James M. Robinson

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James M. Robinson
Born(1924-06-30)June 30, 1924
DiedMarch 22, 2016(2016-03-22) (aged 91)
Known forMember of the Jesus Seminar
Academic work
InstitutionsClaremont Graduate University

James McConkey Robinson (June 30, 1924 – March 22, 2016)

Professor Emeritus of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, specializing in New Testament Studies and Nag Hammadi Studies. He was a member of the Jesus Seminar and arguably the most prominent Q and Nag Hammadi library scholar of the twentieth century. He was also a major contributor to The International Q Project, acting as an editor for most of their publications. Particularly, he laid the groundwork for John S. Kloppenborg's foundational work into the compositional history of Q, by arguing its genre as an ancient wisdom collection. He also was the permanent secretary of UNESCO's International Committee for the Nag Hammadi codices.[2] He is known for his work on the Medinet Madi library, a collection of Coptic Manichaean manuscripts.[3][4]

Biography

Robinson was educated at

Claremont Graduate School later University [1964-1999]); at the Graduate School he held an endowed chair, the Arthur Letts, Jr., Professor of Religion. He was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1970. He was also the Director of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity.

He was the son of William Childs Robinson (1897-1982), who taught church history and apologetics at Columbia Theological Seminary. His brother William taught New Testament at Perkins School of Theology and then Andover Newton Theological School.

He has received criticism from philosopher and apologist William Lane Craig regarding his views on Jesus' resurrection appearances. Robinson argued that these appearances had their origins in second-century Gnosticism. Craig argues that there is no reason to believe that all of these experiences were luminous, and even if they were, that they were interpreted as non-physical appearances.[5] Robinson died in March 2016 at the age of 91.[6]

Works

Books

  • Robinson, James M. (1957). The Problem of History in Mark. Studies in Biblical Theology. Vol. 1/21. London: SCM Press.
    OCLC 6029012
    .
  • ——— (1959). A New Quest of the Historical Jesus. Studies in Biblical Theology. Vol. 1/25. London: SCM Press. .
  • ———; .
  • ———; .
  • ——— (2005). The Gospel of Jesus: In Search of the Original Good News. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco.
    OCLC 59818196
    .
  • ——— (2005). Heil, Christoph; Verheyden, Joseph (eds.). The Sayings Gospel Q: Collected Essays. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium. Vol. 189. Leuven: Peeters.[7]
  • ——— (2006). The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.
  • ——— (2007). Jesus according to the Earliest Witness. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.
  • ——— (2008). Language, Hermeneutic, and History: Theology after Barth and Bultmann. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
  • ——— (2010). The Story of the Bodmer Papyri: From the First Monastery's Library in Upper Egypt to Geneva and Dublin. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
  • ——— (2013). The Manichaean Codices of Medinet Madi. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
  • ——— (2014). The Nag Hammadi Story: From the Discovery to the Publication. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 86. Vol. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill.

Edited by

  • ———, ed. (1971). The Future of Our Religious Past: Essays in Honor of Rudolf Bultmann. New York: Harper & Row.
  • ———, ed. (1977). The Nag Hammadi Library in English. Leiden: Brill.
  • ———; Hoffmann, Paul; Kloppenborg, John S., eds. (2000). The Critical Edition of Q. Hermeneia Supplements. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress.
  • ———;
    OCLC 50729192
    .

Chapters

Bibliography

Obituary

  • Hedrick, Charles W. "Liberator of the Nag Hammadi Library." Biblical Archaeology Society, July 16, 2016.

References

  1. .
  2. ^ "James M. Robinson". HarperCollins.
  3. .
  4. .
  5. ^ Craig, William Lane (1993). "From Easter to Valentinus and the Apostles' Creed once More". Journal for the Study of the New Testament. 52: 19–39.
  6. ^ Joseph, Simon J. (2016-03-24). "In Memoriam: James M. Robinson". Archived from the original on March 28, 2016 – via Christian Origins.
  7. . Retrieved November 6, 2018.