Biography
Prof. Gathercole's first degree was in Classics and Theology in Cambridge, after which he pursued doctoral research under the supervision of James D.G. Dunn in Durham. He also studied for short periods at the University of Tübingen and the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York. He previously taught in the University of Aberdeen (2000-2007). He has been editor of Journal for the Study of the New Testament, co-editor of Early Christianity, and editor of New Testament Studies.
Research Interests:
Dr Gathercole's main academic interest is the interpretation of the New Testament. Having begun as a classicist and also worked in the field of early Judaism, he is particularly fascinated by the connections between the New Testament and the literature contemporaneous with it. His principal theological interests are christology, and the doctrine of the atonement. He is currently writing on early Christian views of the timing of the end.
Dr Gathercole would be particularly interested in supervising doctoral research in Pauline studies, the christology of the Gospels, and extra-canonical Gospels.
Key Recent Publications:
Books
- The Gospel and the Gospels: Christian Proclamation and Early Jesus Books (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2022). xxiv + 576pp.
- The Apocryphal Gospels (Penguin Classics; London: Penguin, 2021). xl + 439pp.
- Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2015). 128pp.
- The Gospel of Thomas: Introduction and Commentary (Leiden: Brill, 2014). xii + 723pp.
- The Composition of the Gospel of Thomas: Original Language and Sources (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). xiii + 322pp.
- The Gospel of Judas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). Read Introduction.
- The Pre-existent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew, Mark and Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006). xi + 344pp.
- Where is Boasting? Early Jewish Soteriology and Paul's Response in Romans 1-5 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002). xii + 311pp.
Articles and essays
For a complete list of articles, see academia.edu where the full text of some of the articles is also available.
- ‘Is There Imminent Expectation in 1 Thess 4:13–18? Reconsidering Paul’s Syntax’, Novum Testamentum 66 (2024), 231–256.
- ‘Does the Parable of the Minas Address the Delay of the Parousia? Luke 19,11-27 in its Lukan, Rhetorical and Roman Settings’, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 115.1 (2024), 19-50.
- ‘Judaean/Idumaean Inscriptions and New Testament Studies’, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 42 (2019), 242-247.
- ‘The Historical and Human Existence of Jesus in Paul’s Letters’, Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 16 (2018), 183-212.
- ‘The Alleged Anonymity of the Canonical Gospels’, Journal of Theological Studies 69 (2018), 447–476.
- ‘Das Judasevangelium’, Zeitschrift für Neues Testament 41 (2018), 25-41.
- ‘“Sins” in Paul’, New Testament Studies 64.2 (2018), 143-161.
- ‘What is the Historical Evidence that Christ Lived and Died?’, The Guardian (15 April 2017), p. 38.
- 'The Gospel of Jesus' Wife: Constructing a Context', New Testament Studies 61 (2015), pp. 292-313.
- ‘The Titles of the Gospels in the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts’, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 104.1 (2013), pp. 33-76.
- ‘Deutsche Erwiderungen auf die „New Perspective“: Eine anglophone Sicht’ in J. Frey & B. Schliessler, eds. Die Theologie des Paulus in der Diskussion (Neukirchen: Neukirchener Verlag, 2013), pp. 115-153.
- Introduction, Translation and Notes, Coptic Fragments of ‘Life of Adam and Eve’, in R.J. Bauckham & J.R. Davila, eds. More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), pp. 22-27.
- ‘Named Testimonia to the Gospel of Thomas: An Expanded Inventory and Analysis’, Harvard Theological Review 105.1 (2012), pp. 53-89.
- ‘What Did Paul Really Mean?’, Christianity Today (Aug. 2007), pp. 22-28.
This video-lecture by Dr Gathercole, about the Gospel of Judas, is one of a series made by the Faculty. It aims to illustrate the kind of lecture which will be shown in the undergraduate admissions process.
