Brant James Pitre (born 1975 in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

) is a New Testament scholar and Distinguished Research Professor of Scripture at the

Augustine Institute The Augustine Institute (AI), located in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States, is a private Catholic graduate theology school that offers master's degree programs inspired by Pope John Paul II's call for a New Evangelization. In addition ...

. He has written extensively on the

historical Jesus The term "historical Jesus" refers to the reconstruction of the life and teachings of Jesus by critical historical methods, in contrast to religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived. ...

the Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother ...

, Paul the Apostle, the

origin of the Eucharist Church teaching places the origin of the Eucharist in the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, at which he is believed to have taken bread and given it to his disciples, telling them to eat of it, because it was his body, and to have taken ...

, and the

canonical Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

. After receiving his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Philosophy and English Literature from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

in 1997, Pitre engaged in biblical studies: he received a G.C. in

biblical archaeology Biblical archaeology is an academic school and a subset of Biblical studies and Levantine archaeology. Biblical archaeology studies archaeological sites from the Ancient Near East and especially the Holy Land (also known as Palestine, Land o ...

in 1998 from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, a M.T.S. from

Vanderbilt University Divinity School The Vanderbilt Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion (usually Vanderbilt Divinity School) is an interdenominational divinity school at Vanderbilt University, a major research university located in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of o ...

in 1999 and, eventually, his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

. While at Vanderbilt, Pitre studied under Professor Amy-Jill Levine, while at Notre Dame he met and studied under Father

John P. Meier John Paul Meier (August 8, 1942 – October 18, 2022) was an American biblical scholar and Roman Catholic priest. He was author of the series ''A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'' (5 v.), six other books, and more than 70 articles ...

. He was Assistant Professor of Theology at Loyola University New Orleans from 2003 to 2005, while from 2005 to 2009 he was Adjunct Professor of Scripture at

Notre Dame Seminary Notre Dame Seminary is a Catholic seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. It operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It serves the other six Catholic dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of New Orleans, six additional dioces ...

, Visiting Professor of Theology at the

and Donum Dei Professor of Word and Sacrament and Assistant Professor of Theology at

Our Lady of Holy Cross College University of Holy Cross (UHC) is a private Catholic liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded by the Marianites of Holy Cross. History University of Holy Cross was founded in 1916 as a two-year women's normal school by ...

. From 2009 to 2018 he served as Professor of Sacred Scripture at

, before moving to his current position at the Augustine Institute. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the

Catholic Biblical Association The Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) is an American learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible. The suggestion to form a permanent association of biblical scholars was made at the beginning of 1936 at a meeting in ...

, and a Senior Fellow at St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. In his works, Pitre has consistently defended the Catholic dogma of

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις '' metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of ...

, the

perpetual virginity of Mary The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do some Lutherans, Anglic ...

, the divinity of Jesus, and traditional

authorship of the Gospels Table I gives an overview of the periods and dates ascribed to the various books of the Bible. Tables II, III and IV outline the conclusions of the majority of contemporary scholars on the composition of the Hebrew Bible and the Protestant Old ...

. His books have been praised by Bishop

Robert Barron Robert Emmet Barron (born November 19, 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022. He is the founder of the Catholic ministerial organization Word on Fire, and ...

and several Roman Catholic leaders. He was also a contributor to the ''Dictionary of Jesus And the Gospels'', where he wrote articles about Jewish eschatology in regard to Jesus. Pitre is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and currently lives in Louisiana with his wife Elizabeth and their five children.

Bibliography

* ''Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile'',

Mohr Siebeck Mohr Siebeck Verlag is a long-established academic publisher focused on the humanities and social sciences and based in Tübingen, Germany. An independent publisher, it has remained in the same family over four generations. Founded in 1801 in Fra ...

, 2005. * ''Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper'', Doubleday, 2011, with forward by Dr. Scott Hahn. * ''Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told'',

Crown Publishing The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...

, 2014. * ''Jesus and the Last Supper'',

Eerdmans William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is a religious publishing house based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1911 by Dutch American William B. Eerdmans (November 4, 1882 – April 1966) and still independently owned with William's daughte ...

, 2015. * ''The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ'', Crown Publishing, 2016. * ''A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament'',

Ignatius Press Ignatius Press is a Catholic publishing house based in San Francisco, California, US. It was founded in 1978 by Father Joseph Fessio, a Jesuit priest and former pupil of Pope Benedict XVI. Ignatius Press also produces '' Catholic World Report'' ...

, 2018. * ''Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah'',

, 2018. * ''Paul, a New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology'', co-authored with Michael P. Barber and John A. Kincaid,

, 2019. * ''Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus'',

, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitre, Brant 1975 births Living people New Testament scholars American biblical scholars 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians