Scholarly articles

Most of my writings have been scholarly, aimed at advancing knowledge about the history of religion — especially about the Bible and early Christianity. CLICK BELOW to find access to dozens of my scholarly articles in flagship academic journals.

Scholarly? Popular? In-between?

Scholarly? Popular? In-between?

Representative and influential articles for a general audience are linked below.

  • Is this the oldest image of the Virgin Mary?

    Read in the New York Times

  • The Bible & Marian Art

    Read in Commonweal

  • Before Gutenberg: Catholics and the Bible

    Read in The Tablet (UK)

  • The Spiritual Exercises of Springsteen

    Read in Notre Dame Magazine

  • A theology professor reckons with A.I.

    Read in Bloomberg (subscription required)

  • Fumbling the First Amendment: on the case of the praying football coach

    Read in Commonweal

  • Curating a classroom: On teaching during Covid

    Read in Commonweal

  • Persuading anti-vaxxers

    Read in Commonweal

  • During Covid, we should have had school outside

    Read in The Examiner News (New York)

  • Old Glory to God: on the distinctions between civil religion and idolatry

    Read in Commonweal

  • Household Names: The Women of Earliest Christian Rome

    Read in Commonweal

  • What does the struggle for racial justice look like, without the Black Church?

    Read in Commonweal

  • Review of "Chrétiens d’Orient, 2000 Ans d’Histoire," a major exhibit in France

    Read in Public Orthodoxy

  • ISIS and the destruction of Syrian Christianity

    Read in America

  • The Party's Over: Reflecting on my father's terminal illness

    Read in Notre Dame Magazine

  • A cold war kid reviews "The Man Who Saved The World"

    Read in Commonweal

  • Is Pope Francis a liberal?

    Read in Commonweal

  • Testing the boundaries: What it really means to "think with the Church"

    Read in Commonweal

  • A Catholic theologian responds to the Biden - Ryan V.P. debate

    Read in the New York Times

  • The Secret Weapon: On religious abuse at Guantanamo

    Read in Commonweal

  • Disgrace: follow-up reporting on religious abuse at Guantanamo

    Read in Commonweal

  • Schools aren't factories: on the standardized testing debate

    Read in the Huffington Post

  • Why so few conservatives become professors

    Read in Commonweal

  • Why isn't academic theology conservative?

    Read in Commonweal

  • Should Catholics read the non-canonical gospels?

    Read in U.S. Catholic

  • What holds America together?

    Read at Commonweal

  • St. Ignatius Loyola on the Trinity as a musical triad

    Read in Commonweal