Barclay's early career was spent at the
University of Glasgow, where he was a
lecturer from 1984 to 1996,
senior lecturer from 1996 to 2000, and
professor from 2000 to 2003. Barclay has been the President of the
British New Testament Society. He is the former editor of the academic journal
New Testament Studies (Cambridge University Press).
Paul and the Gift One of Barclay's most recent works,
Paul and the Gift (Eerdmans, 2015), has drawn considerable praise from scholars around the world. It has been hailed by
Markus Bockmuehl and Tim Foster as the most significant book on Paul since
E.P. Sanders's
Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977).
Douglas Moo has said it is "one of the best books on Pauline theology in the last twenty years." Paul Foster likewise proclaims, "This book will be not only much-discussed in Pauline scholarship, it will be much-prized for the genuine advances it offers in understanding Paul's thought."
Paul and the Gift was also reviewed by scholars in popular publications such as
Books & Culture and
First Things. One of the insights from
Paul and the Gift that led to its very positive reception is the manner in which Barclay develops Paul's theology of grace. By setting this concept in the context of ancient notions of gift, Barclay discerns six key ways in which gift, and thus grace, can be conveyed in Paul: superabundance, singularity, priority, incongruity, efficacy, and non-circularity. In an interview with
Christianity Today, Barclay explains, "So while I disagree with the New Perspective in its sidelining grace within Paul's thought, I agree with its emphasis that Paul was fundamentally concerned with creating new communities that crossed ethnic and social boundaries."
Criticism of N. T. Wright Although they maintain a warm relationship, Barclay has been an outspoken critic of
N. T. Wright's work on Paul. This has led to several high-profile debates between the two, on 15 June 2016 at New College,
Edinburgh University concerning each author's most recent books. They also debated Paul's relationship to the Roman Empire (the 'Paul and Empire' conversation) at the 2007
Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in San Diego. Barclay's plenary speech from this session is now published as a chapter in his book:
Pauline Churches and Diaspora Jews (Eerdmans, 2016). ==Selected works==