Rev. Dr. Mark Allan Powell at the Bishop's Fall Gathering

September 29, 2020 Brian Flatgard

Rev. Dr. Mark Allen Powell—along with Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown—leads us at the Bishop’s Fall Gathering.

Dr. Mark Allan Powell is an internationally known theologian and Bible scholar.

Retired Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary (Columbus, Ohio)
Author of 35 books and over 100 published articles on theology and Bible
Has held invited positions at schools in Estonia, Tanzania, and Russia, as well as at such American universities as Berkeley, Vanderbilt, and the University of Chicago.
A popular speaker for academic institutions and religious organizations, receiving hundreds of invitations a year.

He may be best known for his work in these areas:

Literary Criticism: Powell has done groundbreaking work with regard to understanding the Bible as literature and using methods derived from modern literary criticism to enhance biblical interpretation. His books on this subject are widely in university classes.
Matthean Studies: Powell is recognized internationally as a leading scholar in the study of the Gospel of Matthew, interpreting that book as a historical archive for the origins of Christian religion (and, specifically, for understanding its development out of Judaism).
Historical Jesus Studies: Powell has been a primary researcher in the scholarly discipline of understanding Jesus as a figure in world history and is the author of a widely used text book on this subject. He served for more than a decade as chair of the Society of Biblical Literature’s primary study group devoted to this topic.
Christian Spirituality: Powell’s book Loving Jesus (2004) became a classic of Christian spirituality for many “mainline Christians” who are looking for a way to experience heartfelt evangelical piety without all the “baggage” that this has sometimes acquired in our current culture.

Powell is widely known in academic circles as General Editor of the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, the world’s best-selling dictionary of the Bible, and as author of Introducing the New Testament, the world’s most widely used college textbook for classes in New Testament studies.

An ordained Lutheran minister, Powell is well-known for his interaction with Roman Catholic and Jewish scholars. He was the first Protestant to serve on the executive committee of the Roman Catholic Biblical Association and he has frequently participated in Jewish-Christian dialogues and panels.

Powell pioneered a Spanish for Ministry program at the seminary where he taught, requiring all Anglo students to be able to lead the liturgy in Spanish and to make hospital calls on Spanish-speaking patients. He spends one month every year in a different Spanish speaking country studying the language and culture.

As a hobby, Powell has worked as a professional rock critic, specializing in music produced by Christian artists, or artists with a spiritual or religious bent. He has published hundreds of music reviews and is author of the 1200-page reference work, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, which was chosen Book of the Year for 2002 by the ARSC, a society of music historians.

Fun Facts and Interesting Data

Mark Allan Powell…

rode a horse to school as a child (in Texas)
co-wrote three songs with folksinger Mimi Farina (sister of Joan Baez)
worked as a lifeguard and even rescued someone (once)
used to write for Seventeen magazine
has four permanently indoor cats and designed his house as a “kittenasium” to meet their needs (tunnels, shelves, baskets, trees, etc.)
collects piggy banks and magi from nativity sets (but only the magi, no one else)
reads comic books, old and new.
once owned a garter snake that had 63 babies (most of them survived)
read all seven Harry Potter books en español (over a five year period – the first one took 18 months; the seventh, six weeks)
married to Melissa Curtis Powell; they have four children: David (age 39), Michael (age 37), Brandon (age 31), and Jillian (age 29)

Books by Mark Allan Powell

2021? Forthcoming: Matthew. Interpretation Commentary Series. Westminster John Knox.
2021? Forthcoming: An Introduction to the Christian Bible. With Rolf Jakobson. Baker Academic.
2020 Fortress Introduction to the Gospels. Second Edition. Fortress Press.
2019 Introducción al Nuevo Testamento. Baker Academic.
2017 Introducing the New Testament. Revised Second Edition. Baker Academic.
2015 Jesus as Israel’s Messiah: Engaging the Work of N. T. Wright and E. P. Sanders. Brill. Co-editor and Co-Author.
2013 Jesus as a Figure in History: Revised and Expanded Edition. Westminster John Knox.
2011 Harper-Collins Bible Dictionary: Third Revised Edition. Harper Collins. General Editor and Principal Author.
2011 Faith and Historical Jesus Research. Brill.
2009 Harper-Collins Bible Dictionary: Abridged Edition. Harper Collins.
2009 Methods for Matthew. Cambridge University Press. Editor and Contributor.
2009 Introducing the New Testament. Baker Academic.
2009 Lutheran Study Bible. Augsburg Fortress. Co-editor.
2008 Cómo abrir el libro de la fe: perspectivas luteranas para el estudio bíblico del Libro de la Fe. With Diane Jacobson and Stanley N. Olson. Augsburg Fortress. Co-author.
2008 Opening the Book of Faith. With Diane Jacobson and Stan Olson. Augsburg Fortress. Co-author.
2007 What Do They Hear? Bridging the Gap Between Pulpit and Pew. Abingdon Press.
2006 Giving To God: The Good News of Biblical Stewardship. Eerdmans.
2004 Loving Jesus. Fortress Press.
2003 [Fortress Introduction to the Gospels] (Korean edition of 1998 work, trans. by Ju-Huur. Christian Publishing House.
2002 Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music. Hendrickson Publishers.
2001 Chasing the Eastern Star: Adventures in Biblical Reader- Response Criticism. Westminster John Knox Press.
2000 Matthew. Harper Collins Bible Commentary. HarperSanFrancisco.
1999 Who Do You Say That I Am? Essays on New Testament Christology. With David R. Bauer. Westminster John Knox Press. Co-editor and Co-author.
1999 The New Testament Today. Westminster John Knox Press. Editor and Contributor.
1999 The Jesus Debate: Modern Historians Investigate the Life of Christ. Lion Publishing Co.
1998 Mark: God’s Grace in Action. Leader’s Guide. Inspire Series. Augsburg Publishing House.
1998 Mark: God’s Grace in Action. Participant Book. Inspire Series. Augsburg Publishing House.
1998 Jesus As A Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee. Westminster John Knox Press.
1998 A Fortress Introduction to The Gospels. Fortress Press.
1996 Epiphany, Proclamation 6--Series B. Fortress Press.
1996 Treasures New and Old: Essays on the Gospel of Matthew. With David R. Bauer. Scholars Press. Co-editor and Co-author.
1995 God With Us: Toward a Pastoral Theology of Matthew’s Gospel. Fortress Press.
1993 Narrative Criticism: A New Approach to the Bible. With foreword by N. T. Wright. SPCK.
1993 [What Is Narrative Criticism?] (Korean edition of 1990 work, trans. By Lee Jong-Lock. Seoul Publishing.
1992 The Bible and Modern Literary Criticism: A Critical Assessment and Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Press.
1992 Advent/Christmas. Proclamation 5--Series A. Fortress Press.
1991 What Are They Saying About Acts? Paulist Press.
1991 Witnesses to the Word: Mission 90 Bible Study/Witness. Augsburg Publishing House. Editor and Principal Author.
1990 What Is Narrative Criticism? Fortress Press.
1989 What Are They Saying About Luke? Paulist Press.

Active and retired rostered ministers and deacons, interns, seminary students, synod council, and Diakonia students and graduates of the Grand Canyon Synod are invited to the 2020 Bishop’s Fall Gathering, October 20, 2020.

Join Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown and Rev. Dr. Mark Allen Powell as we crack open the Scriptures in new ways to see God’s love and share the Word for practical application in preaching.

Registration is $40. For anyone who finds this a hardship, please contact the Office of the Bishop and we’ll see what we can do to help.

We look forward to seeing you at this online gathering.