John M.G. Barclay

John Barclay (born 1958) is the current holder of the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University in Durham, England and is largely considered one of today's most influential New Testament scholars.^[1][2] He is the current chair of the British New Testament Society^[3] and the former editor of the internationally recognized journal New Testament Studies (Cambridge University Press).^[4] He is the son of Oliver Barclay, who served as the General Secretary of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship (later the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship) from 1964 to 1980.^[5]

Education and Early Years

Barclay was educated at Cambridge University, completing his B.A. in Classics before pursuing an M.A. and then a Ph.D. in Theology (the latter focusing on Galatians). His doctoral thesis was supervised by Morna Hooker. After teaching at Glasgow University from 1984 to 2003, Barclay was named the successor to James D.G. Dunn as the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University.^[6]

Paul and the Gift

One of Barclay's most recent works, Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans, 2015), has drawn considerable praise from scholars in both the UK and USA. Douglas Moo has said it is "one of the best books on Paul’s theology in the last twenty years."^[7] Paul Foster likewise proclaims, "This book will be not only much-discussed in Pauline scholarship, it will be much-prized for the genuine advances it offers in understanding Paul’s thought."^[8] Paul and the Gift was also reviewed by scholars in popular publications such as Books & Culture^[9] and First Things.^[10]

One of the insights from Paul and the Gift which has led to its very positive reception is the manner in which Barclay develops Paul's theology of grace. By setting this concept in the context of ancient notions of gift, Barclay discerns six key ways in which gift, and thus grace, can be conveyed in Paul. These are: superabundance, singularity, priority, incongruity, efficacy, and non-circularity.^[11]

In an interview with Christianity Today Barclay explains, "So while I disagree with the New Perspective in its sidelining grace within Paul’s thought, I agree with its emphasis that Paul was fundamentally concerned with creating new communities that crossed ethnic and social boundaries."^[12]

Criticism of N.T. Wright

Although they maintain a warm relationship, Barclay has been an outspoken critic of N.T. Wright's work on Paul. This has led to several high-profile debates between the two, most recently at New College, Edinburgh University on June 15, 2016 concerning each author's most recent books.^[13] They also debated Paul's relationship to the Roman Empire (the 'Paul and Empire' conversation) at the 2007 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in San Diego.^[14] Barclay's plenary speech from this session is now published as a chapter in his most recent work Pauline Churches and Diaspora Jews (Eerdmans, 2016).^[15]

Monographs

• Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE to 117 CE). 2nd ed. Cornerstones. London: T&T Clark, 2018.
• Paul and the Gift. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015.
• The Last Years of Paul: Essays from the Tarragona Conference. Edited with Puig i Tàrrech and Jörg Frey. WUNT 352. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015.
• Pauline Churches and Diaspora Jews. WUNT 275. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011. Reprinted, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016.
• Against Apion. Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary 10. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
• Divine and Human Agency in Paul and His Cultural Environment. Edited with Simon Gathercole. LNTS 335. London: T&T Clark, 2006.
• (Ed.) Negotiating Diaspora: Jewish Strategies in the ROman Empire. LSTS 45. London: T&T Clark, 2004.
• Diaspora. Translated by Paolo Bernardini. Introduzione allo studio della Bibbia 17. Brescia: Paideia, 2004.
• Colossians and Philemon. Sheffield Guides. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. Reprinted, T&T Clark Studies Guides. London: T&T Clark, 2004.
• Early Christian Thought in Jewish Conext. Edited with John Philip McMurdo Sweet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
• Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE-117 CE). Berkley: University of California Press, 1996.
• Obeying the Truth: A Study of Paul's Ethics in Galatians. London: T&T Clark, 1988.

