Dirk Jongkind

Dirk Jongkind, co leader of the Theologians Network, is a Dutch biblical scholar who finished his PhD at Cambridge University. His main scholarly interest is in the Greek text of the Bible and the Graeco-Roman backdrop of Acts and the letters. Currently, he is the Research Fellow in New Testament at Tyndale House and the John W. Laing Fellow at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He is working on legal language in and outside the New Testament. The focus of his work includes textual criticism of the Greek Bible, with emphases on grammar and lexicography, epigraphy, papyrology, and archaeology of the Graeco-Roman world and the relation of New Testament background and exegesis.

2012 Forum Sessions

Luncheon Workshops

Apologetics and the Textual Criticism of the New Testament

The reliability of the New Testament is one of those dreaded headings in each apologetics class. More often than not, we have to restrict ourselves to repeating the arguments and conclusions reached by others because, simply, we lack the necessary expertise ourselves. Over the last decade a fresh attack on the New Testament has taken shape, an attack based on the notion that there is no such thing as an 'original' New Testament. The text and the canon we have today, is the one produced by the winners of the great church battles of the first couple of centuries. But, as with all texts, this one has been doctored, changed, and altered to serve the agenda of the victorious (and therefore able to label themselves as 'orthodox') faction. If one takes a proper look at all the evidence, one will find all the various Christianities back in and outside the New Testament.

Though this argument resonates deeply with reader-orientated literary criticism ('get something good out of the text, irrespective of its original intention—if it had any'), it does not sit very well with the emphasis of Christianity on real historical events that are accessible in reliable form. How has establishing the original text (=Textual Criticism) become the new battlefield? Can we say anything positive? Is the New Testament reliable as a transmitted text, as a trustworthy account, and as a collection of books and letters? By having a look at some of the current arguments and examples, we will see that the simplest solution may be actually the best.

The Gospels You Do not Know: Evaluating the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas

In recent years there has been a surge of interest in the apocryphal gospels, particularly the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas. The church, therefore, must be equipped to respond to questions about them and the potential challenges they pose to the historic biblical canon.  In this workshop, the speaker will provide an overview of Thomas and Judas. What portions of the texts do we have? What is in them? How can we contrast the content of authentic and inauthentic biblical texts?

back to top