Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Being Human in God’s World
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): McConville, Gordon; McConville, James Gordon
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Gloucester, England
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY:
https://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/author.pl/author_id=1334 * http://www.glos.ac.uk/faculties-and-schools/humanities/staff-profiles/pages/s2100900-gordon-mcconville.aspx * http://www.bloomsbury.com/author/james-gordon-mcconville * https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordon-mcconville-a3870070 * https://www.trinitycollegebristol.ac.uk/kingdom-learning/faculty-and-staff/associate-faculty/professor-gordon-mcconville-ma-bd-phd/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 82243651
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n82243651
HEADING: McConville, J. G. (J. Gordon)
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PERSONAL
Male.
EDUCATION:Cambridge University, B.A., 1973; M.A., 1976; University of Edinburgh, B.D., 1976; Queen’s University, Belfast, Ph.D., 1980.
ADDRESS
CAREER
University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, Great Britain, professor of Old Testament theology, c. 1997-; previously taught at colleges in Bristol and Oxford, England. Also external examiner for course at Queen’s University, Belfast, Ireland, and Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England.
MEMBER:Society for Old Testament Study, Society of Biblical Literature.
WRITINGS
Also translator with Eugene H. Merrill of Deuteronomy for the New Living Translation, Tyndale, 1996. Editor of “Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: The Prophets” series.
SIDELIGHTS
Deuteronomy
J. Gordon McConville studied modern languages and theology and received his doctorate in theology with a focus on the Old Testament of the Bible. In his research, writing, and teaching efforts, he attempts to relate his belief that theology continues to have relevance in the modern world. In his 2002 book titled Deuteronomy, McConville breaks up the book in sections, beginning with a translation of text and then notes on the text, followed by a discussion of literary form and structure. He also comments on the text and provides an in-depth explanation.
The book includes a thirty-page bibliography. Eugene H. Merrill, writing for the Dallas Theological Seminary Web site, felt McConville’s explanations of the texts are “particularly helpful” in that they provide a summary of the previous discussion. Merrill went on to note: “Of all the recent commentaries on Deuteronomy McConville’s should be on every serious student’s short list.”
Joshua
McConville is also coauthor with Stephen N. Williams of Joshua, which is part of “The Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary” series. The authors examine this book in the Bible with an eye toward the ethical issues it raises considering the violence contained in the book and the many promises that are made concerning God and salvation. McConville and Williams author separate chapters. They provide exegetical commentary, with Williams examining significant theological themes, from land and covenant to miracle and judgment. Throughout the book, the authors make the case that the ancient text is still important for modern readers.
“The obviously warm relationship and mutual respect between the two authors let them succeed in an assignment ripe with opportunities to fall apart into disjointed pieces,” wrote Journal of Hebrew Scriptures Online contributor Trent C. Butler. The reviewer went on to note that the book would have benefited from more confrontational discourse between the two authors, highlighting their sometimes different views. Nevertheless, Butler went on to remark: “Christian theological studies of Joshua in the future will have to deal with this volume and the issues it raises.”
Being Human in God's World
In his book titled Being Human in God’s World: An Old Testament Theology of Humanity, McConville examines the Old Testament’s depiction of people as being made in the image of God and in terms of what it means to be human. In the process, he discusses how the view of humanity presented in the Old Testament is the foundation for Christians to reflect on modern issues, including those involving politics, economics, ethics, and life within the Christian church. Overall, McConville makes the case that the biblical concept of humans made in the image of God applies to almost all aspects of human life.
McConvill draws from a wide range of sources, including the writings of philosopher Charles Taylor and novelist Marilynne Robinson. In the process he addresses topics such as human potential, the theologies of work, and how place and memory play a role in self-understanding. The book includes three indexes: an author, a subject, and a scripture index. “Insightful, provocative and compelling, this book is itself a work of literature to be savored,” wrote an online Publishers Weekly contributor.
BIOCRIT
ONLINE
Dallas Theological Seminary Web site, http://www.dts.edu/ (August 29, 2002), Eugene H. Merrill, review of Deuteronomy.
Journal of Hebrew Scriptures Online, http://www.jhsonline.org/ (March 27, 2017), Trent C. Butler, review of Joshua.
Publishers Weekly Online, http://www.publishersweekly.com/ (March 27, 2017), review of Being Human in God’s World: An Old Testament Theology of Humanity.
University of Gloucestershire Web site, http://www.glos.ac.uk/ (March 27, 2017), author faculty profile.
Prof. Gordon McConville
Professor of Old Testament Theology
HISTORY, RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS
I teach Biblical Studies, particularly Old Testament, but have a broad interest in Christian theology. I try to show that theology has a continuing and urgent relevance to the modern world.
Email: gmcconville@glos.ac.uk
Biography
I first studied Modern Languages at Cambridge, then Theology at Edinburgh, and finally a PhD in Old Testament back in my native Northern Ireland. I have taught in two Theological Colleges, in Bristol and Oxford, before coming to Cheltenham over twenty years ago. I enjoy teaching widely in my subject area.
Qualifications
Award Title Institution Date
BA Modern Languages Cambridge University 1973
MA Modern Languages Cambridge University 1976
BD Divinity Edinburgh University 1976
PhD Old Testament Queen's University, Belfast 1980
Membership of professional bodies
Society for Old Testament Study; Society of Biblical Literature
Book Reviews
Deuteronomy
J.G. McConville
IVP Academic, Downers Grove, IL
August 29, 2002
Send to Kindle Purchase
The Book of Deuteronomy has received a significant amount of attention by Old Testament scholars in recent years, and rightly so. It clearly is of monumental importance to the issue of the composition of the Pentateuch and, more importantly, it occupies pride of place as a systematic exposition of ancient Israel’s theology. This does not mean that every new treatment of the book can be justified or adds to the understanding of Deuteronomy, but the book under review satisfies both expectations.
McConville has distinguished himself in Deuteronomic studies, having authored Law and Theology in Deuteronomy (Sheffield: JSOT, 1984); Grace in the End: A Study in Deuteronomic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993); and Time and Place in Deuteronomy, with J. G. Millar (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1994). In addition he (with this reviewer) translated Deuteronomy for the New Living Translation (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1996). He represents the best in British evangelical scholarship, an approach that tends to embrace certain moderately critical views usually eschewed by American evangelicals but that is in touch with current biblical and theological issues. He writes, “It will be clear that the commentary, though it is critical of the consensus opinion, does not defend Mosaic authorship.” One could wish for a more forthright position than this, since one’s view of the authorship and dating of the book cannot be divorced from the book’s full meaning.
Apart from this caveat the commentary is an extremely clear and well-reasoned exposition of Deuteronomy. Each section begins with a translation followed by notes on the text, literary form and structure, comment, and explanation. The last of these is particularly helpful in collecting the whole discussion together into a summary with special attention to the theology and application of the passage. The textual notes interact with all the manuscript and versional variations of any consequence and are generally reliable in their assessment of the evidence. The comment section is skimpy in places but much of this is redressed by the complementary explanation summaries at the end of each major unit. The thirty-page bibliography is abreast of most of the important literature of the past half-century of Deuteronomy scholarship.
Of all the recent commentaries on Deuteronomy McConville’s should be on every serious student’s short list.
—Eugene H. Merrill
April 1, 2004
http://www.jhsonline.org/reviews/reviews_new/review478.htm