Bill Loader
Encyclopedia
William Ronald George "Bill" Loader (born 1944) is a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia
and a professor at Murdoch University
in Perth
, Western Australia
.
From 1978, Loader was New Testament lecturer at the Perth Theological Hall of the Uniting Church in Australia teaching in the theology programme in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (and is currently Principal of the Perth Theological Hall.); from 1986, he has been lecturer and later Professor of New Testament
at Murdoch University (1998-2003 also as Head of the School of Social Inquiry);
Loader was the editor of Colloquium, the journal of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Theological Studies (ANZSTS), until 2005. He is currently undertaking a five year Australian Research Council
Professorial Fellowship on: Attitudes towards Sexuality in Judaism and Christianity in the Hellenistic Greco-Roman Era.
Loader's academic degrees and qualifications are:
and Acts
in being actually or supposedly a letter to a person.
Loader also maintains a 'resources' page for people seeking bible study, commentary, sermon and prayer materials related to the Lectionary
.
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....
and a professor at Murdoch University
Murdoch University
Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
From 1978, Loader was New Testament lecturer at the Perth Theological Hall of the Uniting Church in Australia teaching in the theology programme in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (and is currently Principal of the Perth Theological Hall.); from 1986, he has been lecturer and later Professor of New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
at Murdoch University (1998-2003 also as Head of the School of Social Inquiry);
Loader was the editor of Colloquium, the journal of the Australia and New Zealand Society for Theological Studies (ANZSTS), until 2005. He is currently undertaking a five year Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...
Professorial Fellowship on: Attitudes towards Sexuality in Judaism and Christianity in the Hellenistic Greco-Roman Era.
Loader's academic degrees and qualifications are:
- BA (Auckl) - Bachelor or Arts (classics)Liberal artsThe term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
(1966), University of AucklandUniversity of AucklandThe University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... - Ministerial education (1964–1967) at Trinity Methodist Theological College, AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
- BD (Otago) - Bachelor of DivinityDivinity (academic discipline)Divinity is the study of Christian and other theology and ministry at a school, divinity school, university, or seminary. The term is sometimes a synonym for theology as an academic, speculative pursuit, and sometimes is used for the study of applied theology and ministry to make a distinction...
(1968), University of OtagoUniversity of OtagoThe University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
, New Zealand - Dr theol - Doctor of TheologyTheologyTheology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
(Johannes Gutenberg University of MainzJohannes Gutenberg University of MainzThe Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz is a university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg. With approximately 36,000 students in about 150 schools and clinics, it is among the ten largest universities in Germany...
(1972), MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) - Supervisor: Professor Dr Ferdinand Hahn; Dissertation published in revised form in 1981: Sohn und Hoherpriester. Eine traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zur Christologie des Hebräerbriefes, WMANT 53 (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1981)
Books and publications
Loader is perhaps best known for his on-line book, Dear Kim, This is what I believe: Explaining Christian Faith Today that is written in a style reminiscent of the Gospel of MarkGospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
and Acts
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
in being actually or supposedly a letter to a person.
- Sexuality in the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
(London: SPCK, 2010) - The Dead Sea ScrollsDead Sea scrollsThe Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
on Sexuality: Attitudes towards Sexuality in Sectarian and Related Literature at QumranQumranQumran is an archaeological site in the West Bank. It is located on a dry plateau about a mile inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, near the Israeli settlement and kibbutz of Kalia...
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009) - EnochBook of EnochThe Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the biblical canon as used by Jews, apart from Beta Israel...
, LeviLeviLevi/Levy was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi ; however Peake's commentary suggests this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...
, and Jubilees on Sexuality: Attitudes Towards Sexuality in the Early Enoch Literature, the Aramaic Levi Document, and the Book of Jubilees (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007) - The New Testament - with Imagination: A Fresh Approach to its Writings and Themes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007)
- Sexuality and the Jesus Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005)
- The Septuagint, Sexuality and the New Testament: Case Studies on the Impact of the LXX in Philo and the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004).
- Jesus' Attitude towards the Law. A Study of the Gospels (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002)
- Jesus and the Fundamentalism of his Day. The Gospels, the Bible and Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001; Melbourne: Uniting Education, 1998)
- Articles on BaptismBaptismIn Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
: The Kiss of Baptism and Baptism in Context; - "The Passion of the Christ" and the Passion of Jesus - a Reflection on Mel Gibson's film;
- Approaches to Scripture: Considering the Options;
- "Companions and Competitors" - and Context? on John P. Meier's, Marginal Jew: Vol 3;
- Simple Choices? on John Dominic Crossan's, The Birth of Christianity'
- LectionaryLectionaryA Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:...
Resources: First Thoughts on Gospel Passages from the Lectionary; - Studies: Being the Church Then and Now: Issues from the Acts of the Apostles;
- LiturgicalLiturgyLiturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
Resources and Reflections: The Presence of God; He made himself known in the breaking of the bread; Blessed are the Poor in Spirit; A Service of the Eucharist;
Loader also maintains a 'resources' page for people seeking bible study, commentary, sermon and prayer materials related to the Lectionary
Revised Common Lectionary
The Revised Common Lectionary is a lectionary of readings or pericopes from the Bible for use in Christian worship, making provision for the liturgical year with its pattern of observances of festivals and seasons. Its first version was known as the Common Lectionary, assembled in 1983. It was...
.
Memberships and awards
- Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas
- Catholic Biblical Association of America
- Catholic Biblical Association of Australia
- Society of Biblical LiteratureSociety of Biblical LiteratureThe Society of Biblical Literature, founded 1880, is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies , with the stated mission to "Foster Biblical Scholarship"...
- Fellow of the Australian Academy of the HumanitiesAustralian Academy of the HumanitiesThe Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia...
(FAHA) - holder of an Australian Centenary Medal 'for services to Australian society and the humanities in the area of religion'