Michael Bird | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1974-11-18)18 November 1974 (age 50) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation(s) | Vice principal and lecturer,Ridley College (Melbourne) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Queensland (Ph.D.) |
| Thesis | Many will come from the East and the West: Jesus and the Origins of the Gentile Mission (2005) |
| Doctoral advisor | Rick Strelan Robert L. Webb |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Theology andNew Testament |
| Sub-discipline | Pauline studies,Christology,patristics |
| Website | patheos.com/blogs/euangelion |
Michael F. Bird (born 18 November 1974) is an AustralianNew Testament scholar, theologian andAnglican priest.
In his teenage years, Bird was anatheist who saw Christianity "as a way of oppressing people, a purely human construct".[citation needed] After becoming a Christian he was firstly aBaptist, then aPresbyterian and now anAnglican.[3] He has been called by the ecumenical media platformEternity a "heavy hitter" in the world of New Testament scholarship and Jesus's divinity.[4]
Bird is vice principal and lecturer in theology and New Testament atRidley College, having previously taught at theBrisbane School of Theology andHighland Theological College.[5] He studied atMalyon College and theUniversity of Queensland.[5] He is also Distinguished Research Professor of Theology atHouston Baptist University.[6]
Bird has written a number of books, includingThe New Testament in Its World (2019, withN. T. Wright),Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (2013) andThe Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus (2014).The Gospel of the Lord won the Biblical Studies section of the 2015Christianity Today Book Awards.[7] Bird is also the author of a fantasy novel titledIskandar: And the Immortal King of Iona.[8]
Bird is a member of theEvangelical Theological Society, theSociety of Biblical Literature andStudiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.[5]
In November 2015, he was ordained as a priest in theAnglican Church of Australia.[9]
