Birger A. Pearson

Birger A. Pearson (September 17, 1934 – April 16, 2025) was an American scholar and professor studying early Christianity and Gnosticism. He held the positions of Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Professor and Interim Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Life and career

Pearson was born in 1934 in California. He earned a BA in Classical languages in 1957 from Upsala College; a Bachelor of Divinity in Biblical Studies and Theology from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1962; an MA in Greek from the University of California, Berkeley in 1959; and a PhD in New Testament and Christian Origins from Harvard University in 1968 under Helmut Koester.

Pearson taught courses in Early Christianity, the New Testament, Hellenistic Judaism, Hellenistic Religions, Gnosticism, Coptic language and literature, the Hebrew Bible, Nordic Religions, and Theory of Religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara, from 1969 to 1994. During his career he also taught at schools such as at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Harvard University, the Episcopal Theological School, Harvard Divinity School, Duke University, Uppsala University, the Graduate Theological Union, UC Berkeley, and Lund University.

Pearson was heavily involved in the Society of Biblical Literature, where he served in leadership roles for over two decades. He was also a member of numerous other groups and societies. He was elected a Member of the Catholic Biblical Association in 1978.

Pearson died on April 16, 2025, at the age of 90.