Richard Ivan Pervo (May 11, 1942 – May 19, 2017) was an American

biblical scholar 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 Fo ...

, former

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...

priest, and Fellow of the

Westar Institute The Westar Institute, founded by Robert W. Funk in 1985, is a member-supported nonprofit educational institute with a twofold mission: * To foster collaborative, cumulative research in religious studies * To communicate the results of the scholar ...

. He was best known for his works on the

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 ...

book of ''

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 ...

''. In 2001, Pervo was convicted for possession of

child sexual abuse material Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a chi ...

Biography

Pervo was born in

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland, Greater Clevelan ...

, the son of Ivan Pervo and Elizabeth Kline. He married Karen E. Moreland on April 2, 1967. Pervo received his undergraduate degree from

Concordia Senior College Concordia Senior College was a liberal arts college located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). It was founded in 1957 and closed in 1977. The senior college was a new type of institution for th ...

in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1964. He received a Bachelor of Divinity at the

Episcopal Divinity School The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is a theological school in New York City that trains students for service with the Episcopal Church. It is affiliated with the Union Theological Seminary. Students who enroll in the EDS at Union Anglican st ...

of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and earned his

Th.D. Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1979. A revised version of his dissertation was published in 1987 as ''Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles''. Pervo died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

on May 19, 2017.

Career

Pervo taught at

Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (SWTS) was a seminary of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, located in Evanston, Illinois. It ceased operations as a residential seminary granting the Master of Divinity degree in May 201 ...

(1975–1999) and as professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

(1999–2001). He served as an

Episcopalian Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...

priest until 2003. 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 ...

in recognition of his scholarship was published posthumously by

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 ...

in late 2017.

Criminal conviction

In February 2001, Pervo was arrested after investigators found thousands of images of child pornography on his work computer at the

. In May he pleaded guilty to five counts of possession and one count of distribution of child pornography. He was sentenced to one year in a state workhouse and eight years

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. He formally resigned from the University of Minnesota as of June 2001, having been suspended since his arrest. After serving his sentence he continued to publish theological works as an

independent 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 researcher ...

and Fellow of the

, and was recognized as an authority on the canonical and non-canonical books of

Acts 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 message ...

Selected works

* ''Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles'' (1987) * ''Luke's Story of Paul'' (1990) * ''Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts'' (with Mikael C. Parsons) (1993) *
Romancing an Oft-Neglected Stone: The Pastoral Epistles and The Epistolary Novel
(1994) ''Journal of the Higher Criticism,'' 1 (Fall 1994), 25-47. * ''Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists'' (2006) * ''Acts: A Commentary'' (2008) * ''The Mystery of Acts: Unravelling its Story'' (2008) * ''The Making of Paul: Constructions of the Apostle in Early Christianity'' (2010) * ''The Acts of Paul: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary'' (2014) * ''The Gospel of Luke'' (2014) * ''The Acts of John'' (2015) * ''The Pastorals and Polycarp'' (2016)

Notes

References

External links

Profile at Westar Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pervo, Richard 1942 births 2017 deaths Deaths from leukemia New Testament scholars American biblical scholars American people convicted of child pornography offenses Harvard Divinity School alumni Episcopal Divinity School alumni American members of the clergy convicted of crimes Members of the Jesus Seminar