Reception folks! Theory heads! Submit your abstracts to @tdbiii.bsky.social and me by 13th April.

‘I will not comply’: Tennessee librarian refuses to move LGBTQ+ books Rutherford County library director Juanne James’s stand against a vote to relocate more than 190 titles draws national support as the board weighs firing her.

NEWS: This librarian in Rutherford County, Tennessee, is a hero without a cape.

www.advocate.com/politics/sta...

I couldn't publish all I wanted to say on this topic in NovT (this article went through 3 (!!) rounds of peer review and I ended up cutting more than 3k words), so look for a longer piece later this year in Biblical Interpretation, where I unpick more issues with this type of scholarship.

Though the text is worried about men fornicating with women, they managed to read it as condemning ‘homosexuality’. This is a) incorrect and b) highly problematic as it reads contemporary issues in Christian fundamentalism into the 2nd century, justifying the current discourse of hate and exclusion.

Basically, I am correcting some significant mistakes in another person’s article. There were many minor issues (dating, misquoting, not reading recent scholarship), but the largest was that they wrangled the meaning of an ancient Christian text (Testament of Benjamin) to fit a homophobic mould.

Screenshot of article “The Kingdom and Sodom in the Testament of Benjamin: A Response to JM Na’s “Echoes of the Kingdom” (2025)” by Tom de Bruin. Abstract reads: This article responds to JM Na’s recent “Echoes of the Kingdom” published in this journal. It argues that the parallels Na highlights between 1 Cor 6 and T. Benj. 9.1 are untenable. This article examines the themes of the kingdom of the Lord and the fornication of Sodom in T. Benj., arguing for a different reading. The kingdom of the Lord refers to the ancient Israelite kingdom—not Paul’s eschatological kingdom. Examining the literary and historical context of T. Benj., this article argues that the fornication of Sodom most likely refers to heteroerotic sexual excess driven by the pursuit of pleasure—not homosexuality or homoeroticism.

Exciting news! I just had an article published calling out a homophobic article Novum Testamentum published last year. It’s open access and free to read thanks to my employer. Get it here doi.org/10.1163/1568.... A thread on what it’s about below:

Email inviting me to join the illuminati.

You guys. It finally happened.

Good luck! I hope you find the time!

Maybe you could just post your article as a long thread? Then we can all have access to your cutting-edge semiconductor research?

Unsubscribe.

Leidt dat tot een veroordeling, dan bekijken we de situatie, maar wat iemand op X plaatst behoort wat ons betreft tot de privésfeer en de vrijheid van meningsuiting.” Nu toch van mening veranderd. Ik vermoed dat ze zich hebben verkeken op de negatieve reacties die zouden komen op deze aanstelling.

Neu zeker niet. Maar dit is allemaal niet echt nieuw, daarom was er ook die conflict in Nijmegen. Een paar dagen geleden zei de VUB “Als uitspraken strijdig zijn met de Belgische wetgeving is het aan justitie om op te treden, en niet aan ons als universiteit.

Snap ik. De VUB wist natuurlijk ook met wie ze te maken hadden, dus kan me niet voorstellen dat dit een grote verassing moet zijn geweest. En er zijn wel meer ongenuanceerde academici. Nou ja.

Toch zie ik niet dat hij aanzet tot geweld. Dit is zeker een controversiële mening maar van haatzaaien en aanzetten tot geweld (zoals VUB beweert) lijkt me in deze tweets geen sprake. In de Engelssprekende wereld is het verdedigen van een impopulaire meningen, dé kernwaarde van academische vrijheid.

Ethnic Stereotypes and the Letters of Paul Cambridge Core - Biblical Studies - New Testament - Ethnic Stereotypes and the Letters of Paul

Available now in Open Access — free to browse and download. I’m thrilled that this book is finally seeing the light of day. It’s been quite the journey. Many thanks to all the friends and colleagues who helped me along the way!

If you are mobile and want to do research related to this theme, this is a great opportunity. Matthijs is a great person to work with (as are the other biblical studies people on faculty there!), Radboud is a great place to work, and Nijmegen is a great place to live, even if only temporarily.

EIEC Image: Jesus and the dog-headed men, Kiev Psalter, 1397

In case you haven't yet heard about it, there is an interesting new project on 'Ethnicity and (In)Equality in Early Christianity' being led by Matthijs den Dulk (Radboud University). Currently hiring for a 3-year postdoc. Application deadline is 8 March.
www.eiec.info/home

Postdoc Position: Early Christian Studies | Radboud University Do you want to work as a Postdoctoral Researcher: Early Christian Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies? Check our vacancy!

Please share widely! 3-year Postdoc in Early Christian Studies. Deadline: 8 March. Let me know if you have any questions or want to nominate a colleague.

Come to Nijmegen and be my colleague! 3-year postdoc on ethnicity and (in)equality in early Christianity, supervised by @matthijsdendulk.bsky.social. All I can say is we are a great group of people and Nijmegen is a pretty good place to live.

My grandfather randomly died at 63. No symptoms. Turned out to be HCT.

(Re)alignment: rethinking familial ties in the visual arts Call for proposals for Colloquium 28 May 2026 Expanding our understanding of family, community and what binds us together requires us to look beyond conventional definitions and documented histories.

Psyched that the CfP for Maryanne Saunders’ NG colloquium, exploring expansive ideas about familial ties as represented in art, is now live!

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/sem...

Abstracts up to 300 words with a short bio due by Monday 26 January 2026.

Please share widely!

Wow.

Yeah!

🤣
Well enough. Seems like a lot of people weren’t here. Global politics and all that I guess.

Hard same.
Also, one day I will meet you irl at an sbl!

You might want to check out my book, it does exactly that. Well, it looks at their texts and communites as fan texts and fan communities bur thats oretty close. www.bloomsbury.com/us/fan-ficti...

Finally.

Excited to see my book pal’s book next to mine in the book hall! @siobhanjolley.bsky.social’s book is cooler because it has pictures!

Had loads of fun at my first paper on The Chosen today. One more tomorrow at 9am, on The Chosen fanfic (slashfic) that imagine sexual relationships between the disciples. Thanks to @siobhanjolley.bsky.social for the HQ action pic! #aarsbl2025 #sblaar25

Photo of my book Fan Fiction and Early Christian Writings

Very much looking forward to the book review panel of my book at 4pm today! It’s S22-336 if anyone’s interested. With superstars @drmjcwarren.bsky.social @brownsmith.bsky.social and Acacia Chan. #aarsbl25 #sblaar25