Larry W. Hurtado
Encyclopedia
Larry Hurtado is a scholar of early Christianity
and Emeritus Professor of New Testament
Language, Literature and Theology in The University of Edinburgh
, Scotland (Professor 1996-2011). He was the Head of the School of Divinity
2007-2010, and was until August 2011 Director of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins, at the University of Edinburgh.
Hurtado has made significant advances in understanding Jewish Monotheism and early Christian devotion to Jesus
. He is an authority on the Gospels (esp. Gospel of Mark
), the Apostle Paul
, Early Christology
, the Jewish Background of the New Testament
, and New Testament Textual Criticism
.
He is perhaps most well known for his studies on the early emergence of a devotion to Jesus expressed in beliefs about Jesus sharing God's glory, and in a "devotional pattern" in which Jesus features prominently. Hurtado has argued that this Jesus-devotion comprises a novel "mutation" in ancient Jewish monotheistic practice. In his most recent publications, he has also urged greater awareness of the historical value of earliest Christian manuscripts as key physical artifacts of early Christianity, drawing attention to such phenomena as the nomina sacra
(distinctive abbreviated forms of certain Greek words, e.g., Theos, Iesous, Kyrios, Christos), the Christian preference for the codex bookform, and a number of other features.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri (1943), he was educated in the USA, completing his PhD in Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio, 1973). His first academic appointment after PhD was in Regent College (Vancouver, Canada, 1975–1978). Thereafter he moved to the University of Manitoba, Department of Religion (Winnipeg, 1978–1996, promoted to full Professor in 1988). During his time there, he established the University of Manitoba Institute for the Humanities and served as initial Director 1990-1992. Shortly after his appointment in the University of Edinburgh, he established the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins, which focuses on Christianity in the first three centuries.
He was elected a member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in 1984, and received the Rh Institute Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research in the Humanities (1986). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2008, and President of the British New Testament Society (2009–2012). He has won research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the British Academy, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK). He has given invited lectures in many universities in the UK and other countries, and was a Visiting Fellow in Macquarie University (2005).
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Emeritus Professor of New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
Language, Literature and Theology in The University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, Scotland (Professor 1996-2011). He was the Head of the School of Divinity
New College, Edinburgh
New College was opened in 1846 as a college of the Free Church of Scotland, later of the United Free Church of Scotland, and from the 1930s has been the home of the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh...
2007-2010, and was until August 2011 Director of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins, at the University of Edinburgh.
Hurtado has made significant advances in understanding Jewish Monotheism and early Christian devotion to Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. He is an authority on the Gospels (esp. Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
), the Apostle Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, Early Christology
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
, the Jewish Background of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, and New Testament Textual Criticism
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
.
He is perhaps most well known for his studies on the early emergence of a devotion to Jesus expressed in beliefs about Jesus sharing God's glory, and in a "devotional pattern" in which Jesus features prominently. Hurtado has argued that this Jesus-devotion comprises a novel "mutation" in ancient Jewish monotheistic practice. In his most recent publications, he has also urged greater awareness of the historical value of earliest Christian manuscripts as key physical artifacts of early Christianity, drawing attention to such phenomena as the nomina sacra
Nomina sacra
Nomina sacra means "sacred names" in Latin, and can be used to refer to traditions of abbreviated writing of several frequently occurring divine names or titles in early Greek language Holy Scripture...
(distinctive abbreviated forms of certain Greek words, e.g., Theos, Iesous, Kyrios, Christos), the Christian preference for the codex bookform, and a number of other features.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri (1943), he was educated in the USA, completing his PhD in Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio, 1973). His first academic appointment after PhD was in Regent College (Vancouver, Canada, 1975–1978). Thereafter he moved to the University of Manitoba, Department of Religion (Winnipeg, 1978–1996, promoted to full Professor in 1988). During his time there, he established the University of Manitoba Institute for the Humanities and served as initial Director 1990-1992. Shortly after his appointment in the University of Edinburgh, he established the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins, which focuses on Christianity in the first three centuries.
He was elected a member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in 1984, and received the Rh Institute Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research in the Humanities (1986). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2008, and President of the British New Testament Society (2009–2012). He has won research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the British Academy, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK). He has given invited lectures in many universities in the UK and other countries, and was a Visiting Fellow in Macquarie University (2005).
Selected bibliography
- God in New Testament Theology (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010) ISBN 9780687465453
- The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006)
- The Freer biblical manuscripts: fresh studies of an American treasure trove (2006)
- How on Earth did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005) ISBN 0802828612
- Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003)
- "Homage to the Historical Jesus and Early Christian Devotion", Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 1/2 (2003), pp. 131–46.
- At the Origins of Christian Worship: The Context and Character of Earliest Christian Devotion, the 1999 Didsbury Lectures (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1999; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000)
- "Mark" New International Biblical Commentary (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990) ISBN 0943575168
- One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (Fortress Press, 1988; 2nd edition T&T Clark, 1998) ISBN 0567089878
- Text-Critical Methodology and the Pre-Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981).
External links
- Larry Hurtado's faculty page at The University of Edinburgh
- Larry Hurtado's personal blog
- Jesus and the Gospel—What Really Happened?
- That Curious Idea of Resurrection
- The Gospel of Judas: The text, the scholarship, and the scandal
- Ungodly Errors: Scholarly gripes about The Da Vinci Code's Jesus
- What Do We Mean by "First-Century Jewish Monotheism"? Society of Biblical Literature 1993 Seminar Papers, ed. E. H. Lovering (Scholars Press, 1993), pp. 348–68