{"id":88,"date":"2019-06-28T00:41:48","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T00:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/faculty\/?page_id=88"},"modified":"2024-10-23T18:00:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T18:00:28","slug":"mskinner","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/faculty\/mskinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew L. Skinner"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Education<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Ph.D. (Princeton Theological Seminary)<\/li>\n<li>M.Div. (Princeton Theological Seminary)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Biography<\/h2>\n<p>Matthew Skinner joined Luther Seminary\u2019s faculty in 2002, having earned his Ph.D. in biblical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he had previously completed his M.Div. and served as a teaching fellow and visiting lecturer. In 1990 he received his A.B. degree magna cum laude, with a concentration in philosophy, from Brown University. In more recent years he has conducted advanced research at the Center of Theological Inquiry as a member-in-residence and a writing fellow.<\/p>\n<p>Skinner\u2019s teaching experience covers the full range of the New Testament canon. His courses focus on the original, ancient settings and circumstances surrounding the creation and preservation of biblical writings as well as how this literature continues to be experienced and interpreted in congregations and other public venues.<\/p>\n<p>Much of Skinner\u2019s published work focuses on the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the cultural realities displayed in these writings, and their ongoing theological relevance. He is the author of two\u00a0books on Acts.\u00a0<i>Acts: Catching Up with the Spirit<\/i>\u00a0introduces Acts to an audience that might know little about the book. It explains how Acts tells of believers coming to discover what the gospel of Jesus Christ means for them and the world, even as they live in times of surprise, opposition, and change. In\u00a0<i>Intrusive God, Disruptive Gospel: Encountering the Divine in the Book of Acts<\/i>, Skinner takes a deeper dive into Acts, exploring how we best read it so it informs our understanding of the character of God, the challenges of faith, and the purpose of the church.<\/p>\n<p>His three-volume project,\u00a0<i>A Companion to the New Testament,<\/i> is an accessible and engaging introduction to the twenty-seven books that compose the New Testament. He also wrote\u00a0<em>The Trial Narratives: Conflict, Power, and Identity in the New Testament<\/em>\u00a0and has co-edited three additional books. He is currently working on a textbook that will explore how the New Testament talks about salvation and a commentary that will help preachers and teachers understand the book of Acts.<\/p>\n<p>He has contributed to various resources for scholars, church leaders, and laypeople interested in the Bible\u2019s connections to faith and life, including\u00a0<em>The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Theological Bible Commentary<\/em>, <em>Connections: A Lectionary Commentary Series<\/em>, EnterTheBible.org, and Covenant Bible Study.<\/p>\n<p>He has written about the Bible for websites including Huffington Post, Working Preacher, and ON Scripture\u2014The Bible. He co-hosts Sermon Brainwave, a popular weekly podcast that offers assistance to preachers as they interpret biblical texts to prepare their sermons.<\/p>\n<p>Ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Skinner also serves as the Scholar for Adult Education at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, where he works with the church&#8217;s leadership in developing new offerings for educational ministry both within and beyond the church building.\u00a0He frequently teaches about the New Testament, early Christian history, and preaching at conferences, on college and seminary campuses, and in congregations.<\/p>\n<h2>Featured Work<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-90 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/faculty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/06\/Matthew-Skinner-A-Companion-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Matthew L. Skinner A Companion to The New Testament The Gospels and Acts\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/faculty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/06\/Matthew-Skinner-A-Companion-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.luthersem.edu\/faculty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/06\/Matthew-Skinner-A-Companion.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>A Companion to the New Testament<br \/>\n<\/strong>Baylor University Press (2017 and 2018)<\/p>\n<p>Three volume series!<\/p>\n<p>Volume 1: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baylorpress.com\/9781481300001\/a-companion-to-the-new-testament\/\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.baylorpress.com\/9781481300001\/a-companion-to-the-new-testament\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Volume 2:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baylorpress.com\/9781481307833\/\"> https:\/\/www.baylorpress.com\/9781481307833\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Volume 3:\u00a0<a>https:\/\/www.baylorpress.com\/9781481307871\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>A Companion to the New Testament<\/em> draws readers deep inside the New Testament by providing a basic orientation to its literary contours and its ways of talking about theological matters. Designed especially for students learning to navigate the Bible as Christian Scripture, the <em>Companion<\/em> serves as an accessible, reliable, and engaging guide to each New Testament book\u2019s contents. It explores these books\u2019 capacity for informing Christian faith and life\u2014among ancient audiences and also within Christian communities through time.<\/p>\n<p>Individual chapters offer thorough overviews of each New Testament book, helping readers consider its historical setting, cultural assumptions, literary dynamics, and theological points of view. The <em>Companion<\/em> consistently illustrates how social conditions and community identities left their marks on the particular theological rhetoric of the New Testament. Author Matthew Skinner draws on his extensive teaching experience to orient readers to theological convictions and social realities reflected in Scripture. He pays special attention to the New Testament\u2019s use of the Old Testament, the Roman Empire\u2019s influence on Christian ideas and practices, the place of women in the early church\u2019s life and teachings, the influence of Jewish apocalyptic themes on the New Testament, and ways that certain New Testament emphases have shaped basic Christian beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>This first volume of the <em>Companion<\/em> explains that the Gospels are the results of the early churches\u2019 efforts to preserve memories about the life and teaching of Jesus, his character, and his enduring significance. Readers discover that Jesus\u2019 followers told their stories about him because of their desire to give testimony to him as the Christ and the agent of divine salvation. Likewise, the <em>Companion<\/em>\u2019s treatment of Acts underscores that book\u2019s understanding of God as active in the world, a God who continues the ministry Jesus began but does so now in and around the churches formed by Jesus\u2019 followers. The earliest churches\u2019 narratives about their Lord and their origins were theological narratives\u2014stories meant to communicate believers\u2019 convictions about God and God\u2019s commitment to the world.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baylorpress.com\/9781481300001\/a-companion-to-the-new-testament\/\" rel=\"noopener\">A Companion to the New Testament<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Education Ph.D. (Princeton Theological Seminary) M.Div. (Princeton Theological Seminary) Biography Matthew Skinner joined Luther Seminary\u2019s faculty in 2002, having earned his Ph.D. in biblical studies from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he had previously completed his M.Div. and served as a teaching fellow and visiting lecturer. In 1990 he received his A.B. degree magna cum laude, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1008,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template.faculty-member.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-88","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matthew L. 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