Jordan Ryan

Biography

Dr. Ryan was born and raised in the multicultural city of Toronto, Canada. His parents worked with the unhoused youth population in the inner city, and he grew up in the heart of the city in community with some of its most marginalized people. These experiences contributed to his formation and continue to shape his thought and teaching, giving him an interest in Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God in the Gospels.

Dr. Ryan’s current research has two main trajectories. The first is situating the New Testament in its ancient Jewish and Roman background, which includes the archaeology of Roman Galilee and Judea. Archaeology plays a particularly important role in that endeavor, as it provides a window into daily life and local institutions and presents the lives of the non-elites of the biblical world, whose voices may not be preserved through text. He has been a member of the excavations at Magdala and is currently a staff member of the Tel Shimron excavations. Some of his work has involved the study of ancient synagogues and ancient churches. The second trajectory is Filipino American and Asian North American contextual interpretation of the New Testament. As a half-Filipino (Tisoy) scholar hailing from the urban center of Toronto, Dr. Ryan is interested in biblical interpretation and scholarship done for and from diaspora Asian Christian communities in the United States and Canada. He has recently published a commentary on Acts from a Filipino North American perspective in The New Testament in Color (Intervarsity Press).

Education

Bachelor of Arts, Honours (B.A., Hon.)
University of Toronto, 2009

Master of Arts (M.A.)
St. Michael’s College (Toronto School of Theology), 2011

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
McMaster University, 2016

Areas of Expertise

Gospels
Historical Jesus
Archaeology of Galilee and Judea in the Early Roman Period
Ancient Synagogues
Early Jewish Writings
Ancient Churches
Asian American Biblical Interpretation
Postcolonial and Decolonial Interpretation

Professional Affiliations

Society of Biblical Literature
American Schools of Overseas Research

Primary Research Interests

Gospels
New Testament
Historical Jesus
Early Synagogues
Archaeology of Roman Galilee and Judea Early Judaism
Jewish Background of the New Testament
Early Reception of Jesus and the Gospels
Asian American/Canadian Interpretation
Filipino American Interpretation

Selected Publications

Books

Ryan, Jordan J. The Role of the Synagogue in the Aims of Jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press: 2017.

Ryan, Jordan J. From the Passion to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Memories of
Jesus in Place, Pilgrimage, and Early Holy Sites Over the First Three Centuries.
The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries. London and New York:
T&T Clark, (2021).

Ryan, Jordan J. Cruz. Reading the Gospels at the Foot of the Table: A Filipino American Reading of Jesus for the Whole Church. Downers Grove: IVP Academic (forthcoming).

Commentaries

Ryan, Jordan J. Cruz. "Acts of the Apostles (A Filipino American Commentary)." In The New Testament in Color. Edited by Esau McCaulley, Janette H. Ok, Oswaldo Padilla, and Amy B. Peeler. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2024 (forthcoming.)

Journal Articles

Ryan, Jordan J. “The Ideology of Restoration and the Archaeology of Galilee: The
Hasmonean Transformation of Galilee as Context for Jesus and the Gospels.”
Criswell Theological Review 16, no. 1 (2018): 48-71.

Ryan, Jordan J. “The Historian’s Craft and the Future of Historical Jesus Research:
Engaging Brant Pitre’s Jesus and the Last Supper as a Work of History.” Journal for the Study of the
Historical Jesus, 15, no. 1 (2017): 60-87.

Ryan, Jordan J. “‘When We Were Hebrews’: Listening to Different Voices Among
Attitudes Towards The Jewish Heritage of Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries."
Journal of the Jesus Movement in its Jewish Setting 4 (2017): 65-90.

Ryan, Jordan J. “Jesus and Synagogue Disputes: Recovering the Institutional Context of
Luke 13:10-17.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 79, no. 1 (2017): 41-59.

Ryan, Jordan J. “Jesus at the Crossroads of Inference and Imagination: The Relevance of R.G.
Collingwood’s Philosophy of History for Current Methodological Discussions in Historical Jesus
Research.” Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 13 no. 1 (2015): 66-89.

Contributions to Edited Volumes

Ryan, Jordan J. Cruz. “Matthew: Gospel for the Colonized." In The Ethnos Project on Faith, Race, and Community: Biblical Exegesis on Issues of Race, Racialization, and Racism in America. Edited by David S. Cho and Soong-Chan Rah. Downers Grove: IVP Academic.

Ryan, Jordan J. “The Contributions of Historical and Archaeological Study of Early
Synagogues to Historical Jesus Research.” In Synagogues in the Hellenistic-
Roman Period: New Finds – New Theories – New Methods. Edited by Lutz
Doering and Andrew R. Krause. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2021.

Ryan, Jordan J. “The Sermon on the Mount as Synagogue Teaching.” In Matthew within
Judaism: Israel and the Nations in the First Gospel. Edited by Daniel M. Gurtner
and Anders Runesson. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2020 (forthcoming).

Ryan, Jordan J. “The Archaeology of the Hellenistic Period.” In Behind the Scenes of the
Old Testament: Historical, Cultural, and Social Contexts of Ancient Israel. Edited
by Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2018.

Ryan, Jordan. “Magdala.” In T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism, edited
by Loren T. Stuckenbruck and Daniel M. Gurtner. 2 vols. London and New York: T&T Clark,
2019.

Ryan, Jordan. “Magdala.” In Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry and
Lazarus Wentz. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2012. Electronic resource.

Ryan, Jordan. “Tiberias.” In Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by John D. Barry and
Lazarus Wentz. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2012. Electronic resource.