Rev. Dr John T. Squires BA(Hons) BD(Hons) Syd MA PhD Yale

 

PHONE         61 2 8838 8930

 

FAX                61 2 96836617

 

EMAIL            jsquires@nsw.uca.org.au

 

Vice-Principal and Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies: New Testament,

United Theological College

Senior Academic Associate, School of Theology, Charles Sturt University

Researcher, Public and Contextual Theology Strategic Research Centre,

Charles Sturt University

  

ABOUT ME

I was a student at United Theological College in the late 1970s and was ordained as a Minister of the Word in the Uniting Church in Australia in 1980. I then served in a Uniting Church parish in the Illawarra region. In the mid 1980s I undertook doctoral studies at Yale University in the USA; whilst there, I also served as minister to a small rural congregation in the United Methodist Church, and associate minister in a suburban congregation of the United Churches of Christ.

 

On return to NSW I served in a Uniting Church parish in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and taught Biblical Studies part-time at Sydney University. I have been a member of the Faculty of UTC since 1990. I have a special interest in Jewish-Christian relationships and am a member of the Uniting Church’s national dialogue group with the Jewish community.

 

I have supervised a number of research students, working on topics such as the drama of Mark’s Gospel; Pentecostal hermeneutics; “righteousness” in Matthew’s Gospel; reading the letters of John intertextually with the Gospel of John; enthusiasm in Corinth; developing a theology of forgiveness from the Synoptic Gospels; Paul’s missionary strategy in the context of his time; and the place of the ‘outsider’ in Luke-Acts in relation to contemporary interfaith relations.

 

I am married to Elizabeth Raine, who is also a Uniting Church minister and who also teaches biblical studies at UTC. I share with Elizabeth an interest in music, from contemporary, classical, and also ancient periods. Between us, we play various musical instruments and enjoy attending concerts and the ballet. Together, we have explored the music of ancient Semitic and Hellenistic societies and led workshops in which we use the music of the time of Jesus as a way to evoke life in the first century. We have also developed and presented Biblical Cultural Days, in which participants eat, drink, listen, study, debate, and enter into the experience of life in biblical times. The cultural learnings which take place in such days assist participants to read the scriptures in ways that are more attuned to their historical and cultural settings.

 

I enjoy keeping up with current affairs, assorted reading, and listening to a range of music. I especially enjoy researching family trees and, in conjunction with my wife, Elizabeth, have produced a series of books on various branches of our respective ancestries. Between us, we have three convict ancestors from the early days of colonial New South Wales (but believe there may be more lurking undiscovered in the family tree) as well as many other interesting and fascinating ancestors, both in Australia as well those we have traced back to England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and France!

  

TEACHING AREA

 

I teach in the area of Biblical Studies and have a particular responsibility for courses in the New Testament and in Koine Greek. I approach my teaching with a particular interest in locating the New Testament books within the literary, cultural, historical and social context of the time in which they were written—the Hellenistic period—and in relation to the ‘parent religion’ of Christianity—Second Temple Judaism and the early form of its offspring, Rabbinic Judaism. I see the study of biblical texts as an enterprise that is both cross-cultural in nature and involved with interfaith relationships, as we read texts from times and places and peoples so different from our own. This means that study of the Bible also has relevance for the way we engage in our own faith in our own times amongst our own peoples.

 

SUBJECTS I TEACH REGULARLY

Undergraduate teaching (BTh) 

Introduction to New Testament Studies: This is an introductory subject exploring issues involved in interpreting the Bible and explaining the range of methods that have been developed to draw out the meaning and significance of the biblical text. The course covers issues usually described as “exegesis” and “hermeneutics”, as well as exploring issues involved in asserting the authority of the Bible. It includes a brief survey of the literature and historical context of the New Testament.

 

Matthew and Mark; The Letters of Paul; Luke-Acts; The Johannine Literature: This is a parallel collection of self-standing courses which develop the exegetical skills of students with a focus on the particular literary, historical, cultural and religious character of the particular texts under scrutiny. Each has its own distinctive character.  For instance, we explore the development of stories about Jesus and the process of forming the Gospels in Matthew and Mark; we investigate situations faced by Paul through dramatic re-enacment; we read Luke and Acts alongside of histories written by others at that time; we investigate the love-hate relationship between Jews and Christians that emerges in the Gospel of John; we enter into the bizarre world of apocalyptic in Revelation.

