 17. While a priest, he worked with the resistance in the Southwest network during World War II.

In the years 1948-1957 he was a lecturer of the Holy Bible in the Jesuit theological faculty of Enghien in Belgium. From there, he moved to Lyon-Fourvière. He was a consultor of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in Rome and a member of the New Testament study society - Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. He published in theological magazines: "Recherches de Science Religieuse" and "New Testament Studies".

He is best known for his 'Vocabulary of Biblical Theology'. This work, published in 1962, remains, fifty years later, a reference book for students in theology. He also did important work on the synoptic gospels and on the gospel according to John.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Xavier Léon-Dufour” is french theologian (1912–2007). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Xavier, Léon-Dufour and French, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1912, 2007, 1948, 1957—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1912-03-07. For this dossier, Xavier, Léon-Dufour and French is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “french theologian (1912–2007)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1985649. VIAF identifies the subject as 59085451. The Library of Congress control number is n80043558. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1912, 2007, 1948 and 1957.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Xavier Léon-Dufour” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.