Appendix F: Brief Biographies of Key Scholars

Lewis Ayres

Lewis Ayres is Professor of Catholic and Historical Theology at Durham University. He is a leading authority on fourth-century Trinitarian theology and the development of Nicene Christianity. His influential work Nicaea and Its Legacy(2004) demonstrates how Trinitarian doctrine continued developing for decades after the Council of Nicaea. Ayres specializes in patristic theology and the relationship between doctrinal development and political power in late antiquity. [https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/lewis-ayres/]

John Barton

John Barton is Oriel and Laing Professor Emeritus of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford University. His comprehensive study A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths (2019) traces biblical development across Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Barton advocates for historically informed approaches to biblical authority that acknowledge both divine inspiration and human mediation. He emphasizes how understanding canonical development can strengthen rather than threaten religious faith. [https://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/people/john-barton/]

Ann Graham Brock

Ann Graham Brock is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Iliff School of Theology. Her groundbreaking research in Mary Magdalene, The First Apostle (2003) traces the historical suppression of women's leadership in early Christianity. Brock specializes in the competition between Petrine and Mary Magdalene traditions for apostolic authority, revealing how early Christian communities contested questions of gender and religious leadership that continue to affect contemporary Christianity. [https://www.iliff.edu/academics/faculty/ann-brock/]

Walter Brueggemann

Walter Brueggemann is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. One of the most influential biblical theologians of the late 20th century, his Theology of the Old Testament (1997) emphasizes testimony and counter-testimony within Scripture. Brueggemann advocates for dialogical approaches to biblical interpretation that acknowledge textual diversity and invite community participation in theological reflection rather than relying exclusively on institutional authority. [https://www.columbiatheological.edu/]

Henry Chadwick (1920-2008)

Henry Chadwick was Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University and Master of Peterhouse. A distinguished patristic scholar and church historian, his works include The Early Church and studies of Augustine, Jerome, and early Christian development. Chadwick provided balanced assessments of early Christian controversies that acknowledged both theological principles and political realities. He served on the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission and contributed significantly to ecumenical dialogue.

David Daniell (1929-2016)

David Daniell was Professor of English at University College London and the leading modern authority on William Tyndale. His definitive biography William Tyndale (1994) and his work on English Bible translation demonstrate Tyndale's foundational influence on English literature and Protestant theology. Daniell argued that Tyndale gave England not just a Bible but a distinctively biblical way of thinking and speaking that shaped centuries of cultural development.

April DeConick

April DeConick is Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University. A leading expert on the Gospel of Thomas and early Christian mysticism, her The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation (2006) argues for early dating of core Thomas material. DeConick specializes in the contemplative and mystical dimensions of early Christianity, demonstrating how Thomas Christianity represented authentic alternative approaches to spiritual authority and religious practice. [https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/april-deconick]

Fred Donner

Fred M. Donner is Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern History at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on the origins of Islam, early Islamic historiography, and the formation of Islamic identity. Notable works include Muhammad and the Believers (2010) and Narratives of Islamic Origins (1998). Donner examines how early Islamic communities developed distinctive approaches to scriptural authority while engaging with Jewish and Christian textual traditions. [https://nelc.uchicago.edu/]

James D.G. Dunn

James D.G. Dunn is Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University. A prolific New Testament scholar, his works include Jesus Remembered (2003) and The Theology of Paul the Apostle (1998). Dunn specializes in Christian origins, the historical Jesus, and Pauline theology. He advocates for understanding early Christian diversity while maintaining confidence in core theological commitments about Jesus and salvation. [https://www.durham.ac.uk/]

Bart D. Ehrman

Bart D. Ehrman is James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A leading scholar in New Testament textual criticism and early Christianity, he has written numerous academic and popular books, including Misquoting Jesus (2005), Lost Christianities (2003), and Forgery and Counterforgery (2013). His blog and public lectures make critical biblical scholarship accessible to general audiences, often emphasizing how textual variants and canonical decisions reflect human rather than purely divine processes. [https://ehrmanblog.org]

Peter Enns

Peter Enns is Abram S. Kuyper Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University. His influential work Inspiration and Incarnation (2005) argues that understanding biblical complexity can strengthen rather than threaten evangelical faith. Enns advocates for approaches to biblical authority that acknowledge historical development while maintaining confidence in Scripture's theological significance. He emphasizes how engaging honestly with biblical scholarship can support mature Christian faith. [https://peterenns.com/]

Harry Gamble

Harry Y. Gamble is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. His seminal work Books and Readers in the Early Church (1995) examines the material and social aspects of early Christian book culture. Gamble demonstrates how factors like manuscript production costs, literacy rates, and institutional development influenced which texts survived and achieved authority. He emphasizes the importance of book culture for understanding canonical development.