 

Judaism and Early Christianity: In this subject we review the development of Judaism in the later Second Temple period, through into the era of the early church, from Jesus to Paul, through the first few centuries, into the early ‘Christendom’ period—but looking particularly at the way that the early Christians related to, and regarded, the Jewish people. Thus, it is a course which reads the fundamental texts of the church with an eye to the controversy and polemic of the day, which both shaped those texts and set a certain direction in Christian theology. This course involves visiting a Holocaust Museum and a synagogue worship service, and then reflecting on how Christians and Jews might relate to one another today.

 

Introductory Greek; Intermediate Greek; Advanced Greek: a series of courses which enable students to learn the fundamentals of the language in which the New Testament was written, and ultimately to read sections of the NT from the original language. The courses are cumulative in structure (you need to do Intro before Inter, and Inter before Advanced!).

 Graduate teaching (MA, MTh, BTh(Hons), MMin) 

Advanced Study in New Testament: Each semester I offer a subject which allows for students to undertake advanced New Testament study, in an area of specialization that is chosen to sit alongside the main exegesis subject I am teaching. The subject material for the assessment tasks in this subject are negotiated with the students to ensure a close fit with the interests of those enrolled. The emphasis is on going beyond ‘introductory’ matters in order to develop advanced exegetical and hermeneutical understandings.

 

Scripture, Culture and Context: For the MA in Public and Contextual Theology, this core subject introduces students to the range of historical-critical methods which have been developed for reading the scriptures, as well as exploring a number of more recently-developed approaches in post-colonial and post-modern reading strategies. The emphasis is upon reading the text with an awareness of the culture and context of the texts themselves, as well as the culture and context of the reader. Students in this subject will develop their own “hermeneutical map” to inform their own professional practice.

 

Mark in the Marketplace: The socio-political dimension of the earliest Gospel is the focus of this subject, which is also offered within the MA in Public and Contextual Theology. What were the politics of Jesus? How did he express them in the public arena of his day? How was his ministry remembered by the writer of this Gospel? What patterns does it set and what problems does it pose for the contemporary Christian?

 

Contemporary Approaches to Biblical Studies: For students wishing to proceed to a higher degree in theology by research, this subject provides an in-depth study of methods of interpretation relevant for biblical studies, which vary in their nature: historical-critical, theological, sociological, literary, and ideological. The assessment tasks enable students to explore a range of hermeneutical tools and to dig deep into specific biblical texts. This subject can be taken by students for the BTh(Hons), MTh and MMin degrees.

  

CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

The partings of the ways between synagogue and church

 

The portrayal of God in Romans 9-11 in light of current questions in Jewish-Christian dialogue

 

The Way of Jesus, an introductory-level study of all books of the New Testament

  

CURRENT SUPERVISION

One PhD candidate and two MTh(Hons) candidates

 

PUBLICATIONS

Monographs

The plan of God in Luke-Acts            Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 76, Cambridge University Press, 1993

 

Steps on the Way: Collected Essays on the partings of the ways, United Theological College, 1996

 

At table with Luke, UTC Bible Studies no.2; Sydney: UTC Publications, 2000

 

Commentary

“The Acts of the Apostles”, in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible 2000,

ed. J. Rogerson and J.D.G. Dunn; Eerdmans, forthcoming.

Collected Volume

Editor, with William W. Emilsen, of Prayer and Thanksgiving: essays in honour of  Graham Hughes (ed. W.W. Emilsen and J.T. Squires; UTC Publications, 2003)

 

 

Articles

“Hellenistic Historiography and Philosophy in Josephus' account of Jewish History”,            Menorah 4 (1990) 148-157

 

“Early Christian Understanding of the Four Evangelists' Reasons for Writing their Gospels”, Interchange 50 (1993) 34-38

 

“The Authority of the Bible in Ethical Decision-Making”,

 

Trinity Occasional Papers 13 (1994) 32-40

 

“In the Shadow of the Shoah”, Ministry vol.4 no.3 (1994) pages 4-6

 

“The Mission Myth” (with Rev. E. Raine), Uniting Church Studies 3 (1997) 30-47

 

“The Function of Acts 8:4-12:25”, New Testament Studies 44 (1998) 608-617

 

“The plan of God in Acts”, pp.19-39 in Witness to the Gospel: the Theology of the Book of Acts             (ed. I.H. Marshall and D. Peterson), Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998