Articles

• "The Gift and Its Perfections: A Response to Joel Marcus and Margaret Mitchell". Journal for the Study of the New Testament 39.3(2017): 331-344.
• "Interpretation, not Repetition: Reflections on Bultmann as a Theological Reader of Paul". Journal of Theological Interpretation 9.2 (2015): 201-209.
• "Pure Grace? Paul's Distinctive Jewish Theology of Gift". Studia Theologica 68.1 (2014): 4-20.
• "Faith and Self-Detachment from Cultural Norms: A Study in Romans 14-15". Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 104.2 (2013): 192-208.
• "Under Grace: The Christ-Gift and the Construction of a Christian Habitus." In Apocalyptic Paul: Cosmos and Anthropos in Romans 5-8. Edited by Beverly Roberts Gaventa. 59-76. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2013.
• "Pushing Back: Some Questions for Discussion". Journal for the Study of the New Testament 33.3 (2011): 321-326.
• "Meat, a Damaging Extravagance: A Response to Grumett and -Gorringe". Expository Times 123.2 (2011): 70-73.
• "Believers and the ′Last Judgement′ in Paul: Rethinking Grace and Recompense." In Eschatologie - Eschatology: The Sixth Durham-Tübingen Research Symposium. Edited by Hans-Joachim Eckstein, Christof Landmesser, and Hermann Lichtenberger. 195-208. WUNT 272. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011.
• "′I Will Have Mercy on Whom I Have Mercy′: The Golden Calf and Divine Mercy in Romans 9-11 and Second Temple Judaism". Early Christianity 1.1 (2010): 82-106.
• "Unnerving Grace: Approaching Romans 9-11 from the Wisdom of Solomon." In Between Gospel and Election: Explorations in the Interpretation of Romans 9-11. Edited byFlorian Eilk and J. Ross Wagner. 91-109. WUNT 1.257. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.
• "Food, Christian Identity and Global Warming: A Pauline Call for a Christian Food Taboo". Expository Times 121.12 (2010): 585-593.
• "Paul and the Philosophers: Alain Badiou and the Event". New Blackfriars 91.1032 (2010): 171-184.
• "Paul, the Gift and the Battle Over Gentile Circumcision: Revisiting the Logic of Galatians". Australian Biblical Review 58 (2010): 36-56.
• "Manna and the Circulation of Grace: A Study of 2 Corinthians 8:1-15." In The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays. Edited by J. Ross Wagner, C. Kavin Rowe, and A. Katherine Grieb. 409-426. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.
• "Is It Good News That God Is Impartial: A Response to Robert Jewett, Romans: A Commentary". Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31.1 (2008): 89-111.
• "Security and Self-Sufficiency: A Comparison of Paul and Epictetus". Ex Auditu 24 (2008): 60-72.
• "′Am I Not a Man and a Brother?′ The Bible and the British Anti-Slavery Campaign". Expository Times 119.1 (2007): 3-14.
• "There Is Neither Old nor Young? Early Christianity and Ancient Ideologies of Age". New Testament Studies 53.2 (2007): 225-241.
• "Memory Politics: Josephus on Jews in the Memory of Greeks." In Memory in the Bible and Antiquity: The Fifth Durham-Tübingen Research Symposium. Edited by Stephen Barton, Loren T. Stuckenbruck, and Benjamin G. Wold. 129-141. WUNT 1.212. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007.
• "Constructing Judean Identity After 70 CE: A Study of Josephus's Against Apion." In Identity and Interaction in the Ancient Mediterranean: Jews, Christians and Others: Essays in Honour of Stephen G. Wilson. Edited by Zeba A. Crook and Philip A. Harland. 99-112. New Testament Monographs 18. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2007.
• "′Offensive and Uncanny′: Jesus and Paul on the Caustic Grace of God." In Jesus and Paul Reconnected: Fresh Pathways into an Old Perspective. Edited by Todd D. Still. 1-17. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.
• "Snarling Sweetly: Josephus on Images and Idolatry." In Idolatry: False Worship in the Bible, Early Judaism, and Christianity. Edited by Stephen Barton. 73-87. T&T Clark Theology. London: T&T Clark, 2007.
• "Money and Meetings: Group Formation among Diaspora Jews and Early Christians." In Vereine, Synagogen und Gemeinden im kaiserzeitlichen Kleinasien. Edited by Andreas Gutsfeld and Dietrich-Alex Koch. 113-127. STAC 25. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006.
• "′By the Grace of God I am What I Am′: Grace and Agency in Paul and Philo." In Divine and Human Agency in Paul and His Cultural Environment. Edited by John M.G. Barclay and Simon Gathercole. 140-157. LNTS 335. London: T&T Clark, 2006.
• "Poverty in Pauline Studies: A Response to Steven Friesen". Journal for the Study of the New Testament 26.3 (2004): 363-366.
• "′Neither Jew nor Gentile′: Multiculturalism and the New Perspective on Paul." In Ethnicity and the Bible. Edited by Mark G. Brett. 197-214. Biblical Interpretation Series 19. Leiden: Brill, 1996.
• "′Do We Undermine the Law?′ A Study of Romans 14:1-15:6." In Paul and the Mosaic Law: The Third Durham-Tübingen Research Symposium. Edited by James D.G. Dunn. 287-308. WUNT 1.89. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1996.
• "The Jews of the Diaspora." In Early Christian Thought in Its Jewish Context. Edited by John M.G. Barclay and John Philip McMurdo Sweet. 27-40. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
• "Paul among Diaspora Jews: Anomaly or Apostate?". Journal for the Study of the New Testament 60 (1995): 89-120.
• "Conflict in Thessalonica". Catholic Bible Quarterly 55.3 (1993): 512-530.
• "Thessalonica and Corinth: Social Contrasts in Pauline Christianity". Journal for the Study of the New Testament 47 (1992): 49-74.
• "Manipulating Moses: Exodus 2.10-15 in Egyptian Judaism and the New Testament." In Text as Pretext: Essays in Honour of Robert Davidson. Edited by Robert P. Carroll. 28-46. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992.
• "Paul, Philemon and the Dilemma of Christian Slave-Ownership". New Testament Studies 37.2 (1991): 161-186.
• "Mirror-Reading a Polemical Letter: Galatians as a Test Case". Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31 (1987): 73-93
• "Paul and the Law: Observations on Some Recent Debates". Themelios 12.1 (1986): 5-15.

References