Rate My Professor Paul Trebilco

Professor Paul Trebilco serves as Professor of New Testament Studies and Chair of the Theology Programme in the Division of Humanities at the University of Otago. He earned a BSc (Hons) from the University of Canterbury, a Bachelor of Divinity from the University of Otago, and a PhD in New Testament from the University of Durham in 1987. Trebilco joined the University of Otago in 1988 and has been a full professor in the Department of Theology and Religion. From 2013 to 2017, he held the position of General Editor for the Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series, published by Cambridge University Press. In 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. His expertise encompasses the New Testament, first-century Christianity, the historical Jesus, the Apostle Paul, early Christian Gospels, early Christianity, Gnosticism, and early Jewish-Christian relations.

Trebilco's research focuses on the Jewish and Greco-Roman backgrounds to the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apostle Paul, early Christians in Ephesus, the relationship of Scripture and Church tradition, and self-designations used by earliest Christians. Current projects include early Christians in Ephesus, Smyrna, Miletus, and Ionia from Paul to 500 CE, Johannine Epistles, Acts, and Jewish communities in Asia Minor. Key publications include Jewish Communities in Asia Minor (1991), The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius (2004), Self-Designations and Group Identity in the New Testament (2011), Outsider Designations and Boundary Construction in the New Testament: Early Christian Communities and the Formation of Group Identity (2017), and 1 Timothy: A Pastoral and Contextual Commentary (2023, co-authored with Simon H. Rae and Deolito Vistar). He supervises PhD students on topics such as the Historical Jesus, Johannine Literature, Acts, Pauline Theology, and Pastoral Epistles, having guided over 30 postgraduates to completion. Trebilco delivers public lectures and presentations, including on Book of Revelation imagery and Ignatius' letters dating.