Biography
After 12 years as Professor at the University of Groningen, including a five-year tenure as dean of faculty, George van Kooten was elected to the Lady Margaret's Chair in Cambridge. Born in Delft (1969), he studied at Leiden, Durham and Oxford (Christ Church) in the fields of New Testament studies and Judaism of the Graeco-Roman period. Previously, he was visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge & Clare Hall, Cambridge (2013-14) and the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (2015). Together with Gert-Jan van der Heiden (Philosophy, Radboud University Nijmegen), he conducted a 700,000 Euro research grant project, financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), on the reception of Paul in modern philosophy. Together with George Boys-Stones (Ancient Philosophy, Durham), he founded the "Ancient Philosophy & Religion (APhR)" series (Brill). Following his appointment at Cambridge, he was elected a Professorial Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge. He gave the Manson Memorial lecture at Manchester (2012), the inaugural Johannes Munck lecture at Aarhus (2012), and the Ashby lecture at Cambridge (2018). In 2023 he was appointed as one of the editors of the Civitatum Orbis MEditerranei Studia (COMES, Mohr Siebeck). He also acted as an independent referee for the admission of the Augustine Gospels (Corpus Christi Cambridge) to the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme (April 2023); they featured as the liturgical Gospel Book for the procession and reading at the Coronation of King Charles III.
Research
Profile:
Considering that 100% of the New Testament writings has been written in Greek (in marked contrast to the contemporary Dead Sea Scrolls which have been mainly written in Hebrew and Aramaic, and only for 3% in Greek), George van Kooten is very interested in contextualising the New Testament writings in their (Jewish and pagan) Graeco-Roman context - historically, religiously, and philosophically, establishing (by way of discourse analysis) the common discourses that are reflected in these texts, trying to understand them in their commonalities and differences.
Current research projects:
(1) monograph on "Paul's Political Philosophy in Context" (Mohr Siebeck), revolving around his semi-political interpretation of the Christian self-designation "church" (ekklēsia) as the counterpart to the civic assembly of the Greek cities in the Eastern Roman Empire (see New Testament Studies 58 [2012]: 522–48).
(2) monograph on "John between Greek Mythology and Philosophy", mapping the potential Greek context of John's Gospel, revising and broadening C.H. Dodd's The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (CUP 1953).
Publications
Key publications - chronologically; see 'Other publications' further below for arrangement by New Testament writings
"An Archimedean Point for Dating the Gospels: The Pre-66 CE Dating of John, Luke’s Use of John among his 'Polloi' (93/94–130 CE), and the Implications for Mark’s and Matthew’s Place within this Chronological Framework", Novum Testamentum 67.3 (2025) 310–331. Open Access
"Erasmus’ Cambridge Years (1511–14): The Execution of Erasmus’ Christian Humanist Programme, His Epitaph for Lady Margaret’s Tomb in Westminster Abbey (1512), and His Failed Attempt to Obtain the Lady Margaret’s Professorship in the Face of Scholastic Opposition", co-authored with Matthew Payne (Westminster Abbey), Richard Rex (Cambridge), and Jan Bloemendal (Amsterdam), Erasmus Studies 44 (2024) 33–102. Open Access
"The Alliance between Faith, the Mysteries and Philosophy in Plutarch’s Moralia", in: Ralph Anderson & Pramit Chaudhuri (eds), Belief in Greek and Roman Religion (Cambridge: CUP, [2023]), forthcoming.
“Bleeding Blood, Not Ichor – Christ the ‘Gottmensch’: A Comparison of the Johannine Incarnate God of Love with Homer’s Aphrodite, Plato’s Daimōn of Love, and Modern Discourse”, in: Jan Dochhorn, Rainer Hirsch-Luipold, and Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler (eds.), Über Gott (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 631-671.
