Dr. Gathercole's first degree was in Classics and Theology in Cambridge, after which he pursued doctoral research under the supervision of James D.G. Dunn in Durham. Having begun as a classicist, and also having worked in the field of early Judaism, Dr. Gathercole is particularly fascinated by the connections between the New Testament and the literature contemporaneous with it. His principal theological interests are Christology and the doctrine of the atonement.

Some of Dr. Gathercole's most recent publications include Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul (Baker Academic, 2015), and The Gospel of Thomas: Introduction and Commentary (Brill, 2014). He is currently writing a book on the way in which canonical and apocryphal Gospels treat the early Christian kerygma.