EDUCATION

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1971
AB, St. John's College, Annapolis, MD, 1966

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY

Born 1945 in Louisville, KY. Lived in Boston area since 1946; educated in Weston Public Schools and at The Winsor School; taught at Boston College since 1972. Married. Roman Catholic. Volunteered in various parish jobs since 1967. Current interests: adult education, RCIA, lectors.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Greco-Roman cultural setting of early Christianity; hellenistic philosophy; Pauline epistles; Johannine writings; Resurrection and early Christian eschatology; Nag Hammadi corpus; Gnosticism; Irenaeus.

Current research projects

Texts, teachers, and schools in antiquity: How they are reflected in Sethian Gnostic Traditions
Use of Scripture and other authoritative traditions by Gnostic authors
Gnostic revealers and their discourses as evidence for emergence of Johannine traditions
Pauline transformation of Jewish eschatological traditions (resurrection, eternal life, visionary ascent)

Current book in process

Introduction to reading the Synoptic Gospels

TEACHING

Perspectives on Western Culture
First-Year Honors Seminar
New Testament Ethics
Pauline Tradition
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of John
New Testament Christology
First-Year PhD Colloquium

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND AWARDS

• Member of SBL, CBA, SNTS, and ATS. Past president of CBA; past treasurer of ATS.
• Past member of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Bible Society.
• Past editor of the New Testament Dissertation Series, SBL.
• Past member of the editorial boards of Journal of Biblical Literature, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, and Theological Studies.
• Associate editor, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition.
• Steering committee for SBL sections: Pauline Theology; Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism.
• Currently serving on the boards of College Teaching, Horizons, Catholic Biblical Association Monograph Series, Abingdon New Testament Commentary Series, and Theological Advisory Board for Herder/Crossroad (USA).
• Co-chair of steering committee to initiate a consultation on resurrection, eternal life and early Christian eschatology in the SBL to begin in 2003.
• Kaneb Visiting Professor of Roman Catholic Studies at Cornell University, 1989-90.
• Kantonen Lecturer, Trinity Lutheran Evangelical Seminary, Columbus, OH, 1991.
• Mother Elizabeth Seton Medal, College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, OH, 1997.
• Chi-Rho Lecture Series Lecturer, Eugene, OR, October 2002.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Books Translated into Other Languages

Revelation. Collegeville Bible Commentary, 1983 [Italian]; with R. Fuller.

Who is This Christ?, 1986 [Japanese].

Jesus as Teacher, 1990 [Spanish].

First and Second Peter, James and Jude. Interpretation Commentary Series, 1995 [Japanese].

Most Important Recent Books

Gnosticism and the New Testament, 1993.

Peter, Apostle for the Whole Church, 1994 (winner of Choice award for distinguished academic book); paperback, 2000.

Ephesians: Abingdon New Testament Commentary, 1997.

Abraham's Divided Children: Galatians and the Politics of Faith, 2001.

PUBLICATIONS SINCE 2002

“Commentary on The Pastoral Epistles: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus,” in J.D.G. Dunn, ed., Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis: Eerdmans, 2003, pp. 1428-1446.

“Finding Joy in the Lord,” Quarterly Review 22 (2002) 199-207.

“New Testament Eschatology and Dominus Iesus” in S. Pope, ed., Sic et Non: Encountering Dominus Iesus. Orbis Press, 2002, pp. 80-88.

“Introduction and notes to James,” in New Interpreter’s Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.

“Patched Garments and Ruined Wine: Whose Folly?”, in Mary Ann Beavis, ed., The Lost Coin. Parables of Women, Work and Wisdom. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2004, 124-35.

“Gnosticism and the Christian Bible,” in Lee M. McDonald and Peter W. Flint, eds., The Canon Debate. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002, pp. 355-71.

“Women in the New Testament Church: Real or Memorex,” in F. Eigo, ed., Themes in Feminist Theology for the New Millennium (II). Villanova: Villanova University, 2003, pp. 152-87.

“Being of One Mind… (Phil 2.2): Apostolic Authority, Persuasion, and Koinonia in New Testament Christianity,” in S. Pope, ed., Common Calling. The Laity and the Governance of the Catholic Church. Georgetown University Press, 2004, pp. 25-38.

“Peter: How a Flawed Disciple became Jesus’ Successor,” Bible Review 20 (Feb. 2004) 12-23.

“Jesus Encounters Intercessors,” Bible Today (Jan-Feb 2005).

Essays on “Luke,” “Acts,” and “John,” Catholic Study Bible, 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University, 2005.

“Gnostic Revelation and Johannine Sectarianism: Reading 1 John from the Perspective of Nag Hammadi,” in G. Van Belle, J.G. van der Watt and P. Maritz, eds., Theology and Christology in the Fourth Gospel. BETL CLXXIV; Louvain: Peeters, 2005, pp. 245-76.

“A Gnostic Gospel? Title and Genre in the Nag Hammadi Collection," ARC, Special Issue: Festschrift for Frederik Wisse. Montreal: McGill University, 2005.

“Christian Books and Sethian Revelations,” in L. Painchaud and P.-H. Poirier, eds., Coptica—Gnostica—Manichaeica. Mélanges offerts à W-P Funk. BCNH “Études” 7; Quebec: Université Press Laval, 2006.

“Good News Judas? [on the Gospel of Judas], America, August 21, 2006.