OTHER PUBLICATIONS
BOOK REVIEWS
Michael J. Gorman, Apostle of the Crucified Lord (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017). Reviewed for Review of Biblical Literature. In press.
Willie James Jennings, Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, Belief (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2017). Reviewed for Review and Expositor. In press.
Review of John M. G. Barclay, Paul and the Gift (Grand Rapids; Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2015). Reviewed for Review and Expositor 115 (2018): 132–34.
Review of Sang Meyng Lee, The Cosmic Drama of Salvation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010).
Reviewed for Theological Book Review 23 (2011): 71.
In a chapter in the edited volume, Jesus and Mary Reimagined in Early Christianity, I capitalize on close textual analysis of two early Christian compositions (the Gospel of Luke and the Protevangelium of James) and explore the relationship between them. I argue that the depiction of Mary in the Protevangelium of James not only emphasizes her virginity, but also her distinctive role as mother.
My first book, The Function of Sublime Rhetoric in Hebrews: A Study of Hebrews 12:18–29, was published by Mohr Siebeck in 2018 in their series, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament (WUNT). In this work, I draw on the first-century literary treatise, On the Sublime, to re-evaluate the nature of Hebrews's rhetorical program. The perspective provided by On the Sublime enables me to describe the nature of sublime rhetoric in Hebrews and its function in assisting the author achieve his rhetorical and hortatory goals.
Emerging from my dissertation research, my article, "(Religious) Language and the Decentering Process: McNamara and De Sublimate on the Ecstatic Effect of Language," published in the Journal of Cognitive Historiography outlines areas of overlap between ancient notions of religious experience and the treatise's understanding of the effects of great literature.
WRITING
As a scholar of New Testament and early Christianity, my approach to research combines close textual analysis, historical consciousness, methodological dexterity, and interdisciplinary engagement. Doctoral training at Emory University has provided a broad understanding of the social, cultural, and religious character of the Ancient Mediterranean World and the place of early Christianity within it. Broadly speaking, my research interests shed new light on areas of scholarly consensus and disagreement by asking new questions of old texts and by bringing interdisciplinary perspectives to inform them.
Several of my previous publications demonstrate my approach to research. My first article was published in Novum Testamentum, the leading international journal devoted to the study of the New Testament. In it, I re-assess the meaning of an important word (ἡ πάρεσις, “incapacitation”) in a central section of Paul’s letter to the Romans. The article not only challenges a long-standing scholarly consensus about the word’s range of meaning; it also has significant implications for how to best understand key themes and ideas of the epistle as a whole.
PUBLISHED ARTICLES & CHAPTERS
"Matthew 5:1–12, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Commentary 1" in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary Series, ed. Joel B. Green et al. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, forthcoming).
"Matthew 5:13–20, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Commentary 1" in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary Series, ed. Joel B. Green et al. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, forthcoming).
"Matthew 5:21–37, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Commentary 1" in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary Series, ed. Joel B. Green et al. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, forthcoming).
"Gestures to the Priesthood: Exploring Jesus's Priestly Function in 1 John." Review and Expositor 114 (2017): 564–73.
Abstract: Interpreters of the New Testament often assume that the portrait of Jesus as high priest is a definitive and unique characteristic of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Other interpreters, however, find traces of this priestly Christology in other writings in the New Testament. This article assesses the degree to which 1 John “gestures” to the priestly function of Jesus by portraying him as the definitive means of dealing with human sinfulness and as the one who intercedes in a priestly manner on behalf of humanity.
Abstract: This article outlines how the perspective of De Sublimitate concerning the effect of great literature resembles ancient and modern notions of religious experience. To demonstrate this similarity, the article draws on McNamara’s concept of the decentering process in religious experience. This concept of the decentering process serves as a framework for understanding how an encounter with writing that the author deems to be hupsos (“sublime” or “elevated”) has similar decentering effects. The article engages, but also moves slightly beyond, McNamara’s understanding of the role of language in the decentering process. The first part of the article provides an overview of McNamara’s concept of decentering. In particular, it highlights four aspects of the decentering process: (1) the loss of agency; (2) the experience of ecstasy; (3) the role of the emotions; and (4) the cognitive changes that occur during and after the process. The second part of the article demonstrates the presence of similar ideas in De Sublimitate’s discussion of the effects of encountering literature that is characterized as hupsos. The concluding section considers how this reading of De Sublimitate aids in an understanding of the relationship between religious texts and religious experience, drawing a connection with Celia Deutsch’s concept of “text work” as religious experience.
Abstract: The author of Protevangelium of James reconfigures the version of Mary's visit to Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke. The paper exhibits this reconfiguration through analysis and interpretation focused on the topoi of praise and blessing in the larger narrative context of both compositions.
Abstract: This article considers the appropriate translation of πάρεσις in Romans 3:25, which is the only attestation of the word in the Greek Bible. The author argues that “incapacitation” should be considered as an appropriate translation based on the use of the term in other authors of the Hellenistic period, especially the medical writer Aretaeus of Cappadocia. Although some have mentioned “paralysis” as a possible meaning of πάρεσις in scholarly articles and monographs, no one has given serious consideration to understanding the term in this way or how such an understanding might align with Paul’s larger argument.
July 09, 2017
A lectionary reflection written for ONScripture on Romans 7:15–25a and the Southern Baptist Convention's adoption of a resolution condemning white supremacy and the alt-right.
December 11, 2016
A lectionary reflection on James 5:7–10 written for ONScripture.
PRESENTATIONS
Hebrews and Sublime Rhetoric
November 17, 2018
Invited paper for the Rhetoric of Religious Antiquity Seminar at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.
Fear of Death in Hebrews
March 02, 2018
Paper presented at the 2018 Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting.
Locating Apostasy: Solidarity and Fidelity in the Epistle to the Hebrews
August 08, 2017
I presented this paper as part of the continuing seminar on Hebrews at the Annual Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association in Washington, D.C.
Persecution as Pilgrimage: Responding to Persecution in Hebrews
March 04, 2017
Paper presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting for the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (SECSOR).
Hebrews among Other ‘Words of Encouragement': Reconsidering the Meaning and Function of λόγος τῆς παράκλησεως in Heb 13:22
March 15, 2016
Paper presented at the Graduate Symposium of the European Association of Biblical Studies.
(Religious) Language and the Decentering Process: McNamara and De Sublimitate on the Ecstatic Effect of Language
April 06, 2015
Paper presented at the Emory New Testament Colloquy.
(Religious) Language and the Decentering Process: McNamara and De Sublimitate on the Ecstatic Effect of Language
November 16, 2014
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in the Religious Experience in Antiquity section.