 

“Fate and Freewill in Hellenistic Histories and Luke-Acts”, pp.131-137 in Ancient History in the Modern University vol.2 (ed. T.W. Hillard, R.A.Kearsley, C.E.V. Nixon, A.M. Nobbs), Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998

 

“Peter at Pentecost: a model for leadership in the Christian community”,

 

Uniting Church Studies 6 (2000) 20-34

 

“Prayers and Thanksgivings in Romans”, in Prayer and Thanksgiving: essays in honour of  Graham Hughes (ed. W.W. Emilsen and J.T. Squires; UTC Publications,2003)

 

“Singing, Streaking, Shocking: reading the New Testament with a youth hermeneutic”, Uniting Church Studies 10 (2004) 36—52

 

 “The Gospel according to Luke”, in Cambridge Companion to the Gospels (ed. S.C. Barton; Cambridge University Press, 2006)

 

 

Book Reviews

Over the years I have reviewed books in many journals and magazines such as Journey; Insights; Pacifica; Uniting Church Studies; Gesher; Australian Biblical Review.

 

 

CONFERENCES

I regularly attend the annual conference of the Society for the Study of Early Christianity at Macquarie University. I have also attended conferences held by Australian and New Zealand Society for Theological Studies, Australian Association for the Study of Religion, Council of Christians and Jews (NSW), Society of Biblical Literature (USA), British New Testament Conference, and other ad hoc conferences. I aim to deliver between one and three conference papers each year.

 

 

  

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MY FAVOURITE LINKS

  

The starting point on the web for thinking about the New Testament is the New Testament Gateway:

 

http://www.ntgateway.com

 

 

There is a wealth of information on the New Testament and the Revised Common Lectionary on the website of Bill Loader, at

 

http://www.staff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/home.html

 

 

A paperback version of my monograph on Luke-Acts has just been issued.

 

There is information about it at

 

http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521616123   

 

 

My commentary on Acts is in the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible,

 

published in 2003, at

 

http://www.eerdmans.com/shop/product.asp?p_key=0802837115  

 

 

There are numerous resources on Jewish-Christian relations at

 

http://www.jcrelations.net/   

 

 

The Uniting Church in Australia produced a statement on this issue in 1997.

 

It can be found at http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?id=996  

 

 

I belong to the Public and Contextual Theology research centre of Charles Sturt University, found at

 

http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/theology/pact/  

 

 

I often use the website for the Camden Theological Library--

 

even though the library is only a minute's walk from my office!

 

Click here to go to the library home page

 

 

I regularly check news from the Uniting Church at http://uca.org.au/  

 

 

My favourite sites for pursuing family history research are

 

http://www.sag.org.au/  

 

http://www.familysearch.org/  

 

http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/familyHistory/searchHistoricalRecords.htm  

 

http://www.genuki.org.uk/

  

