About Craig Keener

Dr. Craig S. Keener is a professor of the New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is especially known for his work as a New Testament scholar on Bible background (commentaries on the New Testament in its early Jewish and Greco-Roman settings). His popular-level IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament has sold over half a million copies.

Expertise:
New Testament BackgroundThe Historical Jesus
Miracles
Acts
The Gospels
Ethnic/racial Reconciliation

Education:
B.A., Central Bible College, 1982
M.A., M.Div., Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, 1985, 1987
Ph.D., Duke University, 1991

Before joining the faculty of Asbury in July, 2011, Dr. Keener was professor of New Testament at Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University, where he taught for 14 years; before that time he was professor at Hood Theological Seminary.

Craig has authored 15 books, three of which have won biblical studies book awards in Christianity Today. His IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (1993) has sold more than half a million copies (including editions in several languages, including more than fifty thousand copies in Korean). His recent books include The Historical Jesus of the Gospels (Eerdmans, 2009); The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdmans, 2009); Romans (Cascade, 2009); 1-2 Corinthians (Cambridge, 2005); The Gospel of John: A Commentary (Hendrickson/Baker Academic, 2003).

Among his finished books due out soon are: Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts (Baker Academic, 2011); and Acts (4 vols., Baker Academic, 2012). He has written for various journals, both academic (e.g., Journal for the Study of the New Testament; Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism; Bulletin for Biblical Research; A.M.E. Church Review) and popular (e.g., Christianity Today; Charisma; Christian History; A.M.E. Zion Missionary Seer). He has published more than 70 academic articles and more than 150 popular ones. He wrote “2 Corinthians” in The New Interpreter’s Bible One Volume Commentary, and has published other popular materials with Abingdon, InterVarsity, and Zondervan. He is currently program chair for the Institute for Biblical Research (2010-12).

Craig has taught in various countries, especially countries in Africa. On rare occasions, he also speaks in other forums (in recent years, for example, for pastors in Cuba; for the National Council of Churches Committee on the Uniform Series; for scholarly meetings; and at a diverse range of theological institutions, in recent years including the Assemblies of God Seminary; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; Andrews University; Asia Pacific Theological Seminary in Baguio, Philippines; and Evangel Seminary in Hong Kong).

Craig is married to Médine Moussounga Keener, who holds a Ph.D. from University of Paris 7. She was a refugee for 18 months in her nation of Congo, and together Craig and Médine work for ethnic reconciliation in the U.S. and Africa. Craig was ordained in an African-American denomination in 1991 and for roughly a decade before moving to Wilmore was one of the associate ministers in an African-American megachurch in Philadelphia.

CraigKeener.com is the official website for the Bible background research of Dr. Keener. Initiated and maintained with Craig’s approval and assistance, the goal of this site is to offer selections from his writing so that his research will reach a wider audience and help many who study the Bible to see the Scriptures in their historical context.

Craig also maintains a personal website, which you can visit by clicking here.

And a Facebook page.

Below is a video of Craig speaking about the power of the Bible:

In January, 2012, Craig was interviewed by George P. Wood of AGTV about his book Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts.