Vernon Kay Robbins (born March 13, 1939 in Wahoo, Nebraska) is an American

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

scholar and historian of

early Christianity Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Je ...

. He is currently Winship Distinguished Research Professor of New Testament and Comparative Sacred Texts at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of h ...

, as well as visiting professor of New Testament at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

in South Africa. He is a major figure in Markan scholarship (scholarship related to the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to ...

) and is the creator and a prominent proponent of socio-rhetorical criticism in New Testament studies. Robbins obtained a B.A. from Westmar College, an M.Div. from United Theological Seminary and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He taught at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

before moving to Emory and in 1983-84 he was

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Professor at the

University of Trondheim A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', whic ...

. In 1991, Robbins founded the monograph series Emory Studies in Early Christianity. Then in 2015, he launched the Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity series with the Society of Biblical Literature Press, which contains within it Sociorhetorical Exploration Commentaries. In 2003, a

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

was published in his honor, ''Fabrics of Discourse: Essays in Honor of Vernon K. Robbins,'' edited by David B. Gowler, L. Gregory Bloomquist, and Duane F. Watson (). In 2014, Robbins was featured as one of the five pioneers of New Testament rhetorical criticism in ''Genealogies of New Testament Rhetorical Criticism'', Fortress Press ()

Works

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Feschrift

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Vernon Kay Living people New Testament scholars American biblical scholars University of Chicago Divinity School alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Emory University faculty Academic staff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology 1939 births People from Wahoo, Nebraska United Theological Seminary alumni