John Barton (theologian)

John Barton ( born June 17, 1948 in London) is Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oriel College, Oxford. His research interests are in the prophets of the Old Testament, the Bible canon, the interpretation of the Bible, the Old Testament theology and biblical ethics. He is married and has one daughter.

  • 4.1 monographs
  • 4.2 Publication (selection)
  • Article 4.3 (some examples)

Academic functions and memberships

Barton studied at Keble College, Oxford University and received his degrees Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Letters ( Litterarum doctor ).

It was founded in 1974 at Oxford University lecturer in Old Testament. Since 1991 he has been there, " Oriel & Laing, professor of the interpretation of Holy Scripture ." At the same time he was "Fellow" at Oriel College. Its predecessors were as " Oriel Professor " Ernest Nicholson (1979-1990) and before that James Barr ( 1976-1978 ).

Barton is nonresident member since 2007 ( "Fellow" ) at the British Academy and since 2008 a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences. The University of Bonn, works whose theological faculty since 1977 with the Oxford awarded him an honorary doctorate in theology in 1998. He is co-editor of the monograph series Supplements to the Journal of Old Testament scholarship.

Ecclesiastical offices

Barton is a priest ( " Reverend ") of the Church of England. He was ordained in 1973. As representatives of the clergy of the University of Oxford, he was for several years, from 2000 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2010, the General Synod of the Church. He works in the parish of Abingdon, south of Oxford, with.

Since 2011 he has been president of the liberal " Modern Church ". This nonprofit organization was founded by members of the Church of England in 1898. For the purposes of the former ecclesiastical modernism, the Modern Church began as Darwinism for new scientific approaches. Today, she supports the controversial in the Anglican church possibility of choice of bishops. It publishes the theological journal Modern Believing, one of the " Editorial Board" also Barton.

Theological research

Old Testament prophets as specialty

The prophets of the Old Testament were Barton's specialty. He conducted research on Amos, Isaiah about, Joel, and Obadiah, and on the after-effects of the prophetic books in the post-exilic Israel. In Germany, Barton was used for the representation of these prophets.

The Bible in the Church as a research topic

In the course of his theological ministry to Barton turned more and more to fundamental issues concerning Bible: It went him one hand, the ecclesial recognition of certain books, which collectively authority of the Bible was awarded ( canon ), on the other hand, as well as to the interpretation of the Bible in the Life of the Church of the faithful, especially the application of biblical texts on ethical issues.

Barton came to terms with certain theological drafts German Old Testament scholar, Gerhard von Rad about with, Rainer Albertz

At his trial The tracing of the development of the biblical canon in the Old Church Barton was referring mainly to the classic studies by Adolf von Harnack and Theodor Zahn, to Albert C. Sundberg's thesis of a late dating of the canon as well as the quantitative study of Franz Stuhlhofer.

Barton was used to represent the theme " canon" in popular works, such as in The Access Bible and in Christianity: The Complete Guide. On the subject of " interpretation," he wrote for Harper's Biblical Commentary for The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought and in A Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation.

Works

Barton published partly in German language, but mainly in English. Several books have been published in parallel in a British and an American edition. From written or edited him books have been translated into German, Danish, Spanish, Czech and Chinese. In all, he wrote about 20 books, gave out about ten books and published about 90 articles in magazines or anthologies.

Monographs

To the Old Testament:

  • Reading the Old Testament. Method in Biblical Study. Darton, Longman & Todd, London and Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1984 ( second, expanded edition 1996).
  • Ethics and the Old Testament. SCM Press, London 1998 ( Czech 2006).
  • The Old Testament: Canon, Literature and Theology. Ashgate, Aldershot 2007 ( collected essays ).

To the Bible, its canon and its interpretation:

  • People of the Book? The Authority of the Bible in Christianity. SPCK, London and Westminster / John Knox Press, Philadelphia, 1988 ( 2nd expanded edition 1993, 3rd revised edition, 2011).
  • Robert Morgan: Biblical Interpretation (Oxford Bible). Oxford University Press, Oxford 1988.
  • Love Unknown. Meditations on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. SPCK, London and Westminster / John Knox Press, Philadelphia, 1990 ( Danish, 1992).
  • What is the Bible? . SPCK, London, 1991 ( 2nd expanded edition 1997, 3rd edition, 2009, spanish 2004).
  • The Spirit and the Letter. Studies in the Biblical Canon. SPCK, London, 1997; American edition: Holy Writings, Sacred Text. The canon in early christianity. Westminster / John Knox Press, Louisville, 1998.
  • Living Belief: Being Christian, Being Human. Continuum, London, 2005.
  • The Nature of Biblical Criticism. Westminster John Knox, Louisville ( Kentucky) 2007.

Publication (selection)

  • The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1998 ( Spanish 2001, Chinese 2009).
  • Gerhard Sauter: Revelation and stories. Peter Lang, Frankfurt / Main 2000 (English: Revelation and Story Narrative Theology and the Centrality of Story, 2000. ).
  • John Muddiman: The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001.
  • The Biblical World. Routledge, London 2002, 2 vols.
  • With Christopher Rowland: Apocalyptic in History and Tradition. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, 2003.
  • Michael Wolter: The unity of Scripture and the diversity of the canon / The Unity of Scripture and the diversity of the Canon ( = Supplements to ZNW; 118 ), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2003.

Products (some examples)

  • Understanding Old Testament Ethics. In: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 9 (1978 ), pp. 44-64.
  • Old Testament Theology and Old Testament Approaches to Ethics. In: Old Testament Study Beginning, ed. J. W. Rogerson. SPCK, London 1983, pp. 90-130.
  • The Significance of a Fixed Canon of the Hebrew Bible. In Hebrew Bible / Old Testament. The History of its Interpretation, ed. M. Sæbø. Cambridge University Press, Göttingen Zurich 1996, Vol 1, pp. 67-83.
  • What is a Book? Modern Exegesis and the Literary Conventions of Ancient Israel. In: Intertextuality in Ugarit and Israel ( = Oudtestamentische studies; 40); ed. J. C. de Moor. E. J. Brill, Leiden 1998, pp. 1-14.
  • The Messiah in Old Testament Theology. In King and Messiah in Israel and the Ancient Near East, ed. J. Day. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield 1998, pp. 365-379.
Religious text Abingdon-on-Thames Book of Amos Book of Joel Book of Obadiah Integrated Authority File
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