Francis Watson (born 1956) is an English theologian and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

scholar. He commenced his career at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

before being appointed to the Kirby Laing Chair of New Testament Exegesis at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

in 1999. In 2007 he took up his current position as Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at the

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

. Watson is well known as a critic of the so-called New Perspective on Paul (NPP). His criticisms of the NPP are all the more significant as he received a positive endorsement of

James D.G. Dunn James Douglas Grant Dunn (21 October 1939 – 26 June 2020), also known as Jimmy Dunn, was a British New Testament scholar, who was for many years the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in the Department of Theology at the University of Durh ...

(a NPP proponent) for his doctoral study. After the latter endorsement, Watson explored in particular the social-scientific work of Klaus Berger which contributed to Watson changing his mind dramatically about some results of his unpublished thesis. The result was ''Paul, Judaism, and the Gentiles: A Sociological Approach'', which chronicles Watson's change of mind. Watson's 2013 volume, ''Gospel Writing. A Canonical Approach'', is his most voluminous study to date. Extensive critical review articles include those by

Markus Bockmuehl Markus Bockmuehl (born 1961) is a biblical scholar specialising in Early Christianity. He has been the Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford since 2014, and a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, since ...

and

Richard Bauckham Richard John Bauckham (born 22 September 1946) is an English Anglican scholar in theology, historical theology and New Testament studies, specialising in New Testament Christology and the Gospel of John. He is a senior scholar at Ridley Hall, C ...

. Ted Dorman suggests that for Watson, "hermeneutical sovereignty resides not in the text but in the subject matter to which it points" – namely, Jesus Christ. Watson is the editor of ''

New Testament Studies ''New Testament Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press under the auspices of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. The scope of the journal are short studies and articles on issues pertaining to th ...

''.

Works

Thesis

Books

* - published form of his thesis * * * * * *

as Editor

Articles and Chapters

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Francis 1956 births Living people English theologians British biblical scholars New Testament scholars Academic journal editors Academics of King's College London Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of Durham University