Directory

A native of Tennessee, Mason is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches USA, and he enjoys speaking to local church and community groups on New Testament texts and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Favorite family activities include travel, music, and sports events. Before coming to Judson in 2002, Mason taught courses at several institutions, including the University of Notre Dame and the Irkutsk (Siberia) Bible School for Russian Baptist ministers.

Mason is co-chair of the steering committee for the Epistle to the Hebrews section for the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting; previously he co-chaired the Hebrews program section for the Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting (2011–2017). He serves as the faculty advisor to the Judson chapter of Theta Alpha Kappa (the national honor society for students in religious studies and theology) and is the national secretary for the society (previously vice president, 2011–2017).

Mason is editor of Biblical Research, the journal of the Chicago Society of Biblical Research, and was president of the society in 2014–2015. He is also a member of the New Testament translation revision committee for the New American Bible, the official English translation for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He served as Regional Coordinator of the Midwest Region Society of Biblical Literature for its 2013–2018 meetings and now is the region’s vice president (2019–2020 meetings) and president-elect (2021-2022 meetings). He was named one of five national honorees as a Regional Scholar by the Society of Biblical Literature in 2007, and he was selected to participate in National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars in 2005 (at Brigham Young University) and 2015 (at the University of Iowa).

• Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, 2005
• M.A., University of Notre Dame, 1998
• M.Div., Beeson Divinity School, Samford University, 1994
• B.A., Union University, 1991

New Testament, especially Hebrews, 1-2 Peter, and Jude; Dead Sea Scrolls and other literature of Second Temple period Judaism; messianism in Second Temple Jewish and early Christian thought; Melchizedek traditions; ancient interpretative traditions and strategies.

Mason is the author or editor of several volumes, including:

• (editor, with David M. Moffitt) Son, Sacrifice, and Great Shepherd: Studies on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020 (expected).
• ‘You Are a Priest Forever’: Second Temple Jewish Messianism and the Priestly Christology of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 74. Leiden: Brill, 2008. Reprinted in paperback by SBL Press in 2014.
• (issue editor) “Emerging Voices on the Epistle to the Hebrews,” thematic issue of the journal Perspectives in Religious Studies 37.1 (Spring 2010)(issue editor) “Faith and Faithfulness in Hebrews and the Catholic Epistles,” thematic issue of the journal Biblical Research 61 (2016).
• (editor, with Kevin B. McCruden) Reading the Epistle to the Hebrews: A Resource for Students. Resources for Biblical Study 66. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature (paperback); Leiden: Brill (hardback), 2011.
• (editor, with Troy W. Martin) Reading 1–2 Peter and Jude: A Resource for Students. Resources for Biblical Study 77. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014.
• (editor, with Darian R. Lockett) Reading the Epistle of James: A Resource for Students. Resources for Biblical Study 94. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2019.
• (editor, with Edmondo F. Lupieri) Golden Calf Traditions in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Themes in Biblical Narrative 23. Leiden, Brill, 2019.
• (general editor, with seven colleagues) A Teacher for All Generations: Essays in Honor of James C. VanderKam. 2 volumes. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 153 I/II. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
• (editor, with Timothy George) Theology in the Service of the Church: Essays Presented to Fisher H. Humphreys. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2008.
• (editor, with Quincy D. Newell) New Perspectives in Mormon Studies: Creating and Crossing Boundaries. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013.

In addition, Mason has published numerous articles in journals, essay collections, and reference volumes (including the Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, the Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism, Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, T&T Clark Companion to the Dead Sea Scrolls, and T&T Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism). See his CV for a current listing of publications and academic presentations.

• Society of Biblical Literature
• Catholic Biblical Association of America
• Chicago Society of Biblical Research
• Enoch Seminar
• National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion
• editor, Biblical Research, the journal of the Chicago Society of Biblical Research
• editorial board for the journal The Biblical Annals (Institute of Biblical Studies, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland)