Stanley E. Porter (born November 23, 1956) is an American-Canadian academic and New Testament scholar, specializing in the Koine Greek grammar and linguistics of the New Testament.

Life and career

Porter was born in Long Beach, California, on November 23, 1956.^[2] He studied at Point Loma College, San Diego (B.A., English), Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California (M.A., English), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois (M.A., New Testament), and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK, in 1988, in both the biblical studies and linguistics departments.^[3] He began his teaching career at Biola University, where he taught New Testament, Greek, and English, then taught at Trinity Western University. From 1994, he was Professor of Theology and Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Surrey Roehampton (formerly Roehampton Institute London, now Roehampton University). Since 2001, he has served as President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario.^[4] He also holds the Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview at McMaster Divinity College (MDC).

Academic works

Porter is primarily noted for his work on verbal aspect in the Koine Greek of the New Testament, as he has argued that aspect is the major semantic category in the analysis of the Greek verbal system, recognizing three aspects: perfective, imperfective and stative.^[5] He has also argued that the Greek verb does not encode temporality but that temporality is depicted by other deictic indicators. His linguistic framework stems from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), founded by Michael Halliday, as can be seen in his use of systemic grammar and system networks in his framework of Greek and aspect, and his use of SFL discourse analysis and register analysis (including cohesion, prominence, and thematization) for biblical interpretation. In addition to Greek linguistics, he has also published on a wide range of other topics, including Paul, Acts, John, the Gospels, historical Jesus, papyrology and textual criticism, hermeneutics, rhetorical criticism, and matters of canon and pseudepigraphy. Porter has contributed to a variety of topics in New Testament studies. For example, in historical Jesus studies, he has argued for adding to the criteria of authenticity the criterion of Greek language and its context, the criterion of Greek textual variance, and the criterion of discourse features.^[6] In Pauline studies, he has argued for the Pauline letter collection view that Paul was directly involved in collecting his letters.^[7] In textual criticism, he has advocated using the earliest New Testament manuscript for the study of the Greek New Testament, such as Codex Sinaiticus for the entire New Testament, rather than eclectic editions that are commonly used.^[8] He has also resurrected the argument, developing the ideas of William Ramsay, Johannes Weiss, and James Hope Moulton, that Paul had likely met Jesus before his crucifixion as a young Pharisee in Jerusalem.^[9] As of 2020, Porter has published around 30 books and monographs, as well as 90 edited volumes and 400 journal articles, chapters, and other scholarly contributions.

In addition to his publishing activities, he has served as editor, co-editor, or editorial board member for a number of book series, journals, and publishers, including Baker Greek Grammar Series (Baker), Linguistic Exegesis of the New Testament (MDC Press/Wipf & Stock), Milestones in New Testament Scholarship Series (Kregel), Johannine Studies Series (Brill), Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics (MDC Press/Wipf & Stock), Christian Higher Education, Linguistic Biblical Studies (Brill), McMaster Divinity College Press, Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, The Bible Translator, Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry, Pauline Studies Series (Brill), Texts and Editions for New Testament Study Series (Brill), Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, Septuagint Commentary Series (Brill), Jian Dao: A Journal of Bible and Theology, and Filología Neotestamentaria. Porter was also the executive editor of Sheffield Academic Press during the 1990s. He founded the MDC Linguistics Circle in 2008, fashioned after the Prague Linguistics Circle (or Prague School), which meets monthly during the academic year and hosts discussions on papers by students, faculty, and guest scholars using linguistic methodology for biblical interpretation.

Awards

Porter was awarded a Festschrift in 2016 during the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting for his 60th birthday: The Language and Literature of the New Testament: Essays in Honor of Stanley E. Porter’s 60th Birthday (ed. Lois K. Fuller Dow, Craig A. Evans, and Andrew W. Pitts; Biblical Interpretation Series 150; Leiden: Brill, 2017).

