Michael R. Licona

Michael R. "Mike" Licona (born 1961)

Licona has a M.A. in religious studies from Liberty University and a Ph.D. in New Testament studies from the University of Pretoria, which he earned with distinction. Licona has lectured on more than 100 university campuses and has appeared on television and radio programs.

In 2012, Licona was hired as Associate Professor of Theology at Houston Baptist University (now Houston Christian University). In 2023, he was promoted to Professor of New Testament Studies. Since 2014 he has been Extraordinary Associate Professor of Theology at North-West University.

Academic career Licona's book The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach seeks to prove Jesus's bodily resurrection, and was praised by fellow evangelicals for "the painstaking care" with which Licona researched his topic.

Licona’s book Why are there Differences in the Gospels? What we can Learn from Ancient Biography seeks to describe the differences between the gospels in terms of the compositional practices of Greco-Roman biographies, arguing against both strained harmonizations and dismissals of the gospels’ historical reliability. He received the support of classical scholars John Ramsey, Christopher Pelling, Rainer Hirsch-Luipold, and Steven L. Jones.

Licona has often debated Bart D. Ehrman over his positions about Jesus and his resurrection. Despite this, the two are personal friends, and Licona has published guest articles on Ehrman's blog.

Reception Eve-Marie Becker praised Licona’s book Why are there Differences in the Gospels? What We Can Learn from Ancient Biography for its approach to the pattern of similarities and differences in the gospels and his analysis of the gospels in light of Greco-Roman literature, though she notes that the gospels could plausibly be historiographical rather than biographies, as Licona assumes.

Controversy In a passage in The Resurrection of Jesus, Licona questioned the literal interpretation of the story of the resurrection of the saints in Matthew 27, suggesting the possibility that it might be apocalyptic imagery. Licona resigned from his position as research professor at Southern Evangelical Seminary and as apologetics coordinator for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) as a result of the controversy surrounding his book The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, which was otherwise well received. While asserting the divine authority of the Bible and its inerrancy, Licona maintained that he could not presuppose these beliefs while engaged in historical research and objected to Geisler’s arguments for inerrancy.

Other evangelical scholars such as William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, and Gary Habermas voiced their support for Licona by signing an open letter to Geisler. Michael F. Bird likewise supported Licona. The Southeastern Theological Review devoted their Summer 2012 issue to discussions on Licona's book (edited by Heath Thomas and Robert Stewart), including reviews by Gary Habermas, Timothy McGrew, and C. Behan McCullagh. It also included a virtual roundtable discussion with participants Heath Thomas, Michael Licona, Craig Blomberg, Paul Copan, Charles Quarles, Michael Kruger and Daniel Akin.

Works Thesis

Books

As editor

Articles and chapters