Dr. David J. Trobisch
Tabellarischer Lebenslauf (German)
I was born in Ebolowa, Cameroon (West Africa). My parents, Walter and Ingrid Trobisch, were at the time missionaries for the American Lutheran Church. In 1964 the family moved to Austria. Born from a German father and an American mother I hold dual citizenship. I speak English, German, and French, and studied Latin, Hebrew, and Ancient Greek.
1976-1982: After passing the university entrance exam in Austria I moved to Germany and studied Protestant Theology at Neuendettelsau (Bavaria), Tübingen and Heidelberg (Magister theol. 1982).
1976 Matura (University entrance exam) BEA Saalfelden, Austria.
1977 Greek exam (Augustana Hochschule, Neuendettelsau, Germany).
1977 Hebrew exam (University Heidelberg, Germany).
1982 Magister theol. (University Heidelberg, Germany).
1988 Dr. theol. (University Heidelberg, Germany).
1995 Dr. theol. habil. (University Heidelberg, Germany).
1982-1985 I worked as an editor, translator (English into German) for several publishers and I worked as a software developer. Starting in 1983 I was employed as a part time research and teaching assistant at the University of Heidelberg.
1985-1995 I held a position as ‘wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter’ and since 1989 as ‘Hochschulassistent’, at the University of Heidelberg, which may be compared to non-tenured assistant and associate professor positions in the US. My teaching load was four to five courses per year.
1995-1996 Visiting scholar and adjunct faculty member at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.
1996-1997 Visiting Associate Professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School, New Haven.
1997- 2000 Associate Professor of New Testament at Bangor Theological Seminary.
2000- 2008 Throckmorton-Hayes Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Bangor Theological Seminary. (7/2008-6/2009: Visiting Professor)
Interpreting the New Testament: Exegetical Methods
Manuscripts of the New Testament
The Text of the New Testament: Methodology
Paleography of Minuscule Manuscripts of the Bible
Pseudonymity and Forgery in Antiquity
The Pseudonymous Letters of the New Testament
Paul’s Letter Collection in the Light of Ancient Literature
The Corinthian Correspondence
Ancient Fiction and Early Christian Gospels
The Book of Acts in Its Extracanonical Context
Gospel According to Matthew
The Letters of Paul
The Background of the New Testament
The Four Gospels
Second Peter as an Introduction to the New Testament
The Calling of the Congregation (Doctor of Ministry)
New Testament Greek (I and II)
Paul's Letter to the Philippians
Trip with students to Israel.
Trip with students to Turkey.
Jesus in the canonical gospels and in extra-canonical writings
Wealth and Poverty in the Church. Taught in Paris and Southern France, together with Eckehart Stöve and Barabara Fink.
Who Am I? In search of a new Christian and Jewish identity. Taught with Rabbi Harry Sky.
Jesus of Nazareth
Trip with students to Greece.
Public Lectures (since 1993, selection)
Apocalyptic Texts in the Christian Bible (Drury College, Springfield 1993)
2 Corinthians, Acts 20:1-4 and Paul’s 'Zwischenbesuch' to Corinth (St. Louis 1994)
The New Testament as Forgery? The Unity of the Bible (Frankfurt 1994)
The Jesus Seminar (Budapest 1994)
The Historical Jesus in Contemporary American Scholarship (Heidelberg 1994)
The Great Commission Mt 28:16-20 (Heidelberg 1995)
The Origins of the Christian Bible (Augsburg 1995)
The Final Redaction of the New Testament (Budapest 1995)
Mt 28:16-20 as Fiction (Tübingen 1995)
►The Honorable Forgerer: Pseudonymity in the New Testament (Duisburg 1995)
The Story of Paul According to his Letters (Springfield 1995)
Reconstructing the Editio Princeps of the New Testament (Philadelphia 1995)
Book Publishing in Antiquity and Its Influence on the Composition of the Christian Bible (Heidelberg 1995, Toronto 1995)
►Paul and the Pauline Letter Collection: Textual Criticism and the Christian Bible (Toronto 1995)
Who Published the Gospels? John 21:25 as an Editorial Note to the Reader of the Four Gospels (New Haven 1996)
The Relationship Between Poetic Fiction and Theology in the Gospel of Matthews (Frankfurt 1996).
