{{Short description|American biblical scholar and Episcopal priest (1942-2017)}} {{Infobox person | name = Richard I. Pervo | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Richard Ivan Pervo | birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|05|11}} | birth_place = Lakewood, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|05|19|1942|05|11}} | death_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | alma_mater = Harvard University | other_names = | occupation = Biblical scholar | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''Richard Ivan Pervo''' (May 11, 1942 – May 19, 2017)<ref name=crescent>{{cite web|title=Crescent Tide Funeral & Cremation Services - St. Paul, MN - Obituaries|url=http://www.crescenttide.com/obituaries.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711025144/http://www.crescenttide.com/obituaries.html|archive-date=July 11, 2017}}</ref> was an American biblical scholar, former Episcopal priest, and Fellow of the Westar Institute.<ref name="Westar">{{cite web|title=Richard I. Pervo - Westar Institute|url=https://www.westarinstitute.org/membership/westar-fellows/fellows-directory/richard-i-pervo/|website=Westar Institute|access-date=24 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313235332/https://www.westarinstitute.org/membership/westar-fellows/fellows-directory/richard-i-pervo/|archive-date=March 13, 2016}}</ref><ref name=SBL>{{cite web|last1=Rothschild|first1=Clare K.|title=Richard I. Pervo (1942-2017)|url=https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/Pervo-Obituary-SBL.pdf|website=Society of Biblical Literature|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619153340/https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/Pervo-Obituary-SBL.pdf|archive-date=19 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Scholar Sees Jesus as a Social Revolutionary|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-18-ss-526-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|agency=Associated Press|date=April 18, 1992|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124113024/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-18/news/ss-526_1_historical-jesus|archive-date=November 24, 2017}}</ref> He was best known for his works on the New Testament book of ''Acts of the Apostles'', where he was influential in bringing comparisons between Acts and ancient novels to mainstream discussion, though most scholars maintain that Acts is a historiography.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mittelstadt|first1=Martin William|title=Review Essay: For Profit or Delight? Richard Pervo's Contributions to Lukan Studies|journal=Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies|date=1 January 2011|volume=33|issue=1|pages=95–108|doi=10.1163/157007411X554749}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Spencer|first1=F. Scott|title=Book Review: Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists|journal=Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology|date=1 April 2008|volume=62|issue=2|pages=190–193|doi=10.1177/002096430806200212|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Sean |title=The Genre of Acts and Collected Biography |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1107041042 |pages=5, 14}}</ref> In 2001, Pervo was convicted for possession of child sexual abuse material.<ref name=Suzukamo>{{cite web|last1=Suzukamo|first1=Leslie Brooks|title=E-mail address led police to U professor|url=https://emmalabs.com/news/5213.html|via=EMMA Labs|publisher=Pioneer Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031124919/https://emmalabs.com/news/5213.html|archive-date=October 31, 2015|date=July 29, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Warren|first1=Stewart|title=A Concern for All Faiths|url=http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news99/2002_05_04_Warren_AConcern.htm|work=The Herald News|via=BishopAccountability.org|date=May 4, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628115542/http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news99/2002_05_04_Warren_AConcern.htm|archive-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref>
==Biography== Pervo was born in Lakewood, Ohio, the son of Ivan Pervo and Elizabeth Kline. He married Karen E. Moreland on April 2, 1967.<ref name="Bugle">{{cite news|url=http://parkbugle.org.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/07/July-2017.pdf|title=Lives Lived: Richard Pervo|date=July 2017|work=The Park Bugle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124105846/http://parkbugle.org.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/07/July-2017.pdf|archive-date=November 24, 2017|location=St. Paul, Minnesota|page=17}}</ref>
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.<ref name=Bugle /> A revised version of his dissertation was published in 1987 as ''Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Edwards|first1=Douglas R.|title=Review of Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles|journal=Journal of Biblical Literature|date=1989|volume=108|issue=2|pages=353–355|doi=10.2307/3267318|jstor=3267318}}</ref>
