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Dr Stephen Hultgren

BA MDiv PhD

Senior Lecturer in New Testament, Coordinator of Biblical Studies

Stephen is Senior Lecturer in New Testament at ALC and teaches across the New Testament field and koine Greek. His research and scholarly writings focus on the formation of the gospel tradition (especially narrativity and memory in the gospels), ancient Judaism (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls), and Pauline theology. He also has interests in hermeneutics, biblical theology, and the doctrine of Scripture.

Research areas: New Testament, Biblical Theology
Location ALC North Adelaide

About

Stephen came to ALC as Lecturer in New Testament in July 2012. An American by birth, he was ordained to the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 2004 and served as pastor at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Nyack, New York (2004–07). He held teaching positions at Duke University (2001–04) and Fordham University (2004–12) before moving to Australia, and is now on the role of pastors of the Lutheran Church of Australia.

He has twice held Alexander von Humboldt Fellowships for advanced research, at the universities of Tübingen (2008) and Berlin (2012), and is an elected member of SNTS, the international society of New Testament scholars.

Stephen serves on the LCA’s Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations and is Lutheran co-chair of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue in Australia.

He is married to Heidi, and they have three children, Matthias, Hans, and Anna.

Special interests

  • History and theology of the synoptic tradition/gospels
  • Pauline theology
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls
  • Lutheran hermeneutics

Teaching areas

  • Gospel Studies: Luke and John
  • Gospel Studies: Matthew and Mark
  • Introduction to the New Testament
  • New Testament Greek A
  • New Testament Greek B
  • New Testament Introduction
  • Pauline Letters

Research supervision

Eligible to supervise at Masters and PhD level as associate supervisor

Research areas: New Testament, Biblical Theology

Community engagement

  • Co-Chair of Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue in Australia
  • Member of LCA Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations

Qualifications in detail

  • Bachelor of Arts (Classics) (Gustavus Adolphus College 1993)
  • Master of Divinity (Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, 1997)
  • Doctor of Philosophy (New Testament) (Duke University, 2001)
  • Ordained: Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, St. Paul, MN (USA), 19 September 2004.

Papers and publications

For more details on Dr Hultgren’s publications, go to https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13057/136

Books

2011

Habakkuk 2:4 in Early Judaism, in Hebrews, and in Paul. Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 77. Pendé: J. Gabalda.

2007

From the Damascus Covenant to the Covenant of the Community: literary, historical, and theological studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls. STDJ 66. Leiden: Brill.

2002

Narrative elements in the double tradition: a study of their place within the framework of the gospel narrative. BZNW 113. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

Edited book

2019

(with Jeffrey Silcock and Stephen Pietsch) eds. Luther@500 and Beyond: Martin Luther’s Theology, Past, Present and Future. Adelaide: ATF Press.

Articles and Contributions to Books (selected)

Forthcoming

‘Event, Word, Faith: (Critically) Engaging Bultmann in Johannine Theology.’ In Die Bedeutung Rudolf Bultmanns für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft in der Gegenwart. Ed. C. Landmesser and L. Bormann. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

2019

Hilastērion (Rom 3:25) and the Union of Divine Justice and Mercy. Part II: Atonement in the Old Testament and in Romans 1–5.’ Journal of Theological Studies 70, no. 2: 546–99.

Hilastērion (Rom 3:25) and the Union of Divine Justice and Mercy. Part I: The Convergence of Temple and Martyrdom Theologies.’ Journal of Theological Studies 70, no. 1: 69–109.

2018

‘”A Vision for the End of Days”: Deferral of Revelation in Daniel and at the End of Mark.’ Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 109, no. 2: 153–84.

2017

‘The problem of freedom today and the third use of the law: biblical and theological considerations.’ In The necessary distinction: a continuing conversation on law and gospel, edited by Albert Collver et al, 185–251. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia.

2016

‘The “new perspective on Paul”: exegetical problems and historical-theological questions.’ Lutheran Theological Journal 50, no. 1 (August): 70–86.

‘The Word of God in Human Words.’ Lutheran Quarterly 30, no. 2 (Summer): 125–51.

2015

‘Revisiting the third use of the law.’ Lutheran Theological Journal 49, no. 2 (August): 96–110.

2013

‘Narrative Christology in the gospels: reflections on some recent developments and their significance for theology and preaching.’ Lutheran Theological Journal 47, no. 1 (May): 10–21.

2012

‘The new perspective on Paul and the recovery of Pauline anthropology.’ In The New Perspective on Paul, edited by D. Ratke. Minneapolis, MN: Lutheran University Press.

‘Canon, creeds and confessions: an exercise in Lutheran hermeneutics.’ Lutheran Theological Journal 46, no. 1 (May): 26–50.

2011

emet ("Truth").’ In Theologisches Wörterbuch zu den Qumrantexten, vol. 1, edited by Heinz-Josef Fabry and Ulrich Dahmen, cols. 237–47. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

2010

Appendix III of ‘The hope of eternal life.’ Report of Round XI of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the United States.

‘Alexander’ (5), ‘Alexander’ (6), ‘Alexander’ (7), ‘Anna.’ In Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, vol. 1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

2009

‘The Apostolic Church’s influence on the order of sayings in the double tradition. Part II: Luke’s travel narrative.’ Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 100, no. 2: 199–222.

‘4Q521 and Luke’s Magnificat and Benedictus.’ In Echoes from the caves: Qumran and the New Testament, edited by F. García Martínez, 119–32. Leiden: Brill.

2008

‘The Apostolic Church’s influence on the order of sayings in the double tradition. Part I: from John the Baptist to the Mission Discourse; and the rest of Matthew.’ Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 99, no. 2: 185–212.

‘4Q521, the Second Benediction of the Tefilla, the hasîdîm, and the Development of Royal Messianism.’ Revue de Qumrân 23, no. 3: 313–40.

Hultgren Stephen