Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Ferrum College
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Here you will find information related to my research, publications, teaching, and other professional activities.
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I am an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Ferrum College, a small liberal arts college in Virginia’s beautiful Blue Ridge. I earned my Ph.D. in Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity from Marquette University in 2014, and I live in Roanoke with my family.
The focus of my research is on early Christian literature, but with an emphasis on “apocryphal” or “non-canonical” texts (i.e., texts that were important to early Christians but for a variety of reasons were not included in the New Testament). I have a particular interest in a text called the Protevangelium of James (also known as the Protevangelium Iacobi or the Proto-Gospel of James), which is a collection of stories about the birth and childhood of Mary the mother of Jesus. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on this text, and later published it as a book with Bloomsbury T&T Clark.
At Ferrum College I teach a range of courses related to religion and biblical studies. Much of my teaching responsibilities are aimed at helping students fulfill their general education requirements. Each semester I offer sections of Literature of the Old Testament (REL 112) and Literature of the New Testament (REL 113).
I also offer a range of upper-level elective courses, including American Gods, Religion in Film, Studies in the Gospel, Life and Letters of Paul, Jesus and His Afterlives, Biblical Archaeology, Prophetic Literature, Non-Canonical Literature, Historical Jesus, and Biblical Greek.
I recently completed two book projects. The first (published by Fortress Press) is a reception history of the Matthean Magi entitled The Magi: Who They Were, How They’ve Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate. The second (published by Lexington Books) I co-edited with my colleague Dr. Christy Cobb. It is entitled Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts.
I am currently at work on another edited book with Dr. Sarah Rollens and Dr. Meredith JC Warren. This volume, entitled Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts, Contexts, and Pedagogy, aims to discuss the various ways in which the texts of the New Testament have been used to fuel and promote anti-Jewish rhetoric. This project is under contract with Eerdmans Publishing and will be published at some point in 2023.
I am currently co-chair of the Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative program unit of the Society of Biblical Literature, as well as one of the general editors of the Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies. I am also a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature, the North American Patristics Society, and the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.
(updated 30 November 2022)
Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts, Contexts, and Pedagogy. Co-edited with Sarah Rollens and Meredith JC Warren. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing (forthcoming in 2023)
“Protevangelium of James” in Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts, Contexts, and Pedagogy, edited by Sarah E. Rollens, Eric Vanden Eykel, and Meredith J.C. Warren (Eerdmans Publishing, forthcoming)
“Assaulting the Virgin: Revisiting Salome’s ‘Examination’ of Mary in the Protevangelium of James” in Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts, edited by Christy Cobb and Eric Vanden Eykel (Lexington Books, forthcoming).
Contributor, Christianity in Five Minutes, edited by Robyn Faith Walsh (Sheffield: Equinox, forthcoming) – entries on “What was Jesus’s birth and childhood like?”, “What is the Trinity? Where did it come from?”, “Who was Mary?”, and “What are saints?” Forthcoming.
“Whose Love? A Conversation about Paul, Lonergan, and Romans 5:5” in Critical Realism and the Christian Scriptures: Foundations and Applications, edited by Joseph K. Gordon (co-authored with Jeremy Blackwood; Milwaukee: Marquette University Press). Forthcoming.
Book Reviews
Christopher Frilingos. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph: Family Trouble in the Infancy Gospels. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017. Church History and Religious Culture 99 (2019): 525-527.
Denis Farkasfalvy, O.Cist. Inspiration & Interpretation: A Theological Introduction to Sacred Scripture. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press, 2010. Nova et Vetera 11 (2014): 1310—1314.
Donald A. Hagner. The New Testament: A Historical and Theological Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012. Catholic Books Review (April 2013)
David J. O’Brien and Thomas A. Shannon, editors. Catholic Social Thought: The Documentary Heritage. Expanded Edition. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2010. Catholic Books Review (May 2011)
Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010. Catholic Books Review (January 2011)
2022 Respondent, “Review Panel for Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts (eds. Christy Cobb and Eric Vanden Eykel) at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Denver, CO. 21 November
2022 “Assaulting the Virgin: Reassessing Salome’s ‘Examination’ of Mary in the Protevangelium of James” at the Southeast Regional SBL, Virtual. 12 March.
