Dr Mark Finney

Lecturer

BA, MLitt, PhD

Email: m.t.finney@sheffield.ac.uk

Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 0512

Department address: 45 Victoria St, Sheffield, S3 7QB

Brief personal biography

An interest in religion and ancient history led Mark to pursue undergraduate studies at the London School of Theology and then postgraduate work (M.Litt & PhD) at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. His doctoral work was a multi-disciplinary work applying social-scientific models to 1 Corinthians with particular interest in the Greco-Roman social context of Paul's letter. During this period he also held a lecturing post at the Scottish Baptist College, Glasgow. On completion of his PhD in 2004 he remained at St Andrews as a Teaching Fellow.

In 2008 he began work in Middle Eastern studies at the University of Nottingham researching in the area of Orientalism and religion, identity and conflict (with particular interest in the Palestinian-Israeli dispute). He also held a teaching post at the ministerial training institution, St John´s College, Nottingham. Mark joined the University of Sheffield in 2009.

One of Mark's major research interests is conflict and violence in the sacred texts and traditions of Judaism and Christianity and also in contemporary aspects of religion and conflict in the Middle East (e.g., the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Zionism, Christian Zionism, and the influence of the Christian Right in US foreign policy). In addition, he has an interest in concepts of afterlife and also in religion and art.

Research interests

• Afterlife
• Christian Origins & Early Christian Identity
• Crucifixion
• Religion & Art
• Religion & Violence
• Religion, Politics, & the Modern Middle East
• Social-scientific approaches to Biblical Interpretation
• The Apostle Paul
• The Imperial Cult
• The New Testament in its Greco-Roman context

Current research projects / collaborations

• Religion and Violence in Judaism and Christianity: Ancient and Modern Perspectives
• Resurrection and Life after Death in Post-Biblical Judaism and the New Testament

Research supervision

• Afterlife
• Christian Origins & Early Christian Identity
• Religion and Violence
• Religion, Politics, and the modern Middle East
• Social-scientific approaches to Biblical Interpretation
• The Apostle Paul
• The Gospel Passion Narratives
• The New Testament in its Greco-Roman context

Teaching

• PhD supervision
• Greek Language and Texts (MA)
• Research Methods (MA)
• Religion and Violence (level 3 and MA)
• The Letters of Paul (level 3)
• The Bible and the Arts (level 3)
• The Gospel of John (level 3)
• New Testament Greek (levels 1 and 2)
• Understanding the New Testament (level 1)
• An Introduction to Islam (level 1)

Recent publications

• Resurrection, Hell and the Afterlife: Body and Soul in Antiquity, Judaism and Early Christianity
   (forthcoming 2014)
• ‘Jesus & the Contours of Oppression: Labelling & Deviance in the Johannine Passion Narrative’ in David Chalcraft (ed.), New Directions in Social Scientific and Cultural Studies: Approaches to the Bible (Sheffield: Phoenix Press, 2014).
• ‘The Priority of the Soul: Constructions of Afterlife in Second Temple Judaism’ (forthcoming, 2013)
• ‘Christian Zionism, the US and the Middle East: A Sketch & Brief Analysis’ in M. Sandford (ed.), The Bible, Zionism and Palestine: A Sheffield Colloquium (Relegere, forthcoming, 2013)
• ‘Social Identity and Conflict in Corinth: 1 Corinthians 11.17-34 in Context’ in J. Brian Tucker and Coleman A. Baker (eds), T&T Clark Handbook for Social Identity and the New Testament (London: T&T Clark, 2013).
• ‘Afterlives of the Afterlife: The Development of Hell in its Jewish and Christian Contexts’ in J. Cheryl Exum & David J. A. Clines (eds), Biblical Reception 2 (Sheffield: Phoenix Press, 2013), 150-71.
• ‘Servile Supplicium, Shame and the Deuteronomic Curse: Crucifixion in Its Cultural Context’ in Biblical Theology Bulletin 43.3 (2013), 124-34.
• ‘Jesus in Visual Imagination: The Art of Invention’ in J. Cheryl Exum & David J. A. Clines (eds), Biblical Reception 1 (Sheffield: Phoenix Press, 2012), 1-28.
• Honour and Conflict in the Ancient World: 1 Corinthians in its Greco-Roman Social-Setting (London: Continuum/T&T Clark, 2012)
• 'Honour, Head-coverings & Headship: 1 Corinthians 11.2-16 in its Social Context' in Journal for the Study of the New Testament 33.1 (2011), 31-58. pdf available (268kb)
• ‘Honour, Rhetoric, and Factionalism in the Ancient World: 1 Cor 1-4 in its Social Context’ in Biblical Theology Bulletin vol. 40 no. 1 (2010), 27-36. pdf available (173 Kb)

Other professional activities

• New Testament External Examiner, the University of Aberdeen
• Society of Biblical Literature
• British New Testament Society
• Book reviewer (JSNT, JTS)