►Where did this Bible come from anyway? (Carrington Lecture, SMSU, Springfield 1996)
The Last Words of the Gospel According to John (Bangor 1997)
Who Published the Pastorals? Yale Divinity School (New Haven 1997)
The Gospel According to Matthew as an Example of Early Christian Fiction (Bangor and Portland 1997)
The New Testament as a Second Century Publication, University of Augsburg (Augsburg, Germany, 1998)
The Authority of Scripture (Bangor: Clergy Day, 1998)
The Corinthian Correspondence (Bangor: public performance of Paul's letters to the Corinthians, class project)
Introduction to the New Testament (Bangor: A Community of Christian Teachers 1999)
The Letter of Jude (Bangor, 1999: public performance, class project)
►Paul, the Gospel Writers, and the Formation of the Christian Bible (Sturbridge, MA: keynote address and lectures at the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America [ELCA] 1999)
Letter to the Philippians (Stockholm, ME 1999)
"How to Read an Ancient Letter Collection: Prolegomena to a narrative critical study of the Letters of Paul", Society of Biblical Literature, International Conference (Helsinki 1999)
"What is a Gospel?" (Springfield, MO, 1999: ELCA, Kansas City diocese, one day seminar for Parish Ministry Associates in Missouri)
Computer and the quest for the original text of the New Testament (Stamford, CT, 2000).
Historical Jesus Research (Deer Isle, ME, 2000)
Extra Canonical Gospels (Deer Isle, ME, 2000)
"Paul's Letters as Story" New England Regional SBL (Providence, RI, 2000)
Manuscripts of the Bible, The Formation of the Christian Bible (Rochester, NH, 2000, for the New Hampshire Bible Society, one day seminar)
Paul's Letter to the Philippians. Public Performance (Bangor: class project, 2000)
►"From Manuscript to Database", Association Internationale Bible Et Informatique (A.I.B.I.) 6th International Conference, key note address (Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2000) [Keynote]
"Who Published the Christian Bible?" Society of Biblical Literature, International Conference (Cape Town, South Africa, 2000)
►"Stephen King and the Book of Acts", Inaugural lecture for installation ceremonies as Throckmorton-Hayes Professor of Early Christian Language and Literature (Bangor, 2000)
Portrays of Jesus in Early Christian Literature (Rumford Point, ME, 2000)
Introduction to the New Testament Gospels (Des Moines, IA, 2001)
Luke. Lenten Series. (Deer Isle, ME 2001)
►"From Text to Translation. Who Published the Christian Bible?" (The Foundation for Biblical Research, Charlestown, NH, 2001)
"Re-reading the New Testament with the help of Stephen King's writings" (Ocean Park, ME 2001)
"The Future of Theological Education" (Bangor, 2001)
►"Matthew, Q, and the Gospel of Thomas" (University of Maine at Orono, 2001)
"The significance of Asia Minor for the study of the New Testament" (Howland, ME 2001)
"Paul to the Corinthians: A narrative critical study" (Boston, regional SBL, 2001)
►"The future of New Testament scholarship" (Erlangen, Germany, 2002) [Keynote]
"Engaging the Text" (SBL international Berlin, July 2002) with Peggy Burke
"Sexual Misconduct in Corinth" (workshop for UCC and Episcopal congregations, performance of texts from 1Cor and 2Cor, Rangeley, Maine, August 2002)
►International Conference: The Septuagint in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Organized and presided over the conference (Bangor, Maine, September 2002)
►"Gospel of Matthew & Gospel of Mary" (University of Maine at Orono, 2002)
"Who is Mark?" (Rumford, ME, UCC pastors Oxford Union, October 2002)
"Gospel of Mark" (three evenings, congregations in Falmouth, Maine, October 2002)
"Engaging the Text" (SBL/AAR national meeting Toronto, November 2002) with Peggy Burke
Paul's Sickness (Connecticut, UCC pastors, February 2003)
