Dr T.J. Lang
Senior Lecturer in New Testament
Biography
T.J. Lang joined the University of St Andrews in 2016 and is now Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies. He is also currently co-director of the Institute for Bible, Theology, & Hermeneutics. Prior to St Andrews T.J. was Lecturer at Durham University (2014-2016). His PhD is in New Testament Studies from Duke University (2014), with minor areas in Early Christianity and Greco-Roman Systems of Thought. T.J. was formerly a Fulbright scholar at the Universität Heidelberg (2009-2010), a Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellow (2011-14), and a DAAD Research Grant awardee (2009-2010). His first monograph, Mystery and the Making of a Christian Historical Consciousness: From Paul to the Second Century (de Gruyter, 2015), was awarded the 2017 Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise. T.J. currently serves as the Divinity School's Director of Postgraduate Studies (Research). His publications appear in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Biblical Literature, New Testament Studies, Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der Älteren Kirche, Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum, Journal of Theological Studies, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Biblical Interpretation, and the Journal of Theological Interpretation.
Teaching
DI1006 Jesus and the Gospels
DI2003 Paul and the Epistles
DI4604/5 Johannine Literature and Theology (English and Greek)
DI5107 Greek Readings
DI5429 Biblical Themes
DI5501 The Origins of Christian Theology
T.J. also co-lectures with Dr Madhavi Nevader on From Adam to Apocalypse (DI1202) and Kingship and Messianism (DI4732).
Research areas
Dr Lang's scholarship wanders across texts and centuries, but the core of his research is twofold: first, the New Testament; second, the history of its formation and interpretation. Strictly speaking, the anthology named ‘New Testament’ is not a first-century artefact. The canon coalesces alongside the centuries-long reception and interpretation of its contents. Much of Dr Lang's work, therefore, also moves alongside the canonical formation of the New Testament, alongside its earliest interpretation, but ultimately back to the text itself. The accent is not on reception for its own sake but on how the New Testament's reception returns to the text and contributes to its ongoing interpretation. ‘Reception history’ (or Wirkungsgeschichte) is not unfitting as a description of his primary research interest, but he aspires to a version of this that is more intellectually powerful and historically expansive than what is often so labelled.
Selected publications
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Mystery and the making of a Christian historical consciousness: from Paul to the second century
Lang, T. J., 16 Oct 2015, Berlin: de Gruyter. 293 p. (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft; vol. 219)Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Paul: suffering as a cosmic problem
Lang, T. J., 10 Aug 2023, T&T Clark handbook of suffering and the problem of evil. Grebe, M. & Grössl, J. (eds.). London: T&T Clark, p. 84-91 8 p. (T&T Clark handbooks).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Social surds and the crisis of ecclesial oneness in 1 Clement
Lang, T. J., 1 Sept 2023, One God, one people: oneness and unity in early Christianity. Barton, S. & Byers, A. (eds.). Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, p. 321-340 (Resources for biblical study; no. 104).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Mystery cults and Christian associations in early Alexandrian theology: the case of Clement of Alexandria
Lang, T. J., 15 Sept 2022, Greco-Roman Associations, Deities, and Early Christianity. Longenecker, B. W. (ed.). Waco, Texas: Baylor University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
Arts of memory, ancient manuscript technologies, and the aims of theology
Lang, T. J., 8 May 2022, In: Religions. 13, 5, 13 p., 426.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A Multiplied Self: Divine Doubles and the Apostle Paul’s Anagogical Realism
Lang, T. J., 2020, Talking God in Society: Multidisciplinary (Re)constructions of Ancient (Con)texts. Eisen, U. & Mader, H. (eds.). Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, p. 49-66Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Sealed for Redemption: The Economics of Atonement in Ephesians
Lang, T. J., 10 Sept 2020, Atonement: Jewish and Christian Origins. Botner, M., Duff, J. & Dürr, S. (eds.). Grand Rapids: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, p. 155-70Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
The order of Christian theology: literal and ecclesial senses of the New Testament
Lang, T. J., 14 Jun 2020, In: Journal of Theological Interpretation. 14, 1, p. 120-139 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Cosmology and Eschatology in Paul
Lang, T. J., Jul 2020, (E-pub ahead of print) The Oxford Handbook of Pauline Studies. Novenson, M. & Matlock, B. (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
Trouble with insiders: the social profile of the ἄπιστοι in Paul's Corinthian correspondence
Lang, T. J., 18 Dec 2018, In: Journal of Biblical Literature. 137, 4, p. 981-1001Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review