ACU’s Center for the Study of Ancient Religious Texts (CSART) is presenting a free seminar March 22 on “The First 100 Years of Christianity.”

The seminar. which is open to the public, will be begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Packer Forum of ACU’s Brown Library and will be livestreamed. It will feature three scholars–Dr. James W. Thompson, Dr. Richard Wright, and Dr. John H. Boyles. 

To stream the lecture, please CLICK HERE to register for the Zoom webinar.
For the latest guidelines regarding masks and COVID protocols on the ACU campus, see ACU’s COVID information pages.

CSART issued the following news release about the seminar:

“When ACU scholar-in-residence James W. Thompson translated Udo Schnelle’s landmark The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to its History, Literature, and Development from German into English (Baker Academic, 2020; 662 pages), a major tool for the study of the New Testament became available to English readers. Translations of important scholarly works such as this can make a significant impact for those who study the Bible. In this session, Prof. Thompson will discuss his motivations and the process for doing this important work.

New Testament scholars Richard Wright and John H. Boyles will respond to the work, clarifying why translation projects like this matter and offering some suggestions for ministers, Bible students, and scholars about who how best to use an introduction like this in their own study.

James W. Thompson (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is scholar-in-residence in the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University. He has published numerous books and articles in the area of New Testament Studies, including: Preaching Hebrews and 1 Peter (2021); Strangers on the Earth: Philosophy and Rhetoric in Hebrews (2020); Apostle of Persuasion: Theology and Rhetoric in the Pauline Letters (2020); The Church according to Paul: Rediscovering the Community Conformed to Christ (2014); Moral Formation according to Paul: The Context and Coherence of Pauline Ethics (2011); Hebrews (Paideia: Commentaries on the New Testament; 2008); and Pastoral Ministry according to Paul: A Biblical Vision (2006).

John H. Boyles (PhD, Emory University) is Assistant Professor of New Testament in the Department of Bible, Missions, and Ministry at Abilene Christian University. His research interests include the reception history of the Bible and the social history of the ancient Mediterranean as it can inform the study of the New Testament, especially the lived experience in groups and associations. He teaches courses in biblical interpretation and biblical languages. He has recently published articles on teaching the Bible, ethics, and issues of race in undergraduate classrooms and articles on the Bible in film in The Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (De Gruyter, 2017).

Richard Wright (PhD, Brown University) is professor of New Testament in the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University. His research has focused on the significance of understanding the social world of the early Christians for understanding the New Testament, a perspective that informs his numerous journal articles and contributions to volumes of collected essays. He teaches classes in New Testament text, the backgrounds to the New Testament, and Greek and Latin. He recently co-edited the volume of collected essays, Ethics in Contexts (Pickwick, 2019) and has prepared A Reader in Biblical Greek that will be published soon.