►"A Disquisition Upon the Corpus Paulinum" The Birmingham Colloquia on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament (Birmingham, Great Britain, April 2003) [Keynote]
Why do we study manuscripts of the Bible? (Methodist Congregation, Augsburg, Germany, May 2003)
The Letter to the Hebrews (Protestant Lutheran Seminary, St. Petersburg, Russia, June 2003)
"Traveling with Paul in the Footsteps of the Goddess" (Bangor, Temple of the Feminine Divine, May 2004)
"Workshop: Performance of Paul's Letter to the Galatians" (Rangeley, ME, June 2004)
"What did Paul know about Jesus?" (Mount Carmel, Lutheran Summer Camp, Alexandria, MN, July 10-16, 2004)
"Codex Boernerianus and Its Sister Manuscripts", International SBL conference (Groningen, The Netherlands, July 2004)
"Evolution oder Edition: Zur Entstehung des Neuen Testaments" (Frauenkirche Dresden, Germany, October 2004)
"Jesus traditions outside of the Gospels" (Methodist Congregation, Augsburg, Germany, October 2004)
"Workshop: Working with Biblical Manuscripts" (Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Auburn, ME, November 2004)
Religion and the Challenge of America: Judaism, Christianity and Islam (June 19-24, 2005) (organizer)
"60 years after the Holocaust". Rabbi Harry Sky and Dr. David Trobisch talk about their trip through Germany and Austria. PowerPoint presentation. Falmouth, ME (November 2006).
"Introducing the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Mary". Lecture University of Maine at Orono (January 2006).
"The Revelation of Paul". First & Calvary Presbyterian Church, Springfield, MO (February 2006).
"In the Footsteps of Paul". UCC Franklin Association Annual meeting. Phillips, ME. PowerPoint presentation (May 2006).
"What is There in a Picture? An Introduction to Codex Washingtonianus W 032". Edinburgh, Scotland. International meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. (July 2006).
"Homosexuality and the Bible", UCC, North Waterford, ME (July 2006).
►Fall Theological Conference for rostered leaders and spouses of the Northeastern Minnesota Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Ruttger's Sugar Lake Lodge, Grand Rapids, MN (September 2006).
11/17/06: 12:55 PM. Smithsonian, Freer Gallery of Art. Auditorium. Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. SBL symposium. Reading a Page of the Freer Gospels Codex.
01/24-01/29/07: "Who published the Christian Bible?" (1/27/07 9:15 AM), Scripture and Skepticism: The Use of Doubt in Biblical and Qur'anic Studies, University of California at Davis, Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion.
03/20/2007. Tuesday, 20th of March 2007, 15-17h Utrecht, Netherlands, “Each Manuscript Has a Story to Tell”
11/01-03/2007 “Editing the Bible,” the Forty-Third Conference on Editorial Problems, convened by John Kloppenborg, Centre for Religion, 1–3 November 2007 at St Michael's College, University of Toronto.
12/07-09/2007. "Identity and Identification: How to translate the word 'Gentiles' from English into English.' Translation, Identity and Heterogeneity . Hosted by the University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
►Keynote address, endowed lecture, or other special invitation.
Recent and future activities are posted at www.trobisch.com/david
I worked with original manuscripts at Heidelberg (Papyrologisches Institut), Ann Arbor (University of Michigan, Prof. L. Koenen), Vienna (Papyrussammlung der österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Dr. Harrauer), New Haven (Beinecke Library), Cape Town (South African Library), Hartford, CT (Trinity College), New York (Library of American Bible Society), Paris (Bibliotheque Nationale), Dresden (Sächsische Landesbibliothek), St. Petersburg (Russian National Library), Cambridge, UK (Trinity College), Damascus (Greek Orthodox Patriarchate); with microfilms at Washington D.C. (Library of Congress), Münster (Institut für neutestamentliche Textforschung, Prof. B. and K. Aland).
