The Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria, during its Spring graduation ceremony last week, conferred an honorary doctorate on Prof John Kloppenborg, Professor of Religion at the University of Toronto, for his contribution to the study of the New Testament.

Prof Kloppenborg is one of the few New Testament scholars in the world who is considered by his peers as an expert in several fields and on topics in the study of the New Testament. His work on the Saying Source, known as Q, has set the standard for the past 35 years. His most important publications on this topic are The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom Collections; Q Parallels: Synopsis, Critical Notes & Concordance; and Excavating Q: The History and Setting of the Sayings Gospel (for which he received the Francis W. Beare Book Award).

Furthermore, he has a publication with Robinson and Hoffmann titled The Critical Edition of Q: A Synopsis, Including the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Mark and Thomas, with English, German and French translations of Q and Thomas (which has become the standard reference work for all scholars who engage with Q from a critical perspective).

His work on the parables and available Roman-Egypt papyri is also well-known, while his book The Tenants in the Vineyard: Ideology, Economics, and Agrarian Conflict in Jewish Palestine has set the standard for the use of extant papyri in the interpretation of the parables. Prof Kloppenborg also received the Francis W. Beare Book Award for this publication.

Another field in which Prof Kloppenborg has been a trailblazer, is his work on James, and a commentary in the esteemed Hermeneia commentary series, which is to be published later this year. He is currently working on associations in antiquity and recently co-authored the first of five volumes of Associations in the Greco-Roman world: A Sourcebook. His valuable contribution to the study of the Synoptic problem and gospels has culminated in a publication titled Synoptic Problems: Collected Essays.

Prof Kloppenborg is the associate editor of 11 theological journals; has received the degree Doctor of Arts, honoris causa, from the University of Lethbridge in 2011; is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; and was recently named University Professor of the University of Toronto.