“Mind the (Ontological) Gap! The Collateral Loss of the Pauline-Stoic Creation ‘From God’ in the Joint Attack of the Arian-Nicene Creation ‘From Nothing’ on the Platonic Creation ‘From Disorderly Matter’”, in: Geert Roskam, Gerd Van Riel, and Jos Verheyden (eds), From Protology to Eschatology and Back Again: Views on the Origin and the End of the Cosmos in Platonism and Christian Thought (Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 161-231.
“The ‘Two Inclinations’ and the Double-Minded Human Condition in the Letter of James”, in: James Aitken, Hector M. Patmore, and Ishay Rosen-Zvi (eds), The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge: CUP, 2021), 143-158.
“The Johannine Christ, the ‘Only-Begotten’ Athena, and the Platonic Difference between ‘Begotten’ and ‘Made’: The Greek Mythological and Philosophical Background to John’s Gospel and the Nicene Creed”, in: Jörg Frey, Friederike Kunath, and Jens Schröter (eds), Perspektiven zur Präexistenz im Frühjudentum und frühen Christentum (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021), 209-245.
“Christ and Hermes: A Religio-Historical Comparison of the Johannine Christ-Logos with the God Hermes in Greek Mythology and Philosophy”, in: Marco Frenschkowski and Lena Seehausen (eds), Im Gespräch mit C. F. Georg Heinrici: Beiträge zwischen Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021), 273-324.
Intolerance, Polemics, and Debate in Antiquity: Politico-Cultural, Philosophical, and Religious Forms of Critical Conversation (editor, with Jacques van Ruiten; Leiden/Boston: Brill), 2019, xii and 603 pp.
“John’s Counter-Symposium: ‘The Continuation of Dialogue’ in Christianity—A Contrapuntal Reading of John’s Gospel and Plato’s Symposium”, in: George van Kooten & Jacques van Ruiten (eds), Intolerance, Polemics, and Debate in Antiquity: Politico-Cultural, Philosophical, and Religious Forms of Critical Conversation (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2019), 282-357. Open Access
“Bildung, Religion, and Politics in the Gospel of John: The Erastic, Philhellenic, Anti-Maccabean, and Anti-Roman Tendencies of the Gospel of ‘the Beloved Pupil’”, in: Florian Wilk (ed.), Scriptural Interpretation at the Interface between Education and Religion (Themes in Biblical Narrative 22; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2019), 123-77. Open Access
“The Sign of Socrates, the Sign of Apollo, and the Signs of Christ: Hiding and Sharing Religious Knowledge in the Gospel of John—A Contrapuntal Reading of John’s Gospel and Plato’s Dialogues”, in: Mladen Popovic, Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta & Clare Wilde (eds), Sharing and Hiding Religious Knowledge in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — Tension, Transmission, Transformation 10; Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2018), 145-70.
Saint Paul and Philosophy: The Consonance of Ancient and Modern Thought, edited by Gert-Jan van der Heiden, George van Kooten & Antonio Cimino (Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2017).
“Paul’s Stoic Onto-Theology and Ethics of Good, Evil and ‘Indifferents’: A Response to Anti-Metaphysical and Nihilistic Readings of Paul in Modern Philosophy”, in: Gert-Jan van der Heiden, George van Kooten & Antonio Cimino (eds), Saint Paul and Philosophy: The Consonance of Ancient and Modern Thought (Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2017), 133-64.
Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (Ancient Philosophy & Religion 1), edited by Anders Klostergaard Petersen & George van Kooten (Leiden/Boston: Brill), 2017.
“The Last Days of Socrates and Christ: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo Read in Counterpoint with John’s Gospel”, in: Anders Klostergaard Petersen & George van Kooten (eds), Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (Ancient Philosophy & Religion 1; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2017), 219-43. Open Access
The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy (Themes in Biblical Narrative 19 [hardback version]), edited by Peter Barthel & George van Kooten (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2015 + paperback version).