R.P.C. Hanson (1916-1988)

R.P.C. Hanson was Professor of Historical and Contemporary Theology at the University of Manchester. His magisterial work The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 (1988) remains the definitive study of fourth-century Trinitarian development. Hanson demonstrated how theological controversies reflected both genuine doctrinal concerns and political calculations, providing nuanced analysis of how Constantine's involvement affected Christian theological development.

David Bentley Hart

David Bentley Hart is a philosopher, theologian, and cultural commentator. His recent New Testament translation (2017) attempts to preserve more of the strangeness and specificity of ancient Greek than traditional Christian translations. Hart argues that conventional biblical translation has been excessively domesticated, making ancient texts sound more familiar and doctrinally comfortable than they actually are. He advocates for translation that challenges rather than confirms established theological assumptions. [https://dbhart.com/]

Larry Hurtado (1943-2019)

Larry W. Hurtado was Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology at the University of Edinburgh. His influential work Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (2003) demonstrated the early emergence of Jesus devotion in Christian communities. Hurtado argued that early Christian worship practices provide crucial evidence for understanding how Jesus achieved divine status within monotheistic Judaism. He emphasized liturgical usage rather than institutional politics as primary factors in canonical development.

Clayton Jefford

Clayton N. Jefford is Professor of Scripture at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. His work The Didache in Context (1995) demonstrates the historical significance of this early church manual for understanding Christian community organization and ethical formation. Jefford specializes in early Christian literature and the practical dimensions of ancient church life, showing how texts like the Didache provide evidence for alternative approaches to Christian discipline and governance.

J.N.D. Kelly (1909-1997)

J.N.D. Kelly was Principal of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and a distinguished patristic scholar. His biographical studies of Jerome, John Chrysostom, and other church fathers remain standard works. Kelly's Early Christian Creeds (1972) provides definitive analysis of credal development. He offered balanced scholarly assessment of early Christian figures that acknowledged both their theological contributions and their human limitations within specific historical contexts.

Karen King

Karen L. King is Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. Her groundbreaking work on the Gospel of Mary and other alternative Christian texts has transformed scholarly understanding of early Christian diversity. Her book The Gospel of Mary of Magdala (2003) demonstrates how early Christian communities included women in apostolic and teaching roles before institutional development limited religious authority to male clergy. King advocates for understanding suppressed Christian traditions as legitimate alternatives rather than marginal deviations. [https://hds.harvard.edu/faculty-research/faculty-profiles/karen-l-king]

Michael J. Kruger

Michael J. Kruger is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary. His work Canon Revisited (2012) presents a conservative evangelical perspective on canonical formation that emphasizes divine oversight of the process. Kruger argues that early Christian communities possessed sufficient spiritual discernment to recognize authentic apostolic teaching, and that modern canonical boundaries reflect ancient wisdom rather than arbitrary human decision-making. [https://www.rts.edu/people/dr-michael-kruger/]

James L. Kugel

James L. Kugel is Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Literature at Harvard University and former director of the Institute for the History of the Jewish Bible in Israel. His influential book How to Read the Bible (2007) explores the relationship between historical and traditional interpretations of Scripture. Kugel's work bridges academic biblical criticism with traditional Jewish interpretation, demonstrating how post-biblical interpretation often became more influential than the original texts in shaping religious understanding.

Timothy Michael Law

Timothy Michael Law is Associate Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies at Lee University. He is the author of When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible (2013), which demonstrates how early Christianity was built on Greek rather than Hebrew biblical texts. Law argues that understanding this Greek foundation is crucial for comprehending early Christian theological development and contemporary biblical interpretation. [https://www.leeuniversity.edu/]

Amy-Jill Levine

Amy-Jill Levine is Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Her work The Misunderstood Jew (2006) examines how Christian interpretation has often distorted Jewish contexts of Jesus and early Christianity. Levine specializes in Jewish-Christian dialogue and the historical Jesus, advocating for more accurate understanding of first-century Judaism and its relationship to early Christian development. [https://divinity.vanderbilt.edu/bio/amy-jill-levine]

Alister McGrath

Alister E. McGrath is Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University. His work In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible (2001) traces the political and theological context of English Bible translation. McGrath demonstrates how the Reformation principle of sola scriptura created both opportunities and challenges for biblical translation and interpretation. He advocates for evangelical approaches that engage seriously with historical scholarship. [https://www.ox.ac.uk/]

Lee Martin McDonald

Lee Martin McDonald is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies at Acadia Divinity College. His comprehensive study The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon (2017) provides detailed analysis of how canonical boundaries developed through complex historical processes. McDonald advocates for multifactorial approaches that acknowledge theological, political, and practical influences on canonical formation while maintaining respect for the communities that preserved these texts.

Bruce M. Metzger (1914-2007)

Bruce M. Metzger was George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. A renowned New Testament scholar and textual critic, he served on editorial committees for the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament and was general editor of the New Oxford Annotated Bible. His authoritative works include The Canon of the New Testament (1987) and A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. Metzger's rigorous yet ecumenical approach shaped generations of biblical scholars.

