John 20:24-29 – the Doubting Thomas Narrative – is explored in terms of the thesis that Jesus showed Thomas wounds absolutely identical to the wounds originating at the time of the crucifixion. John understands the risen Jesus to enact sovereignty over time in this passage. This was a new stage in John’s Christological Development and aug…[Read more]

In interpreting the risen Jesus’ action of appearing ‘out of nowhere’ at John 20:19-20 (and Luke 24:36) and his inferred action of rising from the dead at John 20:5-7 (and Luke 24:12), the consensus of both classical and modern biblical tradition has been to understand these actions as Jesus in some sense passing through physical objects and there…[Read more]

This dissertation is a study of the usury prohibition in rabbinic literature. It focuses on the usury laws in Tannaitic literature, the first formulation of the usury prohibition as a complex and multifaceted judicial norm. I place the Tannaitic usury laws against the backdrop of the economic and cultural norms of the wider world which the Tannaim…[Read more]

The O.9.27 manuscript of Trinity College Cambridge is a minuscule manuscript of Hesiod’s Opera et Dies . In a 2001 PhD thesis on Greek palimpsests in Cambridge by Natalie Tchernetska, this manuscript is described to contain two distinct lower scripts, one of which identified as a New Testament text. The author read four lines and a partial fifth o…[Read more]

This article argues that the Gospel of Thomas was written in Alexandria, not in Eastern Syria as is the current consensus. The arguments in favor of a Syrian Gospel of Thomas are not as strong as is often assumed, and a stronger case can be made for Alexandria. The Gospel of Thomas has a number of features that suggest it was a product of the…[Read more]

This is the third instalment on hermeneutics within Biblical exegesis. Here Object-Oriented Ontology is deal with and illustrations from the Trika are also used. This concludes the preliminary comments on hermeneutics.

Article exploring Jewish or Judean groups in the context of associations at Hierapolis.

Article on banqueting within associations.

This is the complete second, fully revised edition of the book with links to inscriptions on the AGRW website. (First edition was published by Fortress in 2003).

Book that explores processes of identification within various small group situations in the Greco-Roman world.

Article that explores stories of wild banquets within the context of ethnographic discourses.

Der Beitrag liest die mt Erzählung über die Tempelreinigung Jesu in Mt 21,12-16 vor dem Hintergrund des mt Raumkonzepts. In Auseinandersetzung mit Mt 11,1-16,20; Mt 8f. und Mt 10 werden dabei Raumstrukturen ebenso in Grundzügen erhellt wie spezifische Konnotationen räumlicher Terminologie (vgl. etwa Stadt, Synagoge und Haus). Zusammen mit Mt 12,…[Read more]

A meditation by a Hindu on Christmas.

This reader presents, in Septuagint canonical order, ten Greek texts from the Rahlfs—Hanhart Septuaginta critical edition. It explains the syntax, grammar, and vocabulary of more than 700 verses from select Old Testament texts representing a variety of genres, including the Psalms, the Prophets, and more.

The resemblance between the Gospel story about Jesus stilling a storm in the Sea of Galilee (Mt. 8:18, 23-27, Mk. 4:35-41, Lk. 8:22-25) and the Jonah story (Jon. 1:1-16) has been long acknowledged by scholars. This article contends that since the relations between the two stories are those of polar opposition, it should be possible, by way of…[Read more]

This paper offers an alternative approach to Luke 2:1-7, assuming for argument’s sake that Luke’s presumed chronology agreed with modern reconstructions in placing Quirinius’ census some years after Herod’s death. It is proposed that, on this basis, a coherent reading of the text is feasible in which the reference to Quirinius marks 2:1-5 as a…[Read more]

An attempt to think about authorial strategies of dislocation and relocation in 1 Peter. First presented at a conference on Early Christianity and its urban environment held at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham, England, 2015.

Szesnat, Holger. 2016 [2017]. “Bible Study on Economic Justice: Luke 19:11–28.” Pacific Journal of Theology Series II, 56:19–29.

(The journal volume is dated 2016, but it actually appeard in late 2017.)

This thesis makes a unique contribution in the field of New Testament studies with specific attention to New Testament theology and the Christology of Hebrews. It explores the relationship between Sonship and the ascension in the book of Hebrews. It argues that the ascension of Jesus reveals the nature of his Sonship. First, chapters two and three…[Read more]