Background
Richard Thomas France was born on April 2, 1938, in Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, to Edgar France and Doris (Morgan) France.
Keighley Rd, Bradford BD9 4JP, United Kingdom
Bradford Grammar School
Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Balliol College
London, United Kingdom
University of London
Bristol, City of Bristol, United Kingdom
Trinity College
Ile-ife, Osun, Nigeria
University of Ife
Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Tyndale House
Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria
Ahmadu Bello University
London, United Kingdom
London School of Theology
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Wycliffe Hall
Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom
Bangor University
(Some sought his death. Others left everything to follow h...)
Some sought his death. Others left everything to follow him. Who was this Jesus, this son of a carpenter turned wandering teacher? Why did he provoke such extreme reactions? And why does he still do so today, more than two thousand years after his death? Jesus the Radical highlights the impact of Jesus against the backdrop of life in first-century Judea, with its customs, its Messianic hopes, its multi-faceted Judaism and its Roman overlords. Here are many fascinating insights into the story you thought you knew. "Sensitive and compelling . it confronts the reader with Jesus and lets him decide what responses to make." -Christianity Today R. T. France has taught at London Bible College and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He is the author of Matthew in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, The Evidence for Jesus, The Living God, and Jesus and the Old Testament.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573832367/?tag=2022091-20
1989
(R.T. France believes that much of today's popular use of ...)
R.T. France believes that much of today's popular use of "kingdom" language runs the risk of distorting Jesus' words, and trivializing the depth and richness of his teaching. This book will help many Christians avoid that risk, while also providing helpful and persuasive answers to a range of questions thrown up by modern scholarship. What would "the Kingdom of God" have meant to Mark's first readers? Is "kingdom" the best translation? What did Jesus mean when he said the kingdom would come "with power"? And what are we to make of those passages which seem to predict the coming of the "Son of Man" within the lifetime of the first disciples? R. T. France has taught at London Bible College and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He is the author of Matthew in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, The Evidence for Jesus, The Living God, and Jesus and the Old Testament.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573832448/?tag=2022091-20
1990
("It is a special pleasure to introduce R T (Dick) France'...)
"It is a special pleasure to introduce R T (Dick) France's commentary to the pastoral and scholarly community, who should find it a truly exceptional - and helpful - volume." So says Gordon Fee in his preface to this work. France's masterful commentary on Matthew focuses on exegesis of Matthew's text as it stands rather than on the prehistory of the material or details of Synoptic comparison. It is concerned throughout with what Matthew himself meant to convey about Jesus and how he set about doing so within the cultural and historical context of first-century Palestine. Amid the wide array of Matthew commentaries available today, France's world-class stature, his clear focus on Matthew and Jesus, his careful methodology, and his user-friendly style promise to make this volume an enduring standard for years to come. "It is a special pleasure to introduce R T (Dick) France's commentary to the pastoral and scholarly community, who should find it a truly exceptional - and helpful - volume." So says Gordon Fee in his preface to this work. France's masterful commentary on Matthew focuses on exegesis of Matthew's text as it stands rather than on the prehistory of the material or details of Synoptic comparison. It is concerned throughout with what Matthew himself meant to convey about Jesus and how he set about doing so within the cultural and historical context of first-century Palestine. Amid the wide array of Matthew commentaries available today, France's world-class stature, his clear focus on Matthew and Jesus, his careful methodology, and his user-friendly style promise to make this volume an enduring standard for years to come.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ISJBT2/?tag=2022091-20
(Drawing on many years of Marcan studies, world-class scho...)
Drawing on many years of Marcan studies, world-class scholar R. T. France has produced an exegetical commentary on the Greek text of Mark that does what the best of recent Greek commentaries have done but in France's own inimitable, reader-friendly way. This work is a commentary on Mark itself, not a commentary on commentaries of Mark. It deals immediately and directly with matters that France himself regards as important. Working from his own translation of the Greek text and culling from helpful research into the world of first-century Palestine, France provides an extensive introduction to Mark's Gospel, followed by insightful section and verse commentary. France sees the structure of Mark's Gospel as an effective "drama in three acts." Act 1 takes up Jesus' public ministry in Galilee. Act 2 covers Jesus' journey to Jerusalem with his disciples. Act 3 focuses on Jesus' public ministry in Jerusalem, including his confrontation with the Jewish leaders, his explanatory discourse on the future, and his passion, death, and resurrection. France carefully unpacks for modern readers the two central themes of this powerful narrative of Jesus' life -- the nature of Christ and the role of discipleship. Supported by careful argumentation and impressive in its sensitivity to Mark's structure, context, and use of the Old Testament, France's study of the second Gospel is without peer.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802824463/?tag=2022091-20
(The visit of the Magi, the Sermon on the Mount, the Great...)
The visit of the Magi, the Sermon on the Mount, the Great Commission: these are only a few of the well-known passages in Matthew's Gospel. Yet it begins with a list of unknown names and apparently irrelevant 'begettings'. The early church may have placed Matthew first in the New Testament because it provides a Christian perspective on the relation between the church and the Jews, an issue that is still important today. R. T. France tackles this and other key issues in the Gospel with clarity, reliability and relevance. The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series. The Tyndale New Testament commentaries are designed to help the reader of the Bible understand what the text says and what it means. The Introduction to each book gives a concise but thorough treatment of its authorship, date, original setting and purpose. Following a structural Analysis, the Commentary takes the book section by section, drawing out its main themes, and also comments on individual verses and problems of interpretation. Additional Notes provide fuller discussion of particular difficulties. The goal throughout is to explain the true meaning of the Bible and make its message plain.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A5S5PG0/?tag=2022091-20
(The Teach the Text Commentary Series utilizes the best of...)
