Bio

Dr. Richard T. France is a New Testament scholar and a minister in the Anglican church. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford (MA). He earned his BD at the University of London and his PhD at the University of Bristol. He worked in the 1970s as a lecturer in religious studies at the University of Ife in Nigeria. From 1981 to 1988 he taught at London Bible College in New Testament studies, and from 1989 to 1995 he was Principal of Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. He was a parish minister in England and Wales from 1995 until his retirement in 1999. He has served for two periods on the CBT, from 1990 to 1995 and from 1999 to the present. Currently, he leads the UK delegation and is involved in Anglicizing the text for readers in the UK and the British Commonwealth.

Education

Balliol College, Oxford, B.A. 1960
Tyndale Hall, London, B.D. first class, 1962
Balliol College, Oxford M.A. 1963
Tyndale Hall, Bristol, Ph.D., 1967

Publications

1968 ‘The Servant of the Lord in the Teaching of Jesus’ Tyndale Bulletin 19
1970 The Living God, London/Chicago: IVP (reprint, Vancouver: Regent, 2003)
1971 Jesus and the Old Testament, London: Tyndale Press / Chicago: IVP
(reprinted Grand Rapids: Baker, 1982; Vancouver: Regent, 1992)
1972 ‘The Exegesis of Greek Tenses in the New Testament’, Notes on Translation 46
1975 The Man They Crucified: a Portrait of Jesus, London/Chicago: IVP (revised edition, Jesus the Radical, 1989; reprint, Vancouver: Regent, 2002)
1975 ‘Old Testament Prophecy and the Future of Israel: a Study of the Teaching of Jesus’
Tyndale Bulletin 26
1976 ‘The Authenticity of the Sayings of Jesus’ in C. Brown (ed.), History, Criticism and Faith
London: IVP
1977 ‘Exegesis in Practice: Two Samples’ in I.H. Marshall (ed.), New Testament Interpretation
Exeter: Paternoster
1978 ‘La chronologie de la semaine sainte’, Hokhma 9
1979 ‘God and Mammon: the Practical Relevance of the Teaching of Jesus’, Evangelical
Quarterly 51
1979 ‘Herod and the Children of Bethlehem’, Novum Testamentum 21
1979 A Bibliographical Guide to New Testament Research (with A.R. Millard and G.N. Stanton)
Sheffield, JSOT Press
1980-1983 Gospel Perspectives, vols. 1-3 (co-edited with D. Wenham). Sheffield: JSOT Press articles in each of these three vols:
‘Mark and the Teaching of Jesus’ vol 1, 1980
‘Scripture, Tradition and History in the Infancy Narratives of Matthew’ vol 2, 1981
‘Jewish Historiography, Midrash and the Gospels’ vol 3, 1983
1980 ‘The “Massacre of the Innocents” – Fact or Fiction?’ in E.A. Livingstone (ed.), Studia
Biblica 1978 II Sheffield, JSOT Press
1980 ‘Jésus devant Caïphe’, Hokhma 15
1981 ‘The Formula-Quotations of Matthew 2 and the Problem of Communication’, New
Testament Studies 27
1981 ‘The Uniqueness of Christ’, Churchman 95 [French translation in Hokhma 17]
1982 ‘The Worship of Jesus – a Neglected Factor in Christological Debate?’ in H.H. Rowdon
(ed.), Christ the Lord Leicester: IVP
1982 ‘Evangelical Disagreements about the Bible’, Churchman 96
1982 consulting editor for The Lion Handbook of Christian Beliefs Oxford: Lion Publishing
1984 ‘Matthieu, Marc, Luc’, supplementary chapter in G.E. Ladd, Théologie du Nouveau
Testament, Lausanne: PBU / Paris: Sator
1984 ‘The Church and the Kingdom of God’ in D.A. Carson (ed.), Biblical Interpretation and
the Church: Text and Context Exeter: Paternoster
1985 ‘The Gospels as Historical Sources for Jesus’, Truth 1
1985 Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale NT Commentary) Leicester: IVP /
Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
1986 ‘Liberation in the New Testament’, Evangelical Quarterly 58 [French trans., Hokhma 37]
1986 ‘Chronological Aspects of Gospel Harmony’, Vox Evangelica 16
1986 The Evidence for Jesus London: Hodder / Chicago: IVP (reprint, Vancouver: Regent, 2006)
1989 ‘Matthew’s Gospel in Recent Study’, Themelios 14
1989 Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher, Exeter: Paternoster / Grand Rapids: Zondervan
1989 ‘Mary’s Song: The Magnificat’ in D.F. Wright (ed.), Chosen by God: Mary in
Evangelical Perspective London: Marshall Pickering
1989 consulting editor and contribution to Jesus 2000 Oxford: Lion Publishing
1990 Divine Government: God’s Kingship in the Gospel of Mark London: SPCK / Sydney:
ANZEA (reprint, Vancouver: Regent, 2003)
1990 ‘The Beginning of Mark’, Reformed Theological Review 49
1991 ‘James Barr and Evangelical Scholarship’, Anvil 8
1992 ‘Development in New Testament Christology’, Themelios 18
1993 ‘Conversion in the Bible’, Evangelical Quarterly 65
1993 ‘Matthew, Mark and Luke’, supplementary chapter in G.E. Ladd, A Theology of the New