From 1986 to 1996 I designed commercial software applications for theologians and served as a consultant for hard- and software acquisitions for theological institutions throughout Germany and helped authors prepare manuscripts electronically for publication. For several years I was responsible for typesetting two theological journals (Dielheimer Blätter, Plattdeutsche Pfarrerzeitung) and a contemporary literary journal (HIRSCHSTRASSE).
I am the author of a children's book, Pimpelhubers Abenteuer (Wuppertal: Brockhaus Verlag, 1999; first edition 1968). English edition: The Adventures of Pumpelhoober (Bolivar: Quiet Waters Publications, 2000).
September 2002 I organized and presided over an International Conference on the Study of the Septuagint in Bangor, ME, bringing together 12 North American and 10 German scholars.
I am the chair of the SBL international text-criticism section "Working With Biblical Manuscripts" (since 2002).
I am a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion. I participated in the SBL/AAR regional meetings 1993 in Kansas City, 1994 in St. Louis, 1997 Wheaton, 1998 and 1999 Andover-Newton, 2000 Rhode Island, 2002 Boston; the national meeting 1995 Philadelphia, 1996 New Orleans, 1997 San Francisco, 1998 Orlando, 1999 Boston, 2000 Nashville, 2001 Denver; 2002 Toronto, 2004 San Antonio; the international meetings 1993 in Münster (Germany), 1994 Leuven (Belgium), 1995 Budapest (Hungary), 1999 Helsinki (Finland), 2000 Cape Town (South Africa), 2001 Rome (Italy), 2002 Berlin (Germany), 2003 Cambridge (UK), 2004 Groningen (Netherlands), 2006 (Edinburgh). I read papers or presided over sessions in St. Louis, Budapest, Philadelphia, Helsinki, Rhode Island, Boston, Cape Town, Rome, Berlin, Toronto, Cambridge, Groningen, San Antonio, Edinburgh.
I am a founding member of Interfaith Maine, an initiative seeking peace and justice through deepening interfaith understanding and relationships.
I was an active member of the Multimedia Translation Project of the American Bible Society in New York (1994-2000).
Since 2001 I serve as a consultant to the translation subcommittee of the Board of the American Bible Society, New York. Since 2006 member of the Board.
I served as consultant, endorsed, or wrote an introduction to the following projects: The Learning Bible, Contemporary English Version (both American Bible Society); Rob Lacey, The Word On the Street (Zondervan, 2004); Willis Barnstone, New Covenant Commonly Called the New Testament: The Four Gospels and Apocalypse (Riverhead, 2002); Leland Stewart (ed.), World Scriptures (Quiet Waters Publications, 2003).
I am presently working on international collaborative projects with the University of Dresden, Germany (Codex Boernerianus); University of Utrecht, Netherlands ('Text processing' in the philosophical and religious movements of the Roman Empire; and Codex Boreelianus).
Books
Trobisch, David. Die Entstehung der Paulusbriefsammlung: Studien zu den Anfängen der christlichen Publizistik. NTOA, 10 (Freiburg, Schweiz: Universitätsverlag; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck, 1989).
--. (ed.), Heidelberger Apokryphen. Festschrift zum 50. Geburtstag von Prof. Klaus Berger (Heidelberg, Wiss.-Theol. Seminar, 1990).
--. (ed.), In Dubio Pro Deo, Festschrift zum 50. Geburtstag von Prof. Gerd Theißen (Heidelberg, Wiss.-Theol. Seminar, 1993).
--. Paul’s Collection of Letters: Exploring the Origins (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994; reprint: Bolivar, Quiet Waters Publications, 2001). The manuscript was written in English
--. Die Paulusbriefe und die Anfänge der christlichen Publizistik (München: Kaiser, 1994). German edition of Paul’s Collection of Letters.