Books	The plan of God in Luke-Acts. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 76, Cambridge University Press, 1993.Steps on the Way: Collected Essays on the partings of the ways. Sydney: United Theological College, 1996.At table with Luke. UTC Bible Studies no.2; Sydney: UTC Publications, 2000.The Way of Jesus. An introduction to the books of the New Testament. Co-written with Rev. E. Raine. Peterborough: Epworth, forthcoming (2008).
Books edited	Prayer and Thanksgiving: essays in honour of Graham Hughes. Edited W.W. Emilsen and J.T. Squires. Sydney: UTC Publications, 2003.Validating Violence – Violating Faith? Interpreting Scriptural Texts of Violence. Edited by W.W. Emilsen and J.T. Squires. Melbourne, ATF Theology Series, anticipated in 2007
Chapters in books	“The plan of God in Acts”, pp.19–39 in Witness to the Gospel: the Theology of the Book of Acts . Ed. I.H. Marshall and D. Peterson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.“Fate and Freewill in Hellenistic Histories and Luke-Acts”, pp.131–137 in Ancient History in the Modern University vol.2. Ed. T.W. Hillard, R.A. Kearsley, C.E.V. Nixon, A.M. Nobbs. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.‘“The Acts of the Apostles”, pp. 1213–1267 in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Edited J. Rogerson and J.D.G. Dunn. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.“Prayers and Thanksgivings in Romans”, pp. 30–42 in Prayer and Thanksgiving: essays in honour of  Graham Hughes. Edited W.W. Emilsen and J.T. Squires. Sydney:UTC Publications, 2003. “Luke: Saviour and Lord”, in Cambridge Companion to the Gospels. Edited S.C. Barton. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming. “Violence in the Synoptic Traditions”, with Elizabeth Raine, in Validating Violence – Violating Faith? Interpreting Scriptural Texts of Violence. Edited by W.W. Emilsen and J.T. Squires. Melbourne, ATF Theology Series, anticipated in 2007
Articles in refereed journals	‘“Hellenistic Historiography and Philosophy in Josephus' account of Jewish History”, Menorah 4 (1990) 148–157“Early Christian Understanding of the Four Evangelists' Reasons for Writing their Gospels”, Interchange 50 (1993) 34–38“The Authority of the Bible in Ethical Decision-Making”, Trinity Occasional Papers 13 (1994) 32–40“The Mission Myth” (with Rev. E. Raine), Uniting Church Studies 3 (1997) 30–47“The Function of Acts 8:4–12:25”, New Testament Studies 44 (1998) 608–617 “Peter at Pentecost: a model for leadership in the Christian community”, Uniting Church Studies 6 (2000) 20–34“Singing, Streaking, Shocking: reading the New Testament with a youth hermeneutic”, Uniting Church Studies 10 (2004) 36–52
Book reviews in refereed journals	Mark Coleridge, The Birth of the Lukan Narrative (Sheffield, 1994), in Pacifica 8 (Oct 1995) 346–348Judi Fisher and Janet Wood (eds.), A place at the table: Women at the Last Supper (JBCE, 1993), in Uniting Church Studies vol. 1 no. 2 (Aug 1995) 66–69P.K. Nelson, Leadership and Discipleship: A Study of Luke 22:24–30 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1994), in Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 199–202R.E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah (Doubleday, 1994), in Gesher vol.1 no.6 (1997) 75–76W. Dabourne, Purpose and cause in Pauline exegesis: Romans 1.16–4.25 and a new approach to the letters (Cambridge University Press, 1999), in Uniting Church Studies 6 (2000) 79–82R. McIver, The Four Faces of Jesus (Pacific Press, 2000), in Australian Biblical Review 50 (2002) 86–87B. Byrne, The Hospitality of God. A Reading of Luke’s Gospel (St Paul’s, 2000), in Australian Biblical Review (2001) 59–60Norman C. Habel and Vicky Balabanski, eds., The Earth Story in the New Testament (The Earth Bible, 5), London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002; in Australian Theology Review (online journal) (2004)F. Scott Spencer, Journeying through Acts: A Literary-Cultural Reading (Hendricksen, 2004), in Colloquium (forthcoming)Craig G. Bartholomew, Joel B. Green and Anthony Thiselton, editors, Reading Luke: Interpretation, Reflection, Formation (Zondervan, 2005) in Review of Biblical Literature (Jan 2006)Youngmo Cho, Spirit and Kingdom in the Writings of Luke and Paul: An Attempt to Reconcile these Concepts (Paternoster 2005) in Review of Biblical Literature forthcoming (2007) Majella Franzmann, Jesus in the Manichaean Writings (T & T Clark, 2003) in Colloquium forthcoming (2007)
Articles in non-refereed journals	“Authority in Ministry: Some New Testament Perspectives”, Ministry vol.2 no.4 (1990) 12–13“A Response to The Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls”, Ministry vol.2 no.5 (1990) 14“In the Shadow of the Shoah”, Ministry vol.4 no.3 (1994) 4–6“The Purpose of Acts”, Society for the Study of Early Christianity Newsletter 20, October 1994 “Is the Bible a window, a mirror or a building block for belief?” (with Jione Havea), Faculty Forum 2000—On the Edge (UTC) 8–17
