Biblical & Theological Studies
Michael W. Holmes
University Professor of Biblical Studies
and Early Christianity
Holmes, currently serving as Chair of the Department of Biblical and Theological Studies, has taught at Bethel since 1982. He was previously on the faculty at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Princeton Theological Seminary, and has been Visiting Scholar at Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul. He received his B.A. (in history) from the University of California at Santa Barbara (1973), an M.A. in New Testament from TEDS (1976), and the Ph.D. from Princeton Seminary (1984).
His publications include several books (see details below), over twenty-five articles, essays or chapters in books, and more than 200 book reviews (covering more than 220 books in 23 journals). He has presented papers and invited lectures in the U.S., Canada, England, Germany, and France.
He speaks and teaches frequently at Twin Cities churches, universities, and seminaries, has served as an interim pastor, and is a long-term member of Trinity Baptist Church (Maplewood, MN).
He is a member of the International Greek New Testament Project, and is the editor of the SBL-sponsored monograph series, the New Testament in the Greek Fathers. He is also a book review editor for Religious Studies Review, and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Biblical Research. He is also chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (www.csntm.org).
His primary research interests are New Testament textual criticism and the Apostolic Fathers (a collection of early Christian writings). Current projects include a commentary on the Martyrdom of Polycarp, an introduction to the Apostolic Fathers, the formation of the New Testament canon, and an investigation of the textual history of Paul's letter to the Romans.
He holds membership in the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, the Society of Biblical Literature, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the North American Patristics Society.
A native of California, Holmes also lived in Illinois and New Jersey prior to moving to Minnesota. Hobbies include woodworking, golf, and fishing (see end of file below).
address: 3900 Bethel Drive, St. Paul, MN 55112
telephone: 651-638-6349
e-mail: Mike Holmes
Bibliography
Books:
The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic (2007).
The Apostolic Fathers in English. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic (2006).
The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. Updated ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999. Pp. xvi + 609.
1 & 2 Thessalonians. NIV Application Commentary series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998. Pp. 302.
The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis. Co-edited with Bart D. Ehrman. Studies and Documents 46. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. Pp. xiv + 401.
The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations of Their Writings. Trans. by J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer. 2nd ed. Edited and revised by Michael W. Holmes. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992. Pp. xiii + 609.
The Text of the Fourth Gospel in the Writings of Origen, vol. 1 (Introduction, Text, and Apparatus). Co-authored with Bart D. Ehrman and Gordon D. Fee. The New Testament in the Greek Fathers 3. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992. Pp. x + 499.
The Apostolic Fathers. Trans. by J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer. 2nd ed. Edited and revised by Michael W. Holmes. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1989. Pp. xvi + 351.
Selected Recent Articles and Chapters:
"The Biblical Canon." In The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies (ed. by Susan Ashbrook Harvey and David Hunter; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) 406-426.
"The Apostolic Fathers: Polycarp of Smyrna, Letter to the Philippians." In Expository Times 118.2 (November 2006) 53-63. (Reprinted as "Polycarp of Smyrna, Letter to the Philippians," in The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers [ed. by Paul Foster; London & New York: T & T Clark, 2007] 108-125).
"The Text of the Epistles Sixty Years After: An Assessment of Günther Zuntz's Contribution to Text-Critical Methodology and History." In Transmission and Reception: New Testament Text-Ctitical and Exegetical Studies (Texts and Studies 3rd series, 4; ed. J. Childers and D. C. Parker; Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2006) 107-131.
“The Text of P46: Evidence of the Earliest ‘Commentary’ on Romans?” In New Testament Manuscripts: Their Text and Their World (ed. by Tobias Nicklas; Leiden: Brill, 2006) 189-206.
"Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians and the Writings that Later Formed the New Testament." In The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers (ed. by A. Gregory and C. Tuckett; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) 187-227.
"The Martyrdom of Polycarp and the New Testament Passion Narrative." In Trajectories throught the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers (ed. by A. Gregory and C. Tuckett; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) 407-32.
"Conversing with the Apostolic Fathers." In Catalyst: Contemporary Evangelical Perspectives for United Methodist Seminarians, 32.1 (November 2005).
"From Nestle to the Editio Critica Maior: A Century's Perspective on the New Testament Minuscule Tradition." In The Bible As Book: The Transmission of the Greek Text (ed. by Scot McKendrick and Orlaith A. O'Sullivan; London & New Castle, DE: The British Library & Oak Knoll Press, in association with The Scriptorium: Center for Christian Antiquities, 2003) 123-137.