“Matthew, the Parthians, and the Magi: A Contextualization of Matthew’s Gospel in Roman-Parthian Relations of the First Centuries BCE and CE”, in: Peter Barthel and George van Kooten (eds), The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy (Themes in Biblical Narrative 19; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2015), chap. 20, 496-646. Open Access
“Quaestiones disputatae: How Greek was Paul’s Eschatology?” (multi-authored with Oda Wischmeyer & N.T. Wright), New Testament Studies 61 (2015): 239-53.
“The Divine Father of the Universe from the Presocratics to Celsus: The Graeco-Roman Background to the ‘Father of All’ in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians”, in: Felix Albrecht & Reinhard Feldmeier (eds), The Divine Father: Religious and Philosophical Concepts of Divine Parenthood in Antiquity (Themes in Biblical Narrative 18), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2014, 293-323. Open Access
“Human Being”, in: Robert L. Brawley (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Ethics, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, vol. 1, 394-405.
“Man as God’s Spiritual or Physical Image? Theomorphic Ethics versus Numinous Ethics and Anthropomorphic Aesthetics in Early Judaism, Ancient Philosophy, and the New Testament”, in: Matthias Konradt and Esther Schläpfer (eds), Anthropologie und Ethik im Frühjudentum und im Neuen Testament. Wechselseitige Wahrnehmungen. Internationales Symposium in Verbindung mit dem Projekt Corpus Judaeo-Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti (CJHNT) 17.-20. Mai 2012, Heidelberg (WUNT I.322), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014, 99-138.
“Ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ: The ‘Church of God’ and the Civic Assemblies (ἐκκλησίαι) of the Greek Cities in the Roman Empire: A Response to Paul Trebilco and Richard A. Horsley”, New Testament Studies 58 (2012):522–48.
“A Non-Fideistic Interpretation of Pistis in Plutarch’s Writings: The Harmony between Pistis and Knowledge”, in: Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta & Israel Muñoz Gallarte (eds), Plutarch in the Religious and Philosophical Discourse of Late Antiquity (Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012, 215-33. Open Access
“Christianity in the Graeco-Roman World: Socio-Political, Philosophical, and Religious Interactions up to the Edict of Milan (CE 313)”, in: D. Jeffrey Bingham (ed.), The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought (London/New York: Routledge, 2010), chap. 1, 3-37.
Abraham, the Nations, and the Hagarites: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives on Kinship with Abraham (Themes in Biblical Narrative 13), edited by Martin Goodman, George van Kooten & Jacques van Ruiten (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010).
“Broadening the New Perspective on Paul: Paul and the Ethnographical Debate of his Time – The Criticism of Jewish and Pagan Ancestral Customs (1 Thess 2:13-16)”, in: Martin Goodman, George van Kooten, and Jacques van Ruiten (eds), Abraham, the Nations, and the Hagarites: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives on Kinship with Abraham (TBN 13; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010), 319-44. Open Access
“Philosophical Criticism of Genealogical Claims and Stoic Depoliticization of Politics: Graeco-Roman Strategies in Paul’s Allegorical Interpretation of Hagar and Sarah (Gal 4:21 -31)”, in: Martin Goodman, George van Kooten & Jacques van Ruiten (eds), Abraham, the Nations, and the Hagarites: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives on Kinship with Abraham (TBN 13; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010), 361-85. Open Access
“Ancestral, Oracular and Prophetic Authority: ‘Scriptural Authority’ according to Paul and Philo”, in: M. Popović (ed.), Authoritative Scriptures in Ancient Judaism: Proceedings of the Symposium at the Qumran Institute Groningen , 28-29 April 2008 (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 141), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010, 267-308. Open Access
“Is Early Christianity a Religion or a Philosophy? Reflections on the Importance of ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Truth’ in the Letters of Paul and Peter”, in: J. Dijkstra, J. Kroesen, and Y. Kuiper (eds), Myths, Martyrs, and Modernity: Studies in the History of Religions in Honour of Jan N. Bremmer (Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religions 127), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010, 393-408. Open Access
“Pagan, Jewish and Christian Philanthropy in Antiquity: A Pseudo-Clementine Keyword in Context”, in: J.N. Bremmer (ed.), The Pseudo-Clementines (Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha 10), Leuven: Peeters, 2010, 36-58.
