Jason A. Staples
Department of Religious Studies
125 Saunders Hall, CB# 3225
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3225
Department Phone: (919) 962-5666
Department Fax: (919) 962-1567
Email: jasonastaples [at] gmail dot com
Education:
Ph.D. University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC), 2007–2012 (expected)
Department of Religious Studies
Specialization: Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Concentration: New Testament/Christian Origins/Early Judaism/Early Christianity
M.A. Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL), 2007
Department of Religion
Religions of Western Antiquity
Concentrations: Early Judaism and Early Christianity
Advisors: David B. Levenson and Eibert Tigchelaar
B.A. (cum laude), Florida State University, 2004
Religious Studies (Minors: Classics and Economics)
Dissertation:
“Paul, the Gentiles, and the Restoration of Israel”
The dissertation reexamines the apostle Paul’s statements about Israel and his mission to the Gentiles from the perspective of apocalyptic restoration eschatology. My thesis is that Paul believed that the “new covenant” restoration of all twelve tribes of Israel promised in the prophets was coming to pass as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus—but since the northern house of Israel had long before intermarried with the nations into which they had been scattered by the Assyrians and thereby become ethnically indistinct from the Gentiles, Paul comes to the radical conclusion that Israel’s full restoration could happen only through the ingathering and incorporation of faithful spirit-filled Gentiles into the community of the redeemed. The dissertation thus shows Paul’s proclamation and Gentile mission to be firmly grounded within the “restoration eschatology” familiar to students of first-century apocalyptic Judaism and the early Jesus movement while also making sense of Paul’s seemingly contradictory statements about the fate of Israel.
Committee: Bart D. Ehrman (chair), Douglas Campbell, Jodi Magness, Zlatko Plese, Robert Jewett
Peer-Reviewed Articles:
Reviews, Essays, and Short Notices:
Review of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [film], Journal of Religion and Film 15.1 (2011).
“Shadowlands, Myth, and the Creation of Meaning in Inception,” Journal of Religion and Film 14.1 (2010).
“Greek Oratory and Rhetoric” and “Old Kingdom (Egypt),” in The Encyclopedia of World History, vol. 1. New York: Facts on File, 2007.
Courses Taught:
Fall Semester, 2011
Birth of Christianity
Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Summer Session, 2011
Introduction to New Testament Literature
Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fall Semester, 2010
Jesus in Myth, Tradition, and History
Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Spring Semester, 2007
Introduction to the New Testament
Department of Religion, Florida State University
Spring Semester, 2007
Biblical Hebrew II
The Center for Biblical Studies, Tallahassee, FL
Fall Semester, 2006
Biblical Hebrew I
The Center for Biblical Studies, Tallahassee, FL
Courses Assisted:
Spring Semester, 2007
Introduction to New Testament Literature (w/Bart Ehrman)
Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fall Semester, 2006
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (w/Bart Ehrman)
Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fall Semester, 2006
Beginning Biblical Hebrew I (w/David Levenson)
Department of Religion, Florida State University
Spring Semester, 2006
Jerusalem: Conflict and Controversy from Antiquity to Present (pilot semester w/David Levenson)
Department of Religion, Florida State University
Fall Semester, 2005
Business Ethics and Moral Leadership (pilot semester w/John Kelsay and Robert Brymer)
Department of Religion/Business School, Florida State University
Spring Semester, 2005
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (w/Scott Cason)
Department of Religion, Florida State University
Fall Semester, 2004
Religion and Existentialism (w/David Kangas)
Department of Religion, Florida State University
Academic Presentations:
“Ephraim’s Return: Reexamining the Parable of the Prodigal Son.” Presented at SECSOR, Louisville, KY, March 5, 2011.
“‘Lord, LORD’: The Divine Name in the Synoptics.” Presented at the SBL Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, November 22, 2010.
“‘Lord, LORD’: The Divine Name in the Synoptics.” Presented at SECSOR, Atlanta, GA, March 2010.
“Gentiles Who Keep the Law: Paul’s Law-Keeping Gospel.” Presented at SBL Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, November 23, 2009.
“Gentiles Who Keep the Law: Paul’s Law-Keeping Gospel.” Presented at SECSOR, Greensboro, NC, March 2009.
“Gentiles Who Keep the Law: Paul’s Law-Keeping Gospel.” Presented at the Florida State University Graduate Symposium, Tallahassee, FL, February 22, 2009.
“All Israel: What Do the Gentiles Have to Do With It? A Fresh Look at Romans 11:25–27.” Presented at the SBL Annual Meeting, Boston, November 22, 2008.