"Women and the 'Western' Text of Acts." In Apostelgeschichte als Kirchengeschichte. Text, Texttraditionen und antike Auslegungen (ed. by Tobias Nicklas; Berlin and New York: De Gruyter, 2003) 183-203.
"The Case for Reasoned Eclecticism." In Rethinking New Testament Textual Criticism (ed. by David Alan Black; Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002) 77-100.
"To Be Continued . . . The Many Endings of the Gospel of Mark." Bible Review 17:4 (August 2001) 12-23, 48-50.
"Textual Criticism." In Interpreting the New Testament: Essays on Methods and Issues (ed. David Alan Black and David S. Dockery; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2001) 46-73.
"Reasoned Eclecticism and the Text of Romans." In Romans & the People of God: Essays in Honor of Gordon D. Fee (ed. S. K. Soderlund and N. T. Wright; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) 187-202.
"Barnabas, Epistle of" (125-127); "Clement of Rome" (233-238); "Didache" (300-302); "Shepherd of Hermas" (469-471); "Ignatius of Antioch" (530-533); "Polycarp of Smyrna" (934-938). In Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments (ed. R. P. Martin and P. H. Davids; InterVarsity Press, 1997).
"A Note on the Text of Polycarp Philippians 11.3." Vigiliae Christianae 51 (1997) 207-210.
"Codex Bezae as a Recension of the Gospels." In Codex Bezae: Studies from the Lunell Colloquium, June 1994 (ed. D. C. Parker and C.-B. Amphoux; New Testament Tools and Studies 22; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996) 123-160.
"Reasoned Eclecticism." In The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis (ed. Bart D. Ehrman and Michael W. Holmes; Studies and Documents 46; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995) 336-360.
Selected Recent Presentations:
"Working with an Open Textual Tradition: Challenges in Theory and Practice." Münster Colloquium on the Textual History of the Greek New Testament, Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung, Münster, Germany, August 4, 2008.
"Text and Transmission in the Second Century." Greer-Heard Forum, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, LA, April 5, 2008.
"New Testament Textual Criticism: Current Trends and Issues." SBL Upper Midwest Regional Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, March 28, 2008.
"Remembering Bruce Metzger." New Testament Textual Criticism Section, Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, November 18, 2007.
"Westcott and Hort at 125 (and Zuntz at 60): Their Legacies and Our Challenges." New Testament Textual Criticism Section, Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2006.
"Text as Artifact: A Response to The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins, by L. W. Hurtado." Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds Group / New Testament Textual Criticism Section, Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2006.
"Spinning Polycarp in His Grave? Gospel Tradition and the Martyrdom of Polycarp." Invited paper, Early Christian Studies Workshop, University of Chicago, October 17, 2005.
"The Martyrdom of Polycarp and the New Testament Passion Narratives." The New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers Conference, Lincoln College, University of Oxford, April 5-7, 2004.
"The Text of the Epistles Fifty Years After: An Assessment of Günther Zuntz's Contribution to Text-Critical Methodology and History." Inaugural Address, Third Birmingham Colloquium on the Text Critical Study of the New Testament: The Text of Paul. The University of Birmingham, England, April 7-10, 2003.
"The Early History of the Text of Romans: a Preliminary Excavation." Invited paper, Textual Criticism Seminar, Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas General Meeting, Montreal, Canada, July 31-August 4, 2001.
"The Case for Reasoned Eclecticism." Invited Paper, Symposium on New Testament Studies: A Time for Reappraisal. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, North Carolina, April 6-7, 2000.
"Neglected Treasures? The Minuscules in Recent Research." Invited lecture, Dept. of Theology, University of Birmingham, England, May 26, 1998.
"From Nestle to the Editio Critica Maior: A Century's Perspective on the New Testament Minuscule Tradition." Invited lecture, The Bible as Book: The Transmission of the Greek Text. Fourth annual Hampton Court Conference, Herefordshire, England, May 27-30, 1998.
A noted philosophical conundrum runs as follows: "Are all fishermen liars, or do only liars fish?" The following picture is posted for the sake of those colleagues of mine tempted to take this conundrum too seriously. (Telegraph Cove, Vancouver Island, B.C., July 2002)
(updated June 12, 2009)