News Release 

Photo by Keith A. Moseley. Used by permission.

May 28, 2009 — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, awarded the 2009 Michael Ramsey prize to Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham at the Guardian Hay festival — an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.

Bauckham, who received a prize of £15,000, was given this distinguished honor at a gala lunch in the presence of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Michael Ramsey Prize, awarded biennially, aims to encourage the most promising contemporary theological writing and to identify it for a wider Christian readership. Archbishop Williams inaugurated the prize in 2005 to commemorate Michael Ramsey — Archbishop of Canterbury 1961–1974 — and his commitment to increasing the breadth of theological understanding of people in general.

In his book Jesus and the Eyewitnesses Bauckham had, in the words of one of the judges, "Placed something of a bomb under a good deal of New Testament scholarship. [Bauckham's] book shows why we are right to have confidence in the testimony of those who personally witnessed the life of Jesus as recorded in the gospels."

Click here to download a PDF of the Michael Ramsey Prize press pack, which includes a comprehensive overview of the award, each shortlisted title, and interviews with each author.

Click here for more information about the Michael Ramsey prize.

For more information about Jesus and the Eyewitnesses or any other titles from Eerdmans Publishing Co. visit www.eerdmans.com

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, founded in 1911 and still independently owned, is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It has long been known for publishing a wide range of religious books, from academic works in theology, biblical studies, religious history, and reference to popular titles in spirituality, social and cultural criticism, and literature.