Mahlon H. Smith (1939–2024) was a professor of religion at Rutgers University and a longtime Fellow of the Westar Institute's Jesus Seminar. Over more than two decades he built three landmark educational websites documenting the Seminar's methods, findings, and the broader world of historical Jesus scholarship. Smith died in November 2024. The sites he created remain online and are preserved in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
Westar is grateful for Mahlon's extraordinary contribution to making rigorous biblical scholarship freely accessible to students, scholars, and the public. The resources below are presented here as a tribute to his work and to ensure that readers can continue to find and use them.
A Gateway to the Research of the Jesus Seminar
Convened in 1985 by Robert W. Funk, the Jesus Seminar became a lightning rod for international debate about the historical Jesus — the real facts about the person to whom the Christian gospels refer. This site introduces the Seminar's rationale, methods, membership, and published findings, and serves as a bridge to Jesus scholarship online. More than 200 scholars from North America and beyond participated in the Seminar's semi-annual meetings. Smith designed the site to clarify the Seminar's project and keep critics accountable to the facts.
Perspective on the World of Jesus
A comprehensive primary-source reader covering the political, social, intellectual, and cultural world into which Jesus was born. Drawing on Josephus, the Maccabees, the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic texts, and Hellenistic sources, the site provides more than 340 annotated pericopes organized by era and theme — from Antiochus IV Epiphanes through the Roman revolt — many with Smith's own translations from the original languages. It was recognized by the American Theological Library Association as a selected religion website and catalogued by OCLC.
Parallel Texts in Matthew, Mark & Luke
Originally created for undergraduate New Testament courses at Rutgers University, this e-textbook introduces students to the Synoptic Problem — the literary relationship among the first three gospels. It features color-coded parallel texts in English and Greek, a hyperlinked glossary of key scholarly concepts, and essays on manuscript evidence, traditional opinions, and modern hypotheses including the Two-Source, Griesbach, and Farrer theories. The site draws on an RSV edition of the gospels arranged in parallel by Smith himself, following methods he learned as editorial assistant to Robert W. Funk. It received more than two million visits in its first twenty years online.
All three sites were last revised by Mahlon Smith in February 2023 and carry his copyright (© 1997–2023). They are linked here with the intent of honoring and preserving his work. Westar is in the process of contacting his estate regarding long-term hosting and permissions. If you have information that can help us reach his family, please contact us.
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Disclaimer: The Westar Institute is a nonpartisan organization that provides publications, posts, and other written or electronic materials as a public service, but such information is neither a legal interpretation nor a statement of the Westar Institute. Reference to any specific person, product, or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the Westar Institute.
