Michael F. Bird (born 18 November 1974) is an Australian

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 ...

scholar, theologian and

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

Life and career

Bird served in the Australian military, where he discovered his faith. After becoming a Christian he was firstly a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, then a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

and now an

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

. He has been called by the ecumenical media platform

Eternity Eternity, in common parlance, is an Infinity, infinite amount of time that never ends or the quality, condition or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside tim ...

a "heavy hitter" in the world of New Testament scholarship and Jesus's divinity. Bird is vice principal and lecturer in theology and New Testament at

Ridley College Ridley College may refer to * Ridley College (Melbourne), Victoria, Australia * Ridley College (Ontario), Canada See also * Ridley Hall, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK * * Ridley (disambiguation) {{schooldis ...

, having previously taught at the

Brisbane School of Theology Brisbane School of Theology (BST) is an Australian Bible college in Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland. BST is a Bible-centred, interdenominational and formational training college. It welcomes residential, non-residential, full-time and part-time s ...

and Highland Theological College. He studied at

Malyon College Malyon College, now operating as the Morling College – Brisbane Malyon Campus, is a Baptist college located in Brisbane, Queensland. The college is associated with the Queensland Baptists (Australian Baptist Ministries) in Gaythorne, Queensland ...

and the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

. He has also been a Distinguished Research Professor of Theology at

Houston Christian University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University (HBU), is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Its Cultural Arts Center houses three museums: the ...

. Bird has written a number of books, including ''The New Testament in Its World'' (2019, with

N. T. Wright Nicholas Thomas Wright (born 1 December 1948), known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham and Lord Spiritual in the UK Parliament from 200 ...

), ''Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction'' (2013) and ''The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus'' (2014). ''The Gospel of the Lord'' won the Biblical Studies section of the 2015 ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "eva ...

'' Book Awards. Bird is also the author of a fantasy novel titled ''Iskandar: And the Immortal King of Iona.'' Bird is a member of the

Evangelical Theological Society The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is a professional society of Biblical scholars, educators, pastors, and students "devoted to the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures and the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "dedicated to the oral ex ...

, 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 ...

and

Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas The Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS) is an international society of New Testament scholars. The current president is John Kloppenborg (Canada). The SNTS publishes the academic journal ''New Testament Studies Biblical studies is ...

. In November 2015, he was ordained as a priest in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

Works

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * - (forthcoming Nov. 2019) *

As editor

* *

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Michael F. 1974 births Living people Australian biblical scholars Australian Baptist theologians Australian expatriates in the United States Christian bloggers Houston Christian University faculty New Testament scholars University of Queensland alumni Australian lecturers Converts to Protestantism from atheism or agnosticism