B. J. Oropeza

Brisio Javier Oropeza (born in 1961) is an American biblical scholar and theologian who is best known for his studies in Pauline literature, intertextuality, apostasy and perseverance. He is professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Azusa Pacific University and Seminary in Azusa, California.

Education and personal life
Oropeza was born in 1961. He earned his bachelor's degree in biblical studies from Northern California Bible College, Pleasanton, California (1989). He earned a master's degree in apologetics at Simon Greenleaf School of Law (now Trinity Law School) (1991), and a second master's degree in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California (1993). He earned his Ph.D. in New Testament Theology at Durham University (England) in 1998 under the supervision of Drs. James D. G. Dunn and Loren T. Stuckenbruck.

Career
From 1990 to 1995, Oropeza worked for the Christian Research Institute (then in Irvine, California), a cult and new religious movement organization, as a Research Associate and assistant for the Christian Research Journal. After completing his Ph.D., Oropeza taught at George Fox University (Newberg, Oregon) as Visiting assistant professor of Religious Studies (1998-2001).

He is professor of Biblical studies position at Azusa Pacific University starting in 2003. He has been a scholar in residence at the University of Tübingen (Germany) (2009), and visiting scholar in residence at the Princeton Theological Seminary (2017). He does supervising for students working on their Ph.D., currently through St. Andrews University, Scotland/Trinity College (Bristol, England).

Oropeza started the Intertextuality in the New Testament section of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) (2008-2013), co-chaired the Scripture and Paul seminar (2020-2022). He was on the editorial board of the Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity series (SBL Press) (2015-present).

In 2018, he was elected to membership of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS). He has contributed to Bible translations for the New Revised Standard Edition (NRSVue), the Common English Bible (CEB), and the Lexham English Septuagint (LES). He is an internationally published author, including contributions in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation (2013) and The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology (2015). He is also a columnist for the blog In Christ at Patheos.com.

Theology
Oropeza is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. He is Wesleyan-Armininan in his theology. He made notable contributions concerning the possibility of apostasy of the believers in New Testament writings. He believes in conditional preservation and the possible restoration of the apostate. He is a proponent of the corporate election view. He is known for his studies in Pauline literature and intertextuality. He contributed also on superheroes theology.