Thomas R Hatina, PhD

Professor of Biblical & Theological Studies; Director, MA Biblical Studies & Christian Thought

Prof. Hatina is a prolific author and researcher. His publications include several books and numerous articles in peer reviewed journals, scholarly monographs, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. His current projects include (1) a monograph on Social Memory Theory and the function of the Jewish scriptures in the New Testament, (2) a digital Introduction to the New Testament, and (3) a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew for the NICNT series. Prof. Hatina’s research interests focus on social memory, historiography, narrative criticism and mythmaking in relation to the origins and development of Christianity in the first two centuries. He is also interested in how the New Testament is interpreted and appropriated in contemporary North Atlantic Western culture.

In addition to teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate Religious Studies programs at Trinity Western University, Prof. Hatina is Visiting Professor at Charles University in Prague, which is one of the oldest universities in the world. At Charles University and at Passau University (Germany), he annually leads graduate and doctoral seminars in New Testament and early Christian Studies, gives supervision to dissertations, and collaborates on research projects and conferences. His book, New Testament Theology and its Quest for Relevance has recently been translated into Czech and published through Karolinum Press.

  • PhD - University of Bristol (Trinity College), England (2000). Humanities (History of Religion). Specialization in Early Jewish and Christian Interpretation, Supervisor: Prof. John Nolland
  • MA - Regent College, at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver, B.C., Canada (1995). Graduated with First Class Honours. Major in Biblical Studies. Thesis topic: Comparative Midrash.
  • BA (Hons.) - Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C., Canada, (1993). Graduated with Great Distinction, Religious Studies, Philosophy, and History.

Expertise

Early Christian Gospels, Hermeneutics, Social Memory Theory, Mythology and Historiography in Antiquity, New Testament Theology and Religion, Literary theory and criticism, and Hellenistic Greek grammar

Awards & Honors

Recent awards and honours

  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Institutional Grant (2019)
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Institutional Grant (2018)
  • Appointment as Visiting Professor, Charles University, Prague

Recent Publications

Selected recent publications

Books
  • The Cradle of Christianity: Judaism, Jesus, and the New Testament (Texts and Editions for New Testament Study 18; Leiden: Brill, 2024). Edited volume with Stanley E. Porter.
  • Social Memory Theory and Conceptions of Afterlife in Jewish and Christian Antiquity (Studies in Cultural Contexts of the Bible; Leiden: Brill, forthcoming 2022). Edited volume with Jiří Lukeš.
  • Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospel. Volume 4: The Gospel of John (Library of New Testament Studies 613; London: T. & T. Clark International, 2020). Edited volume.
  • New Testament Theology and Its Quest for Relevance: Ancient Texts and Modern Readers: (London: Bloomsbury Press, 2013).
Articles
  • “Social Memory Theory and the Enigmatic Mediated Past in Historical Jesus Research,” Novum Testamentum 66.2 (2024) 141–166.
  • “When the Saints Go Marching In: Remembering Vengeance and Vindication in Matthew 27:52–53,” in Social Memory Theory and Conceptions of Afterlife in Early Judaism and Christianity (ed. Thomas R. Hatina and Jiří Lukeš; Studies in Cultural Contexts of the Bible; Leiden: Brill, forthcoming 2022).
  • “Scripture, Memory and Time: Matthew’s Fulfilment Quotations as Historiographical Devices,” in The Gospel of Matthew in its Historical and Theological Context: Papers from the International Conference in Moscow, September 24 to 28, 2018 (ed. Mikhail Seleznev, William R. G. Loader and Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr; WUNT 459; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021) 75–97.
  • “Memory and Method: Theorizing John’s Mnemonic Use of Scripture,” in Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospel. Volume 4: The Gospel of John (ed. Thomas R. Hatina; Library of New Testament Studies 613; London: T. & T. Clark International, 2020) 219–36.
  • “Intertextual Transformations of Jesus: John as Mnemo-Myth,” in Modern and Ancient Literary Criticism of the Gospels (ed. Robert M. Calhoun, David P. Moessner and Tobias Nicklas, and; WUNT 451; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020) 417–40.
  • “Social Memory Theory and Competing Identity Constructions: The Function of Genesis 15:6 in Romans and James” in 500 Jahre der Reformation in der Slowakei (ed, Maroš Nicák and Martin Tamcke; Münster: Lit Verlag, 2019) 35–56.
  • “The Provenance of Jesus’ Quotations of Scripture from a Social Memory Perspective,” in The Earliest Perceptions of Jesus in Context: Essays in Honor of John Nolland (ed. Aaron W. White, David Wenham, Craig A. Evans; London: T. & T. Clark, 2018), pp 59-76.
  • “From Memory to Myth and Ideology: The Historicizing Function of Scripture in Matthew’s Travel Narrative.” Testimonia Theologica 10 (2016) 104-35.
  • “The Telic Conjunctions of Isaiah 6:9-10 in Mark’s Mythopoeic,” in The Language and Literature of the New Testament. Edited by Lois K. Fuller Dow, Craig A. Evans, and Andrew W. Pitts (Biblical Interpretation Series 150; Leiden: Brill, 2016) 307-31.

For a complete publication list, see Curriculum Vitae.

Affiliations & Memberships

  • Society of Biblical Literature
  • European Association of Biblical Studies
  • Society of New Testament Studies

 

  • BIE 510 Elementary New Testament Greek
  • GREE/RELS 235/236 Elementary New Testament Greek
  • GREE/RELS 329 Elementary New Testament Greek
  • GREE/RELS 331/332 Readings in the Greek New Testament
  • GREE/RELS 531 Readings in the Greek New Testament
  • GREE/RELS 532 Readings in the Greek New Testament
  • RELS 101 Introduction to the Old Testament
  • RELS 102 Introduction to New Testament
  • RELS 224 New Testament Theology
  • RELS 250 New Testament Book Study – Mark
  • RELS 340 Current Issues in Biblical Theology
  • RELS 350 Biblical Archaeology
  • RELS 351 Life and Teaching of Jesus
  • RELS 352 Life and Letters of Paul
  • RELS 400 Hermeneutics and New Testament
  • RELS 453 Synoptic Gospels and Acts
  • RELS 454 Johannine Writings
  • RELS 480 The Old Testament in Marks Gospel
  • RELS 540 Current Issues in Biblical Theology
  • RELS 551 Life and Teachings of Jesus
  • RELS 553 Synoptic Gospels and Acts
  • RELS 554 The Johannine Writings
  • RELS 621 Advanced New Testament Exegesis
  • RELS 622 Advanced New Testament Seminar
  • RELS 632 Historical Jesus
  • RELS 634 Mark
  • RELS 644 Gospel of John
  • RELS 680 Social Memory Theory & NT Studies
  • RELS 690 Research Design