Ian H. Henderson
Associate Professor of New Testament Studies
(on sabbatical leave July鈥擠ecember 2022 and July鈥擠ecember 2023)
B.A. (Manitoba)
B.D. (St. Andrews)
M.A. (McMaster)
D.Phil. (Oxford)
Historical Jesus and Gospel Traditions; Synoptic Literary Criticism; Greek and Roman Religious Rhetoric and Audiences
Ian Henderson has taught and studied Historical Jesus Research, early Christianity and the New Testament at 51吃瓜网 since 1988. The author of Jesus, Rhetoric and Law (1996), he publishes on Mark鈥檚 Gospel and on religious aspects of Greco-Roman (Sophistic) Rhetoric. He also has research interests in Argumentation Theory and in Translation Theory in relation to contemporary Christian receptions of Scripture especially among Canadian indigenous peoples. From 2008 to 2019 he participated in the research project 鈥淩eligious Individualization in Historical Perspective鈥� of the Max Weber College in Erfurt. His current research focuses on Mark鈥檚 Gospel as a manual for leadership formation, and on audience definition in the canonical gospels.
Originally from Winnipeg, he studied Greek and Latin at the University of Manitoba. After theological studies in Scotland (St. Andrews), he returned to Canada, to begin research in Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity at McMaster University under Ben F. Meyer, E.P. Sanders and A.I. Baumgarten. He followed Professor Sanders to complete a D.Phil. in Oxford, with further studies under Klaus Berger and Gerd Theissen in Heidelberg. He has taught as a Guest Professor at the University of Erfurt, and in the Roman Catholic Faculty of Theology, Erfurt, Germany. He has also taught students for ministry at the Big Beaver House Bible Camp, Kingfisher Lake, ACC Diocese of Keewatin and more recently at the Arthur Turner Training School, Iqaluit, Nunavut, ACC Diocese of the Arctic. He was a Visiting Researcher at the Universit茅 de Strasbourg.
鈥溾�樷�� quod nolo, illud facio鈥� (Romans 7:20): institutionalising the unstable self鈥� in (eds) Martin Fuchs, Antje Linkenbach, Martin Mulsow, Bernd-Christian Otto, Rahul Bj酶rn Parson and J枚rg R眉pke, Religious Individualisation: Historical Dimensions and Comparative Perspectives volume 2 (Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter) 807-830.
Open access at doi:
鈥淭hinking about Mark鈥檚 Historically Designed Audience(s)鈥� in (ed.) G. Van Oyen, Reading the Gospel of Mark in the Twenty-First Century (, 301; Leuven: Peeters, 2019) 535-550.
鈥淭he Child, Death and the Human in Mark鈥檚 Gospel鈥� in (edd.) Ulrike Mittmann and Beate Ego, Evil and Death: Conceptions of the Human in Biblical, Early Jewish, Early Christian, Greco-Roman and Egyptian Literature (Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature 18; Walter de Gruyter, 2015) 199鈥�219.
鈥樷�溾�idden with Christ in God鈥� (Colossians 3:3) Modes of Personhood in Deutero-Pauline Tradition鈥� in (edd.) J枚rg R眉pke and Wolfgang Spickermann, Reflections on Religious Individuality: Greco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian Texts and Practices 62; Walter de Gruyter: Berlin; New York, 2012) 43鈥�67.
鈥淢emory, Text and Performance in Early Christian Formation鈥� in (edd.) Christa Frateantonio, Helmut Krasser, Religion und Bildung. Medien und Funktionen religi枚sen Wissens in der Kaiserzeit (Potsdamer Altertumswissenschaftliche Beitr盲ge 30; Franz Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart, 2010) 157鈥�184.
鈥淭he Second Sophistic and Non-Elite Speakers鈥� in (edd.) Thomas Schmidt and Pascale Fleury Perceptions of the Second Sophistic and its Times 鈥� Regards sur la Seconde Sophistique et son 茅poque (University of Toronto Press: Toronto, 2010) 23鈥�35.
