Distinguished Fellow

James Swetnam, S.J., Distinguished Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, entered the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus in 1945 and was ordained a priest in 1958. He holds degrees in classical languages, philosophy, theology and Scripture.  His doctoral degree is from the University of Oxford.

Since 1962 he has been a scholar of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he has held numerous posts, including vice rector and dean of the biblical faculty. He has also served in an editorial capacity for several academic journals, including: Orientalia, Analecta Orientalia, and Biblica. His area of specialization is the Epistle to the Hebrews. Swetnam is the author of Jesus and Isaac: A Study of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Light of the Aqedah (Rome: Analecta Biblica, 1981) and An Introduction to the Study of New Testament Greek (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1992).