Dr Jonathan Birch

  • Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies (Theology & Religious Studies)
  • Tutor - Lifelong Learning, Tutor - Affiliate (External Relations)

email: Jonathan.Birch@glasgow.ac.uk

Room 303 (1/1), No. 4 The Square, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8qq

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6424-6232

Research interests

  • The New Testament and its reception
  • Religion and the Enlightenment
  • Philosophy of religion  
  • Religion and science   
  • Christian theology   
  • Religion and film

 

Biography
 
Jonathan Birch is an intellectual historian who works on the reception of the Bible in Western thought. With a background in philosophy (BA Hons, MA) and the New Testament and its modern reception (PhD), his primary research interest is the relationship between biblical hermeneutics and modern philosophy during the intellectual ferment of the European Enlightenment.
 
Jonathan has enjoyed an eight year relationship with Theology and Religious Studies at Glasgow: initially as a doctoral student, and now as an early career academic. His current research remit is to raise the profile of the university's special collections of religious books, especially those concerning the New Testament and its modern reception.
 
By vocational training Jonathan is a teacher (PGCE, QTS), and this remains his first love as a professional academic. With thirteen years experience, from high school to post-graduate, Jonathan has taught thousands of students in the UK.  In addition to university teaching in Glasgow, Jonathan worked in widening participation for six years with the Recruitment and International Office, delivering programmes in schools throughout the West of Scotland to facilitate successful progression to higher education.
 
As an assessment professional, Jonathan has served as a senior GCSE Religious Studies examiner, principal A Level philosophy examiner and lead examination writer. As of 2015, he will join a new A Level philosophy specification, leading the assessment process as principal examiner in the philosophy of religion and epistemology. 

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2011 | 2009
Number of items: 19.

2024

Birch, J. (2024) Narrating the Origins of the Quest: The Historical Jesus in Early Modern Cultural Complexity. Lexington Books/Fortress Academic: Minneapolis. (In Press)

2022

Birch, J. C. P. (2022) Imagining the Gifford Lectures: 134 not out. Theology in Scotland, 29(1), pp. 55-71. (doi: 10.15664/tis.v29i1.2433)

2021

Birch, J. C.P. (2021) Review essay: When the dancing turned to mourning: Theological responses to the pandemic. Theology in Scotland, 28(1), pp. 62-80. (doi: 10.15664/tis.v28i1.2186)

Birch, J. (2021) Robert R. Beck: Jesus and His Enemies: Narrative Conflict in the Four Gospels: Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017. Pp. x, 237. Pb. £29.99: ISBN 978-1-62698-243-7. Modern Believing, 62(3), pp. 286-288. (doi: 10.3828/mb.2021.18)[Book Review]

2020

Birch, J. C.P. (2020) Review essay: To Hell and back with David Bentley Hart. Theology in Scotland, 27(2), pp. 61-74. (doi: 10.15664/tis.v27i2.2140)

Birch, J. (2020) Genesis and Cosmos: Basil and Origen on Genesis 1 and Cosmology, Adam Rasmussen: BAC 14; Leiden: Brill, 2019, 978-90-04-39692-0, €121.00, 210 hb. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 42(5), p. 128. (doi: 10.1177/0142064X20928853)[Book Review]

Birch, J. (2020) History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology. The 2018 Gifford Lectures, N.T. Wright: Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019, 978-1-4813-0962-2, $34.75, xxi + 343 hb. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 42(5), pp. 11-12. (doi: 10.1177/0142064X20928815)[Book Review]

2019

Birch, J. C.P. (2019) Revolutionary contexts for the quest: Jesus in the rhetoric and methods of Early Modern intellectual history. Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 17(1-2), pp. 35-80. (doi: 10.1163/17455197-01701005)

Birch, J. C.P. (2019) Jesus in an Age of Enlightenment: Radical Gospels from Thomas Hobbes to Thomas Jefferson. Series: Christianities in the Trans-Atlantic World. Palgrave Macmillan: London. ISBN 9781137512758 (doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-51276-5)

2018

Birch, J. (2018) A History of Biblical Interpretation. III. The Enlightenment through the Nineteenth Century, Alan J. Hauser & Duane F. Watson, eds.: Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017, 978-0-8028-4275-6, $60.00, xii + 428 hb. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 40(5), p. 148. (doi: 10.1177/0142064X18777156)[Book Review]

Birch, J. C.P. (2018) Reimarus and the religious Enlightenment: his apologetic project. Expository Times, 129(6), pp. 245-253. (doi: 10.1177/0014524617744991)

2015

Birch, J. (2015) Gospel narratives, miracles, and the ‘critical’ reader: the eclipse of the supernatural. Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception, 5(1), pp. 61-93.

