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Douglas Campbell

Professor of New Testament
Divinity School
03 New Divinity Bldg, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Professor Campbell's research focuses in one direction on the life and thought (i.e. theology and its development) of Paul with particular reference to soteriological models rooted in apocalyptic and participation as against justification or salvation-history. However, he is interested in contributions to Pauline analysis from modern literary theory, from modern theology, from epistolary theory, ancient rhetoric, ancient comparative religion, modern linguistics and semantic theory, and from sociology. His book-length publications on Paul are The Rhetoric of Righteousness in Romans 3:21-26 (1992); The Quest for Paul's Gospel: A Suggested Strategy (2005); The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (2009); Framing Paul: An Epistolary Biography (2014); Paul: An Apostle's Journey (2018); and Pauline Dogmatics: The Triumph of God's Love (2020). His work is the subject of a book-length engagement, Beyond Old and New Perspectives on Paul (ed. Chris Tilling, 2014). He also edited The Call to Serve: Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Ministry in Honour of Bishop Penny Jamieson (1996), and The Gospel and Gender: A Trinitarian Engagement with Being Male and Female in Christ (2003). His other principal focus is on prisons and their surrounding dynamics. He has co-directed the Prison Program at Duke Divinity School since 2009. The Program’s Certificate in Prison Studies educates students into the dynamics of mass incarceration and responsible prison engagement intellectually, emotionally and practically. It includes participation in inside-outside courses, a mentored prison-related internship, and a formational process addressing the burnout and distress that prolonged engagements with carceral facilities often elicit. Prof. Campbell is trained in restorative justice practices (RJ) that address harm in an alternative way to the current predominantly punitive responses, RJ being a particular specialization in his homeland of New Zealand. He lectures and publishes on the connections between biblical interpretation, theological paradigms, human affects and emotions, and the advocacy of punishment and incarceration. He has led a retraining program for correctional officers in US Marshals and ICE facilities in Texas and New Mexico. He and his spouse have been personally involved in prison visitation and prisoner support since 2005.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Professor of New Testament · 2014 - Present Divinity School
Co-Director for the Prison Engagement Initiative in the Kenan Institute for Ethics · 2023 - Present Kenan Institute for Ethics, University Institutes and Centers

In the News


Published April 11, 2024
Spring Books by Duke Authors: Meditations, Baseball, Rebels and Stomach Pains
Published July 1, 2016
Divinity's Douglas Campbell Receives National Humanities Center Fellowship
Published November 30, 2014
Douglas Campbell: How do we continue to value people that we've encountered in unexpected places

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Recent Publications


Chronology

Chapter · January 1, 2022 Full text Cite

The future of new testament theology, or, what should devout modern bible scholarship look like?

Journal Article Religions · December 1, 2021 Consideration of the nature of New Testament Theology (NTT) necessitates an account of theology or “God-talk”. Karl Barth grasped that all valid God-talk begins with God’s self-disclosure through Jesus and the Spirit, which people acknowledge and reflect o ... Full text Cite

The Provenance of Philippians: A Response to the Analyses of Michael Flexsenhar, Heike Omerzu, Angela Standhartinger and Cédric Brélaz

Journal Article Journal for the Study of the New Testament · June 1, 2021 A critical synthesis of the arguments made by Flexsenhar, Omerzu, Standhartinger and Brélaz, concerning the provenance of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, suggests: (1) ‘the whole of the praetorium’ referenced in 1.13 is a group of people working in an of ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


St. Andrews Research Collaboration Agreement

Institutional SupportPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of St. Andrews · 2019 - 2020

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of Toronto (Canada) · 1989 Ph.D.
University of Toronto (Canada) · 1986 M.A.
University of Otago (New Zealand) · 1984 B.A.