Biography
Justin Meggitt received his first degree in Religious Studies from Newcastle University, before taking up a Commonwealth Scholarship at Conrad Grebel College (University of Waterloo, Ontario) to study for a Master of Theological Studies. He then undertook a doctorate in New Testament Studies at Cambridge, funded by the British Academy, before holding a research fellowship at Westminster College, Oxford (1994-1996) and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at Jesus College, Cambridge (1996-1999). He has held a number of positions within Cambridge since, from a temporary university lecturer in the Faculty (1999-2001), college lecturer at Corpus Christi (2001-2003), and Staff Tutor and then University Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion at the University's Institute of Continuing Education (2004-2017). Although he has always taught for the Faculty during his time in Cambridge, his post was fully transferred to the Faculty in 2017. He is currently Professor of the Study of Religion.
Justin has also been a Visiting Researcher, Institutionen för etnologi, religionshistoria och genusvetenskap, Stockholms universitet since 2011 and is the co-founder of the Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements
Justin is also the Coordinator of the MPhil Pathway in Religion and Conflict.
Research Interests
Justin Meggitt has a range of research interests, including, but not limited to: the study of earliest Christianity; magic and miracle in history and culture; seventeenth-century religious radicalism and interreligious encounter; anarchism and religion; apocalyptic and millenarian movements; religion and terrorism.
Justin Meggitt is open to supervising doctoral research in any aspect of Christian origins or any of the other fields within which he publishes.
Publications
Monographs and Edited Volumes
- Studies in the Historical Jesus: Anarchy, Miracles, and Madness. Critical Studies in Religion and History 1. Cambridge: Mutual Academic 2023.
- Early Quakers and Islam: Slavery, Apocalyptic and Christian-Muslim Encounters in the Seventeenth Century. Studies on Inter-Religious Relations. Uppsala: Swedish Science Press, 2013.
- Paul, Poverty and Survival. Edinburgh: T and T Clark, 1998.
Journal Articles
- ‘Teaching the Historical Jesus in Continuing Education: of Ghosts and Groundhogs.’ Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 23.1 (2025): 89-105.
- "'Putting the Apocalyptic Jesus to the Sword: Why Were Jesus’s Disciples Armed?'" Journal for the Study of the New Testament 45, no. 4 (2023): 371–404.
- "The Problem of Apocalyptic Terrorism." Journal of Religion and Violence 8, no. 1 (2020): 58–104.
- "'More Ingenious than Learned'? Examining the Quest for the Non-Historical Jesus." New Testament Studies 65, no. 4 (2019): 443–60.
- "A Turke Turn’d Quaker: Conversion from Islam to Radical Dissent in Early Modern England." The Seventeenth Century 34, no. 3 (2019): 353–80.
- "Did Magic Matter? The Saliency of Magic in the Early Roman Empire." Journal of Ancient History 1, no. 2 (2013): 1–60.
- "The Madness of King Jesus: Why Was Jesus Put to Death, but His Followers Were Not?" Journal for the Study of the New Testament 29, no. 4 (2007): 379–413.
Chapters
- "The Resurrection and Comparative Microhistory." In The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus, edited by James Crossley and Chris Keith, 507–27. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2024.
- "Losing Books in a 'Scriptural Universe': What Happened to Papias?" In The Scriptural Universe of Late Antiquity, edited by Emmanouela Grypeou, 23–54. Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, 2021.
- "Early Unitarians and Islam: Revisiting a 'Primary Document.'" In Unitarian Theology II, edited by David Steers, 48–59. London: Faith and Freedom, 2018.
- "Anachronism, Anarchism and the Historical Jesus." In Essays on Anarchism and Religion, edited by Alexandre Christoyannopoulos and Matthew Adams, 124–97. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press, 2017.
- "The Psycho-Social Context of Jesus' Miracles." In Spiritual Healing: Scientific and Religious Perspectives, edited by Fraser Watts, 17–43. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- "Popular Mythology in the Early Empire and the Multiplicity of Jesus Traditions." In Sources of the Jesus Tradition: An Inquiry, edited by R. Joseph Hoffmann, 53–80. Buffalo: Prometheus, 2010.
- "Magic and Early Christianity: Consumption and Competition." In The Meanings of Magic: From the Bible to Buffalo Bill, edited by A. Wygrant, 89–116. New York: Berghahn Books, 2006.
Bibliographical Essays
- "'A Visitation of Love and Gentle Greeting of the Turk'; 'An Apology for the True Christian Divinity'; 'An Additional Account of George Robinson’s: Shewing His Call to Go to Jerusalem'; 'Barclay, Robert'; 'Blessed Openings of a Day of Good Things to the Turks'; 'Fisher, Mary'; 'Fox, George'; 'Islam and Christianity in the Works of George Fox'; 'Letter Describing the Audience with Sultan Mehmed IV'; 'Perrot, John'; 'Robinson, George'; 'Smith, Stephen'; 'Strange and Wonderful News from Italy'; 'Wholsome [sic] Advice'; 'Wilson, Elias'." In Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, Volume 8. Northern and Eastern Europe (1600–1700), edited by David Thomas and John A. Chesworth. Leiden: Brill, 2016.
Justin is a regular contributor to radio and TV programmes, including a 2013 appearance on BBC Radio 4's 'In Our Time' programme to discuss the meaning and significance of prophecy in the Abrahamic religions.
