Jason David BeDuhn (born 1963) is an American historian of religion and culture, currently Professor of Religious Studies at

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

, and former chair of the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion.

Education

BeDuhn holds a B.A. in Religious studies from the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, an M.T.S. in New Testament and Christian Origins from

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

, and a Ph.D. in the Comparative Study of Religions from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

Research

Manichaeism and Augustine

Much of BeDuhn's published research relates to

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

, particularly its disciplinary and ritual systems, but also its role as a catalyst in religious history, as well as its distinctive interpretation of Christian traditions related to the teachings of Jesus and Paul. BeDuhn considers that the conversion of

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

from Manichaeism to

Nicene Christianity Nicene Christianity includes those Christian denominations that adhere to the teaching of the Nicene Creed, which was formulated at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and amended at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381. It encompas ...

was not a sudden act but a life-long transformation, with the narrative we now have being the product of Augustine's own idealized retrospect. BeDuhn roots Augustine's dissatisfaction with the Manichaean faith in its practice-focused way of life and external social pressures leading him towards

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

. The 383 AD law ordered by Flavius Hypatius that condemned anyone who converted from Christianity to

Paganism Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

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 ...

, or

is cited as one of these strong social pressures.

Marcionite priority

Beginning with his book ''The First New Testament: Marcion's Scriptural Canon'', BeDuhn has stated that the

Gospel of Marcion The Gospel of Marcion, called by its adherents the Gospel of the Lord, or more commonly the Gospel, was a text used by the mid-2nd-century Christian teacher Marcion of Sinope to the exclusion of the other gospels. The majority of scholars agree t ...

(called simply 'The Gospel' by adherents of

Marcionism Marcionism was an Early Christianity, early Christian Dualistic cosmology, dualistic belief system that originated with the teachings of Marcion of Sinope in Rome around 144 AD. Marcion was an Diversity in early Christian theology, early Chr ...

) was not produced nor adapted by

Marcion of Sinope Marcion of Sinope (; ; ) was a theologian in early Christianity. Marcion preached that God had sent Jesus Christ, who was distinct from the "vengeful" God ( Demiurge) who had created the world. He considered himself a follower of Paul the Apost ...

, but instead adopted by him from a pre-existing gospel text from which he says the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

is also derived. BeDuhn suggests that Luke may be a post-Marcion redaction, but maintains a form of the

two-source hypothesis The two-source hypothesis (or 2SH) is an explanation for the synoptic problem, the pattern of similarities and differences between the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It posits that the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke were base ...

, with Marcion's Gospel interchanged with Luke as the product of a combination of

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and Q. This differs slightly from Matthias Klinghardt's view that Marcion's gospel was based on the Gospel of Mark, with the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

based on Mark and Marcion, and the Gospel of Luke expanding on Marcion with reference to Matthew and Mark. These views contrast with assertions of some

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...

and the belief of some biblical scholars such as

Bruce Metzger Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of th ...

and

Bart Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born October 5, 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books ...

that Marcion redacted the Gospel of Luke in accordance with his personal theology. Theologian

Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...

also accepted the view of the Church Fathers that Marcion wished to "purify" the Evangelion to an original state given by Christ and defy the fabricated Gospel of Luke, all without appealing to

revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

.Adolf von Harnack: ''Marcion: The Gospel of the Alien God'' (1924) translated by John E. Steely and Lyle D. Bierma

Projects

BeDuhn has been involved in a collaborative project to edit and translate an ancient Coptic Manichaean manuscript with funding from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

and the Australian Research Council.

Awards

* BeDuhn won the Best First Book Award from the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profess ...

in 2001 for his book ''The Manichaean Body in Discipline and Ritual'', notable for its analysis of religions as goal-oriented systems of practice rationalized within particular models of reality. * He was named a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

in 2004.

Bibliography

Thesis

Books authored

In 2010 and 2013, BeDuhn published a two-part work entitled ''Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma'' in which he considers "the deep imprint of

Manicheanism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

". * * * * * * *

Books edited

* 1997 with Paul Mirecki: ''Emerging from Darkness: Studies in the Recovery of Manichaean Sources.'' Leiden: E. J. Brill. * 2001 with Paul Mirecki: ''The Light and the Darkness: Studies in Manichaeism and its World''. Leiden: E. J. Brill. * 2007 with Paul Mirecki: ''Frontiers of Faith: The Christian-Manichaean Encounter in the Acts of Archelaus''. Leiden: E. J. Brill. * 2009 ''New Light on Manichaeism: Papers from the 6th International Meeting of the IAMS''. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

References

Sources

* "About the Author," ''Truth in Translation'', p. 200. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beduhn, Jason Living people American theologians Harvard Divinity School alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Northern Arizona University faculty 1963 births Place of birth missing (living people) Marcionism Members of the Jesus Seminar University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni Scholars of Manichaeism