2002-2007 PhD, Department of Theology and Religion.
Doctor Fathers: James D.G. Dunn; John M.G. Barclay.
Examiners: William Horbury (
Dissertation: The Historiographical Jesus: Memory, Typology and the Son of David (Baylor UP: 2009).
NB: Durham’s Religion Department ranked first among all UK Universities by the Research Assessment Exercise for 2008. Durham was ranked at no. 1 among all departments of theology and religion in the UK in two categories: (a) the highest percentage of publications at 4 (world-leading research) and (b) the highest Grade Point Average for these publications.
2000-2002 MA, Biblical Studies, Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C., Canada.
Graduated with Honors of Great Distinction.
1999-2000 Diploma in Christian Studies.
1997-1999 BA, Biblical Studies.
Books:
Violence and the Bible: Complex Militancy and Metaphor in a Complex World. In collaboration with Joel N. Lohr and Robert Barrett (publisher undetermined).
Historical Jesus: A Postmodern Paradigm. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010 (forthcoming).
The Historiographical Jesus: Memory, Typology and the Son of David. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2009 (available at Amazon.com).
Editorial:
The Fourth Gospel and First-Century Media Culture. Edited by Tom Thatcher and Anthony Le Donne. London: T & T Clark, 2010 (forthcoming via European Studies of Christian Origins).
Jesus and Religion: Historical Jesus Research as a Platform for Jewish-Christian Colloquy. Edited by Bruce Chilton, Anthony Le Donne and Jacob Neusner (publisher undetermined).
Essays:
"Diarchic Symbolism in Matthew's Procession Narrative: A Dead Sea Scrolls Perspective." In Early Christian Literature and Intertextuality. Edited by Craig A. Evans and Daniel Zacharias. London: T & T Clark, 2009 (forthcoming via SSEJC).
“Typological Frameworks in Luke.” In Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospels. Volume 3: The Gospel of Luke. Edited by Thomas R. Hatina. SSEJC; London: T & T Clark, 2009 (forthcoming via LNTS).
“Memories of the Temple-Saying: A Critique and Application of Social Memory”. In Jesus in Early Christian Memory: Essays in Honor of James D. G. Dunn. Edited by Scot McKnight, and Terence C. Mournet. New York: Continuum, 2007 (in press).
“Theological Memory Distortion in the Jesus Tradition: A Study in Social Memory Theory”. Pages 163-77 in Memory and Remembrance in the Bible and Antiquity. Edited by L. T. Stuckenbruck, S. C. Barton, B. G. Wold. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007.
Reviews:
Review of Vermes. Geza, Jesus in his Jewish Context.
Bibliographische Dokumentationen: Qumran in Zeitschrift für Althebraistik (Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 15/16 Band 2002/2003).
“The Son of David: Jesus and Solomon Typology” At the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting; Boston, MA; November, 2008; Unit: Historical Jesus Section.
“Charting Memory Cycles in the Gospels: A Case for Historical Triangulation.” At the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting; Boston, MA; November, 2008; Unit: Mapping Memory Consultation.
“Messianic Dualism in Matthew and the
“Therapeutic Exorcist and National Healer: Matthew’s Jesus as Messiah.” At the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting; San Diego, November, 2007; Unit: Jesus Traditions, Gospels and Negotiating the Roman Imperial World.
Dissertation
My dissertation at Durham explored the philosophy of history and historical Jesus research. This is a study of the nature of history with an aim to apply contemporary historiography to the Jesus tradition. To this end, recent discussions of “Social Memory” theory among historiographers and cultural anthropologists proved helpful. I was specifically concerned with the nature of perception and memory and to what extent these foundational elements of history are at the same time distorted and continuous. The test case of my methodological argument examined the use of the title “Son of David” in the Jesus tradition. My dissertation attempted to answer the questions: To what extent did typological categories such as Davidic messianism contain/reframe the first perceptions of Jesus? And what is the best way to navigate such seminal perceptions along early memory trajectories? My conclusion could be summed like this: When memory theory is applied to the Jesus tradition, the more a memory has been “distorted” the more valuable it is for the identifying historical memory.
As an offshoot of my PhD research, I've written a book called Historical Jesus: A Postmodern Paradigm for Historiography. This book will be published through Eerdmans and will be aimed at an undergraduate audience. The book will introduce the concepts of postmodern epistemology, historiography and historical Jesus research.
I am currently co-editing a volume on the Gospel of John and ancient media culture alongside Tom Thatcher. The contributors to this volume explore various topics related to the Fourth Gospel including oral performance, aurality, memory-theater, social memory and literacy.
Together with Joel Lohr and Rob Barrett (both Hebrew Bible scholars), I am writing a book called Violence and the Bible. There is no greater problem for theological ethics than the role of violence in the Bible. While this topic continues to attract enormous interest from scholars of the Hebrew Bible, there have been few attempts to observe the canonical evolution of its function. While all chapters will be written collaboratively, I am responsible for the initial writing of 5 of the 13 chapters. The titles of my chapters are as follows: (VI) David: The Lord’s last warrior, (VII) Violent Metaphors in Apocalyptic and Wisdom Literature, (X) Jesus as Non-violent Assailant, (XI) The Day of Visitation in the Teaching of Jesus, (XIII) Violence as Metaphor in John’s Apocalypse.
Together with Bruce Chilton and Jacob Neusner, I am co-editing a collection of essays that uses historical Jesus research as a platform for Jewish-Christian dialogue. The past forty years of historical Jesus research has helpfully reemphasized Jesus, first and foremost, as a Jew. Now more than ever, we see Jesus situated in the religion and culture of his birth, in conversation and debate with fellow Jews. The contributors to this volume will represent both Christian and Jewish perspectives. Without skirting key differences, the scholars involved with this project will acknowledge that the historical Jesus represents something of a junction between the two religions. All involved will endeavor to make Jesus intelligible in the context of first century Judaism(s). Our hope is that by illuminating the Jesus of history we will be able to suggest talking points for contemporary inter-religious discourse. Our respondents will be asked to consider each essay’s historical argument(s) and speak to the talking points suggested by the essayists. Amy-Jill Levine and James Dunn are potential partners in this regard. I will write the introduction.
Other topics that I am presently exploring are:
Exorcism in the New Testament from a Post-Colonial perspective
The “son of God” text at Qumran (4Q246)
Apocalypticism in the Gospel of Mark
Paul’s historical failure to achieve a unity between Jewish and Gentile Christianity
Areas of Teaching Interest
Topical: Historical Jesus, Jewish-Christian Relations, Historiography, Cultural and Social Memory, Religion and Film, Introduction to Religions.
Biblical Subjects: Introduction to Hebrew Bible, Introduction to New Testament, Biblical Theology, Biblical Hermeneutics, Biblical Hebrew, Introduction to Koine Greek.
New Testament Books: Synoptic Gospels, Johannine Corpus, Romans, Galatians, Non-Pauline Epistles.
Hebrew Bible Books: Pentateuch, Isaiah, Qohelet, Daniel, Amos, Jonah, Malachi.
Noncanonical Documents: Jubilees,
Contact: