| College: | Wycliffe College |
| Degrees: | PhD (Glasgow) |
| Email: | stephen.chester@wycliffe.utoronto.ca |
| Phone: | 416-946-3544 |
| Teaching Category: |
Regular Tenure Stream
|
| Appointment Status: |
Basic Degree
GCTS Full
|
| Research Interests: |
Scripture / Bible / Sacred Texts
|
Bio
Stephen is Lord and Lady Coggan Professor of New Testament at Wycliffe College. He has been at Wycliffe College since 2019. Stephen was previously a member of faculty at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago (2006-2019) and International Christian College, Glasgow (1999-2006). Originally from Liverpool, England, he also lived for significant periods in both Wales and Scotland before moving to the United States. He is the author Reading Paul with the Reformers (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017) and Conversion at Corinth: Perspectives on Conversion in Paul’s Theology and the Corinthian Church (London and New York: T&T Clark, 2003). Stephen’s research interests focus on Pauline theology, especially the history of reception of Paul’s texts in the Reformation era. Stephen is convinced that interpreters of previous eras have much to offer us as we interpret biblical texts in and for contemporary contexts. His other areas of interest include conversion in the ancient world and the theological interpretation of Scripture.
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Specializations
- Pauline Epistles and Theology
- History of Reception (especially the era of the Reformation)
- Theological Interpretation of Scripture
- Conversion in the Ancient World
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Publications
2023:
- ‘“Works Themselves are a Part of Grace”: John Calvin’s Interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-10’ in The New Perspective on Grace: Paul and the Gospel after Paul and the Gift, ed. E Adams, D.H. Bertschmann, S.J. Chester, J. Linebaugh & T. Still (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 236-50.
- ‘Faith and Family: Calvin, the Figure of Abraham, and the New Perspective on Paul,’ in Reformatorische Paulusauslegungen – Reformation Readings of Paul, ed. S. Krauter and M. Nägele, volume of conference proceedings (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck), 479-502.
- Articles on ‘Conversion and Call of Paul’ and ‘Interpretation: Martin Luther’ in the revised edition of Dictionary of Paul and his Letters (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP).
2022:
- ‘“Consider Yourselves Dead” (Rom. 6:11): Biographical Reconstruction, Conversion, and the Death of the Self in Romans,’ in Religious and Philosophical Conversion in the Ancient Mediterranean Traditions, ed. Athanasios Despotis and Helmut Löhr (Leiden: Brill), 342-68.
2019:
- ‘Salvation, the Church, and Social Teaching: The Epistle of James in Exegesis of the Reformation Era,’ in Reading the Epistle of James: A Resource for Students, ed. Eric F. Mason and Darian R. Lockett (Atlanta: SBL Press), 273-90.
2018:
- “Abba! Father!” (Gal. 4:6): Justification and Assurance in Martin Luther’s Lectures on Galatians (1531/1535),’ in Biblical Research63, 15-22.
2017:
- ‘Interpreting the Bible and Changing the World: The Phenomenon of Martin Luther,’ in The Expository Times 129.1, 3-13.
- Reading Paul with the Reformers: Reconciling Old and New Perspectives (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, pp.478 + xxi).