Daniel McClellan (biblical scholar)

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Dr
Daniel McClellan
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Born (1980-07-23) July 23, 1980 (age 44) [1]
NationalityAmerican
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OccupationBiblical Scholar
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Daniel O. McClellan [2] is an American biblical scholar and social media personality. [3] [4] [5] He is a public scholar of the Bible and religion and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. McClellan was the winner of the Society of Biblical Literature's 2023 Richards Award for Public Scholarship. [6]

Contents

Biography

Daniel McClellan is originally from West Virginia. [7] He was born in 1980. [8] In 2006, he was married and, as of 2024, has three daughters. [2]

Education and academic career

Between 2013–2023, McClellan worked as scripture translation supervisor for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [2] [9] McClellan completed a bachelor's degree in ancient Near Eastern studies from Brigham Young University with a minor in Classical Greek, [10] a master's degree in Jewish studies at the University of Oxford, and a master of arts in biblical studies at Trinity Western University. [2] [11]

In 2020, he received a PhD from the University of Exeter, where he wrote a dissertation under the supervision of Francesca Stavrakopoulou. [12] [11] In 2022, he published a revised version of his dissertation, titled YHWH's Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach. [6] [11] His formal academic areas of expertise include Second Temple Judaism, the early Israelite religion, the cognitive science of religion, and textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible. [13] [7]

Social media

Since 2021, McClellan has been active on social media, confronting misinformation being shared on social media about the academic study of the Bible and religion. [11] He leads online classes, cohosts the Data Over Dogma Podcast, [14] and is also active on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. [6] On TikTok, he has become popular by "stitching" videos containing misinterpretations of the Bible. [15]

Political career

Daniel McClellan has run for office in Utah twice, though he lost both elections to incumbents. His first bid was for Utah State House of Representatives (District 52) in 2018; he received 33.5% of the vote. [16] In 2020, he ran for Utah's State Senate (District 10) and received 34.8% of the vote. [17] [18]

Publications

Theses

Other Publications

Book chapters

Articles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bible</span> Collection of religious texts

The Bible is a collection of religious texts or scriptures which to a certain degree are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and other Abrahamic religions. The Bible is an anthology originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. The texts include instructions, stories, poetry, prophecies, and other genres. The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text varies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yahweh</span> Ancient Levantine deity

Yahweh was an ancient Levantine deity, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Though no consensus exists regarding the deity's origins, scholars generally contend that Yahweh is associated with Seir, Edom, Paran and Teman, and later with Canaan. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age, if not somewhat earlier. Although the religion of Israelites was polytheistic prior to the Babylonian captivity, the deity of Yahweh later evolved into the concepts of God in Judaism and Samaritanism, which are strictly monotheistic.

Jah or Yah is a short form of the tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH), the personal name of God: Yahweh, which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of Jah is, even though the letter J here transliterates the palatal approximant. The spelling Yah is designed to make the pronunciation explicit in an English-language context, especially for Christians who may not use Hebrew regularly during prayer and study.

Stephen Edward Robinson was a religious scholar and apologist, who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

<i>Elohim</i> Word for deity or deities in the Hebrew Bible

Elohim, the plural of אֱלוֹהַּ, is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is grammatically plural, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly the God of Israel. In other verses it refers to the singular gods of other nations or to deities in the plural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biblical cosmology</span>

Biblical cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws in the Bible. The Bible was formed over many centuries, involving many authors, and reflects shifting patterns of religious belief; consequently, its cosmology is not always consistent. Nor do the biblical texts necessarily represent the beliefs of all Jews or Christians at the time they were put into writing: the majority of the texts making up the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament in particular represent the beliefs of only a small segment of the ancient Israelite community, the members of a late Judean religious tradition centered in Jerusalem and devoted to the exclusive worship of Yahweh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible</span> Biblical revision by Joseph Smith

