Richard Pervo

Richard Ivan Pervo (May 11, 1942 – May 19, 2017) was an American biblical scholar, former Episcopal priest, and Fellow of the Westar Institute. 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. In 2001, Pervo was convicted for possession of child sexual abuse material.

Biography Pervo was born in Lakewood, Ohio, the son of Ivan Pervo and Elizabeth Kline. He married Karen E. Moreland on April 2, 1967.

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.

Pervo died of leukemia in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 19, 2017.

A Festschrift in recognition of his scholarship was published posthumously by Mohr Siebeck in late 2017.

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. 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. He formally resigned from the University of Minnesota as of June 2001, having been suspended since his arrest. After serving his sentence he continued to publish theological works as an independent scholar and Fellow of the Westar Institute,

Selected works Profit with Delight: The Literary Genre of the Acts of the Apostles (1987) Luke's Story of Paul (1990) Rethinking the Unity of Luke and Acts (with Mikael C. Parsons) (1993) "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) Acts: A Commentary (2008) The Mystery of Acts: Unravelling its Story (2008) The Making of Paul: Constructions of the Apostle in Early Christianity (2010) The Acts of Paul: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (2014) The Gospel of Luke (2014) The Acts of John (2015) The Pastorals and Polycarp (2016)