Richard B. Hays

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Richard B. Hays is the George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. Hays received B.A from Yale College and Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, and a Ph.D from Emory University. Considered as one of the world's leading New Testament scholars, Hays' work focuses on New Testament ethics, the Pauline epistles and early Christian interpretation of the Old Testament.

In the field of New Testament studies, Hays has often been identified with figures such as N.T. Wright, Luke Timothy Johnson and Raymond Brown. Some of Professor Hays' helpful studies surround the narrative interpretation of Scripture, the subjective genitive reading of pistis Christou ("faith(fulness) of Christ") in Paul, and role of community in the New Testament. Hays is well-known for his criticisms of the Jesus Seminar and the modern Historical Jesus movement. Recently, Hays has been vocal about his criticisms of Dan Brown's best-selling The Da Vinci Code for its controversial historical claims.

Christianity Today named Hays' "Moral Vision of the New Testament" book one of the top 100 most important religious books of the 20th century. His nuanced treatment of homosexuality in "Moral Vision" has drawn some considerable attention. He offers what some may consider a more conservative position while at the same time pleading for charity and friendship. Hays is a committed pacifist. He makes his position clear in The Moral Vision of the New Testament, in which he argues that Jesus Christ taught his disciples to be non-violent.

[edit] Publications

The Faith of Jesus Christ: The Narrative Substructure of Galatians 3:1-4:11, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.
First Corinthians (Interpretation Commentaries; Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1997).
The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996).
Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989).
"The Conversion of the Imagination: Scripture and Eschatology in 1 Corinthians," New Testament Studies 45 (1999): 391-412.