Andrew T. Lincoln (born 17 May 1944) is a British New Testament scholar who serves as Emeritus Professor of New Testament at the University of Gloucestershire.
Early life and education
Lincoln grew up in London and attended Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, from where he gained a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. There he studied Modern Languages (German and Russian) from 1963 to 1966, obtaining a B.A. Honours followed by a M.A. in 1971. He went on to study Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and received a B.D. summa cum laude in 1971. He returned to England to do doctoral research at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor C. F. D. Moule and completed a dissertation on the function of the heavenly dimension in Paul's thought, gaining a Ph.D. in 1975.
Career Teaching posts
While finishing the Ph.D., Lincoln received an invitation to return to the United States as assistant professor in New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, where he taught from 1975 to 1979. He returned to England as lecturer in New Testament at St John's College, Nottingham, where he taught from 1979 to 1985 (serving also as temporary lecturer in the University of Nottingham for 1982–83). He moved to become Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, teaching there from 1985 to 1995. He was then appointed as Lord and Lady Coggan Professor of New Testament at Wycliffe College, Toronto, where he worked from 1995 until 1999. During that time he also lectured as a Visiting Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in California for the summer session of 1998. In 1999 Lincoln returned for a final time to the United Kingdom to take up the newly established Portland Chair of New Testament at the University of Gloucestershire, a post endowed by the Kirby Laing Foundation and one which he held until 2013, when Professor Philip Esler took over as the second holder of the chair. From September 2013 Lincoln continued to work part-time at the University of Gloucestershire until his eventual retirement in March 2015 and appointment as Emeritus Professor.McConville, J. Gordon; Pietersen, Lloyd K. (2015). "Introduction". Conception, Reception, and the Spirit: Essays in Honor of Andrew T. Lincoln. Wipf and Stock. pp. xiii–xiv. Retrieved 19 October 2015. Since his time at St. John's College, Nottingham, Lincoln's teaching has also included the supervision of research students. He has successfully supervised 29 doctoral dissertations and nine dissertations at master's level.
Major areas of research and writing
Lincoln's many articles, essays and books reflect his concern with the interplay among literary, historical and theological approaches to the New Testament, and range widely across its documents. Some representative studies are listed here.
Pauline Eschatology, Sabbath and Ephesians
A revised form of his doctoral dissertation was published in the SNTS Monograph series as Paradise Now and Not Yet (1981).Paradise Now and Not Yet (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981) He contributed two extensive essays to the volume From Sabbath to Lord's Day (1982).From Sabbath to Lord's Day ed. D. A. Carson (Exeter: Paternoster, 1982, 197-220, 343-412) He followed up his research on Paul's eschatology by focusing on Ephesians in several articles, culminating in his major critical commentary on that letter in the Word Biblical Commentary series, Ephesians (1990)Ephesians (Dallas, TX.: Word, 1990) and The Theology of the Later Pauline Letters (1993).The Theology of the Later Pauline Letters co-authored with A. J. M. Wedderburn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993)
Narrative criticism
Lincoln was one of the first British New Testament scholars to apply narrative criticism to the Gospels and this interest can be seen in his early articles "The Promise and the Failure - Mark 16:7,8" in Journal of Biblical Literature;Journal of Biblical Literature 108 (1989) 283-300 "Matthew - A Story for Teachers?" in The Bible in Three Dimensions;The Bible in Three Dimensions eds. D.J.A. Clines, S.E. Fowl, S. E. Porter (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990) 103-25 and "Trials, Plots and the Narrative of the Fourth Gospel," in Journal for the Study of the New Testament.Journal for the Study of the New Testament 56 (1994) 3-30
Romans and Colossians
At the same time, Lincoln continued his work on the Pauline Corpus, contributing a significant essay on Romans to the SBL Pauline Theology Group in 1993 that was later published as "From Wrath to Justification: The Theology of Romans 1:18-4:25," in Pauline Theology;Pauline Theology Vol. 3, eds. D.M. Hay and E. E. Johnson (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) 130-59 another on the cosmic powers, "Liberation from the Powers. Supernatural Spirits or Societal Structures?" in The Bible in Human Society;The Bible in Human Society eds. M. D. Carroll, R., D. J. A. Clines, P. R. Davies (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995) 335-54 and one on the household code, "The Household Code and Wisdom Mode of Colossians," Journal for the Study of the New Testament.Journal for the Study of the New Testament 74 (1999) 93-112 The last of these was followed by the 70,000 word commentary on Colossians in New Interpreter's Bible Vol. XI.New Interpreter's Bible Vol. XI (Nashville : Abingdon, 2000) 551-669
Gospel of John
