He was ordained deacon in 1975 and priest in 1976, serving as curate at two parishes in the Newcastle upon Tyne area (Benwell 1975–1978, Gosforth 1978–1979). Between 1974 and 1979, he lectured in religious studies at Newcastle University, returning to Cambridge as a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1979. He was an assistant lecturer in divinity at the university from 1983 to 1985, then lecturer from 1985 to 1991.[2]
Rowland, Christopher C. (1982). The Open Heaven: a study of apocalyptic in Judaism and early Christianity. New York: Crossroad. ISBN978-0-824-50455-7. OCLC8410967.
——— (1985). Christian Origins: an account of the setting and character of the most important messianic sect of Judaism. London: SPCK. ISBN978-0-281-04110-7. OCLC13004836.
——— (1985). Christian Origins: from Messianic movement to Christian religion. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing. ISBN978-0-806-62173-9. OCLC12131161. - differently titled US edition
———; Corner, Mark (1989). Liberating Exegesis: the challenge of liberation theology to Biblical studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster, John Knox Press. ISBN978-0-664-25084-3. OCLC20800546.
———; Ashton, John; Fletcher-Louis, Crispin H. T., eds. (1998). Understanding, studying, and reading: New Testament essays in honour of John Ashton. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series. Vol. 153. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN978-1-850-75828-0. OCLC44685561.
———; Edwards, M. J.; Goodman, Martin; Price, S. R. F., eds. (1999). Apologetics in the Roman Empire: pagans, Jews, and Christians. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-198-26986-1. OCLC40158874.
———, ed. (1999). The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology. Cambridge Companions to Religion. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-46144-3. OCLC39122856.
———; Bradstock, Andrew, eds. (2002). Radical Christian Writings: a reader. Oxford; Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN978-0-631-22249-1. OCLC48100595.
———; Barton, John, eds. (2002). Apocalyptic in History and Tradition. Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Supplement Series. Vol. 43. London: Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN978-0-826-46208-4. OCLC51568109.
———; Kovacs, Judith L. (2004). Revelation: the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. Blackwell Bible Commentaries. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN978-0-631-23214-8. OCLC52922297.
——— (2007). "Wheels within wheels": William Blake and the Ezekiel's merkabah in text and image. Père Marquette lecture in theology, 2007. Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press. ISBN978-0-874-62587-5. OCLC81860428.
———; Morray-Jones, Christopher R. A. (2009). The Mystery of God: early Jewish mysticism and the New Testament. Compendia rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum, Section 3: Jewish traditions in early Christian literature. Vol. 12. Leiden; Boston: Brill. ISBN978-9-004-17532-7. OCLC316736889.
——— (1980). "The Vision of the Risen Christ in Rev i.13 ff.: The Debt of an Early Christology to an Aspect of Jewish Angelology". Journal of Theological Studies. 31: 1–11.
Festschriften
Bennett, Zoë; Gowler, David B., eds. (2012). Radical Christian Voices and Practice: Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-959977-6.
Knight, Jonathan; Sullivan, Kevin P., eds. (2015). The Open Mind: essays in honour of Christopher Rowland. Library of New Testament Studies. Vol. 522. London: T & T Clark. ISBN978-0-567-65851-7. OCLC890393310.
Ashton, John, ed. (2014). Revealed Wisdom: studies in Apocalyptic in honour of Christopher Rowland. Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity. Vol. 88. Boston, MA: Brill. ISBN978-9-004-27203-3. OCLC872222399.
^Gorman, Michael J. (2011). Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness; Following the Lamb into the New Creation. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books. p. ix. ISBN978-1-62189-262-5.