2022 “How a Second-Century Christian Text Hides Sexual Violence” at the Religion and Sexual Abuse Conference, Riverside, CA. 5 March
2021 “The Apocryphal Afterlives of Matthew’s Magi” at the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion, Virtual. 13 March
2018 Panelist, “The SBL as Male-Dominated Space” at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Denver, CO. 19 November
2018 “Forgiveness or a Flamethrower? The Judgment and Redemption of Salome in the Protevangelium of James at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Denver, CO. 19 November
2017 “Then Suddenly, Everything Resumed Its Course”: The Suspension of Time in the Protevangelium of James Reconsidered” at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Boston, MA.
2016 “Virginity, the Temple Veil, and their Demise: A Hypothetical Reader’s Perspective on Mary’s Work in the Protevangelium of James” at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Atlanta, GA. 20 November
2015 “Spear Wounds and Sleigh Bells: Believing and Seeing in the Gospel of John and The Polar Express” at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Atlanta, GA. 21 November
2015 “You Shall Die on the Mountain? On Moses’ Presence in the Synoptic Transfiguration Narratives” at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Atlanta, GA. 21 November
2015 “Expanding the Apocryphal Corpus: Some ‘Novel’ Suggestions” at the York Christian Apocrypha Symposium, Toronto, Ontario. 25 September
2013 “A Virgin Shall Spin and Bear a Son: Reconsidering Mary’s Work in the Protevangelium of James” at the Annual Meeting of the SBL, Baltimore, MD. 24 November
2013 “Whose Love? An Exegetical Analysis of Bernard Lonergan’s Use of Romans 5:5” at Lonergan on the Edge, Milwaukee, WI. 20 September
2012 “The Virgin, the Moirae, and the Birth of the Messiah:Toward a Christological Understanding of the Protevangelium Jacobi”at the Midwest Regional SBL,Bourbonnais, IL.12 February
2011 “The Wine of Cana and the ὄξος of the Cross: The Hour of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel” at the Upper Midwest Regional SBL, St. Paul, MN. 2 April
2010 Response to Jackson Lashier, “Irenaeus on the Generation of the Logos,” Jewish Roots of Christian Mysticism panel, “Logos Theologies of the Second Century,” Milwaukee, WI. 12 April
2010 “Koheleth, Toil, and the Prodigal Son: Reading Luke’s Parable through the Eyes of the Teacher” at the Upper Midwest Regional SBL, St. Paul, MN. 10 April
2009 “Be Imitators of Me, as I am of Christ: René Girard’s Mimetic Theory in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians” at the Upper Midwest Regional SBL, St. Paul, MN. 28 March
2021 Panelist, BRANE Collective Primary Text Lab on Protevangelium of James. 14 December
2021 “The Origins of Christmas” as PUBlic Theology, Martinsville, VA. 8 December
2021 “The Mark of the Beast” at Profs and Pints (virtual). 23 May
2020 “Matthew’s Magi” at PUBlic Theology, Martinsville, VA 9 December
2020 “Jesus, Death, Anger, Doubt, and Holy Week” at PUBlic Theology, Martinsville, VA. 8 April
2019 “Bible Scholars: What are they good for?” at PUBlic Theology at Mountain Valley Brewing Company, Martinsville, VA. 8 May
2018 “Jesus: A Messiah in Our Image?” at PUBlic Theology at Mountain Valley Brewing Company, Martinsville, VA. 14 November
2017 “Rabbi Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Christianity” and “Anti-Semitism in the New Testament,” at Temple Emanuel Adult Education, Roanoke, VA. 7 and 14 November
2016 “Story and Storytelling in Early Christianity,” at Temple Emanuel Adult Education, Roanoke, VA. 1 November
2015 “Tell Your Girlfriend that She Looks Like a Horse, and Other Biblical Dating Advice,” at the Ferrum College “Inquiring Minds” series, Ferrum, VA. 21 October
2015 “Jesus: A Messiah in Our Image?” at the Ferrum College “Inquiring Minds” series, Ferrum, VA. 1 April
2014 “The Rich Man and Lazarus: What Can Historical-Critical Methodology Reveal?” at the Marquette University Scripture Project, Milwaukee, WI. 16 April