Fr. Gregory Tatum, O.P.
Adjunct Professor of New Testament
E-mail: gtatum@dspt.edu
B.A. in History, University of San Diego; B.A. in Philosophy, M.Div., Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology; S.S.L., Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome; Ph.D., Duke University.
I try to savor the different ingredients that go into the bouillabaise that is most people's knowledge of the scriptures. Because most people have bits of scripture thrown into their heads in some sort of fish stew, I try to get the bits and say, "this is actually Paul." I try to get my students to read Paul and to think about Paul.
Fr. Gregory teaches students how to read scripture for themselves. He teaches skills like noticing that what Paul says in one place is not what he says in another. The gospels say different things, what you read in John is not what you read in Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is important to read scripture not so that it appeals to a nice way of seeing Jesus or a nice way of seeing Paul, but rather to understand historically and contextually what is being said, though the reader may disagree with the message. In his language classes, Fr. Gregory shows his students the tricks of the trade, how to use grammar books and dictionaries to understand fully what is being said in the original text.
The courses Fr. Gregory Tatum teaches are:
- Introduction to the New Testament
- Johannine Corpus
- Pauline Corpus
- Advanced Greek (Literary Koine)
Fr. Gregory Tatum recently finished a work for publication entitled, New Chapters in the Life of Paul: The Sequence of the Undisputed Letters, a revision, abbreviation and updating of his dissertation with a new set of arguments dealing with the sequence of Paul's letters. Methodologically it is looking at the question of shifts in Paul's rhetorical repertoire. Fr. Gregory is also working on a collaborative effort with a Protestant scholar on A New Testament Primer on Grace, examining the language, what E.P. Sanders calls 'Participationist Eschatology' throughout the New Testament, concentrating on the language and its use. For example, why is it in Matthew's gospel the participationist language is so Christological. At the end of the Gospel, Matthew writes that Jesus states, 'I will be with you until the end of the age;" whereas in Luke's gospel and in Acts, it is so un-Christological, it is all spirit? Why is it that we are in Jesus in Paul, whereas rarely is Christ in us? Whereas in John our being in Jesus and Jesus is being in us is a dynamic system. The work will look at the ways different authors use their language in scripture and how to bring to light their message in the Gospels.
Select Publication
Review of Renewal Through Suffering: A Study of 2 Corinthians, A.E. Harvey. Review of Biblical Literature (1999) 367-368.
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