Dr Peter Head

Peter Head
Tutorial Fellow in New Testament

DipMin (BCV), BTh (ACT), MA (LBC/LST CNAA), PhD (Cantab)

 

Peter came to Wycliffe Hall after previous teaching stints in London and Cambridge and has been here at Wycliffe Hall since 2017. Ultimately, he came from Australia, and this is occasionally revealed in his accent, his attitudes, his approach to sport, and his clothing. He is proud to have been appointed honorary coach of the Wycliffe Hall croquet team after his retirement from serious competition in 2020.

Famous for his fastidious tidiness – of both desk and office, his stylish dress sense, his attention to deadlines and his quirky sense of humour, Peter remains excited that his sins have been forgiven in/with/through/by Christ crucified – ‘who loved me and gave himself for me’. He is married to Fiona and has two adult children.

His attention span is limited, so his research and writing has touched on many aspects of the text, language, history, and interpretation of the New Testament. His current research looks at the role of the letter carriers in Paul’s epistolary communication. He is quite excited about this, so just a warning that if you ask him about it you may have to listen politely for longer than you thought possible.

Classes Taught

  • Koine Greek
  • Introduction to the New Testament
  • Romans
  • Biblical Interpretation

Publications

Books & Booklets

  • 2017. Assistant Editor. The Greek New Testament: Produced at Tyndale House Cambridge (Editor: D. Jongkind; Assoc. Editor: P.J. Williams; Assistant Editors: Peter M. Head, P. James; Wheaton Ill: Crossway, 2017).
  • 2009. How the New Testament Came Together. Cambridge: Grove
  • 2004. Co-editor: The New Testament in its First Century Context: Essays on Context and Background in Honour of B.W. Winter on His 65th Birthday (eds. P.J. Williams; A.D. Clarke; D.I. Brewer; P.M. Head) Grand Rapids: Eerdmans
  • 2003. Is the New Testament Reliable? Cambridge: Grove
  • 1998. Editor: Proclaiming the Resurrection: Papers from the First Oak Hill College Annual School of Theology. Carlisle: Paternoster
  • 1997. Christology and the Synoptic Problem: An Argument for Markan Priority. Cambridge: CUP 

Recent Articles and Chapters

  • 2024. ‘The Greetings of Romans 16 and the Audience of Romans’ New Testament Studies 70 (2024), 275-281.
  • 2023. ‘Matthew’s Beginning: Scripture, Covenant, and the People of God in Matt 1.1-17’ in It’s About Life: The Formative Power of Scripture (FS Rikk Watts; ed. Joshua Coutts et al.; Vancouver: Regent, 2023), 47-62.
  • 2022. ‘Jesus as the Light Shining in the Darkness: Structural, Thematic, Exegetical Thoughts on the use of Isaiah 8:23 – 9:1 in Matthew 4:12-16’ in Offering the Light: Essays in honour of Philip E. Satterthwaite on the occasion of his retirement (eds Quek Tze-Ming, Kwa Kiem-Kiok, Leow Wen Pin; Singapore: Biblical Graduate School of Theology, 2022), 74-82.
  • 2021. ‘Mark’s Vocabulary: A Survey of Approaches and Material’ Estudios Bíblicos 79 (2021), 77-108.
  • 2021. ‘Paragraphs and Punctuation in P66 (P. Bod. II): Insights into Scribal Behaviour’ in Studies on the Intersection of Text, Paratext, and Reception: A Festschrift in Honor of Charles E. Hill (eds G.R. Lanier & J. N. Reid; TENTS 15; Leiden: Brill, 2021), 3-29.
  • 2020. ‘Onesimus the Letter Carrier and the Initial Reception of Paul’s Letter to Philemon’ Journal of Theological Studies 71.2 (2020), 628-656.
  • 2019. ‘Epistolary Greetings in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri’ Tyndale Bulletin 70.2 (2019), 269-290.

Further Links

For copies of publications (and older ones) see Peter's Academia.edu profile.
Peter blogs occasionally at Evangelical Textual Criticism.