Dr. Jonathan Burnside, Reader in Biblical Law, has been appointed TC Beirne Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the School of Law, University of Queensland.

The Fellowship is designed to provide leading scholars of international standing with the opportunity to visit the University of Queensland for a period to conduct research in their field of choice. Fellows have an established research record of an international standard within their field.

In recent years, Jonathan has lectured and given papers in China, Singapore, South Africa, and the United States. During his visit in Spring 2011, Jonathan will be researching a follow-up to his most recent book "God, Justice and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible" (Oxford University Press USA 2010). This is titled "The Spirit of Biblical Law" and pushes the ideas in "God, Justice and Society" in a new direction by expanding on themes of freedom, normativity and authority. It aims to apply questions arising from legal theory to biblical material, creating the potential for very different understandings of biblical law.

This is the second occasion a member of the School of Law has received this award: Prof. Celia Wells, Head of School, was appointed in 2009.