The Teach the Text Commentary Series utilizes the best of biblical scholarship to provide the information a pastor needs to communicate the text effectively. The carefully selected preaching units and focused commentary allow pastors to quickly grasp the big idea and key themes of each passage of Scripture. Each unit of the commentary includes the big idea and key themes of the passage and sections dedicated to understanding, teaching, and illustrating the text.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G9B2QM4/?tag=2022091-20
(This work by R.T. France is not intended to be a guide to...)
This work by R.T. France is not intended to be a guide to all that has been written in recent years about Matthew. Rather, it is an extended introduction to Matthew designed for a non-specialist readership. France concentrates on those areas he finds most interesting and important for the appreciation of Matthew, but he does touch on most major areas of discussion in Matthean studies. Among other things, France covers Matthew's place in the life of the church, the order of the Gospels, Matthew in the post-apostolic church, reasons for Matthew's preeminence, Matthew in the modern church, and literary relationships and the order of composition of the Gospels.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592449360/?tag=2022091-20
(R.T. France's study of Matthew's Gospel is a contribution...)
R.T. France's study of Matthew's Gospel is a contribution to the Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, a popular commentary designed to help the general Bible reader understand clearly what the text actually says and what it means, without undue recourse to scholarly technicalities.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802800637/?tag=2022091-20
(Was Jesus a magical cult leader? Was he a revolutionary t...)
Was Jesus a magical cult leader? Was he a revolutionary that failed? Or did the apostle Paul invent him out of a mystical experience? And even if he was a historical figure, how much can we really know about someone who lived two thousand years ago in an obscure corner of the Roman Empire? R. T. France explores these issues by examining in detail the whole range of historical data-from archaeological evidence to other non-Christian sources to Christian writings both inside and outside of the New Testament. With candor and rigor he analyzes modern New Testament scholarship that challenges the biblical record, and sets out a clear and solid case for what the New Testament says about Jesus. This book is valuable resource for those who question or seek to defend the reliability of the Gospels. "It is difficult to praise this work too highly . . . It achieves its purpose of presenting the evidence for Jesus with complete success." Christian Arena R. T. FRANCE has taught at London Bible College and was principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989-1995. His many books include The Living God, Jesus the Radical and Jesus and the Old Testament. He is also the author of Matthew in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573833703/?tag=2022091-20
Richard Thomas France was born on April 2, 1938, in Derry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, to Edgar France and Doris (Morgan) France.
France was educated at the Bradford Grammar School. After that he obtained his bachelor's degree with first class honors at the Balliol College, Oxford in 1960, as well as master's degree in 1963. In 1962 he received his Bachelor of Divinity degree with first class honors at the University of London. Five years later France earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Trinity College in Bristol.
France began his career as a lecturer in biblical theology at the Tyndale Hall, working there for 2 years from 1963. From 1966 till 1969 he was an assistant curate of the Church of England. That year France moved to the University of Ife, holding the position of a lecturer in biblical studies till 1973. His next working position was at the Tyndale House, where he was appointed as a librarian, serving there from 1973 to 1976. France was a senior lecturer in religious studies at the Ahmadu Bello University for a year from 1976. The next 1-year period of time he spent at the Tyndale House, being a research fellow, as well as a warden – from 1978 to 1981. For 7 years from that same year he served as a senior lecturer in New Testament at the London School of Theology. There France was also a head of Department of Biblical Studies – from 1982 to 1988 – and a vice-principal – from 1983 till 1988. Next year he was appointed to the Wycliffe Hall as a principal, serving there until 1995.
For 4 years from 1995 France worked as a rector of Church of England parishes in Shropshire, including the parish of Wentnor. Simultaneously he was a theologian at the Ibadan Cathedral, for 18 years from 1994. From 2004 to 2012 France held the position of a research fellow at the Bangor University.
France was an author of a great number of books. In addition, he was an editor of “Commentary,” a regular feature in Third WayEditor, as well as the Themelios and the Tyndale Bulletin. He was also a contributor to periodicals, including the Evangelical Quarterly, the Anvil, the Reformed Theological Review, the Churchman, the Novum Testamentum, and the Theology.
(Was Jesus a magical cult leader? Was he a revolutionary t...)
("It is a special pleasure to introduce R T (Dick) France'...)
(The Teach the Text Commentary Series utilizes the best of...)
(The visit of the Magi, the Sermon on the Mount, the Great...)
(Drawing on many years of Marcan studies, world-class scho...)
(Some sought his death. Others left everything to follow h...)
1989(This work by R.T. France is not intended to be a guide to...)
(R.T. France believes that much of today's popular use of ...)
1990(R.T. France's study of Matthew's Gospel is a contribution...)
France’s approach to the Bible was quite conservative, though he was open to new, sophisticated interpretations of the scriptural text, contributing many of these himself.
Quotations:
"Most of what I have published has been commissioned by publishers or editors, or has been the expected publication of lectures given by invitation (where the choice of subject has usually been my own). Most has been derived from my teaching areas and known areas of research.
I have very seldom had the experience of delivering manuscripts to publishers who had not already commissioned the work."
France was a member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and the Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical Research.
France married Barbara Wilding on July 30, 1965. They had 2 children - David Martyn and Susan Janet.