Michael F Bird
Biographic Data
| ID | 1195015 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael F Bird |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael F |
| FAMILY NAME | Bird |
| SIGNATURE | BIRD M F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ridley College |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8575-2583 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1979 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
On Critiquing Christian Nationalism
This article engages in a concerted review and interaction with two recent books about Christian nationalism by David Gushee and Nilay Saiya. It offers affirmation and critique with respect to their warnings about the dangers of such for Christian political witness. Each book is evaluated pro and con for the validity and accuracy of its critique of Christian nationalism: alternative options are also canvassed. The essay closes with six theses, in…
Paul within Judaism
This conference volume features cutting edge research from an international cohort of scholars on the still-controversial debates regarding Paul's relationship with Judaism. Taken together, the contributions represent a sympathetic but critical assessment of the Paul within Judaism approach to Pauline interpretation. They take up many of the key questions germane to the debate, including different perspectives on Jewish identity, ethnicity, Torah…
New Testament Theology
This essay argues that New Testament Theology (NTT) is an indispensable mediating discipline between historical exegesis and systematic theology. It defends NTT against claims that: (1) NTT should be replaced by the study of early Christian religion; (2) The NT is too diverse and disparate to sustain any unifying theology; and (3) NTT has been over-done so that there is nothing new to be said. The essay proceeds to the defense of NTT by contendin…
Philippians
N. T. Wright and Paul’s Supersessionism
Joel Kaminsky and Mark Reasoner offered a concerted critique of N. T. Wright’s account of Israel’s election as well as Wright’s description of the apostle Paul’s messianic atonement theology. They allege that Wright treats Israel’s election as instrumental rather than intrinsic and his exegesis of Rom 5:20‒21 results in a rehearsal of anti-Jewish tropes. This essay responds to them by 1) claiming that many of their criticisms are inaccurate repre…
God and the Faithfulness of Paul
N. T. Wright's Paul and the Faithfulness of God is the culmination of his long, influential, and often controversial career - a landmark study of the history and thought of the Apostle Paul, which attempts to make fresh suggestions in a variety of sub-fields of New Testament studies. This volume brings together a group of international scholars to critically weigh and assess an array of issues in Wright's work, including methodology, first-centur…
Jesus and the Continuing Exile of Israel in the Writings of N.T. Wright
N.T. Wright’s thesis that the historical Jesus conducted his prophetic career in the context of a widespread belief that Israel was in a protracted state of exile has courted much controversy. This study sketches Wright’s articulation of the return-from-exile theme in Jewish literature, describes some of the scholarly criticisms to this view, and defends a chastened view of Wright’s thesis that return-from-exile remains a useful category for unde…
N. T. Wright, Pauline Perspectives
Esdras
In 1 Edras Michael Bird presents a commentary on this much neglected text based on its witness in Codex Vaticanus as part of the next installment of the Septuagint Commentary Series. Containing material that parallels 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, 1 Esdras is featured in the Septuagint and Christian Apocrypha. The commentary presents a survey of critical issues related to the study of 1 Esdras and provides an impressive literary analysis of t…
Earliest Christian history
Martin Hengel (1926-2009) was a historian of the early church and ancient Judaism. His influence extended through his many publications, research students, conference participation, and ecclesiastical work. His scholarly legacy was honoured by a conference at Tyndale House in July 2010 with a number of speakers from Germany, England, and the USA coming together to remember and honour their colleague with papers on topics that Martin Hengel spent …
The Faithfulness of Jesus Christ in Hippolytus's De Christo et Antichristo
The debate over the meaning of πίστις Χριστοῦ has been continuing for some time and shows no signs of abating, yet one conclusion has remained constant: the Church Fathers, generally, did not understand πίστις Χριστοῦ in the Pauline materials in the subjective sense as the ‘faithfulness of Christ’. Furthermore, there has heretofore been no text that correlates Jesus' faithfulness with his death on the cross in patristic writings. In light of that…
Textual Criticism and the Historical Jesus
