In his teenage years, Bird was an atheist who saw Christianity "as a way of oppressing people, a purely human construct".[citation needed] After becoming a Christian he was firstly a Baptist, then a Presbyterian and now an Anglican.[3] He has been called by the ecumenical media platform Eternity a "heavy hitter" in the world of New Testament scholarship and Jesus's divinity.[4]
Bird has written a number of books, including The New Testament in Its World (2019, with N. T. Wright), Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (2013) and The Gospel of the Lord: How the Early Church Wrote the Story of Jesus (2014). The Gospel of the Lord won the Biblical Studies section of the 2015 Christianity Today Book Awards.[7] Bird is also the author of a fantasy novel titled Iskandar: And the Immortal King of Iona.[8]
Bird, Michael F. (2006). Jesus and the Origins of the Gentile Mission. The Library of New Testament Studies. Vol. 331. London: T&T Clark. ISBN9780567044730.
——— (2007). The Saving Righteousness of God: studies on Paul, justification and the new perspective. Paternoster biblical monographs. Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster. ISBN9781842274651. OCLC154723550.
——— (2008). Introducing Paul: the man, his mission, and his message. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN9780830828975. OCLC262430760.
——— (2009). Colossians & Philemon: a new covenant commentary. New Covenant Commentary Series. Cambridge, England: The Lutterworth Press. ISBN9780718842819. OCLC889271472.
——— (2010). Crossing over Sea and Land: Jewish missionary activity in the Second Temple period. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN9781598564341. OCLC430054695.
——— (2012). Jesus is the Christ: the Messianic testimony of the Gospels. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN9780830828234. OCLC812258100.
——— (2013). Evangelical Theology: a Biblical and systematic introduction. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. ISBN9780310494416. OCLC829239510.
——— (2014). The Gospel of the Lord: how the early church wrote the story of Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. ISBN9780802867766. OCLC854612618.
———; Johnson, Adam J. (2016). The Reconciling Wisdom of God: Reframing the Doctrine of the Atonement. Snaphots. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. ISBN9781577997252. OCLC989057109.
———; Willitts, Joel, eds. (2011). Paul and the Gospels: christologies, conflicts, and convergences. Library of New Testament studies. Vol. 411. London & New York: T & T Clark. ISBN9780567617422. OCLC697599761.
———; Dodson, Joseph R., eds. (2011). Paul and the Second Century. Library of New Testament studies. Vol. 412. London & New York: T & T Clark. ISBN9780567158277. OCLC657604488.