Undergraduate (Honours Thesis) and Graduate (M.A. and Ph.D.)
I supervise graduate students in New Testament (Early Christianity) and Early Judaism. Students with research interests within these areas of study, including students wanting to explore aspects of interaction between them, are welcome to contact me to discuss ideas and options. Examples of topics I have supervised include:
Ph.D. Theses:
Wayne Baxter, Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and Its Socio-Religious Implications, December 2007. McMaster University. (Published as Israel’s Only Shepherd: Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and His Social Setting, T&T Clark, Library of New Testament Studies Series 457, 2012.)
Amanda Witmer, Jesus, A Jewish Galilean Exorcist: A Socio-Political and Anthropological Investigation, November 2009. McMaster University. (Published as Jesus, The Galilean Exorcist: His Exorcisms in Social and Political Context, T&T Clark, Library of the Historical Jesus Studies series 10 [Library of New Testament Studies 459], 2012.)
Jonathan Bernier, “Lest the Nation Be Destroyed”: The Historical Jesus and the Johannine Aposynagōgos Passages, October 2012. McMaster University. (Published as: Aposynagōgos and the Historical Jesus in John: Rethinking the Historicity of the Johannine Expulsion Passages, Brill, Biblical Interpretation Series, 2013.)
Ralph Korner, Before “Church”: Political, Ethno-Religious and Theological Implications of the Collective Designation of Pauline Christ-Followers as Ekklēsiai. January, 2014. McMaster University. (Published as: The Origin and Meaning of Ekklēsia in the Early Jesus Movement. Leiden: Brill; AJEC 98, 2017.)
Andrew Krause, Rhetoric, Spatiality, and the First Century Synagogue: The Description and Narrative Use of Jewish Institutions in the Works of Flavius Josephus, April, 2015. McMaster University. (Published as: Synagogues in the Works of Flavius Josephus: Rhetoric, Spatiality, and First-Century Jewish Institutions. Leiden: Brill; AJEC 97, 2017.)
Jordan Ryan, The Kingdom of God and the Assembly of the People: The Role of the Synagogue in the Aims of Jesus, July, 2016. McMaster University. (Published as: The Role of the Synagogue in the Aims of Jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017.)
John Bolton, Source-Utilization Movement and the Synoptic Problem: A Study in Ancient Compositional Practice. March, 2018, McMaster University.
Wally Cirafesi, John within Judaism: Religion, Ethnicity, and the Shaping of Jesus-Oriented Jewishness in the Fourth Gospel. December, 2018, University of Oslo.
John VanMaaren, The Gospel of Mark Within Judaism: Reading the Second Gospel in its Ethnic Landscape. McMaster University. June, 2019, McMaster University. (Co-supervised with Matthew Thiessen.)
Masters Theses
Richard Last, What did Paul Think he was Doing? A Study of Paul’s use of ajpovstoloς and an Introduction to his “Statements of Action,” 2008. McMaster University. (An abbreviated form of the thesis was published in Harvard Theological Review in 2011.)
Tyler Smith, Matthew and Empire: The First Gospel in Recent Imperial-Critical Scholarship, 2008. McMaster University.
Jonathan Bernier, Myth and Metaphysics in the Fourth Gospel: A Dialectical Critical Approach to John’s Prologue, 2006. McMaster University.
Whitney Ross, Ethnicity, Identity and Institution: The Relevance of Ethnic Boundaries for the Development of Diaspora Synagogues, 2012. McMaster University.
Ryan Watson, The Historical Jesus in Recent Scholarship: An Investigation with Special Focus on Methodology, 2012. McMaster University.
Jennie Dragos, Feminist New Testament Scholarship: A Study of Perspective and Method, 2013. McMaster University.
4th Year Honours Theses:
Topics I have supervised include:
The Historical Jesus as a Restoration Prophet: A Comparison of the Works of Benjamin Franklin Meyer, Nicholas Thomas Wright and Ed Parish Sanders; Universal Theories and the Contextual Approach to Understanding Ritual: The Case of Sacrificial Mechanism and Meaning in Greco-Roman Religion and Judaism; Jews, God-Fearers, and Christ-Believers in the Ancient Synagogue: Co-Existence or Conflict?; New Wineskins, New Synagogue: The Portrayal of the Synagogue in Mark and the Formation of a New Synagogue; The Good News Must First be Proclaimed to All Nations: The Fifth Prediction of Jesus and the Purpose of the Gospel of Mark; Estrogen in the Synoptic Gospels: A Study in the Representations of Women in Mark, Matthew, and Luke; The Place of the Gentiles in the Jesus Movement According to the Synoptic Gospels: Portrayal, Mission, and Judgment; Liberating the Historical Jesus: A Comparison of Portraits of Jesus in Historical Jesus Scholarship and Liberation Theology; A Foggy Window: A Social-Psychological Study of the Johannine Community as Reflected in the Fourth Gospel; Open to Interpretation: Identifying the Early Church’s Understanding of the Rending of the Temple Veil.
