Jesus and Gender
Growing up in a Christian church, I often heard how counter-cultural Jesus was when it came to women. Jesus is so often cast as a first century proto-feminist. Now, that I have learnt more about the history and the culture of first century Palestine, I know this to be untrue. Yet this fake news persists. […]
The Samaritans
As a teacher you learn loads from your students. A few years ago, one of my students, decided that they wanted to look at nationalism and the New Testament. After some discussion, she decided that examining the Jew–Samaritan relationship would be useful for her project. Little did we know what new things her research would […]
Disability
I write a monthly article for Spectrum Magazine, an Adventist journal and website featuring Adventist and Christian viewpoints and news. This month I wrote some thoughts on the way the field of disability studies has informed biblical studies. I am by no means an expert on the topic (that honour goes to my friend Isaac […]
Deconstructing Leviticus
I am an anti-homophobic Bible reader, and I strongly feel everyone should be. That’s why I’m working together with LGBT charity Seventh-day Adventist Kinship to help share anti-homophobic readings of the Bible. In the last weeks I have started hosting a series of 5 classes on the so-called clobber texts. These seven Bible passages are […]
Deconstructing the Clobber Texts
This spring I am working together with LGBT charity Seventh-day Adventist Kinship. I will hosting a series of 5 classes on the so-called clobber texts. These seven Bible passages are weaponised by Christians worldwide against LGBT individuals. Naturally, I do not agree with the way these texts are interpreted. The classes are open to anyone […]
Positionality
I write a monthly article for Spectrum Magazine, an Adventist journal and website featuring Adventist and Christian viewpoints and news. This month I wrote on the concept of Positionality, which is basically the idea that everyone is positioned towards what they read and view: The idea behind it is simple: I am not neutral, and […]
Is the Christmas Donkey Judeophobic?
In 2016, just a few months after Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out, superfan Pablo Hidalgo joked on Twitter that the evil General Hux has a cat named Millicent. He wrote ‘That dust that Kylo puts his helmet into? Litter box for Hux’s cat, Millicent.’ The tweet is sadly no more, but nothing is […]
The Haunting of Jesus: Reading Mark Through the Gothic Mode
The Journal of Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies just published my latest article on the Gospel of Mark. This article began way back in 2017, when I presented at a Halloween conference in Sheffield. I won the completely non-existent prize of best slide for my pigeon-attacking-Jesus-at-his-baptism photoshop. The article basically imagines what Mark would be if we […]
Exclamation Mark!
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Climate Changers
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Seeing is Believing: The Digital Bible and Bible Verses Online
The European Adventist Society of Theology and Religious Studies’s journal is Spes Christiana latest edition contained an article I wrote a couple of years ago. It analyses how reading the Bible online (i.e.. via Twitter) influences the interpretation of the text. Abstract Millions of Bible verses are shared on Twitter every year. This article examines […]
God in the time of Corona
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Nostalgia, novelty, and the subversion of authority in “The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs”
Fan Studies Journal Transformative Works and Cultures published a special issue on Fan Fiction and ancient scribal cultures. The entire edition is an amazing read, exploring ‘the potential of fan fiction as an interpretative model to study ancient religious texts.’ I wrote an article dealing with the way early Christians tried to write new things […]
Blowing with the wind
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Manifesting evil: Demons and physical monstrosity in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Way back in 2012, before I had even finished my PhD, I wrote this article. Publication took a while, it was extremely similar to Vogon bureacracy: Anywho, here’s an article on Monster Theory applied to second century Christian demons. The Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha it in December 2019. Abstract The interplay between […]
Unseeable
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Powers nor Mights
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Back to the Garden
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Extreme Walking
More than a year ago I sent my manuscript of a popular book to Wipf and Stock. A long process of copy editing, editing, and proofing finally ended with the publication of Extreme Walking: Extrabiblical Books and the Bible.
Surprise!
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Being Pure for God
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
Breath, Air, Spirit or Wind?
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]
I Was a Refugee
I’m from a family of refugees. My father fled cold, post-war Holland for the promise of a better future in South Africa. My grandmother’s family is descended from the Huguenots, who fled to Holland centuries ago. On my mother’s side we are Afrikaners. In the seventeenth century we fled from Holland to Cape Town, and […]
Spectrum Magazine Reviews Extreme Walking
Spectrum Magazine, an Adventist publication, just reviewed my latest popular book. The review is generally very positive, and highlights what I hoped the book would achieve: high readiblity, positive theology, and an engaging introduction to books that many Bible readers are unaware of.
In or Out?
The Dutch Adventist Church creates a magazine, Contact, that goes to about 3000 people who are interested in the Bible. As some of these people have been receiving this magazine for quite a few years, the editors wanted to have a recurring theological column, meant for the long-time readers. This article should match the theme of the edition. […]