Book reviews in non-refereed journals	Review of Leonie Star, The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Riddle Debated (ABC, 1991),in Ministry vol.2 no.11 (Summer 1991) 29–30Review of Barbara Thiering, Jesus the Man (Doubleday, 1990), in Insights vol.2 no.10 (November 1992) 38–39Review of John Shelby Spong, Resurrection: Myth or Reality? (Harper Collins, 1994); and David Peterson, Paul Barnett and Peter Jensen, Resurrection: Truth and Reality (Aquila, 1994), Insights vol.2 no.10 (July 1994) 35–36Review of C.P. Thiede and M. D’Ancona, The Jesus Papyrus (Wiedenfeld and Nicolson, 1996), Insights vol.6 no.9 (October 1996)Review of I. Wilson, Jesus: The Evidence (Wiedenfeld and Nicolson, 1996); and R.W. Funk, Honest to Jesus: Jesus for a New Millennium (Hodder Headline Australia, 1996), Insights vol.6 no.11 (December 1996)
Creative works	Resources for Ministry “Women in the Bible”, in Called Together in Ministry,               published by the NSW Synod of the Uniting Church in October 1990 Understanding Anti-Semitism (with Rev. E. Raine),                a study kit on the documentary From the Cross to the Swastika, published by the Uniting Church National Assembly in July 1997Biblical Perspectives on Sexuality, privately published for use in UCA parishes in October 1996Encountering the Other, four short bible studies produced for Seminar Week 1996With Love to the World Commentaries (With Love to the World is a daily bible reading guide, utilising the best of recent scholarship, oriented to a lay audience and written and produced by members of the Uniting Church in Australia):Commentaries on passages relating to “The death of Jesus as a sacrifice”, 1982Commentaries on passages from the Gospel of Luke, 1989Commentaries on passages from Philippians and 1 Thessalonians, 1990Commentaries on passages from the Gospel of Mark, 1991Commentaries on passages from the Gospel of Luke, 1992Commentaries on passages from Ephesians, 1994Commentaries on passages from the Gospel of Luke, 1998Commentaries on daily readings for Easter 6–7, 2000Commentaries on daily readings for Advent, 2006 Church Reports A response to the Report of the Minister Marriage Breakdown Task Group (N.S.W. Synod), September 1996 (with Rev. E. Raine)A response to the Interim Report of the Task Group on Sexuality, “The Function of Scripture in the Interim Report on Sexuality”, September 1996A response to the Preliminary Report of the Task Group to review Ministerial Education, “Some Observations on the Report by the Faculty of United Theological College” (editor), October 1996“Some Observations on the Theology and Structure of the Living is Giving Programme”, November 1996 (with Rev. E. Raine)A response to the Report of the Task Group to review Theological Education, submitted in 2002
	Postgraduate research supervision and examination (last five years only)
Research degree theses supervised	Doctoral “The Literary Relationship of 1 John and the Gospel of John, Primary supervisor, PhD, CSU (thesis submitted January 2005)“Pentecostal Hermeneutics of the Old Testament”, Associate supervisor, PhD, CSU (thesis submitted January 2005)“Followship in the Gospels”, Associate supervisor, PhD, CSU (early stages)Masters“The intended significance of ‘righteousness’ language in the Gospel according to Matthew”, Primary supervisor, MTh, SCD, 2003“The Revised Common Lectionary: Basis, Bias, Benefits and Beyond”, Primary supervisor, MTh, SCD (to be submitted in August 2005)Bachelor“The Enthusiasts in Corinth”, Primary supervisor, BTh(Hons), SCD, 2002“The Structure and Meaning of 1 John”, Primary supervisor, BTh(Hons), CSU, 2002“A Feminist Reading of Judges”, Associate Supervisor, BTh(Hons), CSU, 2002
Research degree theses examined	“‘Do This in Remembrance of Me.’ The Disputed Words in the Lukan Institution Narrative (Luke 22:19b-20): An Historico-Exegetical, Theological, and Sociological analysis.)”, MTh, MCD, 2001“The Significance of Joy in Luke–Acts”, MTh, Murdoch, 2001“Acts 17:16–34. Seeking one who can’t be made. Religious Gentiles in Acts”, MTh, MCD, 2002“Luke’s Attitude to the Jews”, BTh(Hons), Murdoch, 2002   “The Text Critical Problem of Luke 22”, PhD, Murdoch, 2004Reviewer (for Auckland University) of Ph.D. thesis proposal,  “The Compassionate Jesus: A Lukan Investigation”, 2002“Theological Significances of 1 Corinthians 15:29 in the life of the Christian Community”, PhD, Griffith University, 2006
Postgraduate research essays (18 cr pts or more) supervised	“Peter in Matthew’s Gospel”, MTh, SCD, 2001“Authorship and the Pauline Corpus”, MTh, SCD, 2005“Towards a Theology of Children in the Gospels”, MTh, SCD, 2005“The Holy Spirit in the Writings of Paul”, MTh, SCD, 2006