James Douglas Grant Dunn (21 October 1939 – 26 June 2020), also known as Jimmy Dunn, was a British

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 A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

, who was for many years the

Lightfoot Professor of Divinity The Lightfoot Professor of Divinity is a professorship or chair in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. The chair is named after the former Bishop of Durham J. B. Lightfoot. The current holder is John M. G. Bar ...

in the Department of Theology at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

. He worked broadly within the Methodist tradition and was a member of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

and the

Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestantism, Protestant List of Christian denominations, Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodism, Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, an ...

during his life.

Biography

Dunn was born on 21 October 1939 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. He had the following degrees: *BSc Economics and Statistics at

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

class II Honours, 1961. * BD at University of Glasgow, 1964, with distinction. *

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, 1968. * DD at

, 1976. Dunn was licensed as a minister of the

in 1964. He was chaplain to overseas students at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

in 1968-70. In 1970, Dunn became a lecturer in divinity at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

, and was promoted to

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in 1979. Whilst at Nottingham, he served as a

Methodist local preacher A Methodist local preacher, also known as a licensed preacher, is a layperson who has been accredited by the Methodist Church to lead worship and preach on a frequent basis. With separation from the Church of England by the end of the 18th century ...

. He became professor of divinity at Durham University in 1982, and in 1990 became

at Durham. He retired in 2003, and was succeeded as Lightfoot Professor of Divinity by

John M. G. Barclay John Martyn Gurney Barclay, (born 1958) is a British biblical scholar, History of early Christianity, historian of early Christianity, and academic. He is the current Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University in Durham, England and foc ...

. For 2002, Dunn was the President of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, an international body for New Testament study. Only three other British scholars had been made President of the body in the preceding 25 years. In 2006 he became a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

. In 2005 a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was published dedicated to Dunn, comprising articles by 27 New Testament scholars, examining

early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...

communities and their beliefs about the

Holy Spirit in Christianity For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third person of the Trinity, a Triune God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each entity itself being God in Chr ...

. In 2009 another

was dedicated to Dunn for his 70th birthday, consisting of two forewords by N. T. Wright and Richard B. Hays and 17 articles all written by his former students who went on to have successful careers in either academic and ministerial fields around the world. Dunn was especially associated with the

New Perspective on Paul The "New Perspective on Paul" is a movement within the field of biblical studies concerned with the understanding of the writings of the Apostle Paul. The "new perspective" was started with liberal scholar E. P. Sanders' 1977 work ''Paul ...

, along with N. T. Wright and E. P. Sanders.Scot McKnight and B. J. Oropeza, eds., ''Perspectives on Paul: Five Views.'' Grand Rapdis: Baker Academic, 2020, pp. 1-23.

Richard N. Longenecker Richard N. Longenecker (July 21, 1930 - June 7, 2021) was a prominent New Testament scholar. He held teaching positions at Wheaton College and Graduate School (1954-57; 1960-63); Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (1963-72); Wycliffe College (T ...

, . Eerdmans, 2011. Dunn took up Sanders' project of redefining Palestinian Judaism in order to correct the Christian view of Judaism as a religion of works-righteousness. One of the most important differences to Sanders is that Dunn perceives a fundamental coherence and consistency to Paul's thought. He furthermore criticizes Sanders' understanding of the term '' justification'', arguing that Sanders' understanding suffers from an "individualizing exegesis".

Works

Dunn wrote or edited numerous books and papers, including:

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chapters

* *

Journal articles

* *

References

External links

Professional page, Durham UniversityThe New Perspective on PaulJames D. G. Dunn in-depth interview
on "Beyond Evangelical" {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, James 1939 births 2020 deaths Academics of Durham University Arminian theologians Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Glasgow British biblical scholars British Christian theologians British evangelicals British Methodists Critics of the Christ myth theory Fellows of the British Academy Methodist local preachers New Testament scholars People educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School People from Birmingham, West Midlands Scottish Christian theologians Scottish biblical scholars Scottish evangelicals Scottish Methodists