Education
- B.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, 2009
- M.S., Design Construction Integration, Stanford University, 2010
- M.Div., Covenant Theological Seminary, 2018
- Ph.D., Religion (New Testament Emphasis, Hebrew Bible Cognate), Baylor University, 2022
Research
My research focuses on ancient conceptions of divinity, specifically what it meant to encounter a deity in Graeco-Roman and Jewish traditions. My doctoral research focused on the Gospel of John, considering how ancient conceptions of divine presence and absence shape John’s account of the story of Jesus. I am also researching how early groups of Christ-believers formed and interacted with one another across the ancient Mediterranean.
Courses taught
In addition to HUMA core classes, I teach “Introduction to the New Testament,” courses on various New Testament books (e.g., Gospel of John), “Life and Work of Paul,” and Koine Greek.
In your opinion, what is the most important piece of advice you give your students to help them succeed?
Learning, especially about the Bible, is a lot like traveling to a new country. It requires work, risk, curiosity, and a willingness to be corrected and redirected as one’s assumptions are challenged. I try to cultivate in my students both a joyful curiosity that is unafraid to ask new and difficult questions and a patience that enables them to wrestle long and hard as they critically consider the answers to those questions.
Selected publications
- Martin M. Culy, Mikeal C. Parsons, and Josiah D. Hall, Acts: A Handbook on the Greek Text, rev. ed., 2 vols., BHGNT. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2022.
- “Hearing the Non-violence in a Silent Departure (John 8:59 and 10:39),” Review and Expositor, forthcoming, 2023.
- (with Rodney Kilgore) “Veiling within the Corinthian Context: An Examination of Cynthia Long Westfall's Reading of 1 Corinthians 11:2–16,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 33.2 (2023): 162–85.
- “Translocal Relationships among Associations and Christ Groups, Revisited,” Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 113.2 (2022): 231–60.
- “Let the Nations Sing Hallelujah: The Influence of the Egyptian Hallel on the Citation of Ps 117 OG in Mark 12:10–11,” Journal of Biblical Literature 141.1 (2022): 137–56.
- “‘With’ not ‘for’: An Alternative Reading of Paul's Use of Ps 68:10b OG in Romans 15:3,” New Testament Studies 67.4 (2021): 613–30.
- “Christian Mission in the Contemporary World: A Dialogue Between 1 Peter and Postcolonial Critics,” Horizons in Biblical Theology 43.2 (2021): 119–45.
- “Amidst Affliction: God’s Responses to Suffering according to the Mekhilta and Hebrews,” Presbyterion 47.2 (2021): 123–31.
You may be interested to know
I grew up in Kenya, where my parents served as missionaries.