Birch, J. C. P. (2015) Andrew Davison, The Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy for Theologians (London: SCM Press, 2013), pp. xvii + 310. £25.00. Theology in Scotland, 22(2), pp. 78-82. [Book Review]

Birch, J. C. P. (2015) John Hughes, ed., The Unknown God: Responses to the New Atheists (London: SCM Press, 2013), pp. xiv + 106. £12.99. Theology in Scotland, 22(2), pp. 71-75. [Book Review]

2014

Birch, J. (2014) Cracking the canon: John Toland, "lost" gospels and the challenge to religious hegemony. In: Adam, A.K.M. and Tongue, S. (eds.) Looking Through a Glass Bible: Post Disciplinary Interpretations from the Glasgow School. Series: Biblical interpretation series, 125. Brill: Leiden, pp. 85-112. ISBN 9789004259072 (doi: 10.1163/9789004259096_006)

2013

Birch, J. C.P. (2013) Review of: Filip Ivanović (ed.), Dionysius the Areopagite Between Orthodoxy and Heresy (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2011). International Journal of the Platonic Tradition, 7(2), pp. 237-240. (doi: 10.1163/18725473-12341266)[Book Review]

2011

Birch, J. (2011) The road to Reimarus: origins of the quest for the historical Jesus. In: Whitelam, K. W. (ed.) Holy Land as Homeland? Models for Constructing the Historic Landscapes of Jesus. Series: Social world of biblical antiquity (7). Phoenix Press: Sheffield, pp. 19-47. ISBN 9781907534324

Birch, J. C.P. (2011) Review of: Jonathan Edwards's Philosophy of Nature: The Re-Enchantment of the World in the Age of Scientific Reasoning, by Avihu Zakai. Reformation and Renaissance Review, 13(1), pp. 133-136. (doi: 10.1558/rrr.v13i1.133)[Book Review]

2009

Birch, J. C.P. (2009) Review of: God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science, by James Hannam. Reformation and Renaissance Review, 11(2), pp. 235-237. (doi: 10.1558/rrr.v11i2.235)[Book Review]

This list was generated on Sun Jun 4 04:56:39 2023 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Book Reviews
Number of items: 19.

Articles

Birch, J. C. P. (2022) Imagining the Gifford Lectures: 134 not out. Theology in Scotland, 29(1), pp. 55-71. (doi: 10.15664/tis.v29i1.2433)

Birch, J. C.P. (2021) Review essay: When the dancing turned to mourning: Theological responses to the pandemic. Theology in Scotland, 28(1), pp. 62-80. (doi: 10.15664/tis.v28i1.2186)

Birch, J. C.P. (2020) Review essay: To Hell and back with David Bentley Hart. Theology in Scotland, 27(2), pp. 61-74. (doi: 10.15664/tis.v27i2.2140)

Birch, J. C.P. (2019) Revolutionary contexts for the quest: Jesus in the rhetoric and methods of Early Modern intellectual history. Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, 17(1-2), pp. 35-80. (doi: 10.1163/17455197-01701005)

Birch, J. C.P. (2018) Reimarus and the religious Enlightenment: his apologetic project. Expository Times, 129(6), pp. 245-253. (doi: 10.1177/0014524617744991)

Birch, J. (2015) Gospel narratives, miracles, and the ‘critical’ reader: the eclipse of the supernatural. Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception, 5(1), pp. 61-93.

