Tusculum College’s Dr. Travis B. Williams, assistant professor of religion, will have several academic articles published in the next few months.
“Intertextuality and Methodological Bias: A Prolegomena to the Evaluation of Source Materials in 1 Peter” will be published in the December issue of the “Journal for the Study of the New Testament,” while “Reciprocity and Suffering in 1 Peter 2,19-20: Reading Xάρις in Its Ancient Social Context,” is scheduled to appear in the upcoming issue of “Biblica.”
He has also been invited to contribute an essay to a forthcoming reference series, “The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries” (Bloomsbury T&T Clark). His contribution will be entitled, “The Reception of Jesus in the Petrine Epistles and Jude.”
“Intertextuality and Methodological Bias: A Prolegomena to the Evaluation of Source Materials in 1 Peter” attempts to expose some of the methodological problems surrounding the consensus view on the similarities of 1 Peter and other New Testament epistles, and seeks to establish reliable criteria which can be used to determine literary relationships between New Testament documents.
“Reciprocity and Suffering in 1 Peter 2,19-20: Reading Xάρις in Its Ancient Social Context” looks at the ancient social dynamics which underlie 1 Peter 2:19-20. By interpreting χάρις within the framework of reciprocity and gift-exchange in the Greco-Roman world, the study not only brings fresh perspective to a problem which has long divided scholarship, it also suggests a new direction for understanding the letter’s theology of suffering.
Williams has taught for the college since 2010 and has several previous books and articles written on 1 Peter. Williams’ received a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.