E. P. Sanders
Ed Parish Sanders (born
1937) is a leading
New Testament historian, and is one of the principal proponents of the
New Perspective on Paul. He has been Arts and Sciences Professor of Religion at
Duke University,
North Carolina, since
1990. He retired in 2005.
Sanders is a
Fellow of the
British Academy. In 1990 he received a
D. Litt. from the
University of Oxford and a
D. Theol. from the
University of Helsinki. In 1966 he received a Th.d. from
Union Seminary in NYC. He has authored, co-authored or edited 13 books and numerous articles. He has received a number of prizes, including the
Grawemeyer Prize for the best book on religion published in the 1980s for
Jesus and Judaism.
Sanders is married with a daughter and was born and grew up in
Grand Prairie, Texas. He attended Wesleyan College,
Fort Worth (1955-1959) and Perkins School of Theology at
Southern Methodist University,
Dallas (1959-1962). He spent a year (1962-1963) studying at Göttingen, the University of Oxford and in
Jerusalem.
Between September 1963 and May 1966 Sanders studied at
Union Theological Seminary,
New York for his
Th.D His thesis was entitled
The Tendencies of the Synoptic Tradition (published in 1969), which used
form criticism to examine whether the
Gospel tradition changed in consistent ways..
He was offered a job at
McMaster University (
Hamilton,
Ontario), where he remained from 1966 to
1984. In
1968 he won a fellowship from the Canada Council and spent a year in
Israel, studying
Rabbinical Judaism.
In 1984 he became Dean Ireland's Professor of Exegesis at the
University of Oxford and a Fellow of
Queen's College, positions he kept until his move to
Duke University in 1990. He has also held visiting professorships and lectureships at
Trinity College, Dublin, and the
University of Cambridge.
Sanders' first major book was
Paul and Palestinian Judaism, which was published in
1977. He had written the book by
1975, but had difficulty in having it published due to its controversial nature.
Sanders argued that the traditional
Christian argument that
Paul was arguing against
Rabbinic legalism was a misunderstanding of both Judaism and Paul's thought, especially as it assumed a level of individualism that was not present, and disregarded any notions of group benefit or collective privilege. Rather, the difference was in how a person becomes one of the People of God. Sanders termed the Jewish belief "covenantal nomism": one was in due to God's covenant with
Abraham, and one stayed in by keeping the Law. Sanders argued that Paul's belief was one of
participationist eschatology: the only way to become one of the People of God was through faith in Christ ("dying to Christ") and the old covenant was no longer sufficient. But, once in, appropriate behaviour was required, based on the Jewish Law, but not necessarily keeping all aspects of it. Both patterns required the grace of God for election (admission), and the behaviour of the individual, supported by God's grace. The dividing line, therefore, was Paul's insistence on faith in Christ as the only way to election.
Sanders' next major book was
Jesus and Judaism, published in
1985. In this he argued that
Jesus began as a follower of
John the Baptist and was a
prophet of the restoration of Israel. Sanders saw Jesus as creating an
eschatological Jewish movement through his appointment of the
Apostles and through his preaching and actions. After his execution (the trigger for which was
Jesus overthrowing the tables in the temple court of
Herod's Temple, thereby challenging the political authorities who then sought his death) his followers continued his movement, expecting
his return to restore
Israel, part of which was
Gentiles worshiping the God of Israel. Sanders also argued that Jesus was a
Pharisee, as he could find no substantial points of opposition between Jesus and the Pharisees, especially as Jesus did not transgress any part of the law. He argues that Jesus did not oppose or reject the Jewish law and that the disciples continued to keep it, as is shown by their continued worship in the Temple (e.g. Acts 3.1; 21.23-26). Sanders also argues that Jesus' sayings did not entirely determine
Early Christian behaviour and attitude, as is shown by Paul's discussion of divorce (1 Cor. 7.10-16), who quotes Jesus' sayings and then
gives his own independent rules.
Judaism: Practice and Belief was published in
1992 and examined the actual practices of Judaism. Sanders argued that there was a "Common Judaism", that is, beliefs and practices common to all Jews, regardless of which party they belonged to. After the reign of
Salome Alexandra, the
Pharisees were a small but very respected party which had a varying amount of influence within Judaism. The main source of power however was with the rulers and especially the aristocratic priesthood (
Sadducees). Sanders argues that the evidence indicates that the Pharisees did not dictate policy to any of these groups or individuals.
Sanders also argues that more comparative studies are needed, with wider examinations between the New Testament, ancient history and all the available ancient sources. Speaking at a conference organised in his honour, he argued "They are not all that easy, but they are an awful lot of fun."
These are some of the published works of Sanders:
The Tendencies of the Synoptic Tradition 1969 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521073189
Paul and Palestinian Judaism 1977 SCM Press ISBN 0800618998
Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People 1983 Augsburg Fortress Publishers ISBN 0800618785
Jesus and Judaism 1985 SCM Press ISBN 0334020913
*With Margaret Davies,
Studying the Synoptic Gospels 1989 SCM Press ISBN 0334023424
Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah 1990 SCM Press ISBN 0334021022
Paul 1991 Oxford Paperbacks ISBN 0192876791
Judaism: Practice and Belief 1992 SCM Press ISBN 0334024706
The Historical Figure of Jesus 1993 Penguin Books Ltd ISBN 0140144994
Paul: A Very Short Introduction 2001 Oxford Paperbacks ISBN 0192854518
*"Jesus' Galilee," Fair Play: Diversity and Conflicts in Early Christianity. In, Essays in Honor of Heikki Räisänen, eds. Ismo Dunderberg, Kari Syreeni, Christopher Tuckett (Leiden: Brill 2001), pp. 3-41.
*"Jesus' Relation to Sepphoris," Sepphoris in Galilee. In, Crosscurrents of Culture, eds. Rebecca Martin Nagy, Eric M. Meyers, Carol L. Meyers, and Zeev Weiss (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1996), pp. 75-9.
*
E. P. Sanders home page*
E. P. Sanders, "Intellectual Autobiography"*
E. P. Sanders, "Jesus in Historical Context"*
The New Perspective on Paul
