Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (born 10 April 1935, Cork City, Ireland – died 11 November 2013,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

) was a Dominican priest, a leading authority on St. Paul, and a Professor of

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 Chris ...

at the École Biblique in

, a position that he held from 1967 until his death.

Biography

He was born James Murphy-O'Connor in 1935 to Kerry and Mary (née McCrohan) Murphy-O'Connor, the eldest of four siblings. A cousin is Cardinal

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (24 August 1932 – 1 September 2017) was a British cardinal, the Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He sub ...

, the 10th

Archbishop of Westminster The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...

. Murphy-O'Connor attended the Christian Brothers College, Cork, and later the Vincentian Castleknock College in Dublin, where he decided to become a Dominican priest. He entered the Dominican novitiate in Cork in September 1953, giving up his baptismal to take a new name in religion, "Jerome". After the novitiate he studied philosophy for a year before studying at The Priory Institute in Tallaght and at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisi ...

in Switzerland.Introductory address given 10 May 2002 when conferring an honorary doctorate in Literature to Father Murphy-O'Connor

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one o ...

He was ordained as a priest in July 1960. In Fribourg his first serious study as a lecturer was on the theme of preaching in

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, which was later developed into a

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...

thesis. He received his doctorate in 1962.

École Biblique

In 1963 he studied in Rome, and researched the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, and

theology at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

. From there he went to

to the École Biblique, which was to become his religious, scholarly, and personal home. The École Biblique, founded in 1890 by French Dominican scholars, is an internationally renowned centre for

Biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 ...

and Biblical archaeology. He remained there for the rest of his life, having been appointed Professor of

in 1967. He received honorary degrees in the US and Australia, and particularly treasured the doctorate of literature conferred in 2002 by the National University of Ireland in

.Cork-born priest with international reputation in Biblical scholarship
, ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 16 November 2013

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

invited him to write an archaeological guide to the Holy Land which was first published in 1980. This was translated into several languages, with a fifth edition in 2008, and it has become the standard guide book. Murphy-O'Connor lectured around the world; he also made numerous television appearances, including in ''Le Mystère Paul'' (2000), ''Jesus: The Complete Story'' (2001), ''The Search for John the Baptist'' (2005), ''Christianity: A History'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

(2009), and "David Suchet: In the Footsteps of St Paul (TV documentary, 2012)".Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

He was also interviewed for the docudrama '' The Lost Tomb of Jesus'', although he later stated that he was misquoted and misrepresented by the filmmakers, stressing that he did not believe there was any truth in the movie's claims, which he dismissed as "a commercial ploy".

Views

On Paul

Murphy-O'Connor was considered a leading scholar on

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, on whom he authored several major works, both for scholarly and lay audience. In them, he tried to reconstruct the life and theology of the Apostles, mainly relying on his epistles, while avoiding the use of the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

, unless necessary; he also consistently defended the authenticity of the

Second Epistle to the Thessalonians The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is a book from the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle, with Timothy as a co-author. Modern biblical scholarship is divided on whether the epistle wa ...

, the Epistle to the Colossians and the

Second Epistle to Timothy The Second Epistle to Timothy is one of the three pastoral epistles traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle.. Addressed to Timothy, a fellow missionary, it is traditionally considered to be the last epistle he wrote before his death. Alth ...

Selected works

Murphy-O'Connor authored many research articles and reviews, often in '' Revue Biblique''. In addition, he authored or co-authored the books listed below. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Murphy-O'Connor interview
–

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...

, 13 April 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy-OConnor, Jerome 1935 births 2013 deaths Irish Dominicans Irish biblical scholars Roman Catholic biblical scholars New Testament scholars 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish scholars and academics People educated at Castleknock College University of Freiburg alumni École Biblique faculty