“The Two Types of Man in Philo of Alexandria and Paul of Tarsus: The Anthropological Trichotomy of Spirit, Soul and Body”, in: C. Jedan & L. Jansen (eds), Philosophische Anthropologie in der Antike (Themen der Antiken Philosophie / Topics in Ancient Philosophy), Frankfurt/Paris/Ebikon/Lancaster/New Brunswick: Ontos Verlag, 2010, 269-316.
“The Anthropological Trichotomy of Spirit, Soul and Body in Philo of Alexandria and Paul of Tarsus”, in: Michael Labahn & Outi Lehtipuu (eds), Anthropology in the New Testament and Its Ancient Context (Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology 54), Leuven: Peeters, 2010, 87-119 (=abridged version of the fuller paper in C. Jedan & L. Jansen [eds], Philosophische Anthropologie in der Antike [2010], see above).
“St Paul on Soul, Spirit and the Inner Man”, in: Maha Elkaisy-Friemuth & John M. Dillon (eds), The Afterlife of the Platonic Soul: Reflections on Platonic Psychology in the Monotheistic Religions (Ancient Mediterranean and Medieval Texts and Contexts; Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition 9), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2009, 25-44. Open Access
“The Desecration of ‘the Most Holy Temple of All the World’ in the ‘Holy Land’: Early Jewish and Early Christian Recollections of Antiochus’ ‘Abomination of Desolation’”, in: J. van Ruiten & J.C. de Vos (eds), The Land of Israel in Bible, History, and Theology: Studies in Honour of Ed Noort (Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 124), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2009, 291-316. Open Access
Paul’s Anthropology in Context: The Image of God, Assimilation to God, and Tripartite Man in Ancient Judaism, Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 232; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008). Open Access
“Image, Form and Transformation: A Semantic Taxonomy of Paul’s ‘Morphic’ Language”, in: R. Buitenwerf, H.W. Hollander and J. Tromp (eds), Jesus, Paul, and Early Christianity: Studies in Honour of Henk Jan de Jonge (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 130), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008, 213-42. Open Access
“Why Did Paul Include an Exegesis of Moses’ Shining Face (Exod 34) in 2 Cor 3? Moses’ Strength, Well-being and (Transitory) Glory, according to Philo, Josephus, Paul, and the Corinthian Sophists”, in: G.J. Brooke, H. Najman & L.T. Stuckenbruck (eds), The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (Themes in Biblical Narrative 12), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008, 149-81. Open Access
“Pagan and Jewish Monotheism according to Varro, Plutarch and St Paul: The Aniconic, Monotheistic Beginnings of Rome’s Pagan Cult — Romans 1.19-25 in a Roman Context”, in: A. Hilhorst, É. Puech & E. Tigchelaar (eds), Flores Florentino: Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour of Florentino García Martínez (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 122), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2007, 633-51. Open Access
“The Year of the Four Emperors and the Revelation of John: The ‘pro-Neronian’ Emperors Otho and Vitellius, and the Images and Colossus of Nero in Rome”, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 30 (2007): 205-48.
The Revelation of the Name YHWH to Moses: Perspectives from Judaism, the Pagan Graeco-Roman World, and Early Christianity (Themes in Biblical Narrative 9), edited by George van Kooten (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2006).
