Robert E. Van Voorst (born June 5, 1952) is an American theologian and educator.
He retired in 2018 as a Professor of New Testament Studies at
Western Theological Seminary, in
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black Ri ...
, and has published scholarly works in early Christian writings and New Testament Greek. He received his
B.A. in Religion from
Hope College
Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matricu ...
in
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River (formerly known locally as the Black Ri ...
, his
M.Div. from
Western Theological Seminary, and his
Ph.D. in
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 ...
from
Union Theological Seminary in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He has served at
Lycoming College (
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
) in Williamsport, PA, and was a
visiting professor
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
at
Westminster College,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England. He has lectured to PhD students in Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, on methods in biblical study.
Van Voorst has also served as a supply pastor at various PC (USA) churches in north-central Pennsylvania, and for twelve years as pastor at
Rochester Reformed Church
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
**City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
**HM Prison R ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
Works
Jesus Outside the New Testament
In ''Jesus Outside the New Testament'' (2000), Van Voorst starts by outlining the history of research into extra-Biblical sources for the
historical Jesus
The term "historical Jesus" refers to the reconstruction of the life and teachings of Jesus by critical historical methods, in contrast to religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived. ...
and its relation to
the hypothesis that Jesus did not exist, which he notes is generally rejected by modern scholars. He goes on to consider references to Jesus in classical writings, Jewish writings, hypothetical sources of the canonical
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
s, and extant Christian writings outside the New Testament. The book includes translations of key passages discussed, including the entire ''
Gospel of Thomas''. Van Voorst concludes that non-Christian sources provide "a small but certain corroboration of certain New Testament historical traditions on the family background, time of life, ministry, and death of Jesus", as well as "evidence of the content of Christian preaching that is independent of the New Testament", while extra-biblical Christian sources give access to "some important information about the earliest traditions on Jesus". However, New Testament sources remain central for "both the main lines and the details about Jesus' life and teaching".
Allen Kerkeslager called the book a "marvelous achievement" and commended its clear organization. He criticised Van Voorst for using divergences from the canonical Gospels as evidence against the historical value of the
New Testament apocrypha, but noted that the author usually offered additional grounds for his conclusions.
Darrell L. Bock called the book "an excellent up-to-date survey", "careful and thorough". Helen E. Bond considered Van Voorst's treatment of the New Testament apocrypha particularly strong, while Curt Niccum found his book generally useful but least good on Jewish literature. G. Van Belle criticised Van Voorst's assignment of to the
Signs Gospel against the verdict of two authors cited in the book.
Van Voorst's attitude towards the New Testament provoked divergent judgments. Thomas O'Loughlin, while concluding that the book was up-to-date and generally balanced, thought that an
apologetic agenda had led Van Voorst to place the New Testament "almost outside of history" and to simplistically classify non-canonical Christian texts as "
gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...
". On the other hand, some reviewers in Evangelical journals criticised what they saw as an over-skeptical attitude towards the New Testament,
in one case recommending works by
F. F. Bruce and
Gary Habermas as superior in this respect.
[
]
Bibliography
* ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence'' (2000)
* ''Anthology of World Scriptures'' (ninth edition, 2018)
* ''Reading the New Testament Today'' (2004)
* ''Building Your New Testament Greek Vocabulary (Resources for Biblical Study)'' (third edition, 2001)
* ''Readings in Christianity'' (3rd Edition) (2005)
* ''Anthology of Asian Scriptures'' (2000)
* ''The Death Of Jesus In Early Christianity ''with John T. Carroll, Joel B. Green, and Joel Marcus. (1995)
* ''The Ascents of James: History and Theology of a Jewish-Christian Community'' (Dissertation Series * (Society of Biblical Literature)) (1989)
* "RELG: World" (4th edition, 2019)
*''Commonly Misunderstood Verses in the Bible: What They Really Mean'' (2017)
References
Further reading
* Houlden, James Leslie. 2003. ''Jesus in history, thought, and culture: an encyclopedia''. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio. p 660. Discusses ''Jesus Outside the New Testament''.
*Kelley, Nicole. 2006.'' Knowledge and religious authority in the Pseudo-Clementines: situating the Recognitions in fourth-century Syria.'' Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 213. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. p 4. Discusses ''The Ascents of James''.
*McClymond, Michael James. 2004. ''Familiar stranger: an introduction to Jesus of Nazareth''.Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. Discusses ''Jesus Outside the New Testament''.
* Painter, John. 1999. ''Just James: the brother of Jesus in history and tradition''. Studies on personalities of the New Testament. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. pp 194–98. Discusses ''The Ascents of James''.
*Carrier, Richard. 2014.'' On the Historicity of Jesus.'
Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Voorst, Robert E.
1952 births
Academics of Westminster College, Oxford
American religion academics
Critics of the Christ myth theory
Hope College alumni
Living people
Lycoming College faculty
Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders
Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni
Western Theological Seminary alumni
Western Theological Seminary faculty