Lincoln also developed research on the Gospel of John. An essay entitled "'I Am the Resurrection and the Life': The Resurrection Message of the Fourth Gospel" in Life in the Face of DeathLife in the Face of Death: The Resurrection Message of the New Testament ed. R. N. Longenecker (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) 122-44 preceded his major monograph, Truth on Trial: The Lawsuit Motif in the Fourth Gospel.Truth on Trial: The Lawsuit Motif in the Fourth Gospel. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2000) There then followed "God's Name, Jesus' Name and Prayer in the Fourth Gospel" in Into God's Presence: Prayer in the New Testament,Into God's Presence: Prayer in the New Testament, ed. R. N. Longenecker (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001) 155-80. "The Beloved Disciple as Eyewitness and the Fourth Gospel as Witness," in Journal for the Study of the New Testament,Journal for the Study of the New Testament 85 (2002) 3-26. "Power, Judgment and Possession: John's Gospel in Political Perspective" in A Royal Priesthood: The Use of the Bible Ethically and Politically,A Royal Priesthood: The Use of the Bible Ethically and Politically, ed. C. Bartholomew (Carlisle: Paternoster/ Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002) 147-69. and "Reading John: The Fourth Gospel under Modern and Postmodern Interrogation" in Reading the Gospels Today.Reading the Gospels Today, ed. S. E. Porter (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004) 127-49. These culminated in Lincoln's commentary on John in the Black New Testament Commentary series, The Gospel according to St. John,The Gospel according to St. John (London: Continuum, 2005). which was described in a review by fellow Johannine scholar, Francis Moloney, as "up-to-date, elegantly written and at times inspiring... It must be regarded as one of the best single volume commentaries in English currently available."F. J. Moloney, “Recent Johannine Studies: Part One: Commentaries,” Expository Times 123 (2012) 313-22 Lincoln himself reflected on the commentary in a journal issue that featured it - "From Writing to Reception: Reflections on Commentating on the Gospel of John" in Journal for the Study of the New Testament.Journal for the Study of the New Testament 29 (2007) 353-372. Shortly after this, two further studies appeared - "Lazarus: A Literary Perspective" in The Gospel of John and Christian Theology,The Gospel of John and Christian Theology, eds. R. Bauckham and C. Mosser (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008) 211-32. and "'We Know that his Testimony is True': Johannine Truth Claims and Historicity" in John, Jesus and History, Volume 1.John, Jesus and History, Volume 1: Critical Appraisal of Critical Views, eds. P. Anderson, F. Just and T. Thatcher (Atlanta, GA.: SBL, 2007) 183-201.
Later, an invitation to participate in a symposium on The Divine Courtroom in Comparative Perspective at the Centre for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization, Yeshiva University, New York provided Lincoln with the opportunity to update and reflect further on some of the Truth on Trial material, and resulted in the publication of "A Life of Jesus as Testimony: The Divine Courtroom in the Gospel of John" in The Divine Courtroom in Comparative Perspective.The Divine Courtroom in Comparative Perspective, eds. A. Mermelstein and S. E. Holtz (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2014) 145-66.
He has also had published three further studies on this Gospel - "The Johannine Vision of the Church" in The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology,The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology, ed. P. Avis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018) 99-118. "The Reception of Jesus in John 21" in The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries.The Reception of Jesus in the First Three CenturiesVol. 1, eds. C. Keith, H. Bond and J. Schröter (London: T & T Clark, 2020) 209-22 and "Leading or Following? Some Aspects of the Spirit's Role in John's Gospel" in Spirit and Story, a Festschrift for John Christopher ThomasSpirit and Story: Pentecostal Readings of Scripture. Essays in Honour of John Christopher Thomas, eds. B. Charette and R. Waddell (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2020)61-76
Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews has also featured in Lincoln's work. Two essays focus on this document - "Hebrews and Biblical Theology," in Out of Egypt: Biblical Theology and Biblical InterpretationOut of Egypt: Biblical Theology and Biblical Interpretation ed. C. Bartholomew et al. (Milton Keynes: Paternoster/ Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004) 313-38 and "Pilgrimage and the New Testament" in Explorations in a Christian Theology of Pilgrimage.Explorations in a Christian Theology of Pilgrimage ed. C. Bartholomew and F. Hughes (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004) 29-49. These were followed by his monograph Hebrews: A Guide.Hebrews: A Guide (London: T. & T. Clark International, 2006). The Hebrews section of Lincoln's early essay on “Sabbath, Rest and Eschatology in the New Testament” has been reprinted in The Letter to the Hebrews: Critical Readings.The Letter to the Hebrews: Critical Readings ed. Scott D. Mackie (London: Bloomsbury, 2018) 171-183. A further contribution has been "Reading Hebrews in a Time of Pandemic: Heroism and Hope in the Face of Fear".Expository Times 131 (2020)471-79
The Birth of Jesus