John D. Turner | |
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| Born | July 15, 1938 Glenridge, New Jersey U.S. |
| Died | October 26, 2019 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | American |
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| Alma mater | Dartmouth College Union Presbyterian Seminary Duke University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | History and classics Religious studies |
| Institutions | University of Nebraska |
John D. Turner (15 July 1938 in Glen Ridge - 26 October 2019) was the Cotner Professor of Religious Studies and Charles J. Mach University Professor of Classics and History Classics &Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska. [1] He was well known for his translations of the Nag Hammadi library.
After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1960,Turner served a stint in the Army,then worked as an actuary and a car salesman before entering the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia,seeking to become a Presbyterian minister. Although he earned a master's degree in theology in 1966,he decided against the ministry and instead entered Duke University's religious program,seeking a doctorate in early Christianity. While at Duke,he joined a team of about 20 young American scholars assembled by James M. Robinson to edit and translate the Nag Hammadi library.
His expertise was in Biblical studies,New Testament,Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman religion and philosophy,Gnosticism,later Platonism and Neoplatonism,Coptic language and literature. He had expertise in the study of ancient Gnosticism,in particular the restoration,conservation,translation,and interpretation of the thirteen fourth-century papyrus codices from Nag Hammadi.
Turner had contributed to research into the relationship between Neoplatonism and Gnosticism,including a study of the use of terms and concepts by the author or authors of the Sethian Allogenes text.
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