BSc, STB, LSS, DTheol

Mark O’Brien is a Roman Catholic Priest of the Dominican Order (Order of Preachers) and lecturer in Old Testament Studies at Catholic Theological College and Yarra Theological Union. Mark has a License in Bibical Studies (equivalent of a Masters Degree) from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and a Doctor of Theology from the Melbourne College of Divinity (now University of Divinity, Melbourne).

Mark has been lecturing in Old Testament Studies since 1976, with a few breaks in between to complete other tasks within the Dominican Order. He has published several books on aspects of the Old Testament, as well as three co-authored books with Professor Antony F. Campbell SJ. Mark has also assisted in editing several books on the Old Testament and contributed a number of scholarly articles to academic journals in Australia and overseas.

Mark’s main areas of research are the so-called ‘Historical Books’ (‘The Former Prophets’) of the Old Testament (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) and the book of Jeremiah. He has published books and scholarly articles on the ‘Historical Books’ and a book on Jeremiah. Mark has also published scholarly articles on ‘The Pentateuch’ (Torah), and regularly provides papers on aspects of Old Testament research at the annual ACBA conference, and the biennial FBS conference.

Mark O’Brien’s main teaching area is Old Testament Studies, although has previously taught some New Testament units. Mark teaches units on the ‘The Historical Books’ (including Chronicles), on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the Twelve Prophets, as well as units on The Psalms and the Hebrew Language. My teaching also involves supervision of students for the degrees of Master of Theology and Doctor of Theology in the University of Divinity.

A few years ago Mark conducted a day seminar on the Psalms with a colleague for the Broken Bay Institute in Sydney, which was subsequently uploaded to YouTube. In 2019 he also gave a lecture on the book of Jeremiah for the Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese ‘Christian Leadership Lecture Series’. This series is available online.

Mark regularly celebrates liturgies and preaches on the Bible at these liturgies, and delivers talks on aspects of the Bible to Parish and School groups.

Positions

• 

  Lecturer

  Catholic Theological College

  ctc.edu.au
• 

  Lecturer

  Yarra Theological Union

  ytu.edu.au

External Affiliations

• Fellowship for Biblical Studies (FBS) (Member)
• Australian Catholic Biblical Association (ACBA) (Member)