J. Chhakchhuak (Judson) MA

In my PhD project, I study the status of ethnicity in the Gospels and early Christian literature. I argue that the ethnographic background knowledge of the characters in gospels is assumed on the part of the audience. And I analyze how the authors draw on these assumptions and confirms, subverts or transcends existing views and stereotypes of their characters’ ethnic identities.

Although it is now clear that ancient writers often used ethnographic information as a rhetorical device to advance their agendas, utilization of ethnographic information in the interpretation of the New Testament and related texts is still in its early stages. This project is therefore a worthwhile project on its own terms, but it is also valuable as a contribution to the larger, burgeoning scholarly enterprise of utilizing ancient ethnography in the interpretation of the New Testament and related literature.



Supervisors: Dr. Matthijs den Dulk, Prof. dr. Jan van der Watt