Helen Katharine Bond (born 1968) is a British Professor of Christian Origins and

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 ...

. She has written many books related to

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

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 ...

Biography

Bond was born in 1968 and raised in the North East of England. She attended Durham High School. She read

biblical studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

at the

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, and the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. At Durham, she completed her PhD on

under the supervision of James Dunn. From 1996 to 2000 Bond taught

at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, and since 2000 has taught at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. Since 2011, Bond has served as Director of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins and, she was Head of the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh from 2018 - 2023. She currently serves as Professor of Christian Origins at the New College. She is a member of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

(

Falkirk Old Parish Church Falkirk Old & St. Modan's Parish Church, also known as "Falkirk Trinity Church", is a congregation of the Church of Scotland in Falkirk, central Scotland. The medieval old parish church is located in the centre of Falkirk, and may have been found ...

) and is married to Keith Raffan. Together, they have two children, Katriona and Scott. Bond was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(FRSE) in March 2021. Since 2023, Bond has co-hosted a successful podcast with journalist David Roos. Biblical Time Machine is a podcast with weekly episodes, discussing the social, political and theological history of the Bible and adjacent texts. Bond and Roos centre episodes around the shtick that they are travelling back in time, generally to

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

in the first century CE. They often invite expert guests to speak on different aspects of ancient history.

Reception

Bond's work has been praised by various scholars, including Craig Keener, Chris Keith, Joan E. Taylor, and Jens Schroter. Alan Kirk demurs with her views about ancient media.

Works

*1998: ''Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation'' *2004: ''Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus?'' *2007: ''Israel’s God and Rebecca’s Children: Christology and Community in Early Judaism and Christianity'' *2012: ''The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed'' *2018: ''Jesus: A Very Brief History'' *2020: ''The Bible on TV'' *2020: ''The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark's Gospel''

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Helen Living people British biblical scholars Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of St Andrews University of Tübingen alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1968 births Alumni of St John's College, Durham