John M. G. Barclay

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J. M. G. Barclay
FBA
Born
John Martyn Gurney Barclay

1958 (age 65–66)
NationalityBritish
Title Lightfoot Professor of Divinity
Relatives Oliver Barclay (father)
Academic background
Alma mater Queens' College, Cambridge
Institutions University of Glasgow
University of Durham

John Martyn Gurney Barclay, FBA (born 1958) is a British biblical scholar, historian of early Christianity, and academic. He is the current Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University in Durham, England and focuses on the New Testament. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Barclay was born on 31 July 1958 to Oliver and Dorothy Barclay. [2] 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. [3] He studied classics and theology at Queens' College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1981. [2] [4] He then undertook postgraduate research in theology and completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1986. [2] His doctoral thesis was titled "Obeying the truth: a study of Paul's exhortation in Galatians 5–6". [5]

Academic career

Barclay's early career was spent at the University of Glasgow, where he was a lecturer from 1984 to 1996, senior lecturer from 1996 to 2000, and professor from 2000 to 2003. [2] In 2003, he was named the successor to James D.G. Dunn as the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University. [6]

Barclay has been the President of the British New Testament Society. [7] He is the former editor of the academic journal New Testament Studies (Cambridge University Press). [8]

Paul and the Gift

One of Barclay's most recent works, Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans, 2015), has drawn considerable praise from scholars around the world. It has been hailed by Markus Bockmuehl and Tim Foster as the most significant book on Paul since E.P. Sanders's Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977). [9] [10] Douglas Moo has said it is "one of the best books on Pauline theology in the last twenty years." [11] 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." [12] Paul and the Gift was also reviewed by scholars in popular publications such as Books & Culture [13] and First Things. [14]

One of the insights from Paul and the Gift that 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: superabundance, singularity, priority, incongruity, efficacy, and non-circularity. [15]

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." [16]

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, on 15 June 2016 at New College, Edinburgh University concerning each author's most recent books. [17] 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. [18] Barclay's plenary speech from this session is now published as a chapter in his book: Pauline Churches and Diaspora Jews (Eerdmans, 2016). [6]

Selected works

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References

  1. ↑ "Paul and the Gift - John M. G. Barclay : Eerdmans". www.eerdmans.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 'BARCLAY, Prof. John Martyn Gurney', Who's Who 2017 , A&C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017; online ed, Oxford University Press, 2016; online ed, Nov 2016 accessed 16 Sept 2017
  3. ↑ "Oliver Barclay: Leading light of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship" . Independent.co.uk . 24 October 2013. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "Professor John Barclay". Department of Theology and Religion. Durham University. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  5. ↑ Barclay, J. M. G. (1985). Obeying the truth: a study of Paul's exhortation in Galatians 5–6. E-Thesis Online Service (Ph.D). The British Library Board. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Professor JMG Barclay - Durham University". www.dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "About the Society | British New Testament Society". www.bnts.org.uk. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "NTS volume 56 issue 1 Cover and Front matter". New Testament Studies. 56 (1): f1–f2. 1 January 2010. doi: 10.1017/S0028688509990233 . ISSN   1469-8145.
  9. ↑ Bockmuehl, Markus (August 2016). "Paul and the Gift". Theology. 119: 382–284. doi:10.1177/0040571X16647869r. S2CID   171430282.
  10. ↑ "Book Review: John Barclay on Paul and the Gift". 25 March 2017.
  11. ↑ "John Barclay's Paul and the Gift and the New Perspective on Paul". Themelios from The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  12. ↑ Gupta, Nijay (8 April 2016). "Foster's High Praise for Barclay's Paul and the Gift (Gupta)". Crux Sola. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Grace Redefined" . Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "Perfecting Grace | Peter J. Leithart". 14 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  15. ↑ Barclay, John M.G. (2015). Paul and the Gift. Eerdmans. pp. 70–75.
  16. ↑ "What's So Dangerous About Grace?" . Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  17. ↑ ""The Paul Dialogue": Barclay & Wright". Larry Hurtado's Blog. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  18. ↑ Gupta, Nijay (22 November 2007). "SBL San Diego: Review Part 1: Sessions". Crux Sola. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
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