Mercer’s McAfee School of Theology will hold the Inaugural Peter Rhea and Ellen Jones New Testament Lectures on Nov. 17 in Day Hall. The inaugural speaker, James D. G. Dunn, is a renowned New Testament scholar and will give two lectures, at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., titled “A New Perspective on Jesus” and “The New Perspective on Paul.”
“The Jones lectures will give students the opportunity to meet, hear and converse with some of the finest New Testament scholars in the world. McAfee students will see that scholarship is a living, dynamic process, and by meeting the authors of books they are studying they too can be challenged to aspire for excellence,” said Dr. Alan Culpepper, dean of McAfee School of Theology. “Dr. Dunn is an ideal inaugural lecturer, as his work exemplifies this challenge to excellence.”
Dunn, professor emeritus at Durham University, is one of the most respected voices in New Testament scholarship today. His recent major books on Jesus, Paul and early Christianity are redefining an understanding of Jesus and the early church. Dunn is a leading British New Testament scholar broadly in the liberal Protestant tradition. He is especially associated with the “New Perspective on Paul” and is credited with coining this phrase during his 1982 Manson Memorial Lecture.
In 2002, Dunn served as president of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, the leading international body for New Testament study. Only three other British scholars had been named president in the preceding 25 years. He has published numerous books and articles over the years, most recently Christianity in the Making: Vol. 2, Beginning from Jerusalem (2008) and The Living Word (Second Edition) (2009).
Dunn received an M.A. and B.D. from the University of Glasgow and a Ph.D. and D.D. from the University of Cambridge.
The Jones Lectures in New Testament Studies were established last year in order to enable theology students to hear the finest New Testament scholars in the world in the course of their studies at McAfee. The lecture series was made possible by a gift from the Rev. Peter Rhea Jones and his wife, Ellen. Jones is professor of New Testament and preaching at McAfee. He served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Decatur for 21 years before joining the McAfee faculty.
For further details concerning the lectures, please see www.mercer/theology.
