Faculty and Administration

Christopher joined McMaster Divinity College in 2013. In addition to teaching the New Testament, he is the Director of the Centre for Biblical Linguistics, Translation, and Exegesis, as well as the Director of Development for the OpenText.org project.

Ministry Experience

Chris has launched and/or led a number of different lay ministries over the years, including various Bible studies, small group ministries, and worship gatherings. He is part of a lay-led church community in Hamilton’s east end, where he regularly preaches and leads musical worship.

Research Interests

In biblical studies, Chris’s research seeks to apply the insights of modern linguistics to the study of the New Testament. Sometimes, this involves him in general descriptions of the Greek language, but it also draws him into text-oriented exegetical discussions. He gets excited about building digital tools that can help people to better read and study ancient texts. He is interested in reconstructing the life and legacy of the Apostle Paul.

In practical theology, Chris is interested in Bible reading as an ecclesial practice and in leadership as a form of power.

Current Projects

Chris is writing an overview of New Testament Greek syntax, a description that will serve as an introduction to OpenText.org 2.0. This forthcoming resource will offer both semantic and structural analyses, a more robust and interactive web interface, and an online search interface. Chris is also writing commentaries on 1 and 2 Corinthians. In his spare time, he is co-editing an encyclopedia.

In the near future, he hopes to solicit information regarding the hermeneutical diversity that characterizes different Hamilton congregations, in order to better describe the interpretive complexity that characterizes the contemporary church.

Recent Publications

Edited with Stanley E. Porter, Jonathan Watt, and Dana Harris. Encyclopedia of Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, forthcoming.

Edited with Stanley E. Porter and James D. Dvorak. Putting the Pieces Together: Formalizing Units and Relations in the Biblical Languages. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, forthcoming.

With Stanley E. Porter. “The Ancient Greek Nominal Group, with Attention to the Greek New Testament.” WORD 68 (2022) 1–44.

“The Benefits Outweigh the Costs: Divine Benefaction and Human Obedience in 2Cor 6,1–7,2.” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 112 (2020) 69–88.

With Stanley E. Porter. “Modeling Negation in Ancient Greek.” Filología Neotestamentaria 32 (2019) 3–20.

Edited with Stanley E. Porter and Francis G.H. Pang. Linguistics and the Bible: Retrospect and Prospects. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2019.

“Torah Observance without Faith: The Interlocutor of James 2:18 as a Critic of Jesus-Faith.” In Light from Linguistic Criticism on the Epistle of James: Whole Grains from “Straw.” Edited by James Dvorak and Zachary Dawson. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2019.

Edited with Stanley E. Porter. Paul and Scripture. Pauline Studies 10. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

With Stanley E. Porter. “Introduction to Paul and Scripture.” In Paul and Scripture. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and Christopher D. Land, 1–4. Pauline Studies 10. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

“It’s Not Like Moses Veiled so that the Israelites Didn’t Stare: A Hypothesis Regarding Paul’s Understanding of Exodus 34.” In Paul and Scripture. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and Christopher D. Land, 263–302. Pauline Studies 10. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

“‘There Is No Longer Any Place for Me in These Regions’: The Historical Setting of Romans.” In Paul’s Letter to the Romans: Exegesis and Application. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and Francis G.H. Pang, 7–44. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2018.

With Claire Urbach. “An Appliable Linguistics Indeed: SFL and the Structural Potential of Ancient Letters.” In Challenging Boundaries in Linguistics: Systemic Functional Perspectives. Edited by Stella Neumann, Rebekah Wegener, Jennifer Fest, Paula Niemietz and Nicole Hützen, 133–60. Aachen British and American Studies Series 20. Berlin: Peter Lang, 2017.

With Francis G.H. Pang. “The Past, Present, and Future of the OpenText.org Annotated Greek Corpus.” In The Language and Literature of the New Testament: Essays in Honour of Stanley E. Porter’s 60th Birthday. Edited by Lois K. Fuller Dow, Craig A. Evans, and Andrew W. Pitts, 69–105. Biblical Interpretation 150. Leiden: Brill, 2016.

Edited with Stanley E. Porter and Gregory P. Fewster. Modeling Biblical Languages: Selected Papers from the McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle. Linguistic Biblical Studies 13. Leiden: Brill, 2016.

With Stanley E. Porter and Gregory P. Fewster. “Introduction.” In Modeling Biblical Languages: Selected Papers from the McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle. Edited by Stanley E. Porter, Gregory P. Fewster, and Christopher D. Land. Linguistic Biblical Studies 13. Leiden: Brill, 2016.

“Jesus before Pilate: A Discourse Analysis of John 18:33–38.” In Modeling Biblical Languages: Selected Papers from the McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle. Edited by Stanley E. Porter, Gregory P. Fewster, and Christopher D. Land. Linguistic Biblical Studies 13. Leiden: Brill, 2016.

The Integrity of 2 Corinthians and Paul’s Aggravating Absence. New Testament Monographs 36. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2015.

