Dr. Matthew Novenson Appointed to Princeton Seminary Faculty

Princeton Theological Seminary welcomes Matthew Novenson as Helen H.P. Manson Professor of New Testament (with tenure) as a member of the Seminary’s Biblical Studies Department. Novenson joins Princeton Seminary after most recently serving as the Professor of Biblical Criticism and Biblical Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. “I have many fond memories of my classes, meetings with faculty members, student cohort gatherings, and long happy hours in the…library,” reflected Novenson, a Princeton Seminary alumnus.

Professor Novenson’s current work includes a commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, set to be published by Oxford University Press. In the future, Novenson plans to pursue projects on biblical hermeneutics and how ancient Jews, Christians, and Romans made sense of one another’s gods. Further research topics include Jewish messianism and comparison in the study of religion.

Novenson’s return is an opportunity to join the faculty whose scholarship first attracted him to Princeton Seminary’s PhD and ThM programs. “I came to Princeton Seminary as a student, above all, because of the outstanding scholars on the faculty. I am now honored to be joining the next generation of a likewise outstanding Seminary faculty.”

Princeton Seminary’s connections with the University of Edinburgh also influenced Novenson’s decision to return to his alma mater to teach. “For over 12 years I have been teaching in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, another Reformed, ecumenical theological faculty which has many historic links to Princeton.” In his role as Professor of New Testament, Novenson is “looking forward to working closely with my faculty colleagues, especially Lisa Bowens, Eric Barreto, and Dale Allison in New Testament; and to developing some exciting new masters courses and doctoral seminars.”

“Matthew Novenson is the most important scholar of Paul and early Judaism of his generation,” says John Bowlin, Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs. “He is also an accomplished teacher and mentor, a devoted theological educator. He is committed to scholarship done at the highest level but also to a church transformed by that scholarship. He is precisely the colleague we need at this crucial moment in the Seminary’s history.”

Novenson will begin his tenure on July 1, 2024, and is set to teach a Masters course on Philippians and a PhD seminar on “Paul and Judaism” during the fall 2024 semester.