Welcome to my Humanities Commons homepage!

Here you will find information related to my research, publications, teaching, and other professional activities.

This site is a work in progress, so please mind the dust and blank pages as I figure out what to put here!

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 liberal arts core 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, Religion in America, Prophetic Literature, Non-Canonical Literature, Historical Jesus, and Biblical Greek.

At present I am at work on three book projects. The first, under contract with 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. This book will be published in Fall 2022. The second is an edited volume (co-edited with Dr. Christy Cobb) on “Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts.” This book will also be published in Fall 2022 and is under contract with Lexington Books . The third is an edited volume entitled Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts, Contexts, and Pedagogy. This book (co-edited with Dr. Sarah Rollens and Dr. Meredith JC Warren) is under contract with Eerdmans Publishing and will be published at some point in 2023.

(updated 8 August 2022)

I am presently at work on three book projects.

The first, under contract with Fortress Press and forthcoming in fall 2022, is a reception history of the Magi. In this book, I trace the development of the Magi from their first appearance in Matthew’s Gospel, through Christian Apocryphal Literature, Patristic theology, iconography, and up until the present day. You can preorder it here!

The  second, under contract with Lexington Books and also forthcoming in fall 2022, is an edited volume on the topic of “Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts.” I am co-editing this project with my colleague Dr. Christy Cobb.

The third, under contract with Eerdmans Publishing and forthcoming in 2023, is an edited volume on the topic of “Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts, Contexts, and Pedagogy. I am co-editing this project with two colleagues: Dr. Sarah Rollens of Rhodes College, and Dr. Meredith JC Warren of the University of Sheffield.

Conference Presentations

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

Other Presentations

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