Robert Frederick Shedinger (born 23 November 1959) is an American

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Religion at

Luther College (Iowa) Luther College is a private college, private Lutheran Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Decorah, Iowa, Decorah, Iowa. Established as a Lutheran seminary in 1861 by Norwegian Americans, Norwegian immigrants, the ...

and he was the Chair of the Department of Religion from 2008-2011.

Biography

Education

Shedinger received his B.S. in Civil Engineering Technology at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

in 1982 (Graduated Magna Cum Laude). In 1994 he received his

M.Div. For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1998 Shedinger received his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Religious Studies at Temple University. From 2000, he holds his Ph.D from Temple University in Religious Studies, with his dissertation: ''Tatian and the Jewish Scriptures'' (accepted with distinction) He also was Graduate Teaching Assistant while earning his Ph.D. in Religious Studies at

Awards

Shedinger won the American Bible Society Award for Excellence in Biblical Studies

Views

His research interests revolve around the question “What is Religion?” which includes the Syriac versional tradition of the New Testament, theoretical approaches to the study of religion, Christian-Muslim relations in the contemporary world. Shedinger initiated a hypothesis in which he proposes "that the theory of

Tatian Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; ; ; ; – ) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Tatian's most influential work is the Diatessaron, a Biblical paraphrase, or "harmony", of the ...

ic dependence upon de OTP ld Testament Peshittais tenuous at best", against Jan Joosten's reaction: "Tatianic use of the OT Peshitta has been stablished more strongly that before as a viable hypothesis." William Lawrence Petersen "enderses neither position", and according to Ulrich B. Schmid this debate has not generated a true consensus on the question of Tatianic use of the Old Testament Peshitta. Shedinger has also been able to cite examples where the Shem Tob's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew coincides with many readings in the Greek

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 ...

and those found only on 𝔓⁴⁵, thus supporting

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

's thesis that the Shem Tob's text was based on an ancient Hebrew text. Additionally he finds 67 other variants among ancient Greek texts "neither the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

manuscript tradition nor the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

and Latin tradition".

Works

Thesis

Books

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Articles

References

Sources

* * * * 1959 births Living people New Testament scholars Temple University alumni Luther College (Iowa) {{US-theologian-stub