Matthew Thiessen

Associate Professor, Religious Studies

My research interests focus on the rise of Christianity particularly as it relates to early Judaism. I focus on questions related to ethnicity and identity construction in order to better understand the way in which ancient religions functioned. I have written and continue to write on Jesus, the gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and the letters of the apostle Paul. I am the author of four books, Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity (OUP, 2011), Paul and the Gentile Problem (OUP, 2016), Jesus and the Forces of Death: The Gospels’ Portrayal of Ritual Impurity within First-Century Judaism (Baker Academic, 2020), and A Jewish Paul: The Messiah's Herald to the Gentiles (Baker Academic, 2023).