Prof Larry Hurtado's Lectures

Public lecture by Professor Larry Hurtado
Professor of New Testament Language, Literature & Theology and Director
of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh.

Date: Friday, 3 August, 2.00 - 3.30pm
Venue: TTC's Multi-Purpose Hall
Topic: "Jesus - Devotion in Recent Scholarship"

Professor Hurtado has this to say about his work: my own research has always been driven by questions: how the New Testament came to us, how the Gospels were transmitted in the early centuries, what this or that passage means, how the early Christians adapted traditions from their religious background and how they innovated, how their worship began and how it was shaped, how they accommodated Christ along with God in their devotional life, how Christian belief and practice was shaped by opposition and historical developments of the first two centuries . . .


Ichthus Seminar Series
"Binitarian Monotheism: God and Jesus in the NT"

By Prof Larry W. Hurtado
Date & Time: 3 August 2007 7.30 pm
Singapore Bible College
9-15 Adam Road Singapore 289886

Abstract

"In a number of publications over the last 20 years, I have sought to analyze in historical terms the emergence and earliest manifestations of devotion to Jesus, particularly devotion to him as in some way sharing divine status, significance, and attributes. In this presentation, I draw upon this body of work. The major emphases will be on the historical significance of this devotion to Jesus, a phenomenon without true precedent or analogy at the time of its origin, and on the resulting impact upon the early Christian understanding of God. I contend that the earliest Jesus-devotion directly demanded and shaped the development of Christian thinking and practice that led later to the doctrine of the Trinity."

About the Speaker

Larry Hurtado is Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology in the University of Edinburgh (since August 1996), and Director of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins.

His publications include an influential study of the early textual history of the Gospel of Mark (Text-Critical Methodology and the Pre- Caesarean Text: Codex W in the Gospel of Mark [Eerdmans, 1981), a popular-level commentary on the Gospel of Mark (Mark: New International Bible Commentary [Hendrickson, 1989]), a frequently- cited study on the origins of the worship of Christ (One Lord, One God: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism [Fortress Press, 1988; 2nd edition 1998, repinted 2003, T. & T. Clark]), a small volume on earliest Christian worship (At the Origins of Christian Worship: The Context and Character of Earliest Christian Devotion [Paternoster Press, 1999; Eerdmans, 2000]), a major study focused on the first two centuries of Christianity, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Eerdmans, 2003), and How on Earth did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Erliest Devotion to Jesus (Eerdmans, 2005). His most recent book, The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins (Eerdmans, 2006), demonstrates how Christian manuscripts of the second and third centuries CE throw important light on a number of wider historical questions about early Christianity.

In addition, he has published over 60 articles in scholarly journals, books and reference works on the New Testament and origins of Christianity. He has done editorial work on several publications, including the Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature (Gen. Editor D. L. Jeffrey, Eerdmans, 1992), for which he was the Associate Editor.

Starting in 2001, he convened an international team of scholars under the auspices of the Society of Biblical Literature to undertake fresh studies of the Freer biblical manuscripts, their work published by the SBL in 2006 (in observance of the centenary of the acquisition of these manuscripts by Charles Freer): The Freer Biblical Manuscripts: Fresh Studies of an American Treasure Trove, ed. L. W. Hurtado (Society of Biblical Literature, 2006).

He also served on the editorial board of Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses, and as an Associate Editor of Critical Review of Books in Religion, and is currently also a member of the editorial board of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism, and Expository Times.
He has given invited lectures in a number of colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Germany.

Prior to his current appointment, he was Professor of Religion in the University of Manitoba (1978-96), where he was also founding Director of the Institute for the Humanities (1990-92), and Assistant Professor of New Testament in Regent College (Vancouver, BC, 1975-78). He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1943.

Audience
Pastors, theological students, scholars.
Fee
$10 ($5 for SBC students. Free admission for IRC members with their membership card). Fee includes light refreshment to be served 30 minutes before seminar starts.
Registration
Interested parties, please email your name, contact and the event interested in to icht...@sbc.edu.sg, or call +65 6559 1555x7302 for registration and enquiries. Prior registration is preferred due to limited seats. Participants can pay on the day of the seminar.