Kent Clarke, PhD

Awards & Honors

• “Science, Faith, and Human Flourishing: Conversations in Community” Grant, Science, Theology, and Religion Office, Fuller Seminary, 2018-2019 ($25,000 USD); Co-Principal Investigators: M. Penner, J. Palmer-Hague, and A. Sikkema; Co-Investigators: H. Meyerhoff, A. Perrin, R. Rhea, and K. Clarke.
• The Trinity Western University Rooted & Reaching Award, Trinity Western University, 2017-2018 Academic Year (Awarded annually to one faculty member in recognition of their Christian character, their integration of faith into their academic discipline, their advancement of the legacy and purposes of students, and their significant contribution to Trinity Western University).
• The Davis Distinguished Teaching Award, Trinity Western University, 2013-2014 Academic Year (Awarded annually to one faculty member in recognition of a high level of teaching excellence and significant contribution to the pedagogical life of Trinity Western University).
• Brooke Foss Westcott Funded Research Professorship, Trinity Western University, 2007-Present.
• Overseas Research Students Award (O.R.S.), Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, London, England, 1994-1997.
• Nelson Lumber Foundation Bursary, Northwest Baptist Theological College, 1993.
• Student Leadership Award, Okanagan Bible College, 1992.
• Member of Honours Society of Canadian Bible Colleges, 1992.
• Esso Resources Scholarship, 1990-1991.
• Roland Financial Scholarship, Okanagan Bible College, 1988-1991.
• Academic Dean’s List, Okanagan Bible College, 1988-1991.

Recent Publications

Books & Monographs:

• Dogmatic Slumber: Reawakening Faith After the Age of Enlightenment Reason, Postmodern Pluralism, and Beyond (Manuscript in Final Preparation).
• Codex Vaticanus: A New Transcription and Critical Assessment Incorporating Corrections to Tischendorf’s Editio Princeps (Norfolk, VA: BibleWorks LLC; 2011).
• Textual Optimism: An Analysis of the United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament and Its Evaluation of Evidence Letter-Ratings (JSNTSup 138; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997). For reviews of this work, see W.L. Richards in Review of Biblical Literature 05/26/2000; P. Ellingworth in NovT 40 (1998), pp. 382-84; J.N. Rhodes in CBQ 60 (1998), pp. 759-60; D.A. Black in Filologia Neotestamentaria 10 (1997), pp. 157-58; M.C. Parsons in The Bible Translator, 50 (1999), pp. 346-50; J.K. Elliott in ExpTim 108 (1997), pp. 341-42; idem in JTS 49 (1998), pp. 293-97; and more extensively, C. Zamagni, “Un Art De L’«Optimisme Textuel» Néotestamentaire? Étude Critique D’après un Travail De K.D. Clarke”, Rivista Biblica 50 (2002), pp. 421-43.

Chapters & Articles:

• “Charles Lang Freer: His Legacy and Its Impact Upon American Paleography”, in Mario Capasso (ed.), Hermae: Scholars and Scholarship in Papyrology Volume V (Biblioteca degli “Studi di egittologia e di papirologia”; Pisa-Rome: Fabrizio Serra editore, 2023), pp. 29-46.
• “Paleography and Philanthropy: Charles Lang Freer and His Acquisition of the ‘Freer Biblical Manuscripts’”, in Larry W. Hurtado (ed.), The Freer Biblical Manuscripts: Fresh Studies of an American Treasure Trove (SBL Text Critical Studies 6; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006), pp. 17-73.
• “A Rebuttal to William L. Petersen’s Review of Studies in the Early Texts of the Gospels and Acts”, TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism 8 (2003), par. 1-5. 
• “Textual Certainty in the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament”, Novum Testamentum 44 (2002), pp. 105-33.
• “The Problem of Pseudonymity in Biblical Literature and Its Implications for Canon Formation”, in L.M. McDonald and J.A. Sanders (eds.), The Canon Debate (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002), pp. 440-68.
• “Pseudo-Phocylides”, in C.A. Evans and S.E. Porter (eds.), Dictionary of New Testament Background (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2000), pp. 868-69.
• “The Construction of Biblical Certainty: Textual Optimism and the United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament”, co-authored with Kevin Bales in D.G.K. Taylor (ed.), Studies in the Early Text of the Gospels and Acts (Texts and Studies, 3rd Series, 1; Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham Press, 1999), pp. 86-93.
• “Original Text or Canonical Text? Questioning the Shape of the New Testament Text We Translate”, in S.E. Porter and R. Hess (eds.), Translating the Bible: Problems and Prospects (JSNTSup 173; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), pp. 281-322.
• “What is Exegesis? An Analysis of Various Definitions”, co-authored with S.E. Porter in S.E. Porter (ed.), Handbook to Exegesis of the New Testament (NTTS 25; Leiden: Brill, 1997), pp. 3-21.
• “A Canonical Critical Perspective and the Relationship of Colossians and Ephesians”, co-authored with S.E. Porter; Biblica 78/1 (1997), pp. 57-86.
• “Canonical Criticism: An Integrated Reading of Biblical Texts for the Community of Faith”, in S.E. Porter and D. Tombs (eds.), Approaches to New Testament Study (JSNTSup 120; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), pp. 170-221.

