{{short description|New Testament scholar}} {{Multiple issues| {{Like resume|date=September 2023}} {{third-party|date=September 2023}} }} {{Infobox academic | name = Brant J. Pitre | birth_date = 1975 | discipline = [[Theology]] | sub_discipline = {{hlist|[[New Testament]]|[[Early Christianity]]|[[Historical Jesus]]}} | workplaces = {{plain list| * [[Augustine Institute]] * [[Notre Dame Seminary]] * [[Our Lady of Holy Cross College]] * [[University of Notre Dame]] * [[Loyola University New Orleans]]}} | education = {{Plainlist}} * [[Louisiana State University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]]) * [[Tel Aviv University]] ([[Graduate certificate|G.C.]]) * [[Vanderbilt University Divinity School]] ([[Master of Theological Studies|M.T.S.]]) * [[University of Notre Dame]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D]]) {{endplainlist}} | birth_place = [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]], US }}
'''Brant James Pitre''' (born 1975) is an American [[New Testament]] scholar and Distinguished Research Professor of Scripture at the [[Augustine Institute]]. He has written extensively on the [[historical Jesus]], [[Mary, mother of Jesus|the Virgin Mary]], [[Paul the Apostle]], the [[origin of the Eucharist]], and the [[Canonical gospels|canonical Gospels]].
== Education == After receiving his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] in [[Philosophy]] and [[English literature|English Literature]] from [[Louisiana State University]] in 1997, Pitre engaged in biblical studies: he received a [[Graduate certificate|G.C.]] in [[biblical archaeology]] in 1998 from [[Tel Aviv University]], a [[Master of Theological Studies|M.T.S.]] from [[Vanderbilt University Divinity School]] in 1999 and, eventually, his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] from the [[University of Notre Dame]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=CV|url=https://www.brantpitre.com/curriculum-vitae|access-date=2021-12-03|website=Brant Pitre|language=en-US}}</ref> While at Vanderbilt, Pitre studied under Professor [[Amy-Jill Levine]], while at Notre Dame he met and studied under Father [[John P. Meier]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pitre|first=Brant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9LvCAAAQBAJ|title=The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ|date=2016-02-02|publisher=Crown Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-7704-3549-3|page=3|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Pitre|first=Brant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4-gCgAAQBAJ&q=meier|title=Jesus and the Last Supper|date=2015|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-4871-0|page=X|language=en}}</ref>
== Career == He was assistant professor of theology at [[Loyola University New Orleans]] from 2003 to 2005. From 2005 to 2009, he was adjunct professor of Scripture at [[Notre Dame Seminary]], Visiting professor of theology at the [[University of Notre Dame]] and Donum Dei Professor of Word and Sacrament and assistant professor of theology at [[Our Lady of Holy Cross College]]. From 2009 to 2018 he served as Professor of Sacred Scripture at [[Notre Dame Seminary]], before moving to his current position at the Augustine Institute. He is a member of the [[Society of Biblical Literature]], and the [[Catholic Biblical Association]].<ref name=":0" />
In his works, Pitre has consistently defended the Catholic dogma of [[transubstantiation]], the [[perpetual virginity of Mary]], [[Divinity of Jesus|the divinity of Jesus]], and traditional [[authorship of the Gospels]]. His books have been praised by Bishop [[Robert Barron]] and several Roman Catholic leaders.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-27 |title=The Case for Jesus: Interview with Dr. Brant Pitre |url=https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/the-case-for-jesus-interview-with-dr-brant-pitre/18694/ |access-date= |website=[[Word on Fire]]}}</ref> He was also a contributor to the ''Dictionary of Jesus And the Gospels'', where he wrote articles about [[Jewish eschatology]] in regard to Jesus.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Green |first1=Joel B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mfnDwAAQBAJ&q=Dictionary+of+Jesus+And+the+Gospels |title=Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (2nd edn): A Compendium Of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship |last2=Brown |first2=Jeannine K. |last3=Perrin |first3=Nicholas |date=2013 |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |isbn=978-1-78974-026-4 |language=en}}</ref>
== Reception == Brant Pitre's work has been praised by various scholars, including [[Dale Allison]], Chris Tilling, Tucker Ferda, and Christine Jacobi.<ref>{{cite book |last= Pitre |first= Brant |author-link= Brant Pitre |year= 2024 |title= Jesus and Divine Christology |publisher= Eerdmans |isbn= 9780802875129}}</ref> Matthew Levering described Pitre as "the preeminent Catholic historical-Jesus scholar alive today—and indeed as one of the most important Christian thinkers of the twenty-first century."{{sfn|Pitre|2024}}
