Review of Douglas Boin’s Coming Out Christian in the Roman World

A review of the 2015 novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, by Alexandra Kleeman

Review of Seducing Augustine, by Virginia Burrus, Karmen MacKendrick, and Mark Jordan (2010)

Encyclopedia Entry

This article examines the innovative focus on sabbath observance that characterizes the Holiness legislation (“H”). By comparing H’s conception of the sabbath with what is known about this sacred time from other biblical and extrabiblical sources, the article demonstrates that H creatively blends two aspects of the sabbath that were not alway…[Read more]

This article reviews the textual transmission of the ban on local butchery in Leviticus 17:3–4. It explores the importance of the manuscripts from the Dead Sea, in particular 4QLevd and 11Q19, for interpreting the plus at verse 4, attested in the Septuagint and in the Samaritan Pentateuch, as well as the change in address in v. 3, which is found i…[Read more]

The theory of language that underlies Plotinus’ Enneads is considered in relation to his
broader metaphysical vision. For Plotinus, language is neither univocal nor equivocal,
but is something in-between, incapable of precisely describing reality, but nonetheless
not completely useless. Propositional knowledge expressed discursively r…[Read more]

This paper examines how the description of Aaron’s vestments in Exod 28 encodes a distinct concept of high priestly leadership. This chapter of Exodus has garnered relatively little attention in biblical scholarship, even among recent and comprehensive treatments of the high priest in the biblical and post-biblical traditions. This general n…[Read more]

A brief review of Nelson Tebbe’s Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age, which seeks to resolve the the tension between the egalitarian impulse toward protections for the full rights of all individuals and the traditional American commitment to preservation of freedom to exercise sincerely held religious beliefs, even the beliefs of those who…[Read more]

This brief review reflects on Helge Ârsheim’s recent work, Making Religion and Human Rights at the United Nations. The text explores, with great success, the role of religion in an institution which “does not ‘do’ religion.” Ârsheim provides an accessible and comprehensive resource for anyone researching the role of religion in global affairs.

Over the last several months, the Republican party and its current leader have consistently trumpeted their strong commitment to law and order. Especially during this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests (and riots), as well as in response to calls for greater oversight of and a more limited role for police forces, many Republicans, political c…[Read more]

2020 was a year defined by disaster and unrest, from impeachment to war to wildfires to a global pandemic to protest movements arising in the United States in response to police violence. This brief article reflects on Robert Bellah’s concept of American Civil Religion, particularly his focus on three times of trial. I argue that the nation’s…[Read more]

This brief review explores Randall Balmer’s recent work, Solemn Reverence: The Separation of Church and State in American Life. In this capsule history of church/state separation, Balmer deftly and succinctly illustrates the centrality of religious freedom to the story of America. Seeking to respond to American evangelical trends toward Christian…[Read more]