Significant & Ongoing Research:

• BibleWorks Biblical Manuscript Transcription and Collation Project; General Editor and Academic Project Leader (Fall 2007-Present) of the BibleWorks Manuscript Transcription Project, which seeks to provide over an on-going period scholarly-produced transcriptions of New Testament papyri, uncial, and minuscule manuscripts. These new transcriptions, which are based upon high quality digital images of the actual manuscripts or of their facsimiles, serve as the foundation for the production and ongoing development of a New Testament textual criticism software application. This project has (1) developed a module that incorporates new technology and processes that more accurately and effectively allow for manuscript transcription and collation; (2) provided extremely accurate representations of the manuscripts being transcribed; (3) made the raw transcription data available without charge for personal or academic use; (4) effectively enabled program users to immediately compare, contrast, and fully collate any desired selection—either partial or full text—of these manuscripts; (5) allowed for a broad range of detailed statistical queries relating but not limited to such issues as textual affiliation and congruity of the New Testament manuscript tradition; (6) linked directly to the manuscript transcriptions their corresponding high resolution digital images where publication permissions have been granted; (7) been “open-ended” in that on-going transcription and imaging work, as well as the recording of relevant extra-textual features such as sociological and codicological details, can be seamlessly incorporated into the software; and (8) served as the groundwork for traditionally published volumes containing full transcriptions of each manuscript, as well as complete collations for each book of the New Testament.
• New Testament Greek Manuscripts Image Collection at Trinity Western University; Director of the largest collection of New Testament Greek manuscript images in Canada (including published facsimiles, microfilm, and digital images). The goal of this project has been to catalogue and to establish a collection of ancient biblical manuscript images that will aid in the on-going work of New Testament textual criticism. The growing collection, which is temporarily housed at Trinity Western University and is accessible to both academic and public alike, is formally named in honour of the late Professor Reuben J. Swanson and his life’s work and commitment to New Testament textual criticism. Newly added to this collection are one hundred and seventy-five fragments of recently discovered and as yet unpublished ancient Egyptian papyri (formally named the Trinity Western University-Wikene Papyri Collection).

Academic Conference Papers & Presentations:

• “Fragmented History: Charles Lang Freer and the Ongoing Puzzlements Surrounding the Discovery of His Washington Manuscripts”. The University of Birmingham Colloquium on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, February 4, 2021.
• “A Theological Response to Covid-19”. TWU Virtual Co-hosted Café (Nursing, Religious Studies, and Philosophy): “Setting a Different Tone: A Conversation about Our Vulnerabilities During COVID-19”, Trinity Western University, October 27, 2020.
• “Hospitality Working Group Report Panel”. TWU Faculty Retreat: “Hospitality as Imperative and Blessing”, Trinity Western University, August 21, 2018. Co-presented with S. Reimer-Kirkham, E. Stringham-Durovic, R. Healey, B. Wood, and E. Phillips.
• “Inclusivity in the Classroom”. TWU Faculty Professional Development Seminar, Trinity Western University, January 25, 2018. Co-presented with S. Reimer-Kirkham and E. Stringham-Durovic.
• “Expressions of Doubt and Notions of Certainty: What Enlightenment Skepticism can Teach Us about Christian Faith”. Full Professor Inaugural Lecture, Trinity Western University, March 7, 2018.
• “The Ancient New Testament’s Transmission, Translation, and Interpretation: Questions of Reliability”. Public Lecture, Metzger Collection/Columbia Bible College, Abbotsford, BC, September 20, 2017.
• “Nourishing the Self through Holistic Leisure and Spirituality: Addressing the ‘Modern Dualism’ between Body and Spirit in the Pursuit of Human Flourishing”. TWU Faculty Retreat, Trinity Western University, August 24, 2016. Co-presented with J. Reimer.
• “Holistic Perspectives on Health Promotion and Personal Wellness: Developing a Phenomenology and Theology of the Body that Embraces Spiritual Flourishing”. Annual Meeting of the Christian Society of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies (CSKLS), Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA, June 9, 2016. Co-presented with J. Reimer.
• “Biblical Faith, Enlightenment Reason, and the Problem of Hermeneutics”. Faith and Reason Taskforce, Trinity Western University, February 21, 2013.
• “The BibleWorks Biblical Manuscript Transcription and Collation Project: New Technology in the Aid of New Testament Textual Criticism”. The Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 23, 2008 (presented in the Computer Assisted Research Program Unit).
• “The Trinity Western University-Wikene Papyri ‘Rediscovery’”. The Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, November 22, 2008 (presented in the Palaeographical Studies in the Ancient Near East Program Unit).
• “Paleography and Philanthropy: Charles Lang Freer and His Acquisition of the Freer Biblical Manuscripts”. The Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, November 18-21, 2006 (presented at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery).
• The Construction of Biblical Certainty: Textual Optimism and the United Bible Society’s Greek New Testament”. The University of Birmingham Colloquium on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, April 14-17, 1997.
• “Original Text or Canonical Text?: Questioning the Basis of New Testament Translation and Exegesis”. Theology and Religious Studies Research Cluster, Roehampton Institute London, London, England, April 1997.
• “The Use of Scripture in Canonical Criticism: Prolegomena for Biblical Exegesis”. Theology and Religious Studies Research Cluster, Roehampton Institute London, London, England, March 1996.
• “The Use of the Bible in Canonical Criticism: Hermeneutical Outlook or Exegetical Method?”. Society for the Study of Theology Annual Conference (Biblical Theology Session), The University of Cambridge, Selwyn College, Cambridge, England, April 8-11, 1996.
• “A Canonical Critical Perspective and the Relationship of Colossians and Ephesians”. Tyndale Fellowship New Testament Study Group, Tyndale House, Cambridge, England, June 26-28, 1995. Co-presented with S.E. Porter.
• “A Canonical Critical Perspective and the Relationship of Colossians and Ephesians”. Theology and Religious Studies Research Cluster, Roehampton Institute London, London, England, February 1995.
• “Defining Canonical Criticism”. Theology and Religious Studies Research Cluster, Roehampton Institute London, London, England, December 1995.