Durham
The University of Durham has a long and prestigious history, hosting such scholars as Bishop B.F. Wescott, Bishop J.B. Lightfoot, and Bishop C.F.D. Moule. The New Testament Department, in which Kevin will be studying, recently has housed such scholars as C.K. Barrett, C.E.B. Cranfield, and James D.G. Dunn — each of whom has authored a significant commentary on Romans, the very book in which Kevin’s studies will be focused!
The Lightfoot Chair of Divinity at the University of Durham is a chair of great respect and prestige. The most recent scholar to hold the chair was James D.G. Dunn, a well-known author of dozens of books and a multitude of articles.
The current scholar worthy of holding the Lightfoot Chair of Divinity is Professor John M.G. Barclay, a very respected scholar who has authored several books and dozens of articles.
Professor Barclay’s most recent post was as Head of the School of Divinity at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. There he was Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins. He held this post for over ten years.
Professor Barclay completed his PhD studies at the University of Cambridge. His thesis project was published as Obeying the Truth: A Study of Paul’s Ethics in Galatians (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1988; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991).
With additional regard to Paul’s letters and thought Professor Barclay has published Colossians and Philemon, New Testament Guides (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997), the well-known essay, “Mirror Reading a Polemical Letter: Galatians as a Test Case” (Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31 [1987] 73-93; reprinted in S.E. Porter and C.A. Evans, eds., The Pauline Writings: A Sheffield Reader [Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995]), and “The Story of Paul,” in Narrative Dynamics in Paul, ed., Bruce Longenecker (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 2003).
Professor Barclay’s expertise — both in Paul’s theology and ethics, as well as in Diaspora Judaism — combined with the long tradition of top-notch scholarship and the numerous scholars on the faculty (such as Loren Stuckenbruck and Walter Moberly), as well as those still residing in the area (especially James D.G. Dunn), it is difficult to imagine a better place or program for my thesis project.
Additional factors that warrant our choice of Durham include the potential access we will have to the contemporary pastor-scholar, Dr. N. T. (Tom) Wright, who recently was enthroned as Bishop of Durham.