“Moses/Musaeus/Mochos and his God YHWH, Iao, and Sabaoth, Seen from a Graeco-Roman Perspective”, in: G.H. van Kooten (ed.), The Revelation of the Name YHWH to Moses: Perspectives from Judaism, the Pagan Graeco-Roman World, and Early Christianity (Themes in Biblical Narrative 9; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2006), 107-138. Open Access
“‘Wrath Will Drip in the Plains of Macedonia’: Expectations of Nero’s Return in the Egyptian Sibylline Oracles (Book 5), 2 Thessalonians, and Ancient Historical Writings”, in: A. Hilhorst & G.H. van Kooten (eds), The Wisdom of Egypt: Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic Essays in Honour of Gerard P. Luttikhuizen (Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity 59), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2005, 177-215. Open Access
The Creation of Heaven and Earth: Re-interpretations of Genesis I in the Context of Judaism, Ancient Philosophy, Christianity, and Modern Physics (Themes in Biblical Narrative 8), edited by George van Kooten (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2005).
“The ‘True Light which Enlightens Everyone’ (John 1:9): John, Genesis, the Platonic Notion of the ‘True, Noetic Light’, and the Allegory of the Cave in Plato’s Republic”, in: George van Kooten (ed.), The Creation of Heaven and Earth: Re-interpretations of Genesis I in the Context of Judaism, Ancient Philosophy, Christianity, and Modern Physics (Themes in Biblical Narrative 8; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2005), 149-94. Open Access
Cosmic Christology in Paul and the Pauline School: Colossians and Ephesians in the Context of Graeco-Roman Cosmology (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II.171; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003). Open Access
“Enoch, the ‘Watchers’, Seth’s Descendants and Abraham as Astronomers: Jewish Applications of the Greek Motif of the First Inventor (300 BCE-CE 100)”, in: A. Brenner & J.W. van Henten (eds), Recycling Biblical Figures (Studies in Theology and Religion 1; Leiden: Deo Publishing, 1999), 292-316.
i) Publications arranged by New Testament writings;
ii) General publications on philosophical anthropology, ethics, and the notions of “pistis” and “scriptural authority”
i) Publications arranged by New Testament writings:
GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
“Matthew, the Parthians, and the Magi: A Contextualization of Matthew’s Gospel in Roman-Parthian Relations of the First Centuries BCE and CE”, in: Peter Barthel and George van Kooten (eds), The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy (Themes in Biblical Narrative 19), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2015, chap. 20, 496-646. Open Access
GOSPEL OF MARK
“The Jewish War and the Roman Civil War of 68-69 CE: Jewish, Pagan, and Christian Perspectives”, in: M. Popovic (ed.), The Jewish Revolt against Rome: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 154), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2011, 419-50. Open Access
“The Desecration of ‘the Most Holy Temple of All the World’ in the ‘Holy Land’: Early Jewish and Early Christian Recollections of Antiochus’ ‘Abomination of Desolation’”, in: J. van Ruiten & J.C. de Vos (eds), The Land of Israel in Bible, History, and Theology: Studies in Honour of Ed Noort (Supplements to Vetus Testamentum 124), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2009, 291-316. Open Access
GOSPEL OF JOHN
“Bleeding Blood, Not Ichor – Christ the ‘Gottmensch’: A Comparison of the Johannine Incarnate God of Love with Homer’s Aphrodite, Plato’s Daimōn of Love, and Modern Discourse”, in: Jan Dochhorn, Rainer Hirsch-Luipold, and Ilinca Tanaseanu-Döbler (eds.), Über Gott (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 631-671.
“Christ and Hermes: A Religio-Historical Comparison of the Johannine Christ-Logos with the God Hermes in Greek Mythology and Philosophy”, in: Marco Frenschkowski and Lena Seehausen (eds), Im Gespräch mit C. F. Georg Heinrici: Beiträge zwischen Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021), 273-324.
“The Johannine Christ, the ‘Only-Begotten’ Athena, and the Platonic Difference between ‘Begotten’ and ‘Made’: The Greek Mythological and Philosophical Background to John’s Gospel and the Nicene Creed”, in: Jörg Frey, Friederike Kunath, and Jens Schröter (eds), Perspektiven zur Präexistenz im Frühjudentum und frühen Christentum (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021), 209-245.
