Bruce Longenecker, Ph.D.

Professor of Christian Origins and W. W. Melton Chair of Religion

Education:

• Ph.D. in Theology; University of Durham, England (1986-90).
• M.Rel. in New Testament Studies; Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (1983-86)
• B.A. in Biblical and Religious Studies; Wheaton College, Illinois, U.S.A. (1979-83)

Biography:

Dr. Longenecker joined the Baylor faculty in August 2009, having taught previously at St Andrews University (Scotland, 1999-2009), Cambridge University (England, 1995-1999) and Durham University (England, 1991-1995). He is married to Fiona Bond, the current director of Creative Waco. They have two sons who joyously distract them from their work.

Academic Interests and Research:

Dr. Longenecker specializes in the origins of Christianity, including the following emphases: Early Christianity in its Greco-Roman context; Jesus-devotion in the Vesuvian towns (Pompeii and Herculaneum); the life and theology of Paul; care for the needy among Christian communities of the Greco-Roman world. 

Professional Awards and Activities:

Treasurer, Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (2003-2008)

Member of Editorial Board, Journal for the Study of the New Testament (2002-2015)

Member of Editorial Board, Journal of Biblical Literature (2016-present)

Member of Editorial Board, New Testament Studies (2002-present)

Member, Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (1998-present)

Books:

2016  Early Christianity in Pompeian Light: People, Texts, Situations. Edited by Bruce W. Longenecker. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

2016 The Crosses of Pompeii: Jesus-Devotion in a Vesuvian Town. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Pp. 358.

2016 Pompeii in a Day: The Site Guide for the Truly Curious. Kindle Direct Publishing. Pp. 148.

2016 First Corinthians: A Handbook on the Greek Text. Volume 1. Co-authored with Tim Brookins. Waco: Baylor University Press.

2016 First Corinthians: A Handbook on the Greek Text. Volume 2. Co-authored with Tim Brookins. Waco: Baylor University Press.

2016 Philippians and Philemon. Co-authored with James W. Thompson. Paideia Commentary Series; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

2016 The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World. Second Edition; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. Pp. 204.

Audiobook:  The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World. Read by Troy Duran; Amazon Audible Audio, July 2015.

2015 The Cross before Constantine: The Early Life of a Christian Symbol. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Pp. xi + 232.

2014 Hitler, Jesus, and Our Common Humanity: A Jewish Survivor Interprets Life, History, and The Gospels. Eugene, OR: Cascade.

2014 Thinking Through Paul: A Survey of His Life, Letters, and Theology. Co-authored with Todd Still. Zondervan Academic.

2014 Beyond Bultmann: Reckoning a New Testament Theology. Edited by Bruce Longenecker and Mikeal Parsons. Baylor University Press.

2014 Interpretation and the Claim of the Text: Resourcing New Testament Theology. Edited by Jason Whitlark, Bruce Longenecker, Lidija Novakovich and Mikeal Parsons. Baylor University Press.

2012 Hearing the Silence: Jesus on the Edge and God in the Gaps - Luke 4 in Narrative Perspective. Eugene: Cascade.

2010 Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and The Greco-Roman World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

2009 Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception. Bruce W. Longenecker and Kelly Liebengood, eds. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).

2005 Rhetoric at the Boundaries: The Art and Theology of New Testament Chain-Link Transitions. Waco: Baylor University Press.

2004 The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins: Festschrift in Honor of James D.G. Dunn. Graham W. Stanton, Bruce W. Longenecker, and Stephen C. Barton, eds.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

2003 The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

2002 Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment. Bruce W. Longenecker, ed.; Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

2002 Luke, Paul, and the Graeco-Roman World: Essays in Honour of Alexander J.M. Wedderburn. Alf Christopherson, Carsten Clausen, Jörg Frey, and Bruce W. Longenecker, eds.; London: Sheffield Academic Press.

1998 The Triumph of Abraham’s God: The Transformation of Identity in Galatians. Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Nashville: Abingdon.

1995 2 Esdras. Guides to Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.

1991 Eschatology and the Covenant: A Comparison of 4 Ezra and Romans 1-11. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. Reprint: 2015.

Selected Articles since 2002:

2018 “Paul, Poverty, and the Powers: The Eschatological Body of Christ in the Present Evil Age.” Pages 363-387 in John Anthony Dunne and Eric Lewellen (eds.), One God, One People, One Future: Essays in Honor of N.T. Wright. London: SPCK.

2018 “Slave and Free: Ideal Ideologies in Vesuvian Villas and in Galatians 3:28.” Pages 85–102 in Mikeal C. Parsons and Walsh (eds.), A Temple not Made with Hands: Essays in Honor of Naymond H. Keathley (Eugene: Wipf & Stock).

2016 "The Empress, The Goddess, and the Earthquake: Atmospheric Conditions Permitting Public Displays of Jesus-Devotion in Pompeii." Forthcoming [November 2016] in Bruce W. Longenecker (ed.), Pompeii and Early Christianity: People, Texts, Interpretation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

2016 “Peace, Security, and Prosperity: Advertisement and Reality in the Early Roman Empire.” Forthcoming [October 2016] in Adam Winn (ed.), An Introduction to Empire in the New Testament. Atlanta: SBL.

