Current Research Projects
Read through our research staff profiles below to find out more about the projects we are working on at the moment.
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Professor David Chalcraft (Head of Department) David's current research lays at the intersection of biblical studies and sociology. Utilising sociological concepts, methods and theories within biblical studies, David is interested in theorising the meaning and use of biblical narratives in late modernity and in postcolonial contexts. David co-founded the journal Max Weber Studies in 2000. David is currently developing a project on African American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois and in December 2012 visited India as a guest of UtC Bangalore to present a key note lecture, "A Biblical Passage To India", at the Jubilee meeting of the Indian Society for Biblical Studies. |
Professor James Crossley James' current research interests involve the historical, ideological and political contexts of contemporary scholarship and the use of New Testament texts in popular and political culture. His latest book, Jesus in an Age of Neoliberalism (2012) analyses the ideology underpinning scholarly and popular quests for the historical Jesus in a neoliberal age. James is currently working on a project on the construction of ‘religion’ in the British media with Professor Jackie Harrison (Journalism Studies). |
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Dr Katie Edwards Following on from the work published in her recent book Admen and Eve (2012), Katie's current projects examine constructions of masculinity, male sexualities and ethnicity in contemporary popular cultural representations of Jesus/Christ, with particular reference to hip-hop music and male-targeted sports advertising. She is also examining the figures of Mary Magdalene and Mary, Mother of Jesus and their key roles in the construction and subversion of contemporary popular cultural ideals of femininity. Katie curates the Hidden Perspectives project, the first year of which is funded by Arts Enterprise. |
Dr Mark Finney Mark's recent book, Honour and Conflict in the Ancient World (2011) argues that the conflict in 1 Corinthians is driven by lust for honour and Paul's use of the paradigm of the cross. Mark's other research interests include religion and violence, social-scientific interpretation of the New Testament, the social world of early Christianity, and the New Testament in its Greco-Roman context. |
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Professor Hugh Pyper Hugh is currently working on a major book on the history of the concept of an 'Old Testament' and its cultural consequences. His recent books include The Unchained Bible: Cultural Appropriations of Biblical Texts (2012) and The Joy of Kierkegaard (2011), and he recently co-edited a collection of essays on the depiction of otherness in illustrated children's bibles. Hugh is currently working with Sheffield Artist Richard Bartle on an Arts Enterprise funded project as Bartle prepares artwork for a future project on Jerusalem following successful exhibitions in Turkey and the UK. |
Civic Engagement ProjectsDid you know that in addition to publishing books and journal articles, our staff are involved in a range of collaborative research projects working with external partners and organisations? For more information visit our Working Together page for more information on Katie Edward's Project, Hidden Perspectives and Hugh Pyper's project, 'Jerusalem' with Artist Richard Bartle. Both of these projects are supported by Arts Enterprise. |
Recent publications
Monographs
K. Edwards, Admen and Eve: The Bible in Contemporary Advertising (Sheffield: Phoenix Press, 2012).
J.G. Crossley, Jesus in an Age of Neoliberalism: Quests, Scholarship and Ideology (London: Equinox, 2012).
H. Pyper, The Unchained Bible: Cultural Appropriations of Biblical Texts (London: T&T Clark, 2012).
H. Pyper, and C. Vander Stichele (eds), Text, Image, and Otherness in Children's Bibles (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012)
H. Pyper, The Joy of Kierkegaard: Essays on Kierkegaard as a Biblical Reader (London: Equinox, 2011).
J.G. Crossley, Reading the New Testament: Contemporary Approaches (London and New York: Routledge, 2010).
M. Finney, Honour and Conflict in the Ancient World: 1 Corinthians in its Greco-Roman Social-Setting (2011).
J.G. Crossley, Jesus in an Age of Terror: Scholarly Projects for a New American Century (London and Oakville: Equinox, 2008).
D. Chalcraft et. al (eds), Max Weber Matters: Interweaving Past and Present (London: Ashgate, 2008)
D. Chalcraft, Sectarianism in Early Judaism: Sociological Advances (London, Equinox, 2007)
H.Pyper, An Unsuitable Book: The Bible as Scandalous Text (Sheffield: Phoenix Press, 2005)
Edited volumes
H. Moxnes, W. Blanton and J. Crossley, eds., Jesus beyond Nationalism: Constructing the Historical Jesus in a Period of Cultural Complexity (London and Oakville: Equinox, 2010)
E Ben Zvi, D. Edelman and F. Polak, eds., A Palimpsest: Rhetoric, Ideology, Stylistics and Language Relating to Persian Israel. Piscataway, NJ: Giorgias Press, October, 2009). 307 pp. Including chapters: 'God Rhetoric: Reconceptualizing Yahweh Sebaot as Yahweh Elohim in the Hebrew Bible', pp. 191-219; and 'Ezra 1-6 as Idealized Past', pp. 178-190.
Chapters within edited volumes
H. Pyper, 'Whose prophecy is it anyway? What Micah 3:12 is doing in Jeremiah 36,' in D. Burns and J. Rogerson (eds.), In Search of Philip Davies: Whose Festschrift is it Anyway? (London: T&T Clark, 2010).
H. Pyper, 'Cultivated Outrage: World Wrestling Entertainment and the Religious Excess of Violence,' in E. Christianson, C. Partridge (eds.), Understanding Violence and Religion in Popular Culture (London: Equinox, 2010).
J. Crossley, 'Mark 7.1-23: Revisiting the Question of "All Foods Clean"', in Torah in the New Testament (ed. M. Tait and P. Oakes; London and New York: Continuum/T&T Clark, 2009), pp. 8-20.
H. Pyper, 'Henrik Nicolai Clausen: The Voice of Urbane Rationalism,' in Jon Stewart (ed.) Kierkegaard and his Danish Contemporaries Tome II Theology (Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources, Volume 7 Tome II; London: Ashgate, 2009), pp. 41-48.
H. Pyper, 'The Bible: Hinge or Fringe?' in D. Bird and S. Smith (eds.) Theology and Religious Studies in Higher Education: Global Perspectives (London: Continuum, 2009), pp. 184-190.
Journal articles
J.G. Crossley, ‘For EveryManc a Religion: Uses of Biblical and Religious Language in the Manchester Music Scene, 1976-1994’, Biblical Interpretation 19 (2011), pp. 151-180
M. Finney, 'Head-coverings and Headship: 1 Corinthians 11.2-16 in its Social Context', Journal for the Study of the New Testament 33 (2010), pp. 31-58.
M. Finney, 'Honour, Rhetoric, and Factionalism in the Ancient World: 1 Corinthians 1-4 in its Social Context', Biblical Theology Bulletin 40 (2010), pp. 27-36.
H. Pyper, 'Rough Justice: Lars von Trier's Dogville and the Theology of Wrath', Political Theology 11 (2010), pp. 321-334.
J.G. Crossley, 'Writing about the Historical Jesus: Historical Explanation and "the Big Why Questions", or Antiquarian Empiricism and Victorian Tomes?', Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 7 (2009), pp. 63-90.
H. Pyper, 'Crucifixion in the Concert Hall: Secular and Sacred in James MacMillan's Passion of St John,' Literature and Theology 23 (2009), 344-355.
M. Finney, 'Conflict and Honour in the Ancient World: Some Thoughts on the Social Problems Behind 1 Corinthians', Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association (2007).
Dictionary and Encyclopedia entries
J.G. Crossley, ‘Empire (Literature)’ in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, forthcoming)
M. Finney, 'Koinonia' in New Interpreter´s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume III, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008).
M. Finney, 'Common', 'Common Life', 'Community', 'Community of Goods', in The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Volume I, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006).