Jason David BeDuhn (born on 22 January 1963 in Moline, Illinois) is an American historian of religion and culture, currently Professor of Religious Studies at Northern Arizona University, and former chair of the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion.
Life
Jason David BeDuhn was born on 22 January 1963 in Moline, Illinois. In 1981, at the age of 18, he graduated from Rock Island High School.
Education
BeDuhn earned a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1985, graduating magna cum laude with departmental distinction and election to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1988, he received a M.T.S. in New Testament and Early Christianity from Harvard Divinity School. From 1989 to 1990, he held an Indiana University Fellowship. In 1995, BeDuhn earned a Ph.D. in the Comparative Study of Religions from Indiana University Bloomington. His doctoral dissertation, titled The Metabolism of Salvation: The Manichaean Body in Ascesis and Ritual, received special recognition and honors.
Teaching
BeDuhn began his academic career at Indiana University, where he served as Assistant Instructor in the Department of Religious Studies from 1990 to 1992 and as Instructor from 1992 to 1995. Following the completion of his doctoral studies, he held several visiting appointments, including Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University in Fall 1995, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Western Maryland College in Spring 1996, and Visiting Assistant Professor in both the Departments of Religious Studies and History at Indiana University from 1996 to 1997. He then served as Associate Instructor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Indianapolis during the 1997–1998 academic year, followed by an appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Indiana University in 1998. These positions laid the foundation for his subsequent tenure at Northern Arizona University, where he advanced through the academic ranks to become a full professor.
From 1998 to 2001, BeDuhn served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion at Northern Arizona University. From 2000 to 2004, he was Chair of the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion. He was promoted to Associate Professor in the same department in 2001 and held that position until 2009. In 2009, he became Professor in the Department of Comparative Cultural Studies at Northern Arizona University.
Courses
Jason BeDuhn taught courses in religious studies, biblical studies, and ancient history over a number of years. His course offerings included Religions of the World (1998–2000, 2005–2009), Introduction to Asian Religions (1990–1996), Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) (1998, 1999, 2007), Christian Scriptures (New Testament) (1996–2000, 2005–2009), and The Historical Jesus (1997, 1999, 2004, 2008). He also taught Ancient Gods and Goddesses (1999, 2003, 2006–2007, 2009), Art and Religion in the Ancient World (2000, 2005), Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1996, 1998), Ancient History: Rome (2002, 2008), and Gnostics and Manichaeans (2001, 2008). Additional courses included Church and World: The First Six Centuries (1992), The Thousand Faces of Jesus (1993), Religion and Social Issues (1995), Ways of Being Religious (1996), Jews, Christians, Muslims (1996), Introduction to Christianity (1997), Women in the Biblical World (2000), and Augustine's Conversions (2006).
Awards
Robert F. and Margaret S. Goheen Fellowship, National Humanities Center, 2010 National Endowment for the Humanities Collaborative Research Grant, 2009 – 2012 Northern Arizona Intramural Grant, 2008 – 2009 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, 2004 – 2005 Best First Book Award from the American Academy of Religion in 2001 for his book The Manichaean Body in Discipline and Ritual, notable for its analysis of religions as goal-oriented systems of practice rationalized within particular models of reality. Northern Arizona University Organized Research Grant, 2000 Northern Arizona University Organized Research Grant, 1999 American Academy of Religion Research Grant, 1996 Indiana University Distinguished Dissertation, 1995 National Endowment for the Humanities Dissertation Fellowship, 1994 –1995 J. Stewart and Dagmar K. Riley Dissertation Fellowship, 1993 – 1994
Research
Manichaeism and Augustine
Much of BeDuhn's published research relates to Manichaeism, particularly its disciplinary and ritual systems, but also its role as a catalyst in religious history, as well as its distinctive interpretation of Christian traditions related to the teachings of Jesus and Paul. BeDuhn considers that the conversion of Augustine from Manichaeism to Nicene Christianity was not a sudden act but a life-long transformation, with the narrative we now have being the product of Augustine's own idealized retrospect. BeDuhn roots Augustine's dissatisfaction with the Manichaean faith in its practice-focused way of life and external social pressures leading him towards apostasy. The 383 AD law ordered by Flavius Hypatius that condemned anyone who converted from Christianity to Paganism, Judaism, or Manichaeism is cited as one of these strong social pressures.
Marcionite priority
Beginning with his book The First New Testament: Marcion's Scriptural Canon, BeDuhn has stated that the Gospel of Marcion (called simply 'The Gospel' by adherents of Marcionism) was not produced nor adapted by Marcion of Sinope, but instead adopted by him from a pre-existing gospel text from which he says the Gospel of Luke is also derived.
BeDuhn suggests that Luke may be a post-Marcion redaction, but maintains a form of the two-source hypothesis, with Marcion's Gospel interchanged with Luke as the product of a combination of Mark and Q. This differs slightly from Matthias Klinghardt's view that Marcion's gospel was based on the Gospel of Mark, with the Gospel of Matthew based on Mark and Marcion, and the Gospel of Luke expanding on Marcion with reference to Matthew and Mark. These views contrast with assertions of some Church Fathers and the belief of some biblical scholars such as Bruce Metzger and Bart Ehrman that Marcion redacted the Gospel of Luke in accordance with his personal theology. Theologian Adolf von Harnack also accepted the view of the Church Fathers that Marcion wished to "purify" the Evangelion to an original state given by Christ and defy the fabricated Gospel of Luke, all without appealing to revelation.Adolf von Harnack: Marcion: The Gospel of the Alien God (1924) translated by John E. Steely and Lyle D. Bierma
Projects
BeDuhn has been involved in a collaborative project to edit and translate an ancient Coptic Manichaean manuscript with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Australian Research Council.
Bibliography
Thesis
Books authored
In 2010 and 2013, BeDuhn published a two-part work entitled Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma in which he considers "the deep imprint of Manicheanism on Augustine".
Books edited
Articles
Book reviews
The Manichaean Body in Discipline and Ritual
The First New Testament. Marcion's Scriptural Canon
Truth in Translation
Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma
Rev. of New Light on Manichaeism: Papers from the Sixth International Congress on Manichaeism
References
Sources