The Sermon on the Mount commentary,  about the author

This site is written and maintained by Bob Kirby. He and his wife Stephanie are based in Devon

Personal background

In 1976 Bob obtained a first class honours degree in Zoology from the University of Wales. He then undertook three years of postgraduate research in Palaeontology at the University of Oxford, researching into the palaeoecology, distribution and evolution of the middle Cretaceous hoplitacea (a group of ammonites). After a sudden and unanticipated discovery of faith in his early twenties, Bob joined St Aldates in Oxford where he met his wife.

Following his conversion Bob felt unable to complete his thesis, though he ensured that all his collections were properly curated and then deposited, along with the related papers, at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, so that they could benefit others. He also deposited with the museum his other collections, including those from the London Clay of Essex. The Essex material from Aveley, Brentwood and Burnham on Crouch had all been the subject of published reports in early editions of the journal of the Tertiary Research Group, Tertiary Times.

After leaving Oxford, Bob moved to Guildford, Surrey to join an information technology company, where he remained for many years. Starting as a programmer, he later worked his way up to become a senior consultant, specialising in systems analyst and system testing, and worked primarily in the aerospace, government and finance sectors. On moving to Guildford he joined the congregation of Guildford Baptist, serving as a Sunday school teacher and a home group leader. 

After seven years Bob and Stephanie moved church, with the blessing of leadership from both churches, to St Saviours in Guildford. There he helped lead the 1st Guildford Boys’ Brigade company who were based at nearby St. John’s in Stoke.

In 2000 they moved to Haslemere in Surrey where they joined 3 Counties Church. Bob currently helps lead one of their young people’s groups, LAVA, and also The Saturday Men, an interdenominational group meeting for breakfast, bible study, fellowship and prayer, each Saturday.

In 2002 Bob sensed a clear call from the Lord to leave that career and enter full time study at Christ for the Nations UK (then in Midhurst, West Sussex). In 2004 he graduated with CFN UK’s Diploma in Applied Theology. Growing out of that time came a new appreciation of the Sermon on the Mount and an intense desire to discover Jesus’ understanding of the Hebrew Bible and to communicate that with others.

Inspired by the earlier chapters of Matthew’s Gospel, Bob has drafted a book which takes Matthew 1:1-3:12 and uses the text as a tool to explore the Biblical precedents that lay behind events in first century Judea, how Christ interpreted the divine law and how that law ensured the effectiveness of the cross. The result provides significant insights into the Hebrew Bible, together with an Emmaus-journey-like perspective on God’s agenda for first century Palestine, and an understanding of why Jesus’ ministry unfolded the way it did.

More recently Bob & Steph have moved to Devon, where they continue to maintain an interest in natural history and the inter-textual study of the Bible.