"John’s Counter-Symposium: 'The Continuation of Dialogue' in Christianity—A Contrapuntal Reading of John’s Gospel and Plato’s Symposium", in: George van Kooten & Jacques van Ruiten (eds), Intolerance, Polemics, and Debate in Antiquity: Politico-Cultural, Philosophical, and Religious Forms of Critical Conversation (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2019), 282-357. Open Access
“Bildung, Religion, and Politics in the Gospel of John: The Erastic, Philhellenic, Anti-Maccabean, and Anti-Roman Tendencies of the Gospel of ‘the Beloved Pupil’”, in: Florian Wilk (ed.), Scriptural Interpretation at the Interface between Education and Religion (Themes in Biblical Narrative 22), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2019, 123-77. Open Access
“The Sign of Socrates, the Sign of Apollo, and the Signs of Christ: Hiding and Sharing Religious Knowledge in the Gospel of John—A Contrapuntal Reading of John’s Gospel and Plato’s Dialogues”, in: Mladen Popovic, Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta & Clare Wilde (eds), Sharing and Hiding Religious Knowledge in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — Tension, Transmission, Transformation 10), Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2018, 145-70.
“The Last Days of Socrates and Christ: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo Read in Counterpoint with John’s Gospel”, in: Anders Klostergaard Petersen & George van Kooten (eds), Religio-Philosophical Discourses in the Mediterranean World: From Plato, through Jesus, to Late Antiquity (Ancient Philosophy & Religion 1; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2017), 219-43. Open Access
“The ‘True Light which Enlightens Everyone’ (John 1:9): John, Genesis, the Platonic Notion of the ‘True, Noetic Light’, and the Allegory of the Cave in Plato’s Republic”, in: George van Kooten (ed.), The Creation of Heaven and Earth: Re-interpretations of Genesis I in the Context of Judaism, Ancient Philosophy, Christianity, and Modern Physics (Themes in Biblical Narrative 8), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2005, 149-94. Open Access
PAULINE LETTERS, general
“Mind the (Ontological) Gap! The Collateral Loss of the Pauline-Stoic Creation ‘From God’ in the Joint Attack of the Arian-Nicene Creation ‘From Nothing’ on the Platonic Creation ‘From Disorderly Matter’”, in: Geert Roskam, Gerd Van Riel, and Jos Verheyden (eds), From Protology to Eschatology and Back Again: Views on the Origin and the End of the Cosmos in Platonism and Christian Thought (Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022), 161-231.
“Quaestiones disputatae: How Greek was Paul’s Eschatology?” (multi-authored with Oda Wischmeyer & N.T. Wright), New Testament Studies 61 (2015): 239-53.
“Is Early Christianity a Religion or a Philosophy? Reflections on the Importance of ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Truth’ in the Letters of Paul and Peter”, in: J. Dijkstra, J. Kroesen, and Y. Kuiper (eds), Myths, Martyrs, and Modernity: Studies in the History of Religions in Honour of Jan N. Bremmer (Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religions 127), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010, 393-408. Open Access
“The Two Types of Man in Philo of Alexandria and Paul of Tarsus: The Anthropological Trichotomy of Spirit, Soul and Body”, in: C. Jedan & L. Jansen (eds), Philosophische Anthropologie in der Antike (Themen der Antiken Philosophie / Topics in Ancient Philosophy), Frankfurt/Paris/Ebikon/Lancaster/New Brunswick: Ontos Verlag, 2010, 269-316.
“The Anthropological Trichotomy of Spirit, Soul and Body in Philo of Alexandria and Paul of Tarsus”, in: Michael Labahn & Outi Lehtipuu (eds), Anthropology in the New Testament and Its Ancient Context (Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology 54), Leuven: Peeters, 2010, 87-119 (=abridged version of the fuller paper in C. Jedan & L. Jansen [eds], Philosophische Anthropologie in der Antike [2010], see above).
