James Murphy
Associate Professor of Religion
Biography
Dr. James Murphy is faculty of religious studies and a resident biblical scholar. He is one of less than 20 scholars in the world currently researching and writing about children in the biblical world of antiquity, a subfield of inquiry that emerged in the late 2000s. He has published on children in Deuteronomy and 1 Samuel but primarily writes on children in relation to the Jesus movement, the Gospels and the hypothetical sayings gospel Q. He is currently exploring Jewish sectarian documents from the Second Temple period in relation to children.
Specialties also include kinship, sexuality and asceticism, literary criticism, deconstruction, Greco-Roman religions and Second Temple Judaism. He has co-led study abroad trips to Greece and participated in excavations at Banias, Israel. He has been with ÈÕ±¾avÊÓƵ since 2011, taught history at Evangel University from 2002-06 and taught Old Testament as a graduate student at Missouri State University 1999-2001.
Specialties also include kinship, sexuality and asceticism, literary criticism, deconstruction, Greco-Roman religions and Second Temple Judaism. He has co-led study abroad trips to Greece and participated in excavations at Banias, Israel. He has been with ÈÕ±¾avÊÓƵ since 2011, taught history at Evangel University from 2002-06 and taught Old Testament as a graduate student at Missouri State University 1999-2001.
Education
- B.A. in history and social science education | Evangel University | 1998
- M.A. in religious studies | Missouri State | 2000
- Ph.D. in biblical interpretation | University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology | 2011
Academic and Professional Experience
Academic Interests
- Torah
- Gospels
- Historical Jesus
- Jewish sectarian Second Temple history and literature
- Literary and deconstructive analysis
- Children in the Bible
- Women in the Bible
- Kinship, sexuality and asceticism
- Greco-Roman religions
- Hebrew Bible and Christian origins
Academic Responsibilities
- Introduction to Religion
- World Religions
- Old Testament
- New Testament
- The Gospels/Historical Jesus
- Apocalyptic Texts and Sects
- Women and Religion
- Early Christian Era
- The Reformation and Counter Reformation
- Religion in American Culture
Committees and Professional Memberships
- Society of Biblical Literature
Work Experience
- 2019-present, associate director of American and global studies, ÈÕ±¾avÊÓƵ.
- 2017-present, associate professor of religion, ÈÕ±¾avÊÓƵ.
- 2011-2017, assistant professor of religion, ÈÕ±¾avÊÓƵ.
- 2006-2011, affiliate faculty, Colorado Christian University.
- 2002-2006, assistant professor of history, Evangel University.
- 1999-2001, graduate teaching assistant, Missouri State University.
Research and Scholarly Work
Areas of Research
- Children in relation 1 Enoch, Jubilees and other Jewish sectarian Second Temple texts.
- Jesus movement of the first century.
- The hypothetical source behind Mathew and Luke known as "Q."
Awards and Honors
- 2017, Hendrickson Scholar/Cheever Lecture Award
Publications
Books:
- 2013. Kids and Kingdom: the Precarious Presence of Children in the Synoptic Gospels. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications.
Articles:
- 2019. "Children and the Sayings Source Q – What the Double Tradition Reveals about Q's Attitude toward Children, Part B: Q 11:19-20; 12:53; 14:26; and 17:1-2," Biblical Interpretation 27, no. 1 (in press).
- 2018. "Contrasting Portrayals of Children in 1 Samuel." Point of View Publishing.
- 2018. "Focusing on the Child Next to Jesus in Mark 9:33-37." Point of View Publishing.
- 2014. "Undesired Offspring and Child Endangerment in Jewish Antiquity," Journal of Childhood and Religion 5.
- 2012. "Children in Deuteronomy: The Partisan Nature of Divine Justice," Biblical Interpretation 20, no. 1: 1-15.
Book Chapters:
- 2020. "Children in Mark: A Deconstructive Approach." Pages 196-216 in "Listening to and Learning from Children in the Biblical World," eds. Kristine Henriksen Garroway and John W. Martens. Leiden: Brill.
- 2019. "The 'Lost Boys' (and Girls) of Q's 'Neverland.'" Pages 291-310 in "T&T Clark Handbook to Children and Childhood in the Biblical World," eds. Sharon Betsworth and Julie Faith Parker. London, New York, Oxford, New Delhi, Sydney: Bloomsbury/T&T Clark.
Book Reviews:
- 2019. . Lexington/Fortress Press, 2019, in Review of Biblical Literature.
- 2016. , 2013, in Review of Biblical Literature.
- 2016. Review of "The Reign of God is Such as These: a Socio-Literary Analysis of Daughters in the Gospel of Mark" by Sharon Betsworth. London/New York: T&T Clark, 2010, in the Journal of Childhood and Religion.
- 2010. Review of "The Child in the Bible," eds. Marcia J. Bunge, et al. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008, in the Journal of Childhood and Religion.
In Review:
- "Children and the Sayings Source Q – What the Double Tradition Reveals about Q's Attitude toward Children, Part A: Q 7:31-32; 9:59-62; and 11:11-13," (in review).
Associated Areas