Pervo died of leukemia in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 19, 2017.<ref name="crescent" /><ref name="Bugle" />{{refn|name=birthyear|group=Note|The obituary published by the Society of Biblical Literature<ref name=SBL /> gives his date of death as May ''20'', but this is contradicted by the majority of sources.<ref name=crescent/><ref name="Bugle"/>}}
== 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 Episcopal priest until 2003.<ref name=SBL />
He was best known for his works on the New Testament book of ''Acts of the Apostles''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mittelstadt |first1=Martin William |date=1 January 2011 |title=Review Essay: For Profit or Delight? Richard Pervo's Contributions to Lukan Studies |journal=Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=95–108 |doi=10.1163/157007411X554749}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Spencer |first1=F. Scott |date=1 April 2008 |title=Book Review: Dating Acts: Between the Evangelists and the Apologists |journal=Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology |language=en |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=190–193 |doi=10.1177/002096430806200212}}</ref>
A Festschrift in recognition of his scholarship was published posthumously by Mohr Siebeck in late 2017.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Delightful Acts: New Essays on Canonical and Non-canonical Acts|date=2017|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|isbn=9783161544774|editor-last=Attridge|editor-first=Harold W.|location=Tübingen|language=en|editor-last2=MacDonald|editor-first2=Dennis R. |editor2-link=Dennis R. MacDonald |editor-last3=Rothschild|editor-first3=Clare K.}}</ref>
==Reception==
Richard Pervo’s work was influential in bringing comparisons between Acts and ancient novels to mainstream scholarly discussions. Nonetheless, most scholars maintain that Acts is a historiography, with Sean Adams noting Pervo’s lack of engagement with the preface of Acts and key differences with fictional novels.<ref name=":22"/>
==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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kiddie porn found on prof's computer|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2001/02/13/Kiddie-porn-found-on-profs-computer/1138982040400/|work=UPI|date=February 13, 2001|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=College Briefs: Former professor sentenced in porn case|url=http://dailybruin.com/2001/06/06/college-briefs7/|website=Daily Bruin|publisher=UCLA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125003242/http://dailybruin.com/2001/06/06/college-briefs7/|archive-date=25 November 2017|language=en|date=June 6, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Zack|first1=Margaret|title=Professor pleads guilty to child-porn charges.|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-75177705.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120140813/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-75177705.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 November 2018|work=Star Tribune|date=31 May 2001|location=Minneapolis, MN}}</ref> He formally resigned from the University of Minnesota as of June 2001, having been suspended since his arrest.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Smetanka|first1=Mary Jane|title='U' professor to resign following porn charges.|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-74196641.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120140520/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-74196641.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 November 2018|work=Star Tribune|date=4 May 2001|location=Minneapolis, MN}}</ref> After serving his sentence he continued to publish theological works as an independent scholar and Fellow of the Westar Institute,<ref name=Westar /> and was recognized as an authority on the canonical and non-canonical books of Acts.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Foster|first1=Paul|title=Book Review: The Acts of Paul: Richard I. Pervo, The Acts of Paul: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary|journal=The Expository Times|date=1 August 2015|volume=126|issue=11|pages=564|doi=10.1177/0014524615579982p|s2cid=171952387 |language=en|issn=0014-5246}}</ref>
==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}} * "[https://depts.drew.edu/jhc/pervope.html Romancing an Oft-Neglected Stone: The Pastoral Epistles and The Epistolary Novel]" (1994) ''Journal of the Higher Criticism,'' 1 (Fall 1994), 25–47. * ''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== {{reflist|group=Note}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.westarinstitute.org/membership/westar-fellows/fellows-directory/richard-i-pervo/ Profile at Westar Institute]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pervo, Richard}} <!--- Categories ---> Category:1942 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Deaths from leukemia in Minnesota Category:New Testament scholars Category:American biblical scholars Category:American people convicted of child pornography offenses Category:Harvard Divinity School alumni Category:Episcopal Divinity School alumni Category:American religious leaders convicted of crimes Category:Members of the Jesus Seminar