Ancient Jewish Pilgrims, and the Friends They Made Along the Way (Jeffrey Garcia)

Dr. Jeffrey P. García is Associate Professor of New Testament and Second Temple Literature at Nyack College. He holds a PhD in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from New York University where he studied under the direction of world-renowned scholar Dr. Lawrence Schiffman. His specializations are the Gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Second Temple and Tannaitic (earliest generation of rabbis) texts.

He is the author of On Human Nature in Ancient Judaism: Creation, Composition, and Condition (JAJSup 34; Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh; Leiden: Brill, 2020); Understanding the Gospels as Ancient Jewish Literature (Jerusalem: Carta, 2018), and co-editor (w/ R. Steven Notley) of The Gospels in First-Century Judaea (Leiden: Brill, 2016). Jeffrey has also contributed to the Biblical Archaeology Review, Lexham Bible Dictionary (Lexham Press, 2016), and The Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions (Routledge, 2015). Currently, he is working on Understanding Acts as Ancient Jewish Literature for Carta Publishing, Jerusalem, and preparing a manuscript on charity in the Gospels and ancient Judaism (under contract with Fortress Press).

Since 2012, Jeffrey has worked with the Center for Holy Lands Studies as a teaching guide in Israel, Jordan, and Turkey for students, church groups, and lay people. Originally from Spanish (East) Harlem, NYC, he now lives in Baldwin, NY with his wife, Maureen, and their family.

Founder and Director of the Center for Hebraic Thought

Dru teaches Biblical literature, theology, and biblical interpretation at The King’s College. He is an editor for the Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Biblical Criticism series; an associate director for the Jewish Philosophical Theology Project at The Herzl Institute in Israel; and a co-host for the OnScript Podcast. His recent books include Biblical Philosophy: An Hebraic Approach to the Old and New Testaments (Cambridge University Press); Human Rites: The Power of Rituals, Habits, and Sacraments (Eerdmans); and Epistemology and Biblical Theology (Routledge). 

Before that, he was a high-school dropout, skinhead, punk rock drummer, combat veteran, IT supervisor, and pastor—all things that he hopes none of his children ever become.

He and his wife have four children. Interviews, articles, and excerpts of books can found at drujohnson.com.