James McGrath promoted to rediscovered Chair at Butler

CONGRATULATIONS TO JAMES MCGRATH, who has been promoted to a recently rediscovered Chair at Butler University:

A New Testament Scholar Is Named to a Long-Lost Chair at Butler U.

By Andrea Fuller (Chronicle of Higher Education)

When Harry van der Linden, chair of the philosophy and religion department at Butler University, in Indianapolis, was browsing a registry of endowed funds last fall, he made a curious find: a chair in New Testament studies that had not been filled in over half a century. Immediately, James F. McGrath, an associate professor of religion who blogs about biblical studies, came to mind.

Mr. McGrath, 37, was installed last month as the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair of New Testament Language and Literature, making him the first person to hold the position since 1948.

"It was just listed there, a little paragraph, and it basically said that Mr. Goodwin had given money for this chair and the chair had been occupied one time," Mr. van der Linden says. "And then the story just stopped."

[...]

The professor is now doing research on the Mandaeans, an ancient Gnostic group that survives to day. Mr. McGrath says he is interested in the religion's positive portrayal of John the Baptist and negative portrayal of Jesus. He hopes to work with two of the most important sacred Mandaean texts and translate them into English, and although he has applied for a grant to pursue this project, he says funds from his chair could come in handy.

[...]

James also runs the very active blog Exploring Our Matrix.