Dr. John Christopher Thomas

BA, Lee College, 1976
MA, Church of God School of Theology, 1977 
MDiv, Ashland Theological Seminary, 1978 
ThM, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1979 
PhD, University of Sheffield, 1990
DD, Bangor University, 2021 

Joining the full-time faculty of the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in 1982, Professor Thomas has been honored for his New Testament scholarship by election into membership of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and his appointment as the Clarence J. Abbott Professor of Biblical Studies and now Senior Professor of Biblical Studies at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Thomas also serves as the Director of the Centre for Pentecostal Theology. He serves as the Director of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at Bangor University in Bangor, Wales. Professor Thomas has published articles in several leading international journals devoted to the study of the New Testament including: New Testament Studies, Novum Testamentum, Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, and Journal for the Study of the New Testament. He has authored a major study entitled Footwashing in John 13 and the Johannine Community, published a collection of his essays for the church, Ministry and Theology: Studies for the Church and Its Leaders, written a significant monograph on healing entitled The Devil, Disease, and Deliverance: Origins of Illness in New Testament Thought, authored a brief study on John 13-17 entitled He Loved Them until the End: The Farewell Materials in the Gospel according to John, written a commentary on 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, published a collection of his academic studies in The Spirit of the New Testament, completed a major commentary on the Book of Revelation entitled, The Apocalypse: A Literary and Theological Commentary, together with Professor Frank D. Macchia he has authored Revelation in the Two Horizons Series, and most recently written A Pentecostal Reads the Book of Mormon: A Literary and Theological Introduction. Some of these works have been translated into Spanish, Romanian, and Italian. Professor Thomas serves as co-editor of the Journal of Pentecostal Theology (Brill), editor of the Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement Series (Deo), and General Editor of the Pentecostal Commentary Series (Deo). Along with his colleague Lee Roy Martin, he is a founding publisher and editor of CPT Press. He also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies and was elected as the inaugural President of the Book of Mormon Studies Association. Strongly committed to parish ministry, he has served as Associate Pastor of the Woodward Church of God in Athens, Tennessee since 1981. Professor Thomas has been a Guest Lecturer or Visiting Lecturer at a variety of educational institutions on five continents. He was named Alumnus of the Year by Ashland Theological Seminary (1992) and by the Church of God Theological Seminary (2004). Dr Thomas served as the President of the Society for Pentecostal Studies (1997-98) and was the recipient of the society’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. In 2020, Professor Thomas was the recipient of a Festschrift written in his honor entitled, Spirit and Story: Pentecostal Readings of Scripture – Essays in Honour of John Christopher Thomas. In 2021, he was awarded a Higher Doctorate, the Doctor of Divinity, by Bangor University after examination of his published work. He is married to Barbara and they have two daughters, Paige Thomas Scaperoth and Lori Thomas Brown, two sons-in-law, David Alan Scaperoth and Chad J. Brown, and three grandchildren, Madeline, Thomas, and Zeke.

email: cthomas@ptseminary.edu