Robert E. Van Voorst (born June 5, 1952) is an American theologian and educator. He retired in 2018 as a Professor of New Testament Studies at

Western Theological Seminary Western Theological Seminary (WTS) is a private seminary located in Holland, Michigan. Established in 1866, it is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States ...

, in

Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa and Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in the West Michigan, western region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula, the city is si ...

, and has published scholarly works in early Christian writings and New Testament Greek. He received his B.A. in Religion from Hope College in

, his M.Div. from

, and his Ph.D. in

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 ...

from Union Theological Seminary in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He has served at Lycoming College (

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

) in Williamsport, PA, and was a visiting professor at Westminster College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England. He has lectured to PhD students in Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, on methods in biblical study. Van Voorst has also served as a supply pastor at various PC (USA) churches in north-central Pennsylvania, and for twelve years as pastor at Rochester Reformed Church, New York.

Works

Jesus Outside the New Testament

In ''Jesus Outside the New Testament'' (2000), Van Voorst starts by outlining the history of research into extra-Biblical sources for the

historical Jesus The term ''historical Jesus'' refers to the life and teachings of Jesus as interpreted through critical historical methods, in contrast to what are traditionally religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural context ...

and its relation to the hypothesis that Jesus did not exist, which he notes is generally rejected by modern scholars. He goes on to consider references to Jesus in classical writings, Jewish writings, hypothetical sources of the canonical

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

s, and extant Christian writings outside the New Testament. The book includes translations of key passages discussed, including the entire ''

Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works ...

''. Van Voorst concludes that non-Christian sources provide "a small but certain corroboration of certain New Testament historical traditions on the family background, time of life, ministry, and death of Jesus", as well as "evidence of the content of Christian preaching that is independent of the New Testament", while extra-biblical Christian sources give access to "some important information about the earliest traditions on Jesus". However, New Testament sources remain central for "both the main lines and the details about Jesus' life and teaching". Allen Kerkeslager called the book a "marvelous achievement" and commended its clear organization. He criticised Van Voorst for using divergences from the canonical Gospels as evidence against the historical value of the New Testament apocrypha, but noted that the author usually offered additional grounds for his conclusions. Darrell L. Bock called the book "an excellent up-to-date survey", "careful and thorough". Helen E. Bond considered Van Voorst's treatment of the New Testament apocrypha particularly strong, while Curt Niccum found his book generally useful but least good on Jewish literature. G. Van Belle criticised Van Voorst's assignment of to the Signs Gospel against the verdict of two authors cited in the book. Van Voorst's attitude towards the New Testament provoked divergent judgments. Thomas O'Loughlin, while concluding that the book was up-to-date and generally balanced, thought that an apologetic agenda had led Van Voorst to place the New Testament "almost outside of history" and to simplistically classify non-canonical Christian texts as "

gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

". On the other hand, some reviewers in Evangelical journals criticised what they saw as an over-skeptical attitude towards the New Testament, in one case recommending works by

F. F. Bruce Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990) was a Scottish Evangelicalism, evangelical scholar, author and educator who was Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester from 1959 until 1 ...

and Gary Habermas as superior in this respect.

Bibliography

* ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence'' (2000) * ''Anthology of World Scriptures'' (ninth edition, 2018) * ''Reading the New Testament Today'' (2004) * ''Building Your New Testament Greek Vocabulary (Resources for Biblical Study)'' (third edition, 2001) * ''Readings in Christianity'' (3rd Edition) (2005) * ''Anthology of Asian Scriptures'' (2000) * ''The Death Of Jesus In Early Christianity ''with John T. Carroll, Joel B. Green, and Joel Marcus. (1995) * ''The Ascents of James: History and Theology of a Jewish-Christian Community'' (Dissertation Series * (Society of Biblical Literature)) (1989) * "RELG: World" (4th edition, 2019) *''Commonly Misunderstood Verses in the Bible: What They Really Mean'' (2017)

Works

Jesus Outside the New Testament

Bibliography

References

Further reading