Johnson Thomaskutty
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Senate of Serampore College, BD
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, MTh
Princeton Theological Seminary, ThM
Radboud University Nijmegen, PhD
Johnson Thomaskutty | |
|---|---|
 Prof. Johnson Thomaskutty | |
| Born | |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University of Kerala, BA Senate of Serampore College, BD Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, MTh Princeton Theological Seminary, ThM Radboud University Nijmegen, PhD |
| Alma mater | University of Kerala Senate of Serampore College, Princeton Theological Seminary, Radboud University Nijmegen |
| Thesis | The Nature and Function of Dialogue in the Book of Signs (John 1:19–12:50) (2014) |
| Doctoral advisor | Jan van der Watt |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | New Testament Studies |
| Sub-discipline | Johannine literature; Dialogical hermeneutics |
| Institutions | United Theological College, Bengaluru Union Biblical Seminary Serampore College |
| Main interests | Gospel of John, Hermeneutics, Contextual Theology, Asian Biblical Interpretation |
| Notable works | Dialogue in the Book of Signs (Brill, 2015) Saint Thomas the Apostle (T&T Clark, 2018) An Asian Introduction to the New Testament (Fortress, 2022) "John: Asia Bible Commentary Series" (Langham, 2025) |
| Website | https://ntscholarship.wordpress.com/ |
Johnson Thomaskutty is an Indian New Testament scholar and theologian, currently serving as Professor of New Testament and Chairperson of Biblical Studies at the United Theological College, Bengaluru.[1][2] He is known for his contributions to Johannine literature, dialogical hermeneutics, and contextual readings of the New Testament in Asia.[3][4][5] He is currently serving as the editor of Bangalore Theological Forum. He was invited as a resource person in churches and academic institutions in different parts of India and in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
Dr. Thomaskutty was born in Kollam, Kerala, to a Malayali Christian family. He is an ordained Charismatic minister and an ecumenical theologian hailing from the Indian context.[6] He earned his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in history at University of Kerala, India. He then earned his Bachelor of Divinity (BD) and Master of Theology (MTh) in New Testament from the Senate of Serampore College (University) at Faith Theological Seminary, Manakala, and Gurukul Lutheran Theological College in Chennai, respectively. He later completed a ThM in New Testament studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, USA, and earned a PhD in New Testament under Prof. Jan van der Watt from Radboud University Nijmegen in 2014. His doctoral dissertation was titled The Nature and Function of Dialogue in the Book of Signs (John 1:19–12:50).[7][6]
Academic career
From 2001 to 2004, he served as a lecturer in New Testament and Greek language, and also as a College Chaplain at Serampore College, West Bengal.[8] He then joined the Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, becoming Head of the Department of New Testament, Dean of Biblical Studies, and Dean of Distance Learning (2008–2021). In 2021, he was appointed Professor of New Testament and later on Chairperson of Biblical Studies at the United Theological College, Bengaluru.[9][10] He also serves as a Research Associate at the Department of New Testament & Related Literature, University of Pretoria, South Africa.[11] He is a member of the Society for Biblical Studies in India (SBSI), the Society of Asian Biblical Studies (SABS), the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS), and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL).
Research interests
Dr. Thomaskutty's research explores the literary, theological, and cultural dimensions of the New Testament, with a special focus on the Gospel of John.[12] His work emphasizes dialogue as a defining narrative mode in the Johannine writings, interpreting it through polyphonic, polyvalent, and contextual lenses.[13][14] He investigates how conversation functions as both a theological and literary device within the Gospel's structure.[4][15] In addition, he studies the Thomas tradition and the intersections between New Testament texts, apocryphal writings, and early Indian Christianity.[16][17] A major thrust of his scholarship is the decolonization of biblical interpretation and translation, advocating Asian, linguistic, and cultural frameworks for reading Scripture.[18] Thomaskutty's works Dialogue in the Book of Signs (Brill 2015) and Saint Thomas the Apostle: New Testament, Apocrypha, and Historical Traditions (T&T Clark 2018) have been extensively cited with academic reviews as a significant contribution to the study of dialogue and characterization in the Gospel of John.[19] Moreover, his works, such as An Asian Introduction to the New Testament (edited volume; Fortress 2022) and John: A Pastoral and Contextual Commentary (Langham 2025) are highly appreciated in the academic and ecclesiastical circles. He is noted for advancing a decolonized hermeneutic of the New Testament that integrates Asian linguistic and cultural contexts.[3]
