Bauckham, Richard J. 1946-

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Bauckham, Richard J. 1946-

PERSONAL:

Born September 22, 1946. Education: Cambridge University, M.A., Ph.D., 1972.

ADDRESSES:

Office—St. Mary's College, University of St. Andrews, South St., St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9JU, Scotland. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Theologian, educator, and author. St. John's University, London, England, fellow, 1972-75; University of Manchester, Manchester, England, reader in the history of Christian thought, 1977-92; University of St. Andrews, St. Mary's College, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, professor of New Testament studies, 1992—, Bishop Wardlaw Professor, 2000—.

MEMBER:

British Academy (fellow), Royal Society of Edinburgh (fellow).

WRITINGS:

(With David Bebbington) History & Christianity: A Bibliography, privately printed (Leeds, England), 1977.

(Editor) Tudor Apocalypse: Sixteenth Century Apocalypticism, Millennarianism, and the English Reformation: From John Bale to John Foxe and Thomas Brightman: Illustrative Texts from the Lanterne of Lyght, Sutton Courtenay Press (Oxford, England), 1978.

Jude, 2 Peter, Word Books (Waco, TX), 1983.

Moltmann: Messianic Theology in the Making, foreword by Jürgen Moltmann, M. Pickering (Basingstoke, Hampshire, England), 1987.

(Editor, with Benjamin Drewery) Scripture, Tradition, and Reason: A Study in the Criteria of Christian Doctrine: Essays in Honour of Richard P.C. Hanson, T&T Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1988.

(Editor, with R.J. Elford) The Nuclear Weapons Debate: Theological and Ethical Issues, SCM Press (Norwich, England), 1989.

The Bible in Politics: How to Read the Bible Politically, Westminster/J. Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 1989.

Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church, T&T Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1990, T&T Clark International (New York, NY), 2004.

The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation, T&T Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1993.

The Theology of the Book of Revelation, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1993.

(Editor) The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting, William B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995.

The Theology of Jürgen Moltmann, T&T Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1995.

(Editor and contributor) The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, T&T Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1997, W.B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1998.

The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, Brill (Boston, MA), 1998.

God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament, Paternoster (Carlisle, Cumbria, England), 1998, W.B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.

(With Trevor Hart) Hope against Hope: Christian Eschatology at the Turn of the Millennium, W.B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.

(Editor) God Will Be All in All: The Eschatology of Jürgen Moltmann, T&T Clark (Edinburgh, Scotland), 1999, Fortress Press (Minneapolis, MN), 2001.

(With Trevor Hart) At the Cross: Meditations on People Who Were There, illustrations by Helen Firth, InterVarsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 1999.

James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage, Routledge (New York, NY), 1999.

God and the Crisis of Freedom: Biblical and Contemporary Perspectives, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2002.

Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels, W.B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2002.

Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World, Baker Academic (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony, William B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2006.

(Editor, with Carl Mosser) The Gospel of John and Christian Theology, William B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2007.

The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple: Narrative, History, and Theology in the Gospel of John, Baker Academic (Grand Rapids, MI), 2007.

The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, Society of Biblical Literature (Atlanta, GA), 2008.

Also author of booklets, including Knowing God Incarnate, Grove Books, 1983; Freedom to Choose, Grove Books, 1991; Is the Bible Male? The Book of Ruth and Biblical Narrative, Grove Books, 1996; and Scripture and Authority Today, Grove Books, 1999. Contributor to books, including Hermias: Satire des Philosophes Païens. Sources Chrétiennes, Les Editions du Cerf (Paris, France), 1993. Consulting editor, Jesus 2000, Lion (Batavia, IL), 1989; and The Dictionary of Historical Theology, edited by Trevor A. Hart, Paternoster Press (Carlisle, Cumbria, England), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS:

Richard J. Bauckham is a leading New Testament scholar as well as an expert on the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann. He has written widely in the areas of theology, historical theology, the New Testament, and on Moltmann. He is the author of Moltmann: Messianic Theology in the Making and The Theology of Jürgen Moltmann, as well as the editor of God Will Be All in All: The Eschatology of Jürgen Moltmann. Writing in the Journal of Theological Studies, George Newlands called The Theology of Jürgen Moltmann "a balanced, comprehensive, sane, and eminently useful account of the work of one of this century's major theologians."