Testament (revised ed.) Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
1993 Jesus in a Divided Society: Bible Studies from Matthew’s Gospel Bedford: British
Church Growth Association
1993 Evangelical Anglicans: Their Role and Influence in the Church Today (edited, with A.E.
McGrath) London: SPCK
1994 ‘Jesus the Baptist?’ in J.B. Green & M.M.B. Turner (ed.), Jesus of Nazareth: Lord and
Christ Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
1994 consulting editor for The New Bible Commentary (4th ed) Leicester: IVP and commentary on ‘Matthew’in that vol
1994 ‘“It Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us”? Some Thoughts on Decision-making in the Church, and on Christian Disagreement, in the Light of the Decision of the
Church of England to Ordain Women to the Presbyterate’, Churchman 108
1995 Women in the Church’s Ministry: a Test-case for Biblical Hermeneutics (The Didsbury Lectures 1995) Carlisle: Paternoster / Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
1995 ‘A Shift in the Centre of Gravity of World Mission’ (The Ramsden Sermon, University of
Oxford) Theology September 1995
1995 ‘A Sermon for the Consecration of Edwin Barnes as Bishop of Richborough’, Unity Digest
13 (December 1995)
1996 ‘The Writer of Hebrews as a Biblical Expositor’, Tyndale Bulletin 47
1996 Mark in the People’s Bible Commentary series, Oxford: Bible Reading Fellowship
1997 Translating the Bible (with Philip Jenson) Cambridge: Grove Books
1998 ‘First Century Bible Study: Old Testament Motifs in 1 Peter 2:4-10’, Journal of the
European Pentecostal Theological Association 18
1999 ‘From Romans to the Real World: Biblical Principles and Cultural Change in relation to Homosexuality and the Ministry of Women’, in S.K. Soderlund & N.T. Wright
(ed.), Romans and the People of God Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
2000 ‘On Being Ready (Matthew 25)’ in R.N. Longenecker (ed.), The Challenge of Jesus’
Parables Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
2000 ‘The Bible’ in P. France (ed.), The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation Oxford: OUP
2000 A Slippery Slope? The Ordination of Women and Homosexual Practice – a Case-Study
in Biblical Interpretation Cambridge: Grove Books2001 Timothy, Titus and Hebrews in the People’s Bible Commentary series, Oxford: Bible
Reading Fellowship
2002 The Gospel of Mark (New International Greek Testament Commentary) Carlisle:
Paternoster / Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
2002 consulting editor for The Lion Handbook of the Bible (3rd edition) Oxford: Lion
Publishing
2002 ‘Howard Marshall: A Profile’, Epworth Review 29
2003 ‘The Bible in English: an Overview’ in G.G. Scorgie, M.L. Strauss & S.M. Voth (ed.),
The Challenge of Bible Translation Grand Rapids: Zondervan
2006 ‘Hebrews’ in T. Longman and D.E. Garland (ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary:
Revised Edition, vol. 13. Grand Rapids: Zondervan
2006 ‘A Pure Church? Ecclesiological Reflections from the Gospel of Matthew’, Rural
Theology 4
2007 The Gospel of Matthew (New International New Testament Commentary) Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans
2008 ‘Matthew and Jerusalem’ in D.M. Gurtner and J. Nolland (ed.), Built upon the
Rock: Studies in the Gospel of Matthew Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
2008 (with J. Nolland) ‘Reflections on the Writing of a Commentary on the Gospel of
Matthew’, ibid.
2008 ‘Sheep and Goats — Pastoral Imagery in the Bible and Today’, Rural Theology 6

Editorial

Themelios 1975-1978
The Tyndale Bulletin 1978-1981
The ‘Commentary’ feature in Third Way 1984-1988
Currently on editorial board of Rural Theology

Also

Numerous dictionary articles, book reviews, newspaper/magazine articles, etc.

Additional Information
Memberships

• Member of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas
• Member of Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical Research
• Leader of the ‘Jesus Seminar’, British New Testament Conference, 1985-1992
• Member (since 1989; vice-chairman since 2005) of the Committee on Bible Translation responsible for the New International Version of the Bible, and now for Today’s New International Version (2005)

Research Area or Focus

• New Testament studies – especially study of the gospels and of the historical Jesus.

Personal

Dr. France is married to his wife Barbara France and enjoys mountain climbing, wild life, gardening, music (plays the flute) and theatre. From 1969-1977 he taught Biblical studies at universities in Nigeria and to this day retains a fascination with all things African.