vănThanh Nguyễn, SVD
Professor of New Testament Studies
Bishop Francis X. Ford, MM, Chair of Catholic Missiology
Education
MA, Catholic Theological Union
SThD, Pontifical Gregorian University
About
vănThanh is a Professor of New Testament Studies and the holder of the Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, Maryknoll, Chair of Catholic Missiology at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a doctorate in Sacred Scripture (STD) at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and has served on the CTU faculty since 2005. He has published widely in the areas of Bible, migration, and mission. He has authored several books and numerous articles and chapters in books, including “Acts” in The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the 21st Century. His latest book, What Does the Bible Say About Strangers, Migrants, and Refugees?, has been translated into Spanish and Mandarin/Chinese.
He is a missionary priest of the Society of the Divine Word (S.V.D.) and was elected to several leadership positions in his religious community. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Missiology (2017-2021) and was a convener and coordinator of Biblical Studies and Mission (BISAM) in the International Association for Mission Studies (IASM; 2012-2022). He is an associate editor of the Journal of the International Association for Mission Studies (MS; 2013-present), and is an active member of the following professional organizations: the Catholic Biblical Association; the Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Society of Missiology.
He has also led many of CTU’s Israel Retreats and Biblical Lands Study and Travel Programs in Greece, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, and Egypt. He has lectured in many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Caribbean (Saint Martin and Anguilla in the West Indies), Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. He gives presentations, workshops, and retreats both nationally and internationally. He regularly helps out on Sundays, presiding and preaching in intercultural and multi-language parishes. He is also fluent in Vietnamese and Spanish. He is an outdoor person who enjoys being with nature and exercising, particularly riding bicycle and playing golf.
Contact
tnguyen@ctu.edu
Books:
What Does the Bible Say about Strangers, Migrants, and Refugees? New York: New City Press, 2021. This book has been translated into Spanish and Chinese/Manderin. The Spanish version is: ?Que dice la Biblia sobre los extranjeros, los migrantes y los refugiados? Estrellas, Spain: Editorial Verbo Divino, 2022.
Stories of Early Christianity: Creative Retellings of Faith and History. Liguori, MO: Liguori Publications, 2013. Revised and translated into Vietnamese titled, Giáo Hội Sơ Khai: Những Câu Chuyện Chưa Từng Kể (TPHCM, Viet Nam: Nhà Xuất Bản Tôn Giáo, 2015).
Peter and Cornelius: A Story of Conversion and Mission. American Society of Missiology Scholarly Monograph Series 15. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2012.
The Legitimation of the Gentile Mission and Integration: A Narrative Approach to Acts 10:1—11:18. Pontificiae Universitatis Gregoriannae. Rome 2004. [Excerpta ex dissertatione]
Edited Books:
[with Lazar Stanislaus] Missionary Discipleship in Glocal Context. Germany: Styler Missionswissenschafliches Institute, 2018.
[with John Prior] God’s People on the Move: Biblical and Global Perspectives of Migration and Mission. Pickwick Publications, 2014. [Chosen as Fifteen Outstanding Books of 2014 for Mission Studies by the International Bulletin for Missionary Research.]
Selected Chapters in Books: (2015-22)
“Acts.” In The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Ed. by Donald Senior, John J. Collins, Barbara Reid and Gina Hens-Piazza. 1445-1519. London: T&T Clark, 2022. (Book length)
“Mission and Biblical Studies: Convergences, Challenges, and Prospects.” In The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies. Eds. Kirsteen Kim, Knud Jørgensen and Alison Fitchett-Climenhaga. Oxford: University Press, 2022.
“Migration in the New Testament: The Quest for Home.” In Christian Theology in the Age of Migration: Implications for World Christianity. Ed. by Peter C. Phan. 69-84. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020.
“Revelation from the Margins: A Vietnamese American Perspective.” T&T Clark Handbook of Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics. Eds Uriah Y. Kim and Seung Ai Yang. 439-448. London: T&T Clark, 2019.
“A Bamboo Priest: An Asian-American Way of Religious Priesthood. ” Priesthood in Religious Life: Searching for New Ways Forward. Eds. Stephen Bevans and Robin Ryan. 161-173. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018.
“The Final Testimony of Missio Dei: A Missiological Reading of Revelation.” Christian Mission, Contextual Theology, Prophetic Dialogue. Essays in Honor of Stephen B. Bevans. Eds. Dale T. Irvin and Peter C. Phan. 3-16. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2018.
“Missionary Churches in Acts: A Model of Intercultural Engagement with the Nations.” In Contemporary Mission Theology: Engaging the Nations, edited by Robert L. Gallagher and Paul Hertig, 135-145. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2017).
“Preaching in the New Testament.” In Handbook for Catholic Preachers, ed. Edward Foley, et al., 41-50. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2016.
“Reading the Bible in the New Christianity.” In World Christianity and Global Theologizing: Perspectives and Insights, edited by Jonathan Tan and Anh Tran. 109-126. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Press, 2016.
“Prophetic Christology in the New Testament.” In Mission on the Road to Emmaus: Constants, Context and Prophetic Dialogue, edited by Steve Bevans and Cathy Ross. 3-18. SCM Press: 2015.