“Paul and the Alienation of the Jews: A Response to Stanley E. Porter and Eckhard J. Schnabel.” In Rejection: God’s Refugees in Biblical and Contemporary Perspective. Edited by Stanley E. Porter, 181–90. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2015.

“Digitizing Ancient Manuscripts: Some Thoughts about the Production of Digital Editions.” Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 9 (2013): 9–41.

“‘We Put No Stumbling Block in Anyone’s Path, so that Our Ministry Will Not Be Discredited’: Paul’s Response to an Idol Food Inquiry in 1 Cor 8:1–13.” In Paul and His Social Relations. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and Christopher D. Land, 229–83. PAST 7. Leiden: Brill, 2013.

“Paul and His Social Relations: An Introduction.” In Paul and His Social Relations. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and Christopher D. Land, 1–6. PAST 7. Leiden: Brill, 2013.

Paul and His Social Relations. Edited with Stanley Porter. Pauline Studies 7. Leiden: Brill, 2012.

“Varieties of Greek.” In The Language of the New Testament: Context, History and Development. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and Andrew Pitts, 243–60. LBS 6. Leiden: Brill, 2012.

Recent Lectures and Conference Papers

“Constraints on Modifier Selection in Greek Nominal Constructions.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, November 2023.

With Francis G.H. Pang and Ryder A. Wishart. “OpenText 2.0: A Stratified Annotation for Multi-Layer Searching.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, November 2019.

With Francis G.H. Pang. “Open Tools for Open Annotation: OpenText.org Resources for Analyzing and Teaching Greek.” Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, November 2018.

“The Benefits Outweigh the Costs: Divine Benefaction and Human Obedience in 2 Cor 6:1–7:2.” Evangelical Theological Society Regional Meeting, Cambridge, ON, September 2018.

With Stanley E. Porter. “Modeling Negation in Ancient Greek.” International Systemic Functional Congress, Boston, MA, July 2018.

“Segmentation and Syntactic Analysis: Non-Hierarchical Relations between Linear Segments, with Some Implications for XML Encoding.” Bingham Colloquium, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton Ontario, June 2018.

With Francis G.H. Pang. “Open Tools for Open Linguistic Data: Implementing Web-Based Annotation and Display Tools for OpenText.org.” Bingham Colloquium, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton Ontario, June 2018.

With Francis G.H. Pang. “Exploring Web-Based Methods for Syntactic Annotation.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 2017.

“Torah Observance without Faith: The Interlocutor of James 2:18 as a Critic of Jesus-Faith.” Evangelical Theological Society Annual Meeting, Providence, RI, November 2017.

“Torah Observance without Faith: The Interlocutor of James 2:18 as a Critic of Jesus-Faith.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON, May 2017.

With Francis G.H. Pang. “The Past, Present, and Future of the OpenText.org Greek Annotation Greek Corpus.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, November 2016.

With Francis G.H. Pang. “The Past, Present, and Future of the OpenText.org Greek Annotation Greek Corpus.” Bingham Colloquium, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton Ontario, June 2016.

With Claire Urbach. “An Appliable Linguistics Indeed: SFL and the Structural Potential of Ancient Letters.” 42nd International Systemic Functional Congress, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, July 2015.

“The Benefits Outweigh the Costs: Human Obedience and Divine Blessing in 2 Cor 6:1–7:2.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, November 2014.

“‘There Is No Longer Any Place for Me in These Regions’: The Historical Setting of Romans.” H.H. Bingham Colloquium in New Testament, McMaster Divinity College, June 2014.

“‘And It’s Not Like Moses Put a Veil Over His Face…’ (2 Cor 3:13): An Hypothesis Regarding Paul’s Understanding of Exodus 34.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, St. Catherines, ON, May 2014.

“Many Wronged but No Wrongdoers: The Enigma of 2 Cor 7:5–16.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November 2013.

“Many Wronged but No Wrongdoers: The Enigma of 2 Cor 7:5–16.” McMaster Divinity College Theological Research Seminar, October 2013.

“Reconciliation and Unification: A Response to Porter and Schnabel on the Theme of Alienation in Paul and Luke.” H.H. Bingham Colloquium in New Testament, Hamilton, ON, June 2013.

“Jesus Before Pilate: A Discourse Analysis of John 18:33–38.” Congress of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, Waterloo, ON, May 2012.

“‘We Put No Stumbling Block in Anyone’s Path, so that Our Ministry Will Not Be Discredited’: Paul’s Response to an Idol Food Inquiry in 1 Cor 8:1–13.” McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle, September 2011.

“The Theoretical Architecture of Systemic Functional Linguistics.” McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle, March 2011.

“M.A.K. Halliday: The Early Years.” McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle, March 2011.

“Ferdinand de Saussure.” McMaster Divinity College Linguistics Circle, February 2011.

“Jürgen Moltmann and the Old Testament: A Biblical-Dogmatic Discussion of Human Sin.” McMaster Divinity College Theological Research Seminar, February 2010.