The author's 1993 book The Theology of the Book of Revelation was called a "synthetic presentation of the book's theology" by America contributor Daniel J. Harrington. Here the author examines the book's imagery and how this imagery conveyed meaning in the original text. He also explores the book's theology as being inseparable from its literary structure and composition. According to the author, the book should be viewed in the context of its time as an address to Christians of the day to confront the political idolatries of the time and participate in God's purpose of gathering all nations into his kingdom. The author also discusses the Book of Revelation's relevance to today's readers.

As the editor of The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, the author presents seven essays by theologians who argue that the Gospel was designed for a general audience of believers and nonbelievers and not just for specific church members or groups. The author also contributes an essay titled "For Whom Were Gospels Written?," in which he criticizes the view that an evangelist would write for one small audience. A contributor to America noted that the essayists "present a challenge that ought not to be ignored."

God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament is a summation of the author's Didsbury Lectures at the British Isles Nazarene College. In it, the author presents a new approach to New Testament Christology, primarily by addressing the issue of Jewish monotheism of the period. The author argues that earliest Christology was the highest Christology in that it was a divine form fully compatible with the Jewish concept of monotheism. "The virtues of this superb book lie as much in its critique as in its constructive proposal," wrote Stephen Fowl in Books & Culture.

Bauckham, along with Trevor Hart, also authored Hope against Hope: Christian Eschatology at the Turn of the Millennium. According to Theological Studies contributor Peter C. Phan, the book "offers a reinterpretation of Christian eschatological hope for the postmodern age weighed down by hopelessness." In the process, the authors explore the major images of eschatology, such as the Antichrist, the millennium, the final judgment, and the kingdom of God. They argue that Christian eschatology is not focused merely on God's future for individuals but for all of creation. Phan asserted that the book "is a powerful apologia for the Christian hope in the transcendent fulfillment of history by the God of Jesus."

James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage is Bauckham's argument for an important canonical role for James, countering the historical interpretation of the letter of James as a marginalized part of the New Testament that has been compared unfavorably with the writings of Paul. The author examines both the historical and literary context of the text, covering major themes such as wholeness, poverty, speech, ethics, and prayer. Mark Goodacre, writing in Reviews in Religion and Theology, noted that the author "appears to have achieved the impossible: he has written a genuinely stimulating book about the epistle of James," adding: "He adds to the impossible what many will think to be the unarguable: that James the brother of Jesus is the author of the epistle."

Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels, published in 2002, was called "a fine and perceptive book" by Library Journal contributor Graham Christian. The author provides an in-depth look at the individual women who appear in the Gospels and the specific passages in which they appear, from an opening look at the Old Testament book of Ruth on through the women featured in the Gospel resurrection narrative. Many of the women discussed by the author have never before received an in-depth theological examination. Referring to the book as "elegant," Theological Studies contributor Karen A. Barta went on to write: "Timely and important, the book contributes to feminist biblical interpretation and a growing interest in individual characters within biblical narratives." Writing in Interpretation, F. Scott Spencer noted that the author "is at his best using rigorous, historical imagination to give life and texture to neglected women leaders in earliest Christianity."

Warren Carter, writing in Interpretation, called God and the Crisis of Freedom: Biblical and ContemporaryPerspectives a "welcome act of public theology." The author examines the claim that even Christians should keep God out of moral decision-making. In his review in Interpretation, Carter wrote: "The book insightfully analyzes contemporary culture, frequently critiques modernity and postmodernity, and strongly asserts the traditional Christian paradox of ‘freedom in submission.’"

The author's book Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony is partially based on lectures Bauckham gave in the United States in 2003. Bauckham argues that the four Gospels are based on eyewitnesses who knew Jesus, challenging arguments that the accounts of Jesus were traditional community stories circulated anonymously. To support his argument, the author points to internal literary evidence, such as the use of personal names in first-century Jewish Palestine, and to recent developments in the understanding of oral tradition. A Reference & Research Book News contributor noted that the author does not state that the testimony presented in the Gospels should be accepted either "uncritically" or only as "verified by some other independent criteria."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America, March 12, 1994, Daniel J. Harrington, review of The Theology of the Book of Revelation, p. 21; April 6, 1996, review of The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting, p. 24; December 4, 1999, review of God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament, p. 25; March 11, 2000, review of The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, p. 24.