K. J. Drake describes ''Jesus and Divine Christology'' as a ‘lucid, well-researched, and tightly argued monograph’ that effectively demonstrates clear evidence of the authenticity of Jesus’s self-perception as divine. Drake writes that the rejection or neglect of Jesus’s claims to divinity in historical Jesus studies stands increasingly incongruously with the growing consensus that the earliest Christology portrayed Jesus as a divine being.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Drake |first=K. J. |title=Book Review Jesus and Divine Christology | publisher= Oxford University Press |journal=The Journal of Theological Studies |volume=0 |pages=1–2}}</ref>
[[Duke University|Duke’s]] Jimmy Myers finds Pitre’s case for Jesus’s self-presentation as a divine messiah to be compelling and Pitre’s knowledge of Second Temple Judaism obvious, despite some difficult interpretations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Myers |first=Jimmy |title=Jesus and Divine Christology |journal=Religious Studies Review |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=173–4 |doi=10.1111/rsr.17593 }}</ref>
Kristin Cox wrote about the same book "Pitre offers a convincing counterpoint to the prevailing opinions in contemporary scholarship."<ref>{{cite journal|title=Jesus and Divine Christology|last=Cox|first=Kristin|journal=Catholic Library World|date=April 2025|volume=95|issue=3|page=164|issn=0008-820X}}</ref>
Heejun Yang notes that Pitre's book is acting against the prevailing consensus.<ref name="o652">{{cite web | last=Pitre | first=Brant | title=Jesus and Divine Christology | website=Reading Religion | date=21 March 2022 | url=https://readingreligion.org/9780802875129/jesus-and-divine-christology/ | access-date=13 February 2026}}</ref>
Kamy Hanna expressed the same idea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hanna |first=Kamy |date=31 December 2024 |title=Brant Pitre. Jesus and Divine Christology |url=https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/biblical-research/article/34/4/546/400351/Brant-Pitre-Jesus-and-Divine-Christology |journal=Bulletin for Biblical Research |language=en |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=546–548 |doi=10.5325/bullbiblrese.34.4.0546 |issn=2576-0998|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
''[[Crisis Magazine]]'' wrote "While most contemporary scholars believe Jesus ''did not'' claim divinity, most scholars ''do'' agree there was a High Christology in the early Church."<ref name="r167">{{cite web | last=Leonard | first=Hunter | title=The Academic Case for the Divinity of Christ | website=Crisis Magazine | date=19 December 2024 | url=https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-academic-case-for-the-divinity-of-christ | access-date=14 February 2026 }}</ref>
''The Imaginative Conservative'' says that Pitre's book ''The Case for Jesus'' is a work of [[apologetics]].<ref name="u746">{{cite web | last=Deavel | first=David | title=Against the "Jesus" of the Journalists | website=The Imaginative Conservative | date=6 December 2022 | url=https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2022/12/case-for-jesus-brant-pitre-david-deavel.html | access-date=7 July 2024}}</ref>
== Personal life == Pitre is a [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholic]] and currently lives in Louisiana with his wife Elizabeth and their five children.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bio {{!}} CV|url=https://www.brantpitre.com/biography-cv|access-date=2021-12-03|website=Brant Pitre|language=en-US}}</ref>
== Bibliography == * ''Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile'', [[Mohr Siebeck]], 2005, {{doi|10.1628/978-3-16-157488-7}}, {{ISBN|978-3-16-157488-7}}. * {{cite book |last1=Pitre |first1=Brant |title=Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper |date=February 2, 2016 |publisher=Image |isbn=978-0385531863 |pages=256 }} * ''Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told'', [[Crown Publishing Group|Crown Publishing]], 2014, {{isbn| 9780770435455}}. * ''Jesus and the Last Supper'', [[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Eerdmans]], 2015, {{isbn| 9780802875334}}. * ''The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ'', Crown Publishing, 2016, {{isbn| 9780770435486}}. * ''A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament'', [[Ignatius Press]], 2018. * {{cite book |last1=Pitre |first1=Brant |title=Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah |date=January 2018 |publisher=Image |pages=228 |isbn=9780525616351 }} * ''Paul, a New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology'', co-authored with Michael P. Barber and John A. Kincaid, Eerdmans, 2019, {{isbn| 9780802873767}}. * ''Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus'', Crown Publishing, 2021, {{isbn| 9780525572763}}. * ''Jesus and Divine Christology'', Eerdmans, 2024, {{isbn| 9780802875129}}.
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitre, Brant}} [[Category:1975 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians]] [[Category:21st-century American male writers]] [[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians]] [[Category:American biblical scholars]] [[Category:American expatriates in Israel]] [[Category:American male non-fiction writers]] [[Category:American religious writers]] [[Category:American Roman Catholic writers]] [[Category:Louisiana State University alumni]] [[Category:Loyola University New Orleans alumni]] [[Category:New Testament scholars]] [[Category:Roman Catholic biblical scholars]] [[Category:Tel Aviv University alumni]] [[Category:University of Notre Dame alumni]] [[Category:Vanderbilt University alumni]]