--. Die Endredaktion des Neuen Testaments: Eine Untersuchung zur Entstehung der christlichen Bibel, NTOA 31 (Freiburg, Schweiz: Universitätsverlag; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck, 1996).
--. Mormonen -- die Heiligen der letzten Zeit? (Friedrich Bahn Verlag: Konstanz, 1998).
--. The First Edition of the New Testament. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000). [Translation of the German Endredaktion des Neuen Testaments]. This book was named a "2002 Outstanding Academic Book" by Choice magazine.
--, with Rabbi Harry Z. Sky, Give Me Two Minutes of Your Time: Let's Have a Conversation... (Bolivar: Quiet Waters Publications, 2005).
Articles (Selection)
Trobisch, David; H.J. Dorn; V. Rosenberger (edd.). „Zu dem Septuagintapapyrus VBP IV 56"; Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 61 (1985) 115-121; Tafel V+VI.
Trobisch, David; H.J. Dorn; V. Rosenberger (edd.). „Nachtrag zu dem Septuagintapapyrus VBP IV 56"; Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 65 (1986) 106; Tafel IIIa+b.
--. "Die Verfasserschaft des Hebräerbriefes und die Wiederentdeckung eines echten Paulustextes", In Dubio Pro Deo, 320-323. [PDF File]
--. "The Formation of the New Testament" and "The Formation of the Gospels" The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), An American Bible Society Interactive CD-Rom for Windows (New York: American Bible Society, 1996).
--. "The Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 and Paul's Letter to the Galatians", Christopher Seitz and Kathryn Greene-McCreight (ed.), Theological Exegesis: Essays in Honor of Brevard S. Childs (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) 331-338. [PDF File]
--. "The Oldest Extant Editions of the Letters of Paul" (Internet: http://www.religion-online.org New Testament, 1999). [PDF File]
--. "Über die Kunst, zwischen den Zeilen zu lesen: Gedanken zu 1Kor 4,6: 'Nicht über das hinaus, was geschrieben steht'." Dielheimer Blätter zur Archäologie und Textüberlieferung der Antike und Spätantike, 30 (1999) 193-195.
--."Die Entstehung des Neuen Testaments", Bibel Heute, 35 (Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2001) 1:30-32. [PDF File]
--. "From New Testament Manuscripts To a Central Electronic Database", Bible and Computer: The Stellenbosch AIBI-6 Conference. Proceedings of the Association Internationale Bible et Informatique "From Alpha to Byte", Johann Cook (ed) (Leiden: Brill, 2002) 427-433. [Google Books]
--. "Das Neue Testament im Lichte des zweiten Jahrhunderts", Herkunft und Zukunft der neutestamentlichen Wissenschaft, Oda Wischmeyer (ed.), Neutestamentliche Entwürfe zur Theologie 6 (Tübingen, Basel: Francke, 2003) 119-129.
--. "Codex Boernerianus – Eine Perle in der Handschriftensammlung der SLUB" SLUB-Kurier 17.3 (Dresden, 2003) 7-9.
--, "Structural Markers in New Testament Manuscripts with Special Attention to Observations in Codex Boernerianus (G 012) and Papyrus 46 of the Letters of Paul", Pericope: Scripture as Written and Read in Antiquity, vol. 5: Layout Markers in Biblical Manuscripts and Ugaritic Tablets, Marjo C.A. Korpel, Josef M. Oesch (ed.) (Assen: Koninklijke van Gorcum, 2005) 177-190. [Partial Preview in Google Books]
--, "Die narrative Welt der Apostelgeschichte", ZNT 18 (2006) 9-14.
--, "Who Published the New Testament?", Free Inquiry, 28.1 (Amherst, NY: Council of Secular Humanism, 2007/2008) 30-33. (PDF File)
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Last modified October 20, 2009.