Richard H Bell

An intellectual biography: Part I On becoming a theoretical Physicist I was born in Hull, England and when I was four years old my family moved to the quiet village of Skirlaugh in the East Riding of Yorkshire. At school I became fascinated with Chemistry and one of my hobbies was playing with my Chemistry set in the kitchen at home. At 18 I decided to study for the BSc in Physics and Chemistry at University College London. At UCL my interests moved towards theoretical Physics and I developed a special interest in Quantum theory. After graduation I stayed on at UCL to work with the distinguished theoretical Physicist Michael Seaton FRS. As well as developing a Quantum theory for a process called 'Di-electronic Recombination' (published in Journal of Physics) I became interested in some of the philosophical problems of Quantum theory, especially questions of determinism and realism. This in turn led me to an interest in Theology and Science. The decision to study Theology I was not a Christian when I went to University but in my second year I converted to the Christian faith and within a short time my enthusiasm for Theology was unstoppable. I became heavily involved in All Souls Church, working with teenage and student groups, and decided that I wanted to study Theology and to become a Minister in the Church of England. So on gaining my PhD in Physics I went to Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, where I took the BA in Theology and the Certificate in Theology. Church Ministry in Edgware I was made deacon in 1983 and then ordained priest in 1984 in the diocese of London, serving as curate at Edgware Parish Church. Edgware is perhaps best known for being at the end of the Northern line; it is perhaps not so well known as being a place where Handel played the organ. In the 1980s roughly half the people living in Edgware were Jewish and there were as many synagogues as Churches. For various reasons relations between our Church and the Jewish community were not particularly good. But I made many Jewish friends and I had the privilege of attending the weekly Friday evening Hebrew bible study led by the Orthodox Rabbi. I had always had a fascination for Paul's letter to the Romans since becoming a Christian but now the need to study what Paul had written about Israel and the gospel and to understand Paul's Jewish world seemed much more urgent. I began some part-time study on Romans 9-11 and preached through the letter to the Romans. I realised that some of the best work done on Romans was in untranslated German. Roger Cowley, who had been working for the Church's Ministry among Jewish people, recommended that I study full time in Germany. The Tübingen experience I managed to get a scholarship to study at the University of Tübingen under Peter Stuhlmacher. Stuhlmacher was an ideal supervisor and a fine Christian. He had been a student of Ernst Käsemann who in turn had been a student of Rudolf Bultmann. In each link in the 'apostolic succession' there had been a significant 'mutation' so although I could be proud of having Bultmann as my academic Great Grand Father, my theological approach was in many ways quite different. Part of the doctoral programme involved study in all areas of Theology and in my four years in Tübingen I had the privilege to study at the feet of some of the world's greatest theologians such as Martin Hengel, Otfried Hofius, Otto Betz, Hartmut Gese, Hans-Peter Rüger, Eberhard Jüngel and Jürgen Moltmann. To Nottingham I submitted my dissertation in 1990 and was appointed to a lecturing post at the University of Nottingham. My rigorosum for the Tübingen Dr Theol did not take place until 1991 and as well as taking an oral examination in general New Testament I was examined in Systematic Theology and Church History. In Nottingham my major area of teaching and postgraduate supervision was New Testament and from 1995 I added to this the area of Science and Theology. My first major publication was a slightly revised version of my dissertation and it was published in 1994 under the title Provoked to Jealousy. Justification of the Ungodly After my work on Romans 9-11 I turned to questions of justification. Whilst in Germany I developed an admiration for Luther as a great biblical exegete and systematic theologian. But back in England I became concerned that many Pauline scholars were effectively writing off Luther. I even heard a prominent evangelical theologian and missionary say that Christians had been 'brainwashed' by the Reformation. So I set out in my next book, No one seeks for God, to examine the argument of Romans 1.18-3.20 to see if the Lutheran tradition had in fact seriously misunderstood Paul. One of my conclusions was that the reformers had basically got it right. But in the course of doing this work I engaged in questions of natural theology and revelation.