“Porter and McDonald have presented us with what is perhaps the best current introduction to early Christianity and its literature. Well-informed at every turn and supplemented with helpful charts, bibliography, pictures and time-lines, this work presents the phenomenon of early Christianity in a thoroughgoing historical manner while still being respectful of the faith dimensions of the sources. The hard questions about the relationship of faith and history (e.g., about the resurrection of Jesus) are taken on without apologies and without polemics. Recent trends in New Testament scholarship (e.g., rhetorical criticism) are helpfully summarized and analyzed. This work should serve for a long time as a standard textbook for seminary students and others, whether or not one agrees with all the authors’ conclusions. Highly recommended.”
—Dr. Ben Witherington, III, professor of New Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary, U.S.A., and St. Andrews University, U.K.
Rev. Lee Martin McDonald, Ph.D.
President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament Studies
Acadia Divinity College (1999-2007);
Dean of the Faculty of Theology Emeritus, Acadia University
Wolfville, Nova Scotia (1999-2007)
President, Institute for Biblical Research, (2006-present)
EDUCATION
B.A., Biola University, La Mirada, California, 1964.
B.D., Talbot Theological Seminary, La Mirada, California 1969. (Magna Cum Laude)
Th.M., Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1985 (Honors). Major in New Testament History and Patristics. Thesis: An Examination of the Origins of the Christian Biblical Canon. (Supervised by Professor Helmut Koester)
Ph.D., University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 1976. Focus: New Testament Studies. Thesis title: The Resurrection of Jesus in History and Faith. (Supervisor: Professor Hugh A. Anderson)
I have a commitment to the Christian faith and the church as well as to academic inquiry. My overall concern is to advance the Christian message and also to learn from historical methodologies whatever we can that will clarify the biblical message. I acknowledge the limitations of historical inquiry and support those who recognize that the truth of the Christian Gospel is only discovered through faith in the risen Christ.
I support an honest inquiry into the biblical literature and its historic traditions. I have spent a considerable amount of energy seeking to understand and clarify the complex origin and development of the Bible, namely what is called biblical canon formation. Most of my adult life has also focused on understanding Jesus the Christ in both his historical and faith perspectives.