The Joseph Smith Translation (JST), also called the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures (IV), is a revision of the Bible by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, who said that the JST/IV was intended to restore what he described as "many important points touching the salvation of men, [that] had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled". Smith was killed before he deemed it complete, though most of his work on it was performed about a decade beforehand. The work is the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) with some significant additions and revisions. It is considered a sacred text and is part of the canon of Community of Christ (CoC), formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and other Latter Day Saint churches. Selections from the Joseph Smith Translation are also included in the footnotes and the appendix of the Latter-day Saint edition of the LDS-published King James Version of the Bible. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' edition of the Bible includes selections from the JST in its footnotes and appendix. It has officially canonized only certain excerpts that appear in the Pearl of Great Price. These excerpts are the Book of Moses and Smith's revision of part of the Gospel of Matthew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Names of God</span>

There are various names of God, many of which enumerate the various qualities of a Supreme Being. The English word god is used by multiple religions as a noun to refer to different deities, or specifically to the Supreme Being, as denoted in English by the capitalized and uncapitalized terms God and god. Ancient cognate equivalents for the biblical Hebrew Elohim, one of the most common names of God in the Bible, include proto-Semitic El, biblical Aramaic Elah, and Arabic ilah. The personal or proper name for God in many of these languages may either be distinguished from such attributes, or homonymic. For example, in Judaism the tetragrammaton is sometimes related to the ancient Hebrew ehyeh. It is connected to the passage in Exodus 3:14 in which God gives his name as אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, where the verb may be translated most basically as "I am that I am", "I shall be what I shall be", or "I shall be what I am". In the passage, YHWH, the personal name of God, is revealed directly to Moses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jehovah</span> Vocalization of the divine name YHWH

Jehovah is a Latinization of the Hebrew יְהֹוָה‎Yəhōwā, one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton יהוה‎ (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton יהוה is considered one of the seven names of God in Judaism and a form of God's name in Christianity.

In contrast to the variety of absolute or personal names of God in the Old Testament, the New Testament uses only two, according to the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia. From the 20th century onwards, "a number of scholars find various evidence for the name [YHWH or related form] in the New Testament.

Gerald "Gary" Neil Knoppers was a professor in the Department of Theology at University of Notre Dame. He wrote books and articles regarding a range of Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern topics. He is particularly renowned for his work on 1 Chronicles, writing I Chronicles 1 – 9 and I Chronicles 10 – 29, which together comprise a significant treatment of the work of the Chronicler. In May 2005 the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies granted the R. B. Y. Scott Award to Knoppers for his two-volume Anchor Bible commentary on I Chronicles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetragrammaton</span> Four-letter name of God in the Hebrew Bible

The Tetragrammaton is the four-letter Hebrew theonym יהוה‎, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left, are yodh, he, waw, and he. The name may be derived from a verb that means "to be", "to exist", "to cause to become", or "to come to pass". While there is no consensus about the structure and etymology of the name, the form Yahweh is now accepted almost universally among Biblical and Semitic linguistics scholars, though the vocalization Jehovah continues to have wide usage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacred Name Bible</span> Bible translations that use Hebraic forms of Gods personal name (YHWH)

Sacred Name Bibles are Bible translations that consistently use Hebraic forms of the God of Israel's personal name, instead of its English language translation, in both the Old and New Testaments. Some Bible versions, such as the Jerusalem Bible, employ the name Yahweh, a transliteration of the Hebrew tetragrammaton (YHWH), in the English text of the Old Testament, where traditional English versions have LORD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Origins of Judaism</span> Overview of the early history of Judaism

The most widespread belief among archeological and historical scholars is that the origins of Judaism lie in Bronze Age polytheistic Canaanite religion. Judaism also syncretized elements of other Semitic religions such as Babylonian religion, which is reflected in the early prophetic books of the Tanakh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellis T. Rasmussen</span>

Ellis Theo Rasmussen was an American professor and dean of Religious Instruction at Brigham Young University (BYU). He helped produce the edition of the Bible published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 22</span> Chapter of book in Ketuvim and Old Testament Bibles

Psalm 22 of the Book of Psalms or My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? is a psalm in the Bible.

