Rev Dr Bruno Clifton OP
Vice-Regent of Studies, Director of Studies for Visiting Students, Moderator, Official Fellow, Lector
Fr Bruno is Vice-Regent of Blackfriars Hall and Studium. He is Director of Blackfriars’ Visiting Students programme and Director of MTh Applied Theology degree courses. He also teaches Scripture and Biblical Languages.
Fr Bruno completed his Licence in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in 2014 (under the supervision of Prof Peter Dubovsky and Prof Dominik Markl) and his Doctorate at the University of Cambridge in 2018 (under the supervision of Dr Nathan MacDonald). His doctoral work took a socio-anthropological approach to the Book of Judges that argued for an identity-preference for family as the texts’ social background prior to comparable allegiances to tribe or nation. His continuing work investigates how concepts of identity are influential on the formation of biblical texts as socially authoritative. His research interests include the socio-cultural contextualization of biblical texts, in particular the Hebrew Bible’s Former Prophets, and the contribution of critical biblical scholarship to theology. He is interested in the methodology of biblical interpretation, how it might provide a rigorous and historically informed foundation for using the Bible in questions of theology and religion, taking account of archaeological and epigraphical data.
Prior to his appointment as Vice-Regent, Fr Bruno was the Master of Novices, based at Blackfriars Cambridge Dominican Priory of St Michael the Archangel, for the English Province of Dominicans.
Books Forthcoming:
- Family and Identity in the Book of Judges, Ferdinand Schöningh, Brill: Leiden.
Peer-Review Articles:
- 2021 – “Discerning the Literal Sense: Bringing Together Biblical Scholarship and Dogmatic Theology” NV 19:1 251-67
- 2014 – “What if Israel was God’s stubborn and rebellious son?” ZAR 20 115-126
Book Reviews:
- 2021 – Review of The Galilean Wonderworker: Reassessing Jesus’ Reputation for Healing and Exorcism, by Ian G. Wallis, NBl 102/1100 583-585
- 2018 – Review of Joshua: An Introduction and Study Guide: Crossing Divides, by J. Gordon McConville, JTS 69/1, flx210, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flx210
For further details visit Fr Bruno’s Academia page.
Email: vice.regent@bfriars.ox.ac.uk