Ph.D. Theses:
Wayne Baxter, Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and Its Socio-Religious Implications, December 2007. McMaster University. (Published as Israel’s Only Shepherd: Matthew’s Shepherd Motif and His Social Setting, T&T Clark, Library of New Testament Studies Series 457, 2012.)
Amanda Witmer, Jesus, A Jewish Galilean Exorcist: A Socio-Political and Anthropological Investigation, November 2009. McMaster University. (Published as Jesus, The Galilean Exorcist: His Exorcisms in Social and Political Context, T&T Clark, Library of the Historical Jesus Studies series 10 [Library of New Testament Studies 459], 2012.)
Jonathan Bernier, “Lest the Nation Be Destroyed”: The Historical Jesus and the Johannine Aposynagōgos Passages, October 2012. McMaster University. (Published as: Aposynagōgos and the Historical Jesus in John: Rethinking the Historicity of the Johannine Expulsion Passages, Brill, Biblical Interpretation Series, 2013.)
Ralph Korner, Before “Church”: Political, Ethno-Religious and Theological Implications of the Collective Designation of Pauline Christ-Followers as Ekklēsiai. January, 2014. McMaster University. (Published as: The Origin and Meaning of Ekklēsia in the Early Jesus Movement. Leiden: Brill; AJEC 98, 2017.)
Andrew Krause, Rhetoric, Spatiality, and the First Century Synagogue: The Description and Narrative Use of Jewish Institutions in the Works of Flavius Josephus, April, 2015. McMaster University. (Published as: Synagogues in the Works of Flavius Josephus: Rhetoric, Spatiality, and First-Century Jewish Institutions. Leiden: Brill; AJEC 97, 2017.)
Jordan Ryan, The Kingdom of God and the Assembly of the People: The Role of the Synagogue in the Aims of Jesus, July, 2016. McMaster University. (Published as: The Role of the Synagogue in the Aims of Jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2017.)
John Bolton, Source-Utilization Movement and the Synoptic Problem: A Study in Ancient Compositional Practice. March, 2018, McMaster University.
Wally Cirafesi, John within Judaism: Religion, Ethnicity, and the Shaping of Jesus-Oriented Jewishness in the Fourth Gospel. December, 2018, University of Oslo.
John VanMaaren, The Gospel of Mark Within Judaism: Reading the Second Gospel in its Ethnic Landscape. McMaster University. June, 2019, McMaster University. (Co-supervised with Matthew Thiessen.)
Masters Theses
Richard Last, What did Paul Think he was Doing? A Study of Paul’s use of ajpovstoloς and an Introduction to his “Statements of Action,” 2008. McMaster University. (An abbreviated form of the thesis was published in Harvard Theological Review in 2011.)
Tyler Smith, Matthew and Empire: The First Gospel in Recent Imperial-Critical Scholarship, 2008. McMaster University.
Jonathan Bernier, Myth and Metaphysics in the Fourth Gospel: A Dialectical Critical Approach to John’s Prologue, 2006. McMaster University.
Whitney Ross, Ethnicity, Identity and Institution: The Relevance of Ethnic Boundaries for the Development of Diaspora Synagogues, 2012. McMaster University.
Ryan Watson, The Historical Jesus in Recent Scholarship: An Investigation with Special Focus on Methodology, 2012. McMaster University.
Jennie Dragos, Feminist New Testament Scholarship: A Study of Perspective and Method, 2013. McMaster University.
4th Year Honours Theses:
Topics I have supervised include:
The Historical Jesus as a Restoration Prophet: A Comparison of the Works of Benjamin Franklin Meyer, Nicholas Thomas Wright and Ed Parish Sanders; Universal Theories and the Contextual Approach to Understanding Ritual: The Case of Sacrificial Mechanism and Meaning in Greco-Roman Religion and Judaism; Jews, God-Fearers, and Christ-Believers in the Ancient Synagogue: Co-Existence or Conflict?; New Wineskins, New Synagogue: The Portrayal of the Synagogue in Mark and the Formation of a New Synagogue; The Good News Must First be Proclaimed to All Nations: The Fifth Prediction of Jesus and the Purpose of the Gospel of Mark; Estrogen in the Synoptic Gospels: A Study in the Representations of Women in Mark, Matthew, and Luke; The Place of the Gentiles in the Jesus Movement According to the Synoptic Gospels: Portrayal, Mission, and Judgment; Liberating the Historical Jesus: A Comparison of Portraits of Jesus in Historical Jesus Scholarship and Liberation Theology; A Foggy Window: A Social-Psychological Study of the Johannine Community as Reflected in the Fourth Gospel; Open to Interpretation: Identifying the Early Church’s Understanding of the Rending of the Temple Veil.