James L. Crenshaw is the Robert L. Flowers Professor of the Old Testament at Duke University Divinity School. He is one of the world’s leading scholars in Old Testament Wisdom literature. He proposes that much of Proverbs was brought together at a time well after Solomon. He has been described as "a highly respected scholar" and an "excellent teacher".

The concept of kingship of God appears in the Hebrew Bible with references to "his Kingdom" and "your Kingdom" while the term "kingdom of God" is not directly used. "Yours is the kingdom, O Lord" is used in 1Chronicles 29:10–12 and "His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom" in Daniel 4:3, for example. It is tied to Jewish understanding that through the messiah, God will restore the Kingdom of Israel, following the Davidic covenant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yahwism</span> Religion of ancient Israel and Judah

Yahwism, as it is called by modern scholars, was the religion of ancient Israel and Judah. An ancient Semitic religion of the Iron Age, Yahwism was essentially polytheistic and had a pantheon, with various gods and goddesses being worshipped by the Israelites. At the head of this pantheon was Yahweh, held in an especially high regard as the two Israelite kingdoms' national god. Some scholars hold that the goddess Asherah was worshipped as Yahweh's consort, though other scholars disagree. Following this duo were second-tier gods and goddesses, such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, each of whom had their own priests and prophets and numbered royalty among their devotees.

Several passages in the Hebrew Bible are interpreted as referring to genocide that God commanded the Israelites commit, notably the case of Amalek, and the Canaanites.

References

  1. ↑ McClellan, Dan (23 July 2020). "I turn 40 today. The coronavirus prevented any elaborate plans for my birthday, but this is still about the best possible way for me to start my day". Instagram. Dan McClellan. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "McClellan, Daniel O. | Religious Studies Center". rsc.byu.edu. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  3. ↑ "Jana Riess: LDS TikTok star debunks Bible conspiracies, misinformation". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  4. ↑ "How a Scripture Translation Supervisor for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is TikTok famous". LDS Magazine. 7 February 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  5. ↑ Riess, Jana (9 December 2022). "Mormon TikTok star debunks Bible conspiracies, misinformation". Religion News Service. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 "Daniel McClellan: 2023 Richards Award for Public Scholarship" (PDF). sbl-site.org. Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 "McClellan, Daniel O. | Religious Studies Center". rsc.byu.edu. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  8. ↑ McClellan, Dan (7 January 2024). "#maklelan1761 A more thorough introduction to me & my channel #maklelan #dataoverdogma #didaskaloi". TikTok. Dan McClellan. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  9. ↑ "Why We Can't Cherry-Pick the Bible — A Conversation with Dan McClellan". Faith Matters. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNghN4vMQ_A&t=2937s&ab_channel=DannyJones
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Dan McClellan". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "How Do We Make Meaning with the Bible? Public Bible Scholar Dan McClellan Explores this Topic March 5; The Public is Invited". news.washburn.edu. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  13. ↑ Maybell, Scott Ryan (2 January 2024). "YHWH's Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach YHWH's Divine Images: A Cognitive Approach by Daniel O. McClellan, Atlanta, SBL Press, 2022, xxi+277 pp., $0(Open Access PDF), ISBN 978-1628374391: by Daniel O. McClellan, Atlanta, SBL Press, 2022, xxi+277 pp., $0 (Open Access PDF), ISBN 978-1628374391". Theology and Science. 22 (1): 245–247. doi:10.1080/14746700.2023.2294532. ISSN   1474-6700.
  14. ↑ Pitchford, Leila (13 May 2023). "Facets of Faith: An atheist and Bible scholar discuss Scripture in new podcast". The Advocate. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  15. ↑ Clayton, Jerry (28 January 2024). "Biblical scholar Dan McClellan fights misinformation about the Bible on social media". Texas Public Radio . Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  16. ↑ "2018 Utah State House Election Results | USA TODAY". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  17. ↑ "2020 Utah State Senate Election Results | The Augusta Chronicle". www.augustachronicle.com. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  18. ↑ "Dan McClellan // Democrat // State Senate-District 10". Utah Cultural Alliance. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
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