Meyer, Marvin W(ayne) 1948-

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MEYER, Marvin W(ayne) 1948-

PERSONAL: Born April 16, 1948, in Grand Rapids, MI; son of Martin and June (Van Ostenburg) Meyer; married Bonita Kay Bratt, December 30, 1969; children: Stephen Frederick, Jonathan James, Elisabeth Anne. Education: Calvin College, A.B., 1970; Calvin Theological Seminary, M.Div., 1974; Claremont Graduate University, Ph.D., 1979.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Department of Religious Studies, Chapman University, One University Dr., Orange, CA 92866.

CAREER: Professor, author, and editor. Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, 1982-85, began as assistant professor of religion, director of Institute of Antiquity and Christianity project on Coptic magical texts; Chapman University, Orange, CA, 1985—, Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies, co-chair of department of religious studies, and director of Albert Schweitzer Institute. Visiting professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, 1978-79, and University of California, Santa Barbara, 1979-80.

WRITINGS:

(Editor and translator) The "Mithras Liturgy" (Volume 10 of "Graeco-Roman Religious" series), Society of Biblical Literatur/Scholars Press (Missoula, MT), 1976.

(Editor) The Nag Hammadi Library in English, Brill (Leiden, Germany), 1977.

The Letter of Peter to Philip: Text, Translation, andCommentary, Scholars Press (Chico, CA), 1981.

Who Do People Say I Am?: The Interpretation of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1983.

The Secret Teachings of Jesus: Four Gnostic GospelsTranslated, with an Introduction and Notes, by Martin W. Meyer, Random House (New York, NY), 1984.

(Editor) The Ancient Mysteries?: A Sourcebook:Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World, Harper & Row (San Francisco, CA), 1987.

The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, interpretation by Harold Bloom, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1992.

(Editor with Richard Smith) Ancient Christian Magic:Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 1994.

(Editor with Paul Mirecki) Ancient Magic and RitualPower (Volume 129, "Religions in the Graeco-Roman World" series), E. J. Brill (New York, NY), 1995.

(Editor) The Unknown Sayings of Jesus, HarperSan-Francisco (San Francisco, CA), 1998.

(Editor with Charles Hughes) Jesus Then and Now:Images of Jesus in History and Christology, Trinity Press International (Harrisburg, PA), 2001.

(Editor with Paul Mirecki) Magic and Ritual in theAncient World (Volume 141, "Religions in the Graeco-Roman World" series), E. J. Brill (Boston, MA), 2002.

(Editor with Kurt Bergel) The Ethics of Albert Schweitzer for the Twenty-first Century ("Albert Schweitzer Library" series), Syracuse University Press (Syracuse, NY), 2002.

Secret Gospels: Essays on Thomas and the SecretGospel of Mark, Trinity Press International (Harrisburg, PA), 2003.

Contributor of articles to professional journals.

SIDELIGHTS: Marvin W. Meyer is a religious scholar who teaches courses on religion and values, the New Testament, early Christianity, Greco-Roman and Egyptian religion, the life and beliefs of Albert Schweitzer, peace studies, ancient Greek, and Coptic Egypt. He is also the author, editor, and translator of a number of volumes, including several that take as their subject the little-studied history of magic as practiced in early Christianity.

Choice reviewer Ruth Majercik wrote that Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power "vividly illustrates that magic and religion are not mutually exclusive categories." This volume is a collection of 135 Coptic texts from the first to the eleventh or twelfth centuries and includes twenty-four illustrations. The first section contains Coptic, Greek, and Coptic Gnostic texts that provide an account of ritual power in Coptic Egypt. The second section lists spells and amulets used for everything from snakebite to lessening the pain of childbirth. The final section includes recipes and collections of spells. "This collection provides stunning reading for scholars of early Christianity," said Melissa M. Aubin in Church History.