2016 “Mark’s Gospel for the Second Church of the Late First Century.” Forthcoming [September 2016] in Daniel M. Gurtner, Grant Macaskill, and Jonathan T. Pennington (eds.), The Fulness of Time: Essays on Christology, Creation and Eschatology in Honour of…. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

2016 “Faith, Works, and Worship: Torah Observance in Paul’s Theological Perspective.” Pages 47-70 in Scot McKnight and Joe Modica (eds.), The Apostle Paul and the Christian Life: Ethical and Missional Implications of the New Perspective. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

2016 “Presenting the Pauline Voice: An Appreciation of the Letter to the Laodiceans,” co-authored with Scott Ryan. New Testament Studies 62: 136-148.

2014 “Editors’ Preface.” In Bruce W. Longenecker and Mikeal C. Parsons (eds.), Beyond Bultmann: Reckoning a New Testament Theology. Waco: Baylor University Press.

2014 “The Love of God (Romans 5:5): Expansive Syntax and Theological Polyvalence.” Pp. 145-158 (and 246-248) in Interpretation and the Claim of the Text: Resourcing New Testament Theology. Eds. Jason Whitlark, Bruce Longenecker, Lidija Novakovich and Mikeal Parsons. Waco: Baylor University Press.

2012 “Did Tertullian Succeed? Reflections on Tertullian’s Appropriation of Paul in His Response to Marcion.” Pp. 247-258 in David Wilhite and Todd Still (eds.), Tertullian and Paul. Vol. 1 in the series Paul among the Fathers (New York: T&T Clark International).

2012 “The Challenge of a Hopeless God: Negotiating José Saramago’s Novel The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.” Pp. 129-148 in Trevor Hart et al. (eds.), Art, Imagination, and Christian Hope: Patterns of Promise (Aldershot: Ashgate).

2012 “Salvation History in Galatians: The Making of a Pauline Discourse.” Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters 2.2: 65-87.

2012 “Poverty and Paul’s Gospel.” Ex Auditu 27: 26-44.

2011 “Paul’s Assessment of Christian Freedom.” Pp. 119-27 in the Freedom volume of Christian Reflection: A Series of Faith and Ethics.

2010 “Dating the Origin of Paul’s Collection for the Saints in Judaea: The Corinthian Contribution.” Pp. 263-277 in Saint Paul and Corinth: International Scholarly Conference Proceedings. C.J. Belezos (ed.); Athens: Psichogios Publications.

2009 “Socio-Economic Profiling of the First Urban Christians.” In Todd Still and David Horrell (eds.), After The First Urban Christians: The Socio-Historical Study of Pauline Christianity Twenty-Five Years Later. London/New York: Continuum.

2009 “The ‘poor’ of Galatians 2:10: The Interpretative Paradigm of the First Centuries.” Pp. 205-221 in Bruce W. Longenecker and Kelly Liebengood (eds.), Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

2009 “The Story of the Samaritan and the Inn-Keeper (Luke 10:30-35): A Study in Character Rehabilitation.” Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches 17.4: 422-47.

2009 “Exposing the Economic Middle: A Revised Economy Scale for the Study of Early Urban Christianity.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31: 243-78.

2008 “A Humorous Jesus? Orality, Structure and Characterisation in Luke 14:15-24, and Beyond.” Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches 16: 179-204.

2007 “Good News to the Poor: Jesus, Paul and Jerusalem.” Pp. 37-65 in Todd Still (ed.), Jesus and Paul Reconnected: Fresh Pathways to an Old Debate. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

2007 “On Israel’s God and God’s Israel: Assessing Supersessionism in Paul.” Journal of Theological Studies 58: 26-44.

2005 “On Critiquing the ‘New Perspective’ on Paul: A Case Study,” ZNW 96: 263-71. 2004 “Rome’s Victory and God’s Honour: The Spirit and the Temple in Lukan Theodicy.” Pp. 90-102 in G.N. Stanton, B.W. Longenecker, and S. C. Barton (eds), The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

2004 “Rome, Provincial Cities and the Seven Churches of Revelation 2-3.” Pp. 281-291 in P. Williams et al. (eds.), The New Testament in Its First Century Setting: Essays on Context and Background. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

2004 “Lukan Aversion to Humps and Hollows: The Case of Acts 11.27-12.25,” New Testament Studies 50: 185-204.

2003 “Evil at Odds with Itself (Matt. 12:22-29): Demonising Rhetoric and Deconstructive Potential in the Matthean Narrative.” Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches 3 & 4 (double issue): 503-14.

2002 “The Narrative Approach to Paul: An Early Retrospective.” Currents in Biblical Research 1: 88-111. 2002 “Narrative Interest in the Study of Paul: Retrospective and Prospective.” Pp. 3-16 in Bruce W. Longenecker (ed.), Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

2002 “Sharing in Their Spiritual Blessings? The Story of Israel in Galatians and Romans.” Pp. 58-84 in Bruce W. Longenecker (ed.), Narrative Dynamics in Paul: A Critical Assessment. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

Courses Taught at Baylor

• Moral Vision of the New Testament
• Paul's Life and Letters
• Jesus and the Gospels
• Graduate seminar on Contemporary Issues in New Testament Study
• Graduate seminar on Johannine Literature
• Graduate seminar on Paul
• Graduate seminar on New Testament Theology
• Graduate seminar on the First Urban Christians

View Dr. Longenecker's CV and Books