Andy joined Ridley Hall to teach New Testament in the Cambridge Theological Federation and for the Ridley Lay Ministry programme in 2021.

Originally from the U.S. and ordained in the Baptist tradition, Andy has served for thirteen years in various forms of pastoral ministry. Before moving to Cambridge, he lived for ten years in Durham where he completed his PhD, served as Chaplain for St Mary’s College, and taught New Testament, Greek, and ministry leadership at Cranmer Hall where he also launched and directed a ministry training pathway for free churches in the North East.

Daunted yet inspired by a God of biblical proportions, Andy enjoys integrating ministerial training and cultural reflection in his classroom teaching of the New Testament (and yes, even in Greek class!).

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Academic Background

Andy’s PhD (2015) is from Durham University and explores the themes of ecclesiology, participation, and theosis in John’s Gospel. He also holds a ThM from Duke Divinity School (2007), an MDiv from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University (2001), and a BSc (in Forestry!) from the University of Georgia (1996).

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Research

Andy aspires to write within the rigorous discipline of biblical studies while considering how early Christian writings address church and culture in their day and in our own. Though his primary focus is on the Johannine Literature, he is currently working on “The Church of the Gospels,” a book project with Baker Academic exploring the “narrative ecclesiology” of the canonical evangelists.

He is also interested in the hermeneutical frames that shape our understandings of texts and culture, and in how these two interrelate. Since his academic work arises from a call to vocational ministry, Andy also enjoys thinking about the Bible as a source for pastoral leadership and ministerial formation.

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Personal background

Having grown up around two family farms, Andy enjoys the outdoors and delights in the significance of place and its local lore. If he could be anywhere at any given point, though, he would probably choose to be on a trail in either the Lake District (preferably in the summer warmth) or in the Appalachian Mountains (preferably not in the summer heat).

Though often with a theology or biblical studies book in hand, he loves reading fiction and even trying his hand at writing it. His wife and four kids are his favorite adventure companions… and the family dog Hagrid is usually along for the journeys.

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BOOKS

Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Co-edited with Adam Powell. Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2025
John and the Others: Jewish Relations, Christian Origins, and the Sectarian Hermeneutic (Baylor University Press, 2021)
Ecclesiology and Theosis in the Gospel of John (SNTSMS 166, Cambridge University Press, 2017)
TheoMedia: The Media of God and the Digital Age (Cascade Books, 2013)
Faith Without Illusions: Following Jesus as a Cynic-Saint (InterVarsity Press, 2011)

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CO-EDITED BOOKS

One God, One People: Oneness and Unity in Early Christianity. Co-edited with Stephen C. Barton, SBLRBS 104 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023)
Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature, co-edited with Madison N. Pierce and Simon Gathercole (Cambridge University Press, 2022)
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ARTICLES IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

“‘Put Your Sword Back into its Sheath’: A Johannine Approach to Nonviolent Resistance.” Review & Expositor 120(1-2) 2023: 29-45
“Was Johannine Christianity Sectarian?” Didaktikos 6:4 (2023): 33–35
“Is the Johannine Community Hypothesis Still Viable?” Didaktikos 6:3 (2023): 33–36
“The Genre of Mark’s Gospel is ‘Gospel’: Reconsidering Literary Innovation in the Markan Incipit.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 46, 2 (2023): 168–92
“‘Johannine Bishops?’ The Fourth Evangelist, John the Elder, and the Episcopal Ecclesiology of Ignatius of Antioch”, Novum Testamentum 60 (2018): 121–39
"The One Body of the Shema in 1 Corinthians: An Ecclesiology of Christological Monotheism", New Testament Studies 62, 4 (2016): 517–32
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CHAPTERS IN ACADEMIC BOOKS

