Stephen Patterson
Geo. H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies
Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
Ph.D., Claremont Graduate School M.A., Claremont Graduate School M.T.S., Harvard University B.A., Yankton College
Stephen J. Patterson grew up the child of a pastor and schoolteacher in rural South Dakota. He received a B.A. from Yankton College in South Dakota, and holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and the Claremont Graduate School, where he received a Ph.D. in New Testament in 1988. In 1986 he was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.Patterson specializes in the study of the historical Jesus, Christian origins, and the Gospel of Thomas, an early Christian gospel not found in the New Testament. Most recently he has written about the theological significance of the newest phase in the quest for the historical Jesus.
• Fulbright Fellow, West Germany, 1986-1987
• Geo. H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies at Willamette University, 2010–• Professor of New Testament, Eden Theological Seminary, 1988–2010
• Chair of the Steering Committee, The Jesus Seminar on Christian Origins• Fellow, The Jesus Seminar• Member, The Society of Biblical Literature• Contributing Editor, The Bible Review