鈥淩econstructing Mark鈥檚 Double Audience鈥� in (ed.) Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Between Author and Audience in Mark: Narration, Characterization, Interpretation (New Testament Monographs 23; Sheffield Phoenix Press: Sheffield, 2009) 6鈥�28.
鈥淪peech representation and religious rhetorics in Philostratus' Vita Apollonii鈥� in Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 32 (2003) 19鈥�37.
Supervision of Ph.D. Theses Completed
Nicola Hayward, The use of funerary art for commemorating social identity and memory: the case of the Via Latina鈥檚 Samaritan Woman, 2020.
Jonathan Thiessen, (co-directed with Laurent Pernot) Les lettres de l鈥檃p么tre Paul et la rh茅torique du discours figur茅 : Fondements m茅thodologiques et 茅tudes de cas. (Universit茅 de Strasbourg, 脡cole doctorale des humanit茅s; Centre d鈥橝nalyse des Rh茅toriques Religieuses de l鈥橝ntiquit茅), 2020.
Aaron Ricker, (co-supervised with Alain Gignac, Universit茅 de Montr茅al) Romans 12-15, Social Identity, and the Purpose of Romans: An Association-Epistolary Approach, 2018.
Ryan Bailey,The Acts of Saint Cyprian of Antioch: Critical Editions, Translations, and Commentary, 2017.
Lesley Fast, (co-promoted with L. J. de Vries) Persuasive Speaking and Bible Translation: A study of the Gospel of Mark and its reception in Gr忙co-Roman and Lovangai environments, (Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam), 2014.
Dean M. Brady, 鈥楴ow, Concerning the Things of the Spirit鈥�: The Representation of Personal Religious Experience in the Letters of Paul, 2012.
Karl J. McDaniel, (co-supervision with E. Aitken) Prospection, Retrospection, and Emotive Effect: Suspense, Surprise, and Curiosity in Matthew's Gospel, 2010.
Philip Tite, (co-supervised with F. Wisse) Valentinian Ethics and Paraenetic Discourse: Determining the Social Function of Moral Exhortation in Valentinian Christianity, 2005.
Marc Debanne, Enthymemes in the Letters of Paul, 2001.
Alyda Faber, (co-supervised with K. Skerrett), [Dean鈥檚 Honour List], 2001.
Heidi Epstein, (co-supervised with M. Morris), Melting the Venusberg: A Feminist Theology of Music [Dean鈥檚 Honour List], 2000,
Supervision of Ph.D. Theses (on-going)
Brad Rice, The Star of Bethlehem as Christ in Early Christian Interpretation.
Victor Gavino, (co-supervising with Patricia Faison Hewlin, Desautels Faculty of Management).
Supervision of M.A. Theses Completed
Scott Mason, John Chrysostom as an Interpreter of Paul鈥檚 letter to the Philippians: The Soteriological Significance of Mimesis, 2022.
Sarina Meyer, 鈥�Aseneth in Alexandria: the ethics of wealth in 鈥楯oseph and Aseneth鈥� in the ancient ascetic context鈥� (co-supervision with Gerbern Oegema), 2016.
Marla MacDonald, 鈥淎ncient Athletics and Memorializing the Dead in 1 Corinthians 4:9 and 9:24-27鈥�, 2015.
Catherine Aldred, 鈥淩hetoric, Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning: Innovations in First Nations鈥� Language Bible Translation鈥�, 2013.
Eric Farr, "The narrative and discursive references to children and audience duality in The Gospel of Mark", 2011.
Madison Robins, 鈥楢nd I will surely hide my face:鈥� Pseudo-Writing in LXX Esther and Second Maccabees (co-supervision with E. Aitken), 2010.
Stephen Casimir, A Critical Review of Characterization in the Fourth Gospel鈥檚 Structure of Anonymous Disciple Allusions, 2004.
Amalinda Berube, Tragedy in the Gospel of Mark, 2003.
Lesley Fast, Rhetorical Dimensions of Speech Representation, (Dean鈥檚 Honour List), 2003.
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