About

Principally trained in both early Christianity and early Judaism, I approach religion in antiquity from an interdisciplinary perspective that challenges category assumptions about early Christian and Jewish literature. In my research and teaching, my goal is to showcase the intricacies of shared cosmological expectations among the communities of the ancient Mediterranean. I write about the intersection of cultural expectations in narratives from the Greco-Roman period, across religious boundaries, especially narrative-level rituals.

My first book, My Flesh is Meat Indeed (Fortress; 2015) evaluates how John 6:51c–58 contributes to the gospel’s presentation of Jesus as divine in light of Hellenistic attitudes about sacrifice, divinity, and the consumption of human flesh.

My next book-length project, Hierophagy: Transformational Eating in Ancient Literature, explores how performative consumption effects transformation in ancient Mediterranean narratives.