Richard Pervo

Richard Ivan Pervo (May 11, 1942 – May 19, 2017)[1] was an American biblical scholar, former Episcopalian priest, and Fellow of the Westar Institute.[2][3][4] He was best known for his works on the New Testament book of Acts of the Apostles.[5][6] In 2001, Pervo was convicted for possession of child sexual abuse material.[7][8]

Richard I. Pervo
Born	Richard Ivan Pervo May 11, 1942 Lakewood, Ohio, U.S.
Died	May 19, 2017 (aged 75) Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupation	Biblical scholar

Biography

Pervo was born in Lakewood, Ohio, the son of Ivan Pervo and Elizabeth Kline. He married Karen E. Moreland on April 2, 1967.[9]

Pervo received his undergraduate degree from Concordia Senior College in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1964. He received a Bachelor of Divinity at the Episcopal Divinity School of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and earned his Th.D. from Harvard University in 1979.[9] A revised version of his dissertation was published in 1987 as Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles.[10]

Pervo died of leukemia in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 19, 2017.[1][9][Note 1]

Career

Pervo taught at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (1975–1999) and as professor of Classical and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Minnesota (1999–2001). He served as an Episcopalian priest until 2003.[3]

A Festschrift in recognition of his scholarship was published posthumously by Mohr Siebeck in late 2017.[11]

Criminal conviction

In February 2001, Pervo was arrested after investigators found thousands of images of child pornography on his work computer at the University of Minnesota.[12] In May he pleaded guilty to five counts of possession and one count of distribution of child pornography. He was sentenced to one year in a state workhouse and eight years probation.[13][14] He formally resigned from the University of Minnesota as of June 2001, having been suspended since his arrest.[15] After serving his sentence he continued to publish theological works as an independent scholar and Fellow of the Westar Institute,[2] and was recognized as an authority on the canonical and non-canonical books of Acts.[16]

Selected works

• Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles (1987) ISBN 978-0800607821
• Luke's Story of Paul (1990) ISBN 978-0800624057
• Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts (with Mikael C. Parsons) (1993) ISBN 978-0800627508
• Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists (2006) ISBN 978-0944344736
• Acts: A Commentary (2008) ISBN 978-0800660451
• The Mystery of Acts: Unravelling its Story (2008) ISBN 978-1598150124
• The Making of Paul: Constructions of the Apostle in Early Christianity (2010) ISBN 978-0800696597
• The Acts of Paul: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (2014) ISBN 978-1625641717
• The Gospel of Luke (2014) ISBN 978-1598151411
• The Acts of John (2015) ISBN 978-1598151671
• The Pastorals and Polycarp (2016) ISBN 978-1598151787

Notes

1. The obituary published by the Society of Biblical Literature[3] gives his date of death as May 20, but this is contradicted by the majority of sources.[1][9]

References

1. "Crescent Tide Funeral & Cremation Services - St. Paul, MN - Obituaries". Archived from the original on July 11, 2017.
2. "Richard I. Pervo - Westar Institute". Westar Institute. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
3. Rothschild, Clare K. "Richard I. Pervo (1942-2017)" (PDF). Society of Biblical Literature. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2017.
4. "Scholar Sees Jesus as a Social Revolutionary". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. April 18, 1992. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017.
5. Mittelstadt, Martin William (1 January 2011). "Review Essay: For Profit or Delight? Richard Pervo's Contributions to Lukan Studies". Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. 33 (1): 95–108. doi:10.1163/157007411X554749.
6. Spencer, F. Scott (1 April 2008). "Book Review: Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists". Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology. 62 (2): 190–193. doi:10.1177/002096430806200212.
7. Suzukamo, Leslie Brooks (July 29, 2001). "E-mail address led police to U professor". Pioneer Press. Archived from the original on October 31, 2015 – via EMMA Labs.
8. Warren, Stewart (May 4, 2002). "A Concern for All Faiths". The Herald News. Archived from the original on June 28, 2017 – via BishopAccountability.org.
9. "Lives Lived: Richard Pervo" (PDF). The Park Bugle. St. Paul, Minnesota. July 2017. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 24, 2017.
10. Edwards, Douglas R. (1989). "Review of Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles". Journal of Biblical Literature. 108 (2): 353–355. doi:10.2307/3267318. JSTOR 3267318.
11. Attridge, Harold W.; MacDonald, Dennis R.; Rothschild, Clare K., eds. (2017). Delightful Acts: New Essays on Canonical and Non-canonical Acts. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 9783161544774.
12. "Kiddie porn found on prof's computer". UPI. February 13, 2001.
13. "College Briefs: Former professor sentenced in porn case". Daily Bruin. UCLA. June 6, 2001. Archived from the original on 25 November 2017.
14. Zack, Margaret (31 May 2001). "Professor pleads guilty to child-porn charges". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018 – via Highbeam.com. (subscription required)
15. Smetanka, Mary Jane (4 May 2001). "'U' professor to resign following porn charges". Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018 – via Highbeam.com. (subscription required)
16. Foster, Paul (1 August 2015). "Book Review: The Acts of Paul: Richard I. Pervo, The Acts of Paul: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary". The Expository Times. 126 (11): 564. doi:10.1177/0014524615579982p. ISSN 0014-5246.

External links

• Profile at Westar Institute