Shaffer Lectures
The Shaffer Lectureship was established in 1929 by a gift from John C. Shaffer of Chicago, Illinois, as a memorial to his son, Kent Shaffer, Ph.D. 1907, to sponsor lectures on the life, character, and teachings of Jesus.
2023
Dale C. Allison Jr., Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary. Pursuing the Historical Jesus. Yale Divinity School, April 10-12, 2023. Lecture I. Jesus, Moses, and Simeon Stylites (Apr. 10); Lecture II. History, Fiction, and Method (Apr. 11); Lecture III. Everywhere a Miracle: The Metanormal Jesus (Apr. 12).
2020
Paula Fredriksen, Aurelio Professor of Scripture Emerita, Boston University, and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Comparative Religion, Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Christian Identity, Paul’s Letters, and ‘Thinking with Jews’, Yale Divinity School, February 17-19, 2020. Lecture I (Feb. 17), Lecture II (Feb. 18), Lecture III (Feb. 19).
2018
Jörg Frey, Professor of New Testament, University of Zurich (Switzerland). Theology and History in the Fourth Gospel, Yale Divinity School, January 23, 25, and 30, 2018.
2013
Turid Karlsen Seim, Professor of Theology, University of Oslo, Director of The Norwegian Institute in Rome. Jesus in Liminal Transit: The Post-Resurrectional Appearances in Luke and John, Yale Divinity School. Lecture I: John 20: In Transit from Tangibility to Text (April 9); Lecture II: (April 10); Lecture III: (April 11).
2010
Sean Freyne, Professor Emeritus at Trinity College, Dublin. Galilee, Jesus, and Christology, Yale Divinity School, October 12-14, 2010.
2008
Christopher Rowland, Dean Ireland Professor of the Exegesis of the Holy Scripture at Queens College, University of Oxford. ‘From Impulse Not from Rules’: the Life, Character, and Teaching of Jesus in Light of the Prophecy, Poetry, and Art of William Blake, Yale Divinity School, October 14-16, 2008. Lecture I (Oct. 14), Lecture II (Oct. 15), Lecture III (Oct. 16).
2006
John P. Meier, William K. Warren Foundation Chair of Theology, University of Notre Dame. On the Danger of Making Jesus a Christian: the Test Case of Law and Morality, Yale Divinity School, October 10-12, 2006. Lecture I (Oct. 10), Lecture II (Oct. 11), Lecture III (Oct. 12).
2004
Bart D. Ehrman, James A. Gray Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Christ in the Early Christian Tradition: Texts Disputed and Apocryphal, Yale Divinity School, October 12-14, 2004. Lecture I (Oct. 12), Lecture II (Oct. 13), Lecture III (Oct. 14).
Published as: “Christ in the Early Christian Tradition: Texts Disputed and Apocryphal,” in Studies in the Textual Criticism of the New Testament. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2006.
2002
Susan Garrett, Professor of New Testament, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. No Ordinary Angel: Jesus and the Angels in the Bible Today, Yale Divinity School, October 15-17, 2002. Lecture I (Oct. 15), Lecture II (Oct. 16), Lecture III (Oct. 17).
2000
J. Louis Martyn, Edward Robinson Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology, Union Theological Seminary. Inviting Paul into the Current Theological Discussion, Yale Divinity School, October 10-12, 2000. Lecture I (Oct. 10), Lecture II (Oct. 11), Lecture III (Oct. 12).
1998
Abraham J. Malherbe, Buckingham Professor Emeritus of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation, Yale Divinity School. Christology in Context: the Pastoral Epistles, Yale Divinity School, October 13-15, 1998. Lecture I (Oct. 13), Lecture II (Oct. 14), Lecture III (Oct. 15).
1996
Nicholas Thomas Wright, Dean of Lichfield Cathedral (Litchfield, Staffordshire, England). Resurrection of the Messiah, Yale Divinity School, October 7-9, 1996. Lecture I (Oct. 7), Lecture II (Oct. 8), Lecture III (Oct. 9).
1995
Morna Hooker, Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge. Mighty in Deed and Word: Jesus Christ as Prophet, Yale Divinity School, February 7-8, 1995. Lecture I (Feb. 7), Lecture II (Feb. 7), Lecture III (Feb. 8).
Published as: The Signs of a Prophet: the Prophetic Actions of Jesus. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997.
1992
Martin Hengel, Professor of Theology, University of Tübingen (Germany). The Historical Jesus: Methods and Sources; Galilean Prophet and Healer; the Crucified Messiah, Yale Divinity School, February 8-11, 1992.
1991
Ed P. Sanders, Professor of Religion, Duke University. Jesus: His Religious Type and Cause of Death in Recent Interpretation; Jesus as Sage; Jesus as Eschatological Project, Yale Divinity School, February 4-7, 1991.
1989
Marinus R. de Jonge, Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christian Literature, Leiden University (The Netherlands). The Nature of the Earliest Response to Jesus; Jesus’ Mission and His Death on the Cross; Jesus as Inaugurator of God’s Kingdom, Eschatology, and Christology, Yale Divinity School, February 14-16, 1989.
Published as: Jesus, the Servant-Messiah. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991.
1987
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Talbot Professor of New Testament and Director of Feminist Liberation Theology and Ministry, Episcopal Divinity School. Called to Freedom; Women’s Early Christian History; You Are Sons of God—Are We?, Yale Divinity School, February 1987.
1972
James Sanders, Auburn Professor of Biblical Studies, Union Theological Seminary. Adaptable for Life, Yale Divinity School, April 18-19, 1972.
Published as: “Adaptable for Life: the Nature and Function of Canon,” in Magnalia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God, edited by Frank M. Cross, Werner E. Lemke, and Patrick D. Miller. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
1970
James M. Robinson, Arthur Letts, Jr. Professor of Religion, Claremont Graduate University. Lectures delivered in 1969-70.
1968
W.D. Davies, Professor of Advanced Studies in Christianity and its Roots, Duke University. The Gospel and “the Land”, Yale Divinity School, November 12-14, 1968.
Published as: The Gospel and the Land: Early Christianity and Jewish Territorial Doctrine. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1974.
1967
Krister Stendahl, Professor of New Testament Studies, Harvard Divinity School. Lectures delivered on April 25-27, 1967.
1966
Ernst Käsemann, Professor of New Testament, University of Tübingen (Germany). The Last Will of Jesus, Yale Divinity School, April 26-28, 1966.
Published as: The Testament of Jesus: a Study of the Gospel of John in Light of Chapter 17, translated by Gerhard Krodel. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1968.
1965
C.K. Barrett, Professor of Divinity, University of Durham (England). Jesus Christ in New Testament History and Tradition, Yale Divinity School, April 27-29, 1965.
Published as: Jesus and the Gospel Tradition. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968.
1963
Günther Bornkamm, Professor of New Testament, University of Heidelberg (Germany). Jesus Christ and Mythology, Yale Divinity School, March 11-14, 1963.
1962
Nils A. Dahl, Professor of Protestant Theology, University of Oslo (Norway). Historical Beginnings of Christological Doctrine, Yale Divinity School, April 24-26, 1962.
1961
Willem Cornelis van Unnik, Professor of New Testament, University of Utrecht (The Netherlands). Jesus as Gnostics Saw Him, Yale Divinity School, April 24-27, 1961.
1959
Erich Dinkler, Professor at the University of Bonn (Germany). Jesus and Peter and the Roman Tradition, Yale Divinity School, November 2-5, 1959.
1959
Frederick Grant, Edward Robertson Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology, Union Theological Seminary. The Jesus of History, Yale Divinity School, February 23-26, 1959.
1956
John Knox, Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature, Union Theological Seminary. Lectures delivered on February 13-16, 1956.
Compiled with material from lectures given at Hartford and Eden Theological Seminaries and published as: The Death of Christ: the Cross in New Testament History and Faith. New York, NY: Abingdon Press, 1958.
1954
Amos N. Wilder, Professor at the Chicago Theological Seminary and the Federated Theological Faculty at the University of Chicago. This-worldliness and Other-worldliness in the New Testament, Yale Divinity School, April 20-22, 1954.
1952
Luther A. Weigle, Chairman of the Revised Standard Version Bible Committee of the National Council of Churches. The Translation of the Bible into English, Yale Divinity School, September 30–October 3, 1952.
1951
Rudolf Bultmann, retired Professor of New Testament at the University of Marburg (Germany). Jesus Christ and the Modern Interpretation of the New Testament, Yale Divinity School, October 15-18, 1951.