“Introduction: We Are Not Alone,” with Adam J. Powell. Pages 1–12 in Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Co-Edited with Adam Powell. Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2025
“Can Anything Good Come out of Hawkins? Self, Place, Evil, and Salvation in John’s Gospel and Stranger Things, and the Secular Age.” Pages 213–31 in Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Co-Edited with Adam Powell. Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2025
“Afterword: What Would Susie, Erica, and Steve Say? Concluding Reflections,” with Adam J. Powell. Pages 233–37 in Religion, Theology and Stranger Things: Studies from the Upside Down on Evil, Ethics, Horror, and Hope. Co-Edited with Adam Powell. Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2025
“Introduction: Oneness and Unity in Worlds Contemporary and Ancient” in One God, One People: Oneness and Unity in Early Christianity, edited by Stephen C. Barton and Andrew J. Byers, SBLRBS 104 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023), 1–10
“One Flock, One Shepherd, One God: The Oneness Motif of John’s Gospel” in One God, One People: Oneness and Unity in Early Christianity, edited by Stephen C. Barton and Andrew J. Byers, SBLRBS 104 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2023), 195–215
“Johannine Readings of the Johannine Gospel: Reception Theology and Practice in John’s Epistles,” in Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature, co-edited with Madison N. Pierce and Simon Gathercole (Cambridge University Press, 2022)
“Introduction,” with Madison N. Pierce, in Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature, co-edited with Madison N. Pierce and Simon Gathercole (Cambridge University Press, 2022)
“Crowdsourcing Judgment: The Dark Side of Justice in 'Hated in the Nation' and the Johannine Passion Narrative” in Black Mirror and Theology, edited by Amber Bowen and John Anthony Dunne; Theology and Popular Culture Series (Minneapolis: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2022)
“Abide in Me: A Johannine Theology of Resilience” in Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilience: Pastoral and Clinical Insights, edited by Christopher C. H. Cook and Nathan H. White (London: Routledge, 2020)
“A Jewish Messiah for the World: John’s Jesus as the Cosmic and Cosmopolitan Christ.” Pages 173–87 in John, Jesus, and History Volume 4: Jesus Remembered in the Johannine Later Situation, edited by Paul N. Anderson, Atlanta: SBL Press, 2024
“The Johannine Community and the Johannine Community Vision: Historical Reflection, Rhetorical Construction, and Narrative Ecclesiology” in The Johannine Community in Contemporary Debate, edited by Chris Segleneiks and Chris Skinner. Lexington/Fortress, 2024
“Identity” in What John Knows: Narrative Epistemology in the Fourth Gospel, edited by Douglas Estes. SBLRBS, Atlanta: SBL Press, forthcoming, 2024
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ARTICLES FOR A WIDER READERSHIP

“Christmas Doesn’t Need Saving,” Christianity Today (December 19, 2023; online)
“Jesus and Politics,” Preach Magazine, Issue 18, Spring 2019, The Political Issue (pp. 19–24)
“Don’t Scoff at Social Justice. Don’t Anchor Yourself to It, Either,” in Christianity Today (June 2020)
“Andrew Byers on ‘What Makes a Good Biblical Scholar or Theologian?’” for The LAB—The Logos Academic Blog (December 2017)
“How to do New Testament Research” for The LAB—The Logos Academic Blog (April 2017)
“When God is Strange and Awful,” Christianity Today (June 2016)
“Dispatches from the Wondrous, Terrifying World of Biblical Scholarship,” Christianity Today (December 2015)
“Our Love Affair with the Letter ‘i’,” Christianity Today (December 2013)
“The Embodied God and the Disembodied Age: How the Incarnation Informs our 21st Century Media Practices,” The Other Journal (October, 2013; online)
“Sandy Hook: One Year Later,” Relevant Magazine (December 2013)
“Three Lies Entertainment Tells us About Sex,” Relevant Magazine (October 2013)
“John the Baptist and Celebrity Culture,” The Gospel Coalition (October 2013; online)
“Saving the Psalms: N.T. Wright Urges the Church to Stop Neglecting Jesus' Prayer Book,” (Interview by Andrew Byers) Christianity Today (September 2013)
“Religion and Zombifixation: In Need of Flesh and Blood,” Mockingbird.com (June 2013)
“Spirituality Starts in the Pews,” Christianity Today (March 2013)
“Confessions of a Prude,” Relevant Magazine (February 2013)
“We Need More Boring Christians,” Relevant Magazine (August 2011)
“Caring for the Marginalized Among Us... and Leading Students,” Youth & Christian Education Leadership (Summer 2011), 19–21
“Hope for Center-Stage Cynics,” The Gospel Coalition (July 2011; online)
“Is Christianity Anti-Intellectual?” Relevant Magazine (May 2011)
“The End of Cynicism,” Cogito | Credo (April 2011; online)
“I Believe in God... and Monsters,” The Ooze, (Spring 2011; online—in three installments)
“Embracing Hopeful Realism: Why Idealism is a Farce and Cynicism a Dead End,” The Gospel Coalition (March 2011; online)
“From ‘Among the Trees’ to ‘Face to Face’: How the Gospel Can Reverse the Disconnect in an Electronic Age,” Youth & Christian Education Leadership (Summer 2010), 11–13
“A Personal Response to the Tsunamis,” Relevant Magazine (January, 2005)

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