John Barton (theologian)

Early life and education

John Barton was born on 17 June 1948 in London, England.

Barton's degrees from Oxford are an MA, D. Phil. and D. Litt..

Following receipt of his degrees, he served as a Junior Research Fellow Merton College (1973-1974).

Academic positions

John Barton is Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, Emeritus at Oxford University and an Emeritus Fellow of Oriel College, as of 2014. After his position as a Junior Fellow at Merton (see above), Barton held the successive Oxford positions of University Lecturer in Theology (Old Testament; 1974-1989) and Reader in Biblical Studies (1989-1991), before being named to the Oriel and Laing Chair in 1991.

From 2010 to 2013 he held a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for work on a project entitled Ethics in Ancient Israel.

Additional roles

He has been a Delegate of Oxford University Press since 2005. From 2004 to 2010 he was joint editor of the Journal of Theological Studies and is one of two Anglophone editors for the German monograph series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, published in Berlin.

Ecclesiastical roles

Barton was ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1973 (and therefore is addressed, formally, using the honorific "Reverend"). From 2000 to 2005 and from 2009 to 2010 he served on the Church’s General Synod, representing the clergy of the University of Oxford. He was Canon Theologian of Winchester Cathedral from 1991 to 2004, sits on the Governing Body of Ripon College Cuddesdon, and was elected President of Modern Church in 2011. In 2013, Barton resigned from the office due to ill health, but he still serves on the editorial board of the periodical, Modern Church. Barton assists in services and other activities in the parish of Abingdon, in which he resides.

Research interests

Barton's research interests have included the Old Testament prophets, the biblical canon, biblical interpretation, Old Testament theology, as well as biblical ethics.

Awards and honours

Barton was named a Fellow of the British Academy in 2007.

Barton is a foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Barton was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the University of Bonn.

Sole authorship

1. Amos’s Oracles against the Nations (Society for Old Testament Study monograph series 6), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1980.
2. Reading the Old Testament: Method in Biblical Study, London: Darton, Longman & Todd and Philadelphia: Westminster Press 1984. Second edition with two new chapters 1996.
3. Oracles of God: Perceptions of Ancient Prophecy in Israel after the Exile, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1986 and New York: Oxford University Press 1988; second edition, 2007.
4. Love Unknown: Meditations on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, London: SPCK and Philadelphia: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989. Danish edition, 1992.
5. People of the Book? The Authority of the Bible in Christianity, London: SPCK and Philadelphia: Westminster/John Knox Press 1988. Second edition with additional Introduction, 1993; third edition with additional chapter, 2011.
6. Isaiah 1-39 (Old Testament Guides), Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1995. German edition, 2006.
7. The Spirit and the Letter: Studies in the Biblical Canon, London: SPCK 1997; American edition Holy Writings, Sacred Text, Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press 1998.
8. What is the Bible?, London: SPCK 1991. Second edition with additional chapter 1997; third edition, 2009. Spanish edition, 2004.
9. Making the Christian Bible, London: Darton, Longman & Todd 1997; American edition How the Bible came to be, Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press 1998.
10. Ethics and the Old Testament, London: SCM Press 1998; Czech edition, 2006.
11. Joel and Obadiah: A Commentary, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press 2001.
12. Understanding Old Testament Ethics, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press 2003.
13. Living Belief: Being Christian, Being Human, London: Continuum 2005.
14. The Nature of Biblical Criticism, Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox, 2007.
15. The Old Testament: Canon, Literature and Theology: Collected Essays of John Barton, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007.
16. The Theology of the Book of Amos, New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Joint authorship

1. Robert Morgan with John Barton, Biblical Interpretation (Oxford Bible), Oxford: Oxford University Press 1988.
2. John Barton and Julia Bowden, The Original Story: God, Israel and the World, London: Darton, Longman & Todd 2004; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2005.

Edited

1. Language, Theology, and the Bible: Essays in Honour of James Barr, Oxford:Oxford University Press 1994 (with S. E. Balentine).
2. After the Exile: Essays in Honour of Rex Mason, Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press 1996 (with D. J. Reimer).
3. The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998; Spanish edition, 2001; Chinese edition, 2009.
4. Offenbarung und Geschichten, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2000 (with Gerhard Sauter); English version Revelation and Story: Narrative Theology and the Centrality of Story, Aldershot: Ashgate 2000.
5. The Oxford Bible Commentary, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001 (with John Muddiman).
6. The Biblical World, London: Routledge 2002, two volumes.
7. Apocalyptic in History and Tradition, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 2003 (with Christopher Rowland).
8. Die Einheit der Schrift und die Vielfalt des Kanons/The Unity of Scripture and the Diversity of the Canon, BZNW 118, Berlin: W. de Gruyter (with M. Wolter).
9. Religious Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah, London: T & T Clark International, 2010 (with Francesca Stavrakopoulou).

Personal life

Barton lives in the parish of Abingdon.