I. Employment
Assistant Professor of Religion, Rochester College, August 2015-Present
II. Education
Ph.D., Early Christianity, Princeton Theological Seminary, May 2016
Thesis: Aphrahat and the Construction of Christian Identity in 4th Century Persia
M.A. New Testament, Graduate School of Theology, Abilene Christian University, May 2009
M.Div., Graduate School of Theology, Abilene Christian University, May 2009
B.A., Political Science, Harding University, May 2005
III. Publications
Monographs
Deconstructing the Demonstrations: Reconsidering the Composition and Context of an Early Syriac Corpus (under contract with Gorgias Press, to be submitted in 2017).
Translations
“The Preaching of Peter at Rome” (Syriac), in New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, Vol. 2, edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, forthcoming).
Apocalypse of Baruch according to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation. Antioch Bible Series. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, forthcoming.
Hebrews and the General Epistles according to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation. With Daniel King. Antioch Bible Series. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2016.
Galatians-Philemon according to the Syriac Peshitta Version with English Translation. Antioch Bible Series. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2013.
Ephrem the Syrian’s Hymns on the Unleavened Bread. Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 30. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2011.
Digital Publications
Contributor to multiple entries in A Guide to Syriac Authors, The Syriac Biographical Dictionary, Vol. 2, eds. David A. Michelson, et al., Syriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portal, ed. David A. Michelson, 2016.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
“Evidence for Citations of 3 Corinthians and their Influence in the Demonstrations of Aphrahat.” Vigiliae Christianae 67.3 (2013): 248-262.
“Schøyen MS 574: Missing Pages from a Syriac Witness of the Asceticon of Abba Isaiah of Scete.” Le Museon 124:1 (2011).
“The Philoxenian Gospels as Reconstructed from the Writings of Philoxenos of Mabbug.” Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 13:2 (2010): 177-249.
Chapters in Edited Volumes
“Anti-Jewish Rhetoric and Christian Identity in Aphrahat’s Demonstrations,” in Aaron Michael Butts and Simcha Gross, eds., [Untitled volume on Jewish-Christian Relations in Syriac sources] (CUA Press, forthcoming).
“Reconsidering the Compositional Unity of Aphrahat’s Demonstrations,” in Aaron Michael Butts and Robin Darling Young, eds., Syriac Christian Culture: Beginnings to Renaissance (CUA Press, forthcoming).
“Son of Man, Son of God: Aphrahat’s Biblical Christology,” pages 9-19 in Vahan Hovhanessian, ed., The Old Testament as Authorotative Scripture in the Early Churches of the East. NY: Peter Lang, 2010.
Select Book Reviews
A State of Mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity, by Richard E. Payne. Oakland: UC Press. Ancient Jew Review. Forthcoming.
Basics of Classical Syriac, by Steven C. Hallam, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016. Reading Religion, (Published 8/23/2016).
The Orthodox Church in the Arab World, 700-1700: An Anthology of Sources, by Samuel Noble and Alexander Treiger, Northern Illinois University Press, 2014. Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, 19.1 (2016).
Basil of Caesarea. Questions of the Brothers: Syriac Text and English Translation, by Anna M. Silvas, Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity 3. Leiden: Brill, 2014. Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, 18.1 (2015).
Early Arabic Christian Contributions to Trinitarian Theology: The Development of the Doctrine of the Trinity in an Islamic Milieu, by Thomas W. Ricks, Fortress Press, 2013. Reviews in Religion and Theology 21.4 (2014).
The Case Against Diodore and Theodore: Texts and Their Contexts by John Behr. Oxford Early Christian Texts. Oxford: University Press, 2011. Reviews in Religion and Theology 19.3, (July 2012).
Ephrem, a ‘Jewish Sage’: A Comparison of the Exegetical Writings of St. Ephrem the Syrian and Jewish Traditions, by Elena Narinskaya. Studia Traditionis Theologicae 7. Turnhout: Brepols, 2010. Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 16.1 (2013).
Hermeneutics of Holiness: Ancient Jewish and Christian Notions of Sexuality and Religious Community, by Naomi Koltun-Fromm. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Review of Biblical Literature. (Published 3/3/2012).
The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam, by Sydney H. Griffith. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008. Restoration Quarterly 53:2 (2011).
