Professor John Barclay FBA

Early Judaism and the formation of early Christian thought and practice in the first century; the theology of Paul and the history of its reception

Elected 2020

John Barclay has been Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University since 2003. He has served as President of the British New Testament Society, TRS-UK,the umbrella organisation for Subject Associations and Departments of Theology and Religious Studies in the UK), and shortly, the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.

His research is in the history and thought of early Christianity and early Judaism, with special interest in the ancient Jewish Diaspora and in the letters and theology of Paul. Using tools from the social sciences, he has explored the social formation of early Christianity, the ‘postcolonial’ identity of the Jewish historian Josephus, and the practice and theology of gift (‘grace’) in the work of Paul. He is currently expanding his work on gift to analyse the social dynamics of the Roman economy, and the support networks by which the poor in antiquity survived (if they did), with particular reference to early Judaism and the networks formed by early Christian communities.

Current post

Durham University Lightfoot Professor of Divinity

Past appointments

Faculty of Divinity, University of Glasgow Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins

2000 - 2003

Faculty of Divinity, University of Glasgow Senior Lecturer

1996 - 2000

Faculty of Divinity, University of Glasgow Lecturer

1984 - 1996

Publications

Sign up to our email newsletters