Eva Mroczek

Eva Mroczek is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at the University of California, Davis. Her work The Literary Imagination in Jewish Antiquity (2016) challenges traditional assumptions about biblical canon formation by demonstrating the creative and open-ended nature of Second Temple Jewish literature. Mroczek argues that early Jewish communities approached scriptural authority more flexibly than later canonical standardization suggests. [https://jewishstudies.ucdavis.edu/people/eva-mroczek]

Angelika Neuwirth

Angelika Neuwirth is Professor Emeritus of Arabic Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. She is known for her groundbreaking work on the Qur'an in its historical and literary context, particularly through her multi-volume project The Qur'an and Late Antiquity (2019). Neuwirth advocates for understanding the Qur'an as a product of late antique religious culture and engages in interfaith academic dialogue about shared scriptural heritage across the Abrahamic traditions.

Brent Nongbri

Brent Nongbri is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at MF Norwegian School of Theology. His work God's Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts (2018) applies archaeological methods to manuscript studies, emphasizing the importance of material context for understanding early Christian textual culture. Nongbri advocates for careful attention to paleographic and codicological evidence in evaluating manuscript discoveries and their historical significance.

John W. O'Malley

John W. O'Malley is University Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University. His definitive study Trent: What Happened at the Council (2013) provides comprehensive analysis of the Council of Trent's historical context and theological significance. O'Malley demonstrates how Trent's emphasis on institutional authority and doctrinal uniformity reflected broader trends in early modern governance while serving important pastoral and theological functions.

Carolyn Osiek

Carolyn Osiek is Professor Emerita of New Testament at Brite Divinity School. Her work Shepherd of Hermas: A Commentary (1999) demonstrates the historical significance of this early Christian text for understanding practical Christianity and moral formation. Osiek specializes in early Christian social history and the role of women in ancient Christianity, showing how alternative texts preserved evidence for more diverse approaches to Christian leadership and community organization.

Elaine Pagels

Elaine Pagels is Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Her groundbreaking work The Gnostic Gospels (1979) brought alternative Christian texts to popular attention while demonstrating their historical significance for understanding early Christian diversity. Pagels argues that alternative Christian traditions offered spiritual possibilities that orthodox Christianity denied, particularly regarding women's religious authority and mystical experience. [https://religion.princeton.edu/people/elaine-pagels/]

Birger Pearson

Birger A. Pearson is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His work Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature (2007) provides comprehensive analysis of alternative Christian movements. Pearson demonstrates that groups using alternative texts were well-organized and theologically sophisticated rather than representing fringe movements, contributing to scholarly understanding of early Christian diversity.

Gabriel Said Reynolds

Gabriel Said Reynolds is Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame. His work The Qur'an and the Bible (2018) examines textual relationships between Islamic and Judeo-Christian scriptures. Reynolds demonstrates how early Islamic communities engaged with Jewish and Christian textual traditions more extensively than later Islamic historiography acknowledged, contributing to comparative study of Abrahamic canonical formation. [https://theology.nd.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty-by-alpha/gabriel-said-reynolds/]

Brent Seales

Brent Seales is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky. He developed revolutionary "virtual unwrapping" technology that uses CT scanning and machine learning to read damaged ancient manuscripts without physically opening them. His recovery of the Ein Gedi Scroll demonstrates how digital technology can reveal biblical texts that seemed permanently lost, representing the cutting edge of computational approaches to manuscript studies. [https://www.cs.uky.edu/~seales/]

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza is Krister Stendahl Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. Her influential work In Memory of Her (1983) provides feminist theological reconstruction of Christian origins, demonstrating how early Christian communities were more egalitarian than later canonical literature suggests. Schüssler Fiorenza argues that canonical formation involved the systematic suppression of women's voices and leadership roles. [https://hds.harvard.edu/]

Emanuel Tov

Emanuel Tov is Professor Emeritus at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and former editor-in-chief of the Dead Sea Scrolls Publication Project. His influential works include Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2012) and Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert (2004). Tov's scholarship focuses on Hebrew Bible transmission and the remarkable textual diversity revealed by the Dead Sea Scrolls, demonstrating both the stability and flexibility of ancient Jewish textual traditions. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Tov]

Eugene Ulrich

Eugene Ulrich is Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Scripture and Theology at the University of Notre Dame and one of the chief editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He specializes in the Septuagint, Hebrew Bible textual history, and the development of Jewish and Christian scriptures. His work The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of the Bible (1999) demonstrates how manuscript evidence reveals "textual plurality" in antiquity that challenges assumptions about uniform biblical transmission.

N.T. Wright

N.T. Wright is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews. His extensive writings include Scripture and the Authority of God (2011), which argues for canonical approaches that acknowledge editorial processes while maintaining confidence in Scripture's theological authority. Wright advocates for understanding biblical authority as emerging through Scripture's role in God's ongoing relationship with human communities rather than through isolation from historical development. [https://ntwrightpage.com/]