Selected works

• Porter, Stanley E. (1989). Verbal Aspect in the Greek of the New Testament with Reference to Tense and Mood. Peter Lang. ISBN 9780820424231.
• ——— (1992). Idioms of the Greek New Testament. Sheffield Academic. ISBN 9781850753797.
• ——— (1994). Καταλλάσσω in Ancient Greek Literature, with Reference to the Pauline Writings. Ediciones El Almendro. ISBN 9788480050111.
• ———; McDonald, Lee Martin (1995). New Testament Introduction. Baker. ISBN 9780801020605.
• ——— (1996). Studies in the Greek New Testament: Theory and Practice. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0820428581.
• ——— (1996). The Grammarian's Rebirth: Dead Languages and Live Issues in Current Biblical Study. Roehampton Institute London.
• ———; Weima, Jeffrey A.D. (1998). An Annotated Bibliography of 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Brill. ISBN 978-9004107403.
• ——— (1999). The Paul of Acts: Essays in Literary Criticism, Rhetoric, and Theology. WUNT. Vol. 115. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 9783161471049.
• ——— (2000). Criteria For Authenticity In Historical-Jesus Research. London: T&T Clark (Sheffield Academic). ISBN 9781841270890.
• ———; McDonald, Lee Martin (2000). Early Christianity and its Sacred Literature. Hendrickson. ISBN 978-1565632660.
• ———; Bedard, Stephen J. (2006). Unmasking the Pagan Christ: An Evangelical Response to the Cosmic Christ Idea. Clements. ISBN 978-1894667715.
• ———; Heath; Gordon L. (2006). The Lost Gospel of Judas: Separating Fact from Fiction. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0802824561.
• ———; Porter, Wendy J. (2008). New Testament Greek Papyri and Parchments: New Editions: Texts. de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110203080.
• ——— (2010). Inking the Deal: A Guide for Successful Academic Publishing. Baylor University Press. ISBN 978-1602582651.
• ———; Reed, Jeffrey T.; O'Donnell, Matthew Brook (2010). Fundamentals of New Testament Greek. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0802828262.
• ———; Robinson, Jason C. (2011). Hermeneutics: An Introduction to Interpretive Theory. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0802866578.
• ———; Holmén, Tom (2011). Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus. Vol. 4 vols. Brill. ISBN 9789004163720.
• ———; Gabriel, Andrew K. (2013). Johannine Writings and Apocalyptic: An Annotated Bibliography. Brill. ISBN 978-9004254459.
• ——— (2013). How We Got the New Testament: Text, Transmission, Translation. Baker Academic. ISBN 978-0801048715.
• ——— (2015). Constantine Tischendorf: The Life and Work of a 19th Century Bible Hunter, Including Constantine Tischendorf's When Were Our Gospels Written?. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780567658029.
• ——— (2015). Linguistic Analysis of the Greek New Testament: Studies in Tools, Methods, and Practice. Baker Academic. ISBN 978-0801049989.
• ——— (2015). John, His Gospel, and Jesus: In Pursuit of the Johannine Voice. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802871701.
• ——— (2015). The Letter to the Romans: A Linguistic and Literary Commentary. Sheffield Phoenix. ISBN 978-1905048472.
• ———; Pitts, Andrew W. (2015). Fundamentals Of New Testament Textual Criticism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802872241.
• ——— (2016). Sacred Tradition in the New Testament: Tracing Old Testament Themes in the Gospels and Epistles. With a chapter by Bryan R. Dyer. Baker Academic. ISBN 978-0-801-03077-2.((cite book)): CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• ——— (2016). When Paul Met Jesus: How an Idea Got Lost in History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1107127968.
• ——— (2016). The Apostle Paul: His Life, Thought, and Letters. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0802841148.
• ———; Dyer, Bryan R. (2016). The Synoptic Problem: Four Views. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. ISBN 9781493404452.
• ———; Adams, Sean A. (2016). Pillars In The History Of Biblical Interpretation. Vol. 2 vols. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 9781498202367.((cite book)): CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• ——— (2016). The Apostle Paul: His Life, Thought, And Letters. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN 9781467445405.
• ——— (2017). Inaugurations: Inaugural Lectures Delivered at McMaster Divinity College. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 9781532611353.
• ———; Fay, Ron C. (2018). The Gospel of John in Modern Interpretation. Milestones in New Testament Scholarship. Kregel. ISBN 9780825445101.