“Saved by Works of Faith, Not by Works of Law.” Presented at the Society for Pentecostal Studies and Wesleyan Theological Society Third Joint Meeting, Durham, NC, March 2008.
“The Return of the Northern Kingdom: Reexamining the Parable of the Prodigal Son.” Presented at the Florida State University Graduate Symposium, Tallahassee, FL, April 2006.
“All Israel: What Do the Gentiles Have to Do with It? A Fresh Look at Romans 11:25–27.” Presented at AAR/SBL Southeastern Regional Meeting, Atlanta, March 2006.
“Must Elijah Come First? An Analysis of Early Jewish Eschatological Traditions.” Presented at the Florida State University Graduate Symposium, Tallahassee, FL, April 2005.
Fellowships, Honors, and Awards:
Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, 2008–2012
UNC Tanner Teaching Assistants Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 2009
Ph.D. Preliminary exams awarded “Honors,” UNC-Chapel Hill, 2010
M.A. Field Exam in Early Christianity awarded “Honors,” UNC-Chapel Hill, 2008
UNC Doctoral Merit Assistantship, 2007–2008
FSU College of Arts and Sciences Teaching Fellowship, 2004–2005
FSU Department of Religion Graduate Assistantship, 2004–2007
National Merit Scholar, 2000
Doctoral Examinations:
(1) Greek (New Testament and Apostolic Fathers)
(2) Graeco-Roman Rhetoric, Religion, and Philosophy (Special Topics: Imperial Platonism, Graeco-Roman Rhetoric)
(3) Early Judaism (Special Topic: Jewish Sectarianism)
(4) Early Christianity (Special Topic: Paul: Life and Letters)
(5) Early Jewish-Christian Relations (Special Topic: Paul and Israel)
Guest Lectures
“The Divided Kingdom and Early Prophecy,” Florida State University, Feb 19, 2007.
“What is Religion?” UNC-Chapel Hill, Jan 25, 2010.
Academic Service:
University Teaching Awards Committee, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 2010.
Convener, Christianity in Antiquity Colloquium (joint UNC-Duke), 2009, 2011–12.
Academic Employment—Research:
Research Assistant for David B. Levenson, summer 2006
Proof-editor for Nicole Kelley, Problems of Knowledge and Religious Authority in the Pseudo-Clementines: Situating the Recognitions in Fourth-Century Syria. WUNT 2.213. Tübingen: Mohr Ziebeck, 2006. (Checked and edited primary and secondary source citations in Latin, Greek, French, and German; checked Latin and Greek translations; aided in preparing proofs; and prepared indices)
Research Assistant for John Kelsay, summer 2005
Other Academic Employment:
Hebrew Tutor, Florida State University Athletic Academic Support, 2006.
GRE Instructor and Tutor, Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, 2005–2007
Languages:
Ancient: Greek (Classical and Koine), Classical Hebrew (Biblical and Dead Sea Scrolls), Latin, Aramaic, Syriac, Coptic, Middle Egyptian (beginning)
Modern: Spanish (intermediate), German (reading), French (reading), Hebrew (beginning)
Graduate Seminars Taken:
Textual Criticism, Bart Ehrman
Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity, Joel Marcus
2 Corinthians, Douglas Campbell
Apostolic Fathers, Bart Ehrman
Life of Paul, Douglas Campbell
Qoheleth, James Crenshaw
Early Judaism, Eibert Tigchelaar
Neoplatonism, Svetla Slaveva-Griffin
Dead Sea Scrolls, Matthew Goff
Ancient Synagogues, Jodi Magness
Judaism in the Graeco-Roman World, David Levenson
1 Enoch, Eibert Tigchelaar
Jewish-Christian Relations in Antiquity, David Levenson
Readings in Classical Rhetoric, Zlatko Plese
Forgery in Early Christianity, Bart Ehrman
Pseudo-Clementines, Nicole Kelley
New Testament and Early Christian Writings, Bart Ehrman
Gospel of Luke, Nicole Kelley
Thucydides: Books VI & VII, John Marincola
Euripides: The Bacchae, Ian Rutherford
Homer: Iliad, John Sickinger
Method and Theory in Religious Studies, John Corrigan
Proseminar in Methods and Theory, Randall Styers
Lineages in Religion and Culture, Ruel Tyson
Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound and Seven against Thebes, Francis Cairns (w/special permission as undergrad)
Herodotus: Books I & VI, John Marincola (as undergrad)
Early Christian Apocrypha, Nicole Kelley (as undergrad)
Rabbinic Judaism, David Levenson (as undergrad)
Professional Memberships:
Society of Biblical Literature
