Euangelion
The final day of SBL was sad as we heard the news of the passing of Prof. Larry Hurtado who died after a battle with Leukemia.
Larry was a brilliant scholar of Christian origins, having contributed important works on textual criticism, the birth of Christianity, and esp. the emergence of early high christology.
Larry was an ordained Pentecostal minister and remained a Christian throughout his life. He was primarily a historian rather than an apologist. A highlight of my career was participating in a Greer Heard debate with Larry on side in New Orleans. Larry suffered no fools, but he was a very likable chap, very cordial and collegial.
His book The Lord Jesus Christ remains, I think, one of the best books on the beginnings of christology ever written.
For a great primer on Larry’s work, I recommend his Honoring the Son: Jesus in Earliest Christian Devotional Practices (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2018).
Also, highly recommended too is his short lecture Why on Earth Did Anyone Become a Christian in the First Three Centuries? (Pere Marquette Theology Lecture; Marquette University Press, 2016).
Tributes to Larry have been written by John Stackhouse, Holly Carey, Helen Bond and Mark Zhakevich.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory!
For some classic Hurtado, you can check out the video below on How Did Jesus Become God?
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In