Andrew Byers teaches in the Cambridge Theological Federation as Lecturer in New Testament at Ridley Hall. Before moving to Cambridge in 2021, he served as Director of the Free Church Track and Lecturer in New Testament at Cranmer Hall, St John's College, Durham University. Originally from the States, Andy has 13 years of pastoral ministry experience and he writes not only for the academy but also for wider audiences and the church. He read Forestry at the University of Georgia, earned an MDiv at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, and received a ThM at Duke Divinity School. His Durham University PhD thesis was on Johannine ecclesiology.
Research
Johannine Literature; Synoptic Gospels; Early Christian Ecclesiology; Christian Ministry; Hermeneutics
Publications
Books
John and the Others: Jewish Relations, Christian Origins, and the Sectarian Hermeneutic (Baylor University Press, 2021)
Ecclesiology and Theosis in the Gospel of John (SNTSMS 166, Cambridge University Press, 2017)
TheoMedia: The Media of God and the Digital Age (Cascade Books, 2013)
Faith Without Illusions: Following Jesus as a Cynic-Saint (InterVarsity Press, 2011)
Co-Edited Books
Religion, Theology, and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Ethics, Evil, Horror, and Hope, co-edited with Adam J. Powell (London: Lexington/Fortess, 2025).
One God, One People: Unity and Oneness in Early Christianity, co-edited with Stephen C. Barton, RBS 104 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023).
Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christianity, co-edited with Madison N. Pierce and Simon Gathercole (Cambridge University Press, 2022).
Peer-Reviewed Articles
“The Genre of Mark’s Gospel is ‘Gospel’: Reconsidering Literary Innovation in the Markan Incipit.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 46, 2 (2023): 168–92.
“‘Put Your Sword Back into its Sheath’: A Johannine Approach to Nonviolent Resistance.” Review & Expositor 120(1-2) 2023: 29-45.
“‘Johannine Bishops?’ The Fourth Evangelist, John the Elder, and the Episcopal Ecclesiology of Ignatius of Antioch”, Novum Testamentum 60 (2018): 121–39
"The One Body of the Shema in 1 Corinthians: An Ecclesiology of Christological Monotheism", New Testament Studies 62, 4 (2016): 517–32
Book Chapters
“Introduction: We Are Not Alone,” with Adam J. Powell. Pages 1–12 in Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Co-Edited with Adam Powell. Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2025.
“Can Anything Good Come out of Hawkins? Self, Place, Evil, and Salvation in John’s Gospel and Stranger Things, and the Secular Age.” Pages 213–31 in Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Co-Edited with Adam Powell. Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2025.
“Afterword: What Would Susie, Erica, and Steve Say? Concluding Reflections,” with Adam J. Powell. Pages 233–37 in Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Co-Edited with Adam Powell. Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2025.
“A Jewish Messiah for the World: John’s Jesus as the Cosmic and Cosmopolitan Christ.” Pages 173–87 in John, Jesus, and History Volume 4: Jesus Remembered in the Johannine Later Situation. Edited by Paul N. Anderson, Atlanta: SBL Press, 2024.
“The Johannine Community and the Johannine Community Vision: Historical Reflection, Rhetorical Construction, and Narrative Ecclesiology” in The Johannine Community in Contemporary Debate. Edited by Chris Segleneiks and Chris Skinner. Lexington/Fortress, 2024.
"Introduction: Oneness and Unity in Worlds Contemporary and Ancient," in One God, One People: Unity and Oneness in Early Christianity, ed. Stephen C. Barton and Andrew J. Byers, RBS 104 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023), 1–12.
"One Flock, One Shepherd, One God: The Oneness Motif of John's Gospel," in One God, One People: Unity and Oneness in Early Christianity, ed. Stephen C. Barton and Andrew J. Byers, RBS 104 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023), 195–215.
"Johannine Readings of the Johannine Gospel: Reception Theology and Practice in John's Epistles" in Madison N. Pierce, Andrew J. Byers, and Simon Gathercole (Eds) Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022).
"Crowdsourcing Judgment: The Dark Side of Justice in Hated in the Nation and the Johannine Trial Narrative" in Amber Bowen and John Anthony Dunne, Theology and Black Mirror (Theology, Religion, and pop Culture; London: Lexington/Fortress), 2022.
“Abide in Me: A Johannine Theology of Resilience” in Christopher C. H. Cook and Nathan H. White (Eds.), Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilience: Pastoral and Clinical Insights (New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies; London: Routledge, 2020)
“Christmas Doesn’t Need Saving,” Christianity Today (December 19, 2023; online).
"Was Johannine Christianity Sectarian?" Didaktikos 6:4 (2023): 33–35.
"Is the Johannine Community Hypothesis Still Viable?" Didaktikos 6:3 (2023): 33–36
“Jesus and Politics,” Preach Magazine, Issue 18, Spring 2019, The Political Issue (pp. 19–24)
“Don’t Scoff at Social Justice. Don’t Anchor Yourself to It, Either,” in Christianity Today (June 2020)
“Andrew Byers on ‘What Makes a Good Biblical Scholar or Theologian?’” for The LAB—The Logos Academic Blog (December 2017)
“How to do New Testament Research” for The LAB—The Logos Academic Blog (April 2017)
"When God is Strange and Awful," Christianity Today (June 2016)
"Dispatches from the Wondrous, Terrifying World of Biblical Scholarship," Christianity Today (December 2015)
"Our Love Affair with the Letter "i", Christianity Today (December 2013)
"The Embodied God and the Disembodied Age: How the Incarnation Informs our 21st Century Media Practices," The Other Journal (October, 2013; online)
"Sandy Hook: One Year Later," Relevant Magazine (December 2013)
"Three Lies Entertainment Tells us About Sex," Relevant Magazine (October 2013)
"John the Baptist and Celebrity Culture," The Gospel Coalition (October 2013; online)
"Saving the Psalms: N.T. Wright Urges the Church to Stop Neglecting Jesus' Prayer Book," (Interview by Andrew Byers) Christianity Today (September 2013)
"Religion and Zombifixation: In Need of Flesh and Blood," Mockingbird.com (June 2013)
"Spirituality Starts in the Pews," Christianity Today (March 2013)
"Confessions of a Prude," Relevant Magazine (February 2013)
“We Need More Boring Christians,” Relevant Magazine (August 2011)
“Caring for the Marginalized Among Us... and Leading Students,” Youth & Christian Education Leadership (Summer 2011), 19–21
“Hope for Center-Stage Cynics,” The Gospel Coalition (July 2011; online)
“Is Christianity Anti-Intellectual?” Relevant Magazine (May 2011)
“The End of Cynicism,” Cogito | Credo (April 2011; online)
“I Believe in God... and Monsters,” The Ooze, (Spring 2011; online—in three installments)
“Embracing Hopeful Realism: Why Idealism is a Farce and Cynicism a Dead End,” The Gospel Coalition (March 2011; online)
“From ‘Among the Trees’ to ‘Face to Face’: How the Gospel Can Reverse the Disconnect in an Electronic Age,” Youth & Christian Education Leadership (Summer 2010), 11–13
“A Personal Response to the Tsunamis,” Relevant Magazine (January, 2005)
