The Faculty

Chair

David Martinez, Ph.D. (University of Michigan). Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Classics, also in the Divinity School and Classical Languages and Literatures

Professors

 Elizabeth Asmis, Ph.D. (Yale University). Professor of Classical Languages and Literatures, also in Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World
 Christopher A. Faraone, Ph.D. (Stanford University). Professor of Classical Languages and Literatures, also in Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean WorldClassical Languages and Literatures
 Hans-Josef Klauck, Dipl. Theol. (University of Bonn), Dr. Theol. Habil. (University of Munich). Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, also in the Divinity SchoolNew Testament and Early Christianity, Divinity School
 Richard P. Saller, Ph. D. (Cambridge University). Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of History and Classical Languages and Literatures, also in Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean WorldHistory and Classical Languages and Literatures
 Peter White, Ph. D. (Harvard University). Professor of Classical Languages and Literatures

Visiting Professor (2003-2008):

Jás Elsner, Ph.D. (University of Cambridge), Visiting Professor of Art History, Classics and New Testament and Early Christian Literature

Associate Professors

 David Martinez, (University of Michigan). Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Classics, also in the Divinity School and Classical Languages and Literatures
 Margaret M. Mitchell, (University of Chicago). Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, also in the Divinity School

Emeritus Faculty

 Hans Dieter Betz, Dr. Theol. Habil. (University of Mainz). Shailer Mathews Professor Emeritus of New Testament
 Robert M. Grant, Ph.D. (Harvard University). Carl Darling Buck Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Early Christian Literature
 Nancy P. Helmbold, Ph.D. (University of California at Berkeley). Professor Emerita of Classical Languages and Literatures

The Department of New Testament and Early Christian Literature brings together faculty from the Divinity School and the Classics Department to engage cooperatively in critical inquiry on: 1. the interpretation of the range of documents produced by Christians in roughly the first four centuries, and 2. the religious, cultural and social make-up of the communities and persons within the Roman Empire during this period who were identified (by themselves and by others) as Christian. This interdisciplinary study requires the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world--its history, literature, languages, philosophies, religions and social forms--as well as the development of capacities for analyzing ancient texts as literary documents with their own genres and characteristic forms of expression. Students are expected to gain competence not only in the twenty-seven documents that were later designated as the canonical New Testament, but also in the broad stream of patristic literature up through Augustine of Hippo (d. 430). The dual contexts of an emerging Christian literary culture and the enveloping Greco-Roman world circumscribe the Department's approach to this literature. The New Testament can also be studied in the Divinity School's Bible area, in which the documents of the New Testament are examined in relation to the interpretive nexus of the biblical canon (including the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament), as well their contextualization in the wider Mediterranean world, and the history of biblical interpretation up to the present.

Graduates of the NT/ECL Department have taught in such areas as New Testament studies, early church history, early history of Western civilization, history of religions (Hellenistic and Roman periods), and religious studies generally. Students develop areas of specialized research, but carry out those investigations within the framework of a broad competence in the world of antiquity and the issues involved in tracing and comprehending the emergence of distinct Christian communities and documents. The culmination of doctoral study is a dissertation which makes an original contribution to the field of early Christian studies.

This program allows students to work with a team of scholars in the Department, yet also gives them ample opportunity to study throughout the University, in such areas and divisions as the Divinity School, Classics, History, Social Sciences, and the Oriental Institute, as they design their course of study in conversation with an advisor. Students meet with advisors at least once a quarter to discuss their ideas and research interests, and plan an individualized curriculum which includes formal coursework, comprehensive and language examinations, and the dissertation.