This study argues that historical Jesus research needs to pay greater attention to the field of textual criticism and study of early Christian manuscripts. It is accordingly argued that the field of textual criticism impacts historical Jesus studies in at least three ways: (1) the textual integrity of the New Testament and the possibility of historical Jesus research; (2) the significance of the agrapha; and (3) text-critical contributions to his…
The Criterion of Greek Language and Context
This essay examines Stanley E. Porter's proposed new criterion of authenticity, the criterion of Greek language and context. This criterion attempts to recover the Greek words of Jesus embedded in the Gospels. Porter presents a robust case for a multilingual Palestinian environment and highlights the value of language tools for historical-Jesus study. Despite this, Porter's proposed new criterion is questionable for several reasons. (1) The chara…
Who Comes from the East and the West? Luke 13.28–29/Matt 8.11–12 and the Historical Jesus
Since Joachim Jeremias' Jesu Verheissung für die Völker (1956) it has often been assumed that in Matt 8.11–12 Jesus looked forward to the inclusion of gentiles into the kingdom at the eschaton. However, several recent studies, most notably by Dale C. Allison, have called this view into question and have instead advocated that the logion refers to the regathering of the Diaspora. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Allison's arguments and to …
The Case of the Proselytizing Pharisees?—Matthew 23.15
This essay examines Matthew 23.15 in the context of the debate concerning pre-Christian Jewish proselytizing activity amongst Gentiles. The study assesses the historical authenticity of the logion and examines the various positions for understanding its meaning. It then attempts to argue that Matthew 23.15 is an authentic saying of Jesus aimed at censuring a Pharisaic group for endeavouring to recruit Gentile adherents (God-fearers) to the cause …
Religion in Film
Film as Hierophany
Within the discussion of religious art there arises the fascinating question of how art can engender the awareness of those special (hierophanous) moments in culture where the sacred dimension breaks through into otherwise profane experience. This question requires a consideration of the peculiar relationship which a given art form has to its world (e.g., imitation vs. interpretation, recording vs. transformation). The special potency of cinemati…
Film as Hierophany
Within the discussion of religious art there arises the fascinating question of how art can engender the awareness of those special (hierophanous) moments in culture where the sacred dimension breaks through into otherwise profane experience. This question requires a consideration of the peculiar relationship which a given art form has to its world (e.g., imitation vs. interpretation, recording vs. transformation). The special potency of cinemati…
Film as Hierophany
Within the discussion of religious art there arises the fascinating question of how art can engender the awareness of those special (hierophanous) moments in culture where the sacred dimension breaks through into otherwise profane experience. This question requires a consideration of the peculiar relationship which a given art form has to its world (e.g., imitation vs. interpretation, recording vs. transformation). The special potency of cinemati…
Religion in Film
The Case of the Proselytizing Pharisees?—Matthew 23.15
This essay examines Matthew 23.15 in the context of the debate concerning pre-Christian Jewish proselytizing activity amongst Gentiles. The study assesses the historical authenticity of the logion and examines the various positions for understanding its meaning. It then attempts to argue that Matthew 23.15 is an authentic saying of Jesus aimed at censuring a Pharisaic group for endeavouring to recruit Gentile adherents (God-fearers) to the cause …
The Criterion of Greek Language and Context
This essay examines Stanley E. Porter's proposed new criterion of authenticity, the criterion of Greek language and context. This criterion attempts to recover the Greek words of Jesus embedded in the Gospels. Porter presents a robust case for a multilingual Palestinian environment and highlights the value of language tools for historical-Jesus study. Despite this, Porter's proposed new criterion is questionable for several reasons. (1) The chara…
Who Comes from the East and the West? Luke 13.28–29/Matt 8.11–12 and the Historical Jesus
Since Joachim Jeremias' Jesu Verheissung für die Völker (1956) it has often been assumed that in Matt 8.11–12 Jesus looked forward to the inclusion of gentiles into the kingdom at the eschaton. However, several recent studies, most notably by Dale C. Allison, have called this view into question and have instead advocated that the logion refers to the regathering of the Diaspora. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Allison's arguments and to …
Textual Criticism and the Historical Jesus
