Dennis MacDonald

Dennis Ronald MacDonald
Born1946 (age 77–78)
Known forIdea that the New Testament were responses to the Homeric Epics
TitleJohn Wesley Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins
Academic background
EducationBob Jones University, McCormick Theological Seminary
Alma materHarvard University
Thesis (1978)
Academic work
DisciplineBiblical studies
Sub-disciplineNew Testament studies
InstitutionsClaremont School of Theology

Dennis Ronald MacDonald (born 1946) is the John Wesley Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the Claremont School of Theology in California. MacDonald proposes a theory wherein the earliest books of the New Testament were responses to the Homeric Epics, including the Gospel of Mark and the Acts of the Apostles. The methodology he pioneered is called Mimesis Criticism. If his theories are correct then "nearly everything written on [the] early Christian narrative is flawed."[1] According to him, modern biblical scholarship has failed to recognize the impact of Homeric Poetry.[1]

The other major branch of MacDonald's scholarly activity is his contribution to the Synoptic Problem. He calls his solution the Q+/Papias Hypothesis.

  1. ^ a b Interview with Dennis R MacDonald Archived February 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine About Atheism. About.com. Retrieved January 13, 2009