Eldon Jay Epp (born 1930) is an American New Testament scholar and textual critic. Epp studied at Wheaton College (

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, 1952), Fuller Theological Seminary (

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

, 1955),

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(

Master of Sacred Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

; 1956;

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

, 1961). He taught at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

from 1962 to 1968, and at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

from 1968 to 1998. According to Jennifer Wright Knust and Tommy Wasserman, Epp has "tirelessly devoted himself to the careful reconstruction of ancient texts and their histories as well as to the transmission of knowledge about how to undertake this crucial task." Epp is also well known for arguing in his ''Junia: The First Woman Apostle'' ( Fortress Press, 2005) that Junia in Romans 16:7 was a female

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

. Epp's monograph has been influential in shifting the consensus of New Testament scholarship on this point. Epp served as President of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epp, Eldon 1930 births Living people American biblical scholars New Testament scholars Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Fuller Theological Seminary alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni University of Southern California faculty Case Western Reserve University faculty