Robert Doran (born 1940) is a scholar of religion, particularly

early Christianity 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 ...

and

Hellenistic Judaism Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were A ...

. He held a position of professor of Religion and European Studies at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

in Massachusetts and took

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

status in 2020. At Amherst, he had the

named chair A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are o ...

Samuel Williston Samuel Williston (September 24, 1861 – February 18, 1963) was an American lawyer and law professor who authored an influential treatise on contracts. Early life, education and family Williston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to a ...

Professor of Greek and Hebrew. His areas of research include the book 2 Maccabees, which he has published several works and commentaries on, as well as Syrian Christianity including the saint

Simeon Stylites Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܕܐܣܛܘܢܐ ', Koine Greek ', ar, سمعان العمودي ' (c. 390 – 2 September 459) was a Syrian Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living 37 years on a smal ...

and the

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

n community. He has also published on the lost works of Hellenistic era Jewish writers and historians such as Aristeas the Exegete, Pseudo-Eupolemus,

Cleodemus Malchus Cleodemus Malchus ( fl. 200 BCE) was a Jewish writer of whom only a few lines survive. He connects the inhabitants of Syria and North Africa with Abraham by identifying them as descendants of three sons whom Abraham had by Keturah: Apheran (the to ...

, and Pseudo-Hecataeus. He has also served as an editor at

Catholic Biblical Quarterly The ''Catholic Biblical Quarterly'' is a refereed peer-reviewed theology journal published by the Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA) (CBA) in January, April, July, and October. It was established in 1939 and its circulation in 2010 w ...

Personal life

Doran earned his

Doctorate of Theology 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 Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

where he studied under

John Strugnell John Strugnell (May 25, 1930, Barnet, Hertfordshire, England – November 30, 2007, Boston, Massachusetts) became, at 23, the youngest member of the team of scholars led by Roland de Vaux, formed in 1954 to edit the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jeru ...

among others. Doran's wife, Susan Niditch, is also a professor of Religion at Amherst College and also attended Harvard; they were both appointed to tenure-track positions at Amherst in 1978.

Works

;Books * * * * * ;Selected sections in larger works * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doran, Robert Living people 1940 births Amherst College faculty Harvard Divinity School alumni Christian scholars