Books

Birch, J. (2024) Narrating the Origins of the Quest: The Historical Jesus in Early Modern Cultural Complexity. Lexington Books/Fortress Academic: Minneapolis. (In Press)

Birch, J. C.P. (2019) Jesus in an Age of Enlightenment: Radical Gospels from Thomas Hobbes to Thomas Jefferson. Series: Christianities in the Trans-Atlantic World. Palgrave Macmillan: London. ISBN 9781137512758 (doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-51276-5)

Book Sections

Birch, J. (2014) Cracking the canon: John Toland, "lost" gospels and the challenge to religious hegemony. In: Adam, A.K.M. and Tongue, S. (eds.) Looking Through a Glass Bible: Post Disciplinary Interpretations from the Glasgow School. Series: Biblical interpretation series, 125. Brill: Leiden, pp. 85-112. ISBN 9789004259072 (doi: 10.1163/9789004259096_006)

Birch, J. (2011) The road to Reimarus: origins of the quest for the historical Jesus. In: Whitelam, K. W. (ed.) Holy Land as Homeland? Models for Constructing the Historic Landscapes of Jesus. Series: Social world of biblical antiquity (7). Phoenix Press: Sheffield, pp. 19-47. ISBN 9781907534324

Book Reviews

Birch, J. (2021) Robert R. Beck: Jesus and His Enemies: Narrative Conflict in the Four Gospels: Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017. Pp. x, 237. Pb. £29.99: ISBN 978-1-62698-243-7. Modern Believing, 62(3), pp. 286-288. (doi: 10.3828/mb.2021.18)[Book Review]

Birch, J. (2020) Genesis and Cosmos: Basil and Origen on Genesis 1 and Cosmology, Adam Rasmussen: BAC 14; Leiden: Brill, 2019, 978-90-04-39692-0, €121.00, 210 hb. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 42(5), p. 128. (doi: 10.1177/0142064X20928853)[Book Review]

Birch, J. (2020) History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology. The 2018 Gifford Lectures, N.T. Wright: Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019, 978-1-4813-0962-2, $34.75, xxi + 343 hb. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 42(5), pp. 11-12. (doi: 10.1177/0142064X20928815)[Book Review]

Birch, J. (2018) A History of Biblical Interpretation. III. The Enlightenment through the Nineteenth Century, Alan J. Hauser & Duane F. Watson, eds.: Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017, 978-0-8028-4275-6, $60.00, xii + 428 hb. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 40(5), p. 148. (doi: 10.1177/0142064X18777156)[Book Review]

Birch, J. C. P. (2015) Andrew Davison, The Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy for Theologians (London: SCM Press, 2013), pp. xvii + 310. £25.00. Theology in Scotland, 22(2), pp. 78-82. [Book Review]

Birch, J. C. P. (2015) John Hughes, ed., The Unknown God: Responses to the New Atheists (London: SCM Press, 2013), pp. xiv + 106. £12.99. Theology in Scotland, 22(2), pp. 71-75. [Book Review]

Birch, J. C.P. (2013) Review of: Filip Ivanović (ed.), Dionysius the Areopagite Between Orthodoxy and Heresy (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2011). International Journal of the Platonic Tradition, 7(2), pp. 237-240. (doi: 10.1163/18725473-12341266)[Book Review]

Birch, J. C.P. (2011) Review of: Jonathan Edwards's Philosophy of Nature: The Re-Enchantment of the World in the Age of Scientific Reasoning, by Avihu Zakai. Reformation and Renaissance Review, 13(1), pp. 133-136. (doi: 10.1558/rrr.v13i1.133)[Book Review]

Birch, J. C.P. (2009) Review of: God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science, by James Hannam. Reformation and Renaissance Review, 11(2), pp. 235-237. (doi: 10.1558/rrr.v11i2.235)[Book Review]

This list was generated on Sun Jun 4 04:56:39 2023 BST.

Supervision

I would be interested in supervising research in any of the following areas:

  • History of New Testament studies (especially modern)
  • Historical Jesus studies
  • Religion and the Enlightenment
  • History of Christian thought
  • Philosophy of religion

Teaching

I currently convene the following course:

  • The God Question: Exploring Christianity. I co-ordinate this Level 1 course and personally teach the section on Christian thought.

 I currently teach on the following courses:

  • Creation to Apocalypse: Introduction to the Bible. This is a Level 1 course on which I teach sections on critical issues in modern New Testament studies and biblical reception history.
  • Texts and Cultures of the Bible. This is a Level 2 course on which I teach a section on the Gospel and Epistles of John.
  • Religion and Violence. This is a Taught Master's course on which I contribute a class on the uses of the New Testament in the history of arguments concerning religious coercion and religious tolerance.