“St Paul on Soul, Spirit and the Inner Man”, in: Maha Elkaisy-Friemuth & John M. Dillon (eds), The Afterlife of the Platonic Soul: Reflections on Platonic Psychology in the Monotheistic Religions (Ancient Mediterranean and Medieval Texts and Contexts; Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition 9), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2009, 25-44. Open Access
Paul’s Anthropology in Context: The Image of God, Assimilation to God, and Tripartite Man in Ancient Judaism, Ancient Philosophy and Early Christianity (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 232), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008. Open Access
“Image, Form and Transformation: A Semantic Taxonomy of Paul’s ‘Morphic’ Language”, in: R. Buitenwerf, H.W. Hollander and J. Tromp (eds), Jesus, Paul, and Early Christianity: Studies in Honour of Henk Jan de Jonge (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 130), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008, 213-42. Open Access
LETTER TO THE ROMANS
“Pagan and Jewish Monotheism according to Varro, Plutarch and St Paul: The Aniconic, Monotheistic Beginnings of Rome’s Pagan Cult — Romans 1.19-25 in a Roman Context”, in: A. Hilhorst, É. Puech & E. Tigchelaar (eds), Flores Florentino: Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour of Florentino García Martínez (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 122), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2007, 633-51. Open Access
LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS
“Paul’s Stoic Onto-Theology and Ethics of Good, Evil and ‘Indifferents’: A Response to Anti-Metaphysical and Nihilistic Readings of Paul in Modern Philosophy”, in: Gert-Jan van der Heiden, George van Kooten & Antonio Cimino (eds), Saint Paul and Philosophy: The Consonance of Ancient and Modern Thought, Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter, 2017, 133-64.
“Rhetorical Competition within the Christian Community at Corinth: Paul and the Sophists”, in: Richard Alston, Onno M. Van Nijf & Christina G. Williamson (eds), Cults, Creeds and Identities in the Greek City after the Classical Age (Groningen-Royal Holloway Studies on the Greek City After the Classical Age 3), Leuven: Peeters, 2013, 261-88.
“Ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ: The ‘Church of God’ and the Civic Assemblies (ἐκκλησίαι) of the Greek Cities in the Roman Empire: A Response to Paul Trebilco and Richard A. Horsley”, New Testament Studies58 (2012): 522–48.
“Why Did Paul Include an Exegesis of Moses’ Shining Face (Exod 34) in 2 Cor 3? Moses’ Strength, Well-being and (Transitory) Glory, according to Philo, Josephus, Paul, and the Corinthian Sophists”, in: G.J. Brooke, H. Najman & L.T. Stuckenbruck (eds), The Significance of Sinai: Traditions about Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity (Themes in Biblical Narrative 12), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008, 149-81. Open Access
LETTER TO THE GALATIANS
“Philosophical Criticism of Genealogical Claims and Stoic Depoliticization of Politics: Graeco-Roman Strategies in Paul’s Allegorical Interpretation of Hagar and Sarah (Gal 4:21 -31)”, in: Martin Goodman, George van Kooten, and Jacques van Ruiten (eds), Abraham, the Nations, and the Hagarites: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives on Kinship with Abraham (Themes in Biblical Narrative 13), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010, 361-85. Open Access
LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS
Cosmic Christology in Paul and the Pauline School: Colossians and Ephesians in the Context of Graeco-Roman Cosmology (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II.171), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003. Open Access
“The Divine Father of the Universe from the Presocratics to Celsus: The Graeco-Roman Background to the ‘Father of All’ in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians”, in: Felix Albrecht & Reinhard Feldmeier (eds), The Divine Father: Religious and Philosophical Concepts of Divine Parenthood in Antiquity (Themes in Biblical Narrative 18), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2014, 293-323. Open Access
LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS
Cosmic Christology in Paul and the Pauline School: Colossians and Ephesians in the Context of Graeco-Roman Cosmology (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II.171), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003. Open Access
1 THESSALONIANS
“Broadening the New Perspective on Paul: Paul and the Ethnographical Debate of his Time – The Criticism of Jewish and Pagan Ancestral Customs (1 Thess 2:13-16)”, in: Martin Goodman, George van Kooten, and Jacques van Ruiten (eds), Abraham, the Nations, and the Hagarites: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives on Kinship with Abraham (Themes in Biblical Narrative 13), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010, 319-44. Open Access
2 THESSALONIANS
“‘Wrath Will Drip in the Plains of Macedonia’: Expectations of Nero’s Return in the Egyptian Sibylline Oracles (Book 5), 2 Thessalonians, and Ancient Historical Writings”, in: A. Hilhorst & G.H. van Kooten (eds), The Wisdom of Egypt: Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic Essays in Honour of Gerard P. Luttikhuizen (Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity 59), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2005, 177-215. Open Access
LETTER OF JAMES
“The ‘Two Inclinations’ and the Double-Minded Human Condition in the Letter of James”, in: James Aitken, Hector M. Patmore, and Ishay Rosen-Zvi (eds), The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge: CUP, 2021), 143-158.
