Students Events

William Rutherford, Ph.D.

William Rutherford

Contact:

Office Address: ATWD I 232
Phone: (281) 649-3186

wrutherford@hbu.edu
Assistant Professor in Christianity

Education

  • BSChE, University of Texas at Austin
  • ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary
  • PhD, University of Edinburgh (Scotland)
  • Additional postgraduate study at l’Institut Catholique de Paris (France) and Universität Tübingen (Germany)

Courses Taught

Bachelor’s Level:
  • New Testament
  • New Testament in Graeco-Roman Society
  • Paul and the Corinthian Correspondence
  • Greek Grammar I and II
  • Greek Reading & Syntax I (Johannine Letters)
  • Greek Reading & Syntax II (Pauline Letters)
  • Hebrew Grammar I and II
  • Hebrew Reading & Syntax I (Jonah)
  • Hebrew Reading & Syntax II (Hebrew Poetry)
  • World Religions

 
Master’s Level:
  • Paul and the Corinthian Correspondence
  • New Testament Use of Scripture
  • Hebrew I and II
  • Greek I and II
  • Greek Studies (Pauline Letters)
  • Greek Studies (Patristic Texts)
  • Greek Studies (Introduction to Septuagintal Studies)

Teaching Focus

Dr. Rutherford’s teaching focuses on classical biblical Hebrew, hellenistic Greek, and New Testament. He brings to the classroom several years of practical experience as a member on the translation and editorial committee that produced the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). He especially delights in introducing students to the world of hellenistic Greek, including texts outside the New Testament that enlighten students’ readings of the New Testament. He also enjoys introducing undergraduate students to questions and issues of historical, literary, and theological import in his survey course in New Testament.

Publications

  • Greek and Hebrew word studies included in the HCSB Henry Blackaby edition (2002).
  • “Altercatio Jasonis et Papisci as Testimony Source for Justin’s ‘Second God’ Argument?” In Paul Foster and Sara Parvis, eds., Justin Martyr and His Worlds (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Press, 2007).
  • “Monotheism.” In Michael Gagarin, ed., Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome (New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).
  • “Reinscribing the Jews: The Story of Aristides’ Apology 2.2–4 & 14.1b–15.2” Harvard Theological Review (forthcoming)
  • “Citizenship among Jews and Christians: Civic Discourse in the Apology of Aristides” Studia Patristica (forthcoming
  • Dr. Rutherford’s research focuses on the social description of early Christianity in its Graeco-Roman environment. He explores how early Christians formulated and contested corporate identities as well as how they integrated the specific symbols of their faith with more dominant, well-established Graeco-Roman and Jewish symbolic worlds.  He is particularly interested in describing the 'Parting of the Ways' between Judaism and Christianity and is also captivated by the ideology of 'monotheism' in antiquity, a concept he has explored not only in early Christianity but in Greek philosophical and religious texts as well as Jewish texts of the Second Temple and rabbinic

 


Awards and Honors

  • University of Edinburgh (2003−2006)
    • New College School of Divinity Scholarship
    • Overseas Research Studentship Award
    • College of Humanities and Social Science Scholarship
  • Universität Tübingen (2005)
  • Exchange Scholarship
  • Bursary from Fondation Catholique Ecossaise
  • Henry C. Thiessen Award in New Testament
  • Lewis Sperry Chafer Award
  • L’Institut Catholique de Paris (2005)
  • Dallas Theological Seminary (2002)

Previous academic experience includes:

  • Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, St. Edward’s University (Austin, TX) (2008−09)
  • Tutor of Biblical Studies, University of Edinburgh (Scotland) (2004)
  • Adjunct Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary, Texas Regional Campus (Summer, 2011)
  • Adjunct Professor of Biblical Languages, Houston Graduate School of Theology (2012-2013)