Books & Culture, September, 2001, Stephen Fowl, "How Was Jesus God?," review of God Crucified, p. 25.

Catholic Biblical Quarterly, April, 1997, James S. McLaren, review of The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting, p. 404; July, 1997, John P. Meier, "On Retrojecting Later Questions from Later Texts: A Reply to Richard Bauckham," p. 511; July, 2003, Kathleen E. Corley, review of Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels, p. 463.

Choice, January, 2003, J.E. Lunceford, review of Gospel Women, p. 839; June, 2007, D. Ingolfsland, review of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony, p. 1770.

Christian Century, January 18, 1984, review of Jude, 2 Peter, p. 57 January 18, 1984, Herman C. Waetjen, "Word Biblical Commentary," p. 57; July 10, 2007, Werner H. Kelber, review of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, p. 41.

Currents in Theology and Mission, February, 2003, Viktoria Halmagyi, review of Gospel Women, p. 58.

Ethics, July, 1991, Steven Lee, review of The Nuclear Weapons Debate: Theological and Ethical Issues, p. 901.

First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, October, 2007, Gary A. Anderson, "What the Apostles Saw," p. 41.

International Bulletin of Missionary Research, July, 2004, "Book Notes," p. 144.

International Review of Mission, April, 1992, R.S. Sugirtharaja, review of Moltmann: Messianic Theology in the Making, p. 324.

Interpretation, April, 1995, Mathias Rissi, review of The Theology of the Book of Revelation, p. 189; April, 2000, review of The Gospels for All Christians, p. 222; January, 2001, Craig A. Evans, review of James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage, p. 92; July, 2003, F. Scott Spencer, review of Gospel Women, p. 324; July, 2004, Warren Carter, review of God and the Crisis of Freedom: Biblical and Contemporary Perspectives, p. 327.

Journal of Religion, October, 1994, M. Eugene Boring, review of The Theology of the Book of Revelation, p. 560; July, 2002, Hilda Koster, review of God Will Be All in All: The Eschatology of Jürgen Moltmann, p. 478; January, 2004, Clare K. Rothschild, "The First Christian Historian: Writing the ‘Acts of the Apostles,’" p. 90.

Journal of Theological Studies, October, 1996, George Newlands, review of The Theology of Jürgen Moltmann, p. 784; April, 2002, James Carleton Paget, review of James, p. 266; October, 2006, Michael F. Bird, "The Markan Community, Myth or Maze? Bauckham's ‘The Gospel for All Christians’ Revisited," p. 475.

Library Journal, May 1, 2002, Graham Christian, review of Gospel Women, p. 107.

Reference & Research Book News, May, 2007, review of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses.

Reviews in Religion and Theology, Volume 7, 2000, Mark Goodacre, review of James, pp. 52-54

Scottish Journal of Theology, spring, 1998, Philip F. Esler, review of "Community and Gospel in Early Christianity: A Response to Richard Bauckham's ‘Gospels for All Christians’"; spring, 1998, Philip F. Esler, review of The Gospels for All Christians, p. 235; spring, 1999, Margaret Barker, review of The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation, p. 240; summer, 1999, Margaret Barker, review of The Theology of the Book of Revelation, p. 393.

Theological Studies, September, 1996, Martin R. Tripole, review of The Theology of Jürgen Moltmann, p. 544; September, 2000, Peter C. Phan, review of Hope against Hope: Christian Eschatology at the Turn of the Millennium, p. 568; December, 2003, Karen A. Barta, review of Gospel Women, p. 837.

Theology, January-February, 2000, Sophie Laws, review of James, p. 52; July-August, 2004, Stephen Fowl, review of God and the Crisis of Freedom, p. 285.

Theology Today, April, 2000, Scott R. Paeth, review of God Will Be All in All, p. 153; January, 2001, Miroslav Volf, review of Hope against Hope, p. 582; April, 2001, Richard L. Floyd, review of God Crucified, p. 98; July, 2002, C. Clifton Black, review of God Will Be All in All, p. 287; April, 2004, Turid Karlsen Seim, review of Gospel Women, p. 88.

Times Literary Supplement, April 6, 2007, A.E. Harvey, "What He Said to Him," review of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, p. 12.

Utopian Studies, spring, 1999, Thomas Renna, review of The Climax of Prophecy, p. 211.