LETTERS OF PETER
“Is Early Christianity a Religion or a Philosophy? Reflections on the Importance of ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Truth’ in the Letters of Paul and Peter”, in: J. Dijkstra, J. Kroesen, and Y. Kuiper (eds), Myths, Martyrs, and Modernity: Studies in the History of Religions in Honour of Jan N. Bremmer (Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religions 127), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010, 393-408. Open Access
REVELATION OF JOHN
“The Year of the Four Emperors and the Revelation of John: The ‘pro-Neronian’ Emperors Otho and Vitellius, and the Images and Colossus of Nero in Rome”, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 30 (2007): 205-48.
ii) General publications on philosophical anthropology, ethics, and the notions of “pistis” and “scriptural authority”:
“Human Being”, in: Robert L. Brawley (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Ethics, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, vol. 1, 394-405.
“Man as God’s Spiritual or Physical Image? Theomorphic Ethics versus Numinous Ethics and Anthropomorphic Aesthetics in Early Judaism, Ancient Philosophy, and the New Testament”, in: Matthias Konradt and Esther Schläpfer (eds), Anthropologie und Ethik im Frühjudentum und im Neuen Testament. Wechselseitige Wahrnehmungen. Internationales Symposium in Verbindung mit dem Projekt Corpus Judaeo-Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti (CJHNT) 17.-20. Mai 2012, Heidelberg (WUNT I.322), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014, 99-138.
“A Non-Fideistic Interpretation of Pistis in Plutarch’s Writings: The Harmony between Pistis and Knowledge”, in: Lautaro Roig Lanzillotta & Israel Muñoz Gallarte (eds), Plutarch in the Religious and Philosophical Discourse of Late Antiquity (Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2012, 215-33. Open Access
“Pagan, Jewish and Christian Philanthropy in Antiquity: A Pseudo-Clementine Keyword in Context”, in: J.N. Bremmer (ed.), The Pseudo-Clementines (Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha 10), Leuven: Peeters, 2010, 36-58.
“Ancestral, Oracular and Prophetic Authority: ‘Scriptural Authority’ according to Paul and Philo”, in: M. Popović (ed.), Authoritative Scriptures in Ancient Judaism: Proceedings of the Symposium at the Qumran Institute Groningen , 28-29 April 2008 (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 141), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010, 267-308. Open Access
Teaching and Supervisions
B5 The Johannine Tradition (co-ordinating, teaching and supervising, MT and LT)
C1b Advanced New Testament Greek, segment on 1 Peter (co-ordinating and teaching, MT)
D1b (Divinity) / X3 (Classics), Joint Paper with Classics on 'Christianity, Hellenism, and Empire' (co-ordinating, teaching, supervising, MT and LT)
New potential MPhil and PhD students interested in all aspects of the New Testament in the Graeco-Roman World are encouraged to get in touch and discuss their plans and interests.
