SMU alumnus E. P. Sanders will be honored with symposium moderated by Religious Studies professor, Mark Chancey from 10-11:30 a.m. May 19 in Perkins Chapel

SMU News

Originally Posted: April 13, 2017

The following is an excerpt from an SMU News release. Click here to read the full release.

E.P. Sanders

E. P. Sanders, a 1962 alumnus of SMU’s Perkins School of Theology, is an internationally respected New Testament scholar responsible for major contributions to studies of Jesus and the Apostle Paul and their relationships to the Judaism of their day. He is credited with prompting the re-evaluation of prejudicial views of Judaism that often characterized earlier biblical scholarship, resulting in improved Jewish-Christian relations.

Sanders is the author of 14 books and numerous monographs that have been translated into 11 languages. His monograph, Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977), received a National Religious Book Award, and his Jesus and Judaism (1985) won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Wesleyan University, a Bachelor of Divinity from SMU Perkins School of Theology, and a Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary.

Sanders held an endowed chair in religion at Duke University until he retired in 2005. He also held faculty positions at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and at the University of Oxford. He is a fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Sanders has received honorary doctorates from the University of Oxford and the University of Helsinki.

For his contributions to biblical scholarship, the understanding of Jewish and Christian origins, and Jewish-Christian relations, Southern Methodist University is honored to confer the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.

Symposium 

Sanders will be honored with a symposium focused on his work from 10-11:30 a.m. Friday, May 19, in SMU Perkins Chapel. Moderator for “Comparing Early Judaism and Early Christianity: The Scholarship of E. P. Sanders,” will be Mark Chancey, professor of religious studies in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.  Panelists will include:

• Craig C. Hill, dean and professor of New Testament, Perkins School of Theology, SMU
• David P. Moessner, Bradford Chair of Religion, Department of Religion, TCU
• Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Distinguished Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Department of Religion, Baylor University and Helen H.P. Manson Professor of New Testament literature and Exegesis Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary
• Sze-kar Wan, Professor of New Testament, Perkins School of Theology, SMU

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