Meyer and Paul Mirecki coedited two volumes with this theme: Ancient Magic and Ritual Power and Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World. Ancient Magic and Ritual Power first defines its subject, then continues to discuss the ancient near East, Judaism and Jesus, Greek antiquity, and Roman antiquity. Edgar Krentz noted in Religious Studies Review that "any library collection in ancient religion must have this volume."

Meyer has also published a number of books that study the words and images of Jesus, including The Gospel of St. Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus. The Gospel of St. Thomas is believed to contain the actual words of Jesus as recorded by Thomas's brother Judas. There is a conflict of opinion regarding its origins, with some scholars believing that the gospel was collected from the New Testament, while others feel it came from an independent author, because many of the sayings cannot be found in the New Testament. The gospel was found in a stone jar in northern Egypt in 1945, just one of the documents recovered from the site near Nag Hammadi. It is believed by some to be the most accurate record of Jesus's actual words. Meyer provides the Coptic text and English translation on facing pages, as well as an introduction and notes.

Another of Meyer's books is Jesus Then and Now: Images of Jesus in History and Christology, edited with Charles Hughes. Philip Christman interviewed Meyer for the Calvin College Chimes and asked him what he sees as the purpose in searching for the historical Jesus. Meyer said that "there is often a distinction that is made between the historical Jesus and the Christ of Faith. Certainly the kind of Christ that is proclaimed in the church and in the lives of believers is different from the Jesus who was walking the dusty roads of Galilee." Meyer called the Christ that we affirm "very comfortable. In a way, the historical Jesus may shake us out of our lethargy and may remind us of the kind of roots of the proclamation and the origin of the gospel message. The fact is that he is someone who upsets and someone who challenges and isn't really so comfortable after all. The historical Jesus, I think, might have just that kind of reforming role."

Meyer said that the "hardest part" of following Jesus has to do with lifestyle. Jesus was a homeless teacher who often slept in other people's houses or under the stars. "He is a disquieting presence when he undercuts many little things that we value and cherish related to success and family, obligation to culture, and so on," continued Meyer, who felt that it is important that Christians respond to the way in which Jesus lived his life. He said that this didn't require that his followers sell their possessions and become homeless, but added that "Jesus is saying something about blessings on the poor and on the sad, on those who are crying—those who are disenfranchised."

Meyer, who is also director of Chapman University's Albert Schweitzer Institute, coedited, with the late Kurt Bergel, founder of the Institute, The Ethics of Albert Schweitzer for the Twenty-first Century. Schweitzer (1875-1965) was a pacificist who revered life, and the volume contains essays by and about him that reflect his ethics, as well as letters between Schweitzer and his wife, a sermon, and a childhood memoir.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Choice, July, 1987, S. Brown, review of The AncientMysteries?: A Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World, p. 1686; July, 2001, P. K. Moser, review of Jesus Then and Now: Images of Jesus in History and Christology, p. 1976.

Church History, March, 2000, Melissa M. Aubin, review of Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, p. 155.

Commonweal, March 13, 1987, Adele Yarbo Collins, review of The Ancient Mysteries, p. 149.

Journal of Biblical Literature, December, 1984, Michael A. Williams, review of The Letter of Peter to Philip: Text, Translation, and Commentary, pp. 675-677.

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 1984, review of TheSecret Teachings of Jesus: Four Gnostic Gospels Translated, with an Introduction and Notes, pp. 899-900; November 15, 1986, review of The Ancient Mysteries?, p. 1708.

Library Journal, April 1, 1994, Gail Wood, review of Ancient Christian Magic, p. 102.

Publishers Weekly, March 14, 1994, review of AncientChristian Magic, p. 28.

Religious Studies Review, April, 1988, Bruce M. Metzger, review of The Ancient Mysteries?, p. 153; April, 1994, Birger A. Pearson, review of The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 153; July, 1995, Ruth Majercik, review of Ancient Christian Magic, p. 242; January, 1997, Edgar Krentz, review of Ancient Magic and Ritual Power, p. 64.

Times Literary Supplement, April 19, 2002, Peter Green, review of Magic and Ritual in the Ancient World, pp. 5-6.