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James M. Robinson | |
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| Born | (1924-06-30)June 30, 1924 |
| Died | March 22, 2016(2016-03-22) (aged 91) |
| Known for | Member of theJesus Seminar |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Claremont Graduate University |
James McConkey Robinson (June 30, 1924 – March 22, 2016)[1] was an American scholar who retired asProfessor Emeritus of Religion atClaremont Graduate University,Claremont, California, specializing in New Testament Studies and Nag Hammadi Studies. He was a member of theJesus Seminar and arguably the most prominentQ andNag Hammadi library scholar of the twentieth century. He was also a major contributor to The International Q Project, acting as an editor for most of their publications. Particularly, he laid the groundwork forJohn S. Kloppenborg's foundational work into the compositional history of Q, by arguing its genre as an ancient wisdom collection. He also was the permanent secretary of UNESCO's International Committee for the Nag Hammadi codices.[2] He is known for his work on theMedinet Madi library, a collection of Coptic Manichaean manuscripts.[3][4]
Robinson was educated atDavidson College (BA),Columbia Theological Seminary (BD),University of Basel (D.Theol., 1952), andPrinceton Theological Seminary (PhD, 1955). Robinson was an ordained Presbyterian minister. While atBasel, Robinson studied withKarl Barth andOscar Cullmann. But during that time he also would take the train to Marburg, Germany, in order to hearRudolf Bultmann lecture at theUniversity of Marburg. It was in that context that he began to be shaped by Bultmann'sexistentialist theology and philosophy. His Basel dissertation was never published, but his Princeton dissertation was published asThe Problem of History in Mark (1957). His first teaching position was atCandler School of Theology atEmory University (1952-1958) in Atlanta, Georgia. He then taught at Claremont (first atClaremont School of Theology [1958-1964] and thenClaremont Graduate School later University [1964-1999]); at the Graduate School he held an endowed chair, the Arthur Letts, Jr., Professor of Religion. He was the recipient of aGuggenheim Fellowship in 1970. He was also the Director of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity.
He was the son of William Childs Robinson (1897-1982), who taught church history and apologetics at Columbia Theological Seminary. His brother William taught New Testament atPerkins School of Theology and thenAndover Newton Theological School.
He has received criticism from philosopher and apologistWilliam Lane Craig regarding his views on Jesus' resurrection appearances. Robinson argued that these appearances had their origins in second-century Gnosticism. Craig argues that there is no reason to believe that all of these experiences were luminous, and even if they were, that they were interpreted as non-physical appearances.[5] Robinson died in March 2016 at the age of 91.[6]
