John J. Pilch,1937–2016

OPEN IN VIEWER

John J. Pilch served as an associate editor of Biblical Theology Bulletin from 1976 to his passing in July, 2016. He became Book Review Editor in 1982, a post he held for over twenty years. He was a leading light in the application of social science methods to biblical interpretation, being one of the founders of the social world of the Bible Context Group. His many books covered the range of specialized studies as well as church lectionary commentaries on interpreting the biblical texts within their socio-historical context aided by anthropological studies and methods.

A man of enormous talent and exuberance, he served as a Franciscan friar in the Assumption Province with Polish heritage from 1955 until 1975, being ordained a priest in 1963. After his marriage to Jean Peters he continued cordial relations with his brother Franciscans and engaged in writing homiletical aids as well as lecturing widely in the application of medical anthropology to the study of the Bible.

He contributed numerous articles for publication in BTB, while authoring books and lecturing first in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then from his new home base in Catonsville, Maryland. Notable aspects of his scholarship are chronicled in articles honoring him in the current issue of BTB.

We begin with an article by Don C. Benjamin, “The Land Rights of Women in Deuteronomy,” a study about women that complements Pilch's last article, published in BTB 46:4 (2016), “Negotiations of Power by MENA Women: A Social Scientific Sounding.”

Victor Matthews, in “The Art of Lying in King David's Court,” complements Pilch's article, “Lying and Deceit in the Letters to the Seven Churches—Perspectives from Cultural Anthropology,” BTB 22:3 (1992).

Douglas E. Oakman, in “The Political Meaning of a Cipher—John 21:11,” utilizes social science keys to understand the political significance of numbers in the Gospel of John, following upon Pilch's frequent insights into ancient coded meanings for modern awareness.

Santiago Guijarro, in “The Transfiguration of Jesus and the Easter Visions,” carries forward Pilch's study of alternate states of consciousness as enunciated in “Appearances of the Risen Jesus in Cultural Context: Experiences of Alternate Reality,” BTB 22:2 (1998).

Pieter F. Craffert, in “Alternate States of Consciousness and Biblical Research,” further examines Pilch's studies, including “Psychological and Psychoanalytical Approaches to Interpreting the Bible in Social Scientific Context, BTB 27: 3 (1997).

Esther Miquel, in “The Contribution of John Pilch to Critical Interpretation of ‘the Extraordinary’ in the Bible,” reflects on such events as those described in Pilch's “Holy Men and Their Sky Journeys: A Cross-Cultural Model,” BTB 35:3 (2005).

This memorial issue of BTB is intended to serve as an appreciative tribute to a friend and prolific scholar gifted with an inner light that inspired all who knew him and learned from his lectures and writings.