John Dickson (author)
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John Dickson (born 1967) is an Australian author, clergyman and historian of the ancient world, largely focusing on
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 Jewis ...
and
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
. He currently teaches at the graduate school of Wheaton College (Illinois).


Early life

Dickson was educated at Mosman High School, Sydney, in what he describes as "a typical Aussie home". His family were not 'religious' and rarely discussed spiritual matters. Dickson recalls that he had "never been inside a church before he was sixteen". On 12 October 1976, Dickson's father died in the Indian Airlines Flight 171 disaster at Bombay Airport. Though only nine, the event raised philosophical questions, asking his mother, “Why did God let Dad's plane crash?” In high school, Dickson was "low performer". He attended Christian Scripture Class (SRE) in the pursuit of a "pleasant way to pass half an hour" and to "ask questions to make the volunteers look stupid". By 15, he had become intrigued by the
Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popul ...
, particularly through a teacher who "presented
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
in an articulate, funny and intelligent way". He became strongly interested in historical accounts of Jesus Christ, becoming, a “fan of Jesus, and then at 16 a follower of Jesus.". Dickson was the lead singer of the Christian rock band "In The Silence" through the late 1980s and early 90s and would play up to six shows a week. The band's objective was to "play in pubs and clubs and talk about our faith between songs". Although their lengthy song introductions were not always well received, people would "generally just put up with their Christian spiels".


Education

Dickson has an Honours degree in
Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and a PhD in
Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
, and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University. He also teaches a course on the Historical Jesus for the Department of Jewish Studies at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...
, is a visiting academic of the
Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford The Faculty of Classics, previously the Faculty of Literae Humaniores, is a subdivision of the University of Oxford concerned with the teaching and research of classics. The teaching of classics at Oxford has been going on for 900 years, and was ...
, and in 2019 was appointed as the Distinguished Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Public Christianity at Ridley College in Melbourne.


Career

On concluding his years of touring and performance, Dickson's work has been marked by pastoral ministry, media engagement and writing. Dickson was ordained into the
Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...
, going on to serve in several Sydney churches. He served as the senior minister of St Andrew's Anglican Church, Roseville, from 2009 to 2019. As his pastoral ministry began, Dickson began writing books. Short, evangelistic works at first, such as ''A Sneaking Suspicion (1995)'' and the award-winning ''Simply Christianity: Beyond Religion''. Two of his books – ''The Christ Files'' and ''Life of Jesus'' – became nationally broadcast documentaries. Dickson's output, described as "prolific", has occasionally been surrounded by controversy, both inside and outside the church. In 2012, Dickson wrote ''Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons''. In it, he argued that 1 Timothy 2:12 ("I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man") does not mean that women cannot give sermons today, since the "teaching" referred to meant "preserving and laying down the traditions handed on by the apostles", and that does not happen in most sermons today.
Matthias Media Matthias Media is an Australian evangelical Christian publisher. The business was founded in 1988, and grew out of the ministry of Phillip Jensen and editor Tony Payne at St Matthias, Centennial Park, Sydney under the name St Matthias Press and T ...
published a volume of essays in response to Dickson's book: ''Women, Sermons and the Bible: Essays interacting with John Dickson's Hearing Her Voice''. On 6 May 2015, Dickson's book ''A Sneaking Suspicion'' (1995) was banned from state schools by the
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
Department of Education and Communities on the basis of a "potential risk to students in the delivery of this material, if not taught sensitively and in an age appropriate manner." The ban was lifted 18 May 2015. Dickson frequently produces opinion pieces, such as for Australia's ABC. In one column he offered to eat a page out of his Bible “if someone could find a full Professor of Ancient History, Classics or New Testament in any real university in the world who argues that Jesus never lived." As of 2021 he claims his personal copy of the scriptures remains safe. In 2018, Dickson announced that he was stepping down from church ministry to concentrate on public engagement. In 2007, Dickson became founding director of the Centre for Public Christianity and was there until 2019. In September 2019, he created "Undeceptions", a media and podcast platform. It was the leading religious podcast in Australia, UK and Ireland by 2020. In 2022, Undeceptions became a podcast network with existing podcast With All Due Respect (hosted by Michael Jensen and Megan Powell du Toit) joining, and new podcast Small Wonders (hosted by Laurel Moffatt) starting. Dickson has been a
fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of Macquarie's Department of Ancient History (2004–17), visiting academic of the
Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford The Faculty of Classics, previously the Faculty of Literae Humaniores, is a subdivision of the University of Oxford concerned with the teaching and research of classics. The teaching of classics at Oxford has been going on for 900 years, and was ...
in the UK (2017–2020) and is distinguished fellow and senior lecturer in Public Christianity at Ridley College (Melbourne), which was announced in March 2019. Wheaton College in Illinois appointed Dickson as its first Jean Kvamme Distinguished Professor of Biblical Evangelism and Distinguished Scholar in Public Christianity in 2022.


Books

*''The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission: Promoting the Gospel with More Than Our Lips'' (
Zondervan Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publ ...
) *''Promoting the Gospel: the Whole of Life for the Cause of Christ'' (Aquila) *''If I Were God, I'd End All the Pain'' (Matthias Media, 2001) *''If I Were God, I'd Make Myself Clearer'' (Matthias Media) *''Simply Christianity: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Faith'' (Matthias Media) Australian Christian Book of the Year, 2000 *''A Spectator's Guide to World Religions: An Introduction to the Big Five'' (Blue Bottle Books) Australian Christian Book of the Year, 2005 *''The Christ Files: How Historians Know What They Know about Jesus'' (2006, Blue Bottle Books) *''James: the Wisdom of the Brother of Jesus'' (Aquila, 2006) *''Vital Signs: the Wisdom of James for a Life of Faith'' (Aquila), with Simon Smart *''666 and All That: The Truth About the Future'' (Aquila), with Greg Clarke *''Jesus: A Short Life'' (Lion, 2008) *''A Spectator's Guide to Jesus: An Introduction to the Man from Nazareth'' (2008, Blue Bottle Books) *''Mission-Commitment in Ancient Judaism and in the Pauline Communities'' (Paul Mohr Verlag) *''Life of Jesus: Who He Is and Why He Matters'' (Zondervan, 2010) *''Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Woman Giving Sermons'' (Zondervan, 2014) *''A Doubter's Guide to the Bible: Inside History's bestseller for believers and skeptics'' (Zondervan, 2015) *''A Doubter's Guide to the Ten Commandments: How, for better or worse, our ideas about the good life come from Moses and Jesus'' (Zondervan, 2016) *''Humilitas: A Lost Key to Life, Love, and Leadership'' (Zondervan, 2018) *''A Doubter's Guide to Jesus: An introduction to the man from Nazareth for believers and sceptics'' (Zondervan, 2018) *''Is Jesus History?'' (Good Book Company, 2019) * ;Young readers *''A Hell of a Life: From Manger to Megastar'' (Matthias Media) *''Hanging in There'' (Matthias Media) *''A Sneaking Suspicion'' (Matthias Media)


References


External links

*
Centre for Public Christianity

UndeceptionsReview of ''Mission-Commitment...'' from the ''Journal for the Study of the New Testament''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, John 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian writers Australian Anglican priests Australian Christian theologians Australian historians Australian musicians Christian writers Critics of the Christ myth theory Living people Macquarie University alumni Moore Theological College alumni 1967 births