Bruce D. Chilton (born September 27, 1949 in Roslyn, NY) is an American scholar of

early Christianity Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the History of Christianity, historical era of the Christianity, Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Spread of Christianity, Christian ...

and

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

, and an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

priest. He is Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

, formerly Lillian Claus Professor of

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, and Rector of the Church of St John the Evangelist He holds a PhD in New Testament from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

( St. John's College). He has previously held academic positions at the Universities of Cambridge, Sheffield, and Münster. He wrote the first critical commentary on the

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

version of

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

(''The Isaiah

Targum A targum (, ''interpretation'', ''translation'', ''version''; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ) that a professional translator ( ''mǝṯurgǝmān'') would give in the common language o ...

'', 1987), as well as academic studies that analyze Jesus in his Judaic context (''A Galilean Rabbi and His Bible'', 1984; ''The Temple of Jesus'', 1992; ''Pure Kingdom'', 1996), and explain the Bible critically (''Redeeming Time: The Wisdom of Ancient Jewish and Christian Festal Calendars'', 2002; ''The Cambridge Companion to the Bible'', 2007). He founded two academic periodicals, Journal for the Study of the New Testament and The Bulletin for Biblical Research. Chilton was awarded the

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

degree ''honoris causa'' by

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating ...

in 2011. He has also been active in the ministry of the Episcopal Church, and is Rector of the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Barrytown, New York. His popular books have been widely reviewed. ''Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography'' showed Jesus' development through the environments that proved formative influences on him. Those environments, illuminated by archaeology and by historical sources, include: (1) rural Jewish

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

, (2) the movement of

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, (3) the towns Jesus encountered as a rabbi, (4) the political strategy of

Herod Antipas Herod Antipas (, ''Hērṓidēs Antípas''; ) was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a s ...

, and (5) deep controversy concerning the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

. Bruce and his wife, Odile, live in

Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Annandale-on-Hudson is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States, located in the Hudson Valley town of Red Hook, New York, Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston, New York, Kingston. The hamlet consists main ...

. They are the parents of two sons.

Works

Popular books

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Academic books

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Edited by

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Chapters

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilton, Bruce 1949 births American academic journal editors Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge American biblical scholars Bard College faculty Living people New Testament scholars Yale University faculty Members of the Jesus Seminar