IV. Courses Taught
Rochester College
“Special Topics: History and Formation of the Bible” (Spring 2017)
“Biblical Interpretation” (Fall 2016)
“Biblical Study Tools” (Spring 2016, Spring 2017)
“History of Early Christianity” (Spring 2016, Spring 2017)
“Survey of Biblical Literature” (Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016)
Lecturer, St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Diocese (Detroit)
“Introduction to Syriac” (Summer 2016)
Graduate Instructor, Princeton Theological Seminary
“The Formation of the Biblical Canons” (Spring 2015)
Teaching Assistant, Princeton University
“The World of Late Antiquity” (J. Tannous, Spring 2014)
“From Jesus to Constantine” (E. Pagels, Fall 2012, 2013)
“The New Testament and Christian Origins” (E. Pagels, Spring 2013; A. Luijendijk, Spring 2014)
Teaching Assistant, Princeton Theological Seminary
“Christian Women in the World of Late Antiquity” (K. McVey, May 2012)
“The Evolution of the Trinitarian Doctrine” (K. McVey, Spring 2012)
“Survey of Early and Medieval Church History” (K. McVey, Fall 2011; P. Rorem, Fall 2012, 2013)
“Early Syriac Christianity and the Rise of Islam” (K. McVey, Fall 2010)
Adjunct Instructor, Abilene Christian University
“New Testament: Acts-Revelation” (Spring 2010)
“Christianity and Culture” (Spring 2009-Spring 2010)
V. Invited Lectures
“Early Syriac Literature” in George Kiraz’ “Introduction to Syriac” course at Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute (August 2014, 2015)
VI. Fellowships, Awards, and Honors
North American Patristics Society, Dissertation Final Year Award, 2014-15
Abraham J. Malherbe Fellowship, Christian Scholarship Fund, 2014-15
Princeton Theological Seminary Doctoral Fellowship, 2010-Present
Princeton Theological Seminary Trustees Merit Scholarship, 2010-Present
Outstanding Thesis Award from the ACU, Graduate School Association, May 2009
Harding University Trustee Scholarship Recipient and Honors Scholar, 2001-2005
VII. Conference Presentations
Narsai: Rethinking His Work and His World (Workshop), 2017: “Where Soul Meets Body: Bodily Sensation and the Sleep of the Soul in Aphrahat and Narsai”
North American Patristics Society, 2017: “Collecting Writings and Constructing a Genre: The Demonstrations of Aphrahat as an Edited Anthology”
North American Patristics Society, 2016: “‘Semitic’ Christianity: Geography, Language, and the Marginalization of Christian Thought”
North American Syriac Symposium, 2015: “Reconsidering the Compositional Unity of Aphrahat’s Demonstrations”
Hugoye Symposium IV, 2015: Syriac and the Digital Humanities: “Digital Critical Editions for Syriac Texts”
Dorushe Graduate Student Syriac Conference, 2014: “Dissertation Report—Aphrahat and the Construction of Christian Identity in Fourth-Century Persia”
AAR Annual Meeting, 2014: “The Chronicle of Beit Slok: Religious Competition and Urban Space in Late Antique Persia”
SBL Annual Meeting, 2013: “Show Me, O Sage: Aphrahat’s Rhetorical Use of a Jewish Interlocutor”
SBL Annual Meeting, 2012: “Adhesion and Conversion: Re-Defining Categories of Religious Change in Late Antiquity”
North American Patristics Society, 2012: “Ephrem’s Polemic of Religious Identity”
SBL Annual Meeting, 2011: “The Living Soul: Aphrahat’s Anthropology in Context”
North American Syriac Symposium, 2011: “Aphrahat and the Formation of Christian Identity”
SBL Annual Meeting, 2009: “Literal Translation as Doctrine: The Philoxenian New Testament”
North American Patristics Society, 2009: “The Philoxenian Version of the New Testament”
SBL Annual Meeting, 2008: “Son of God, Son of Man: Aphrahat’s Biblical Christology”
VIII. Professional Experience
Co-Editor, The Oxford-BYU Syriac Corpus [forthcoming]
Co-Editor (with David A. Michelson), A Digital Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Library, Syriaca.org
Member, Executive Editorial Board, Syriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portal
Assistant Editor, Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies, August 2011-Present
Member of Steering Committee, SBL Syriac Language and Literature Group, January 2015-Present
Administrator, Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute, August 2011-Present
Organization Committee, Dorushe Graduate Student Syriac Conference, August 2013-Present
PTS History Department Ph.D. Representative, September 2011-September 2012