This study argues that historical Jesus research needs to pay greater attention to the field of textual criticism and study of early Christian manuscripts. It is accordingly argued that the field of textual criticism impacts historical Jesus studies in at least three ways: (1) the textual integrity of the New Testament and the possibility of historical Jesus research; (2) the significance of the agrapha; and (3) text-critical contributions to his…
The Faithfulness of Jesus Christ in Hippolytus's De Christo et Antichristo
The debate over the meaning of πίστις Χριστοῦ has been continuing for some time and shows no signs of abating, yet one conclusion has remained constant: the Church Fathers, generally, did not understand πίστις Χριστοῦ in the Pauline materials in the subjective sense as the ‘faithfulness of Christ’. Furthermore, there has heretofore been no text that correlates Jesus' faithfulness with his death on the cross in patristic writings. In light of that…
Esdras
In 1 Edras Michael Bird presents a commentary on this much neglected text based on its witness in Codex Vaticanus as part of the next installment of the Septuagint Commentary Series. Containing material that parallels 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, 1 Esdras is featured in the Septuagint and Christian Apocrypha. The commentary presents a survey of critical issues related to the study of 1 Esdras and provides an impressive literary analysis of t…
Earliest Christian history
Martin Hengel (1926-2009) was a historian of the early church and ancient Judaism. His influence extended through his many publications, research students, conference participation, and ecclesiastical work. His scholarly legacy was honoured by a conference at Tyndale House in July 2010 with a number of speakers from Germany, England, and the USA coming together to remember and honour their colleague with papers on topics that Martin Hengel spent …
Jesus and the Continuing Exile of Israel in the Writings of N.T. Wright
N.T. Wright’s thesis that the historical Jesus conducted his prophetic career in the context of a widespread belief that Israel was in a protracted state of exile has courted much controversy. This study sketches Wright’s articulation of the return-from-exile theme in Jewish literature, describes some of the scholarly criticisms to this view, and defends a chastened view of Wright’s thesis that return-from-exile remains a useful category for unde…
N. T. Wright, Pauline Perspectives
God and the Faithfulness of Paul
N. T. Wright's Paul and the Faithfulness of God is the culmination of his long, influential, and often controversial career - a landmark study of the history and thought of the Apostle Paul, which attempts to make fresh suggestions in a variety of sub-fields of New Testament studies. This volume brings together a group of international scholars to critically weigh and assess an array of issues in Wright's work, including methodology, first-centur…
Philippians
N. T. Wright and Paul’s Supersessionism
Joel Kaminsky and Mark Reasoner offered a concerted critique of N. T. Wright’s account of Israel’s election as well as Wright’s description of the apostle Paul’s messianic atonement theology. They allege that Wright treats Israel’s election as instrumental rather than intrinsic and his exegesis of Rom 5:20‒21 results in a rehearsal of anti-Jewish tropes. This essay responds to them by 1) claiming that many of their criticisms are inaccurate repre…
New Testament Theology
This essay argues that New Testament Theology (NTT) is an indispensable mediating discipline between historical exegesis and systematic theology. It defends NTT against claims that: (1) NTT should be replaced by the study of early Christian religion; (2) The NT is too diverse and disparate to sustain any unifying theology; and (3) NTT has been over-done so that there is nothing new to be said. The essay proceeds to the defense of NTT by contendin…
Paul within Judaism
This conference volume features cutting edge research from an international cohort of scholars on the still-controversial debates regarding Paul's relationship with Judaism. Taken together, the contributions represent a sympathetic but critical assessment of the Paul within Judaism approach to Pauline interpretation. They take up many of the key questions germane to the debate, including different perspectives on Jewish identity, ethnicity, Torah…
On Critiquing Christian Nationalism
This article engages in a concerted review and interaction with two recent books about Christian nationalism by David Gushee and Nilay Saiya. It offers affirmation and critique with respect to their warnings about the dangers of such for Christian political witness. Each book is evaluated pro and con for the validity and accuracy of its critique of Christian nationalism: alternative options are also canvassed. The essay closes with six theses, in…
Philosophy (15 works) · Theology (14 works) · Biblical Studies and Interpretation (13 works) · History (9 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Historical and Linguistic Studies (7 works) · Judaism (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Biblical studies (4 works)