Curriculum Vitae

E-mail: tburke@yorku.ca

Languages Spoken: English.

Languages Read: English, French, German, New Testament Greek, Latin, Syriac.

Current Status: Promoted to Full Professor, 1 July 2019. Area of specialization: Christian Origins.

Academic Interests: The study of Christian biographical literature of the second century (infancy gospels), children and the family in Roman antiquity, curses, and non-canonical Jewish and Christian writings.

I. EDUCATION

Ph. D. (1995-2001) University of Toronto, Centre for the Study of Religion

M. A. 1994-1995Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Religion & Culture

  • Major Field: Christian Origins
  • Supervisor: Dr. Michel Desjardins
  • Major Paper: “The Tour of Hell in the Greek/Ethiopic Apocalypse of Peter.”

B. A. 1987-1990 Wilfrid Laurier University, Department of Religion & Culture

  • Majors: English Literature, Religion & Culture

II. TEACHING HISTORY

2019-present: Professor, Dept. of the Humanities, Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University

2010-2019: Associate Professor, Dept. of the Humanities, Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University

2006-2010: Assistant Professor, School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University

2004-2006: Limited Term Contract, School of Arts and Letters, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University

2002-2004: Limited Term Contract in “Mediterranean Religions,” Wilfrid Laurier University

III. SCHOLARSHIPS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

2018: Winner, Frank W. Beare Award for outstanding book in the area of Christian Origins (for The Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Syriac Tradition). Administered annually by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.

2012: Winner, Frank W. Beare Award for outstanding book in the area of Christian Origins (for De infantia Iesu euangelium Thomae graece). Administered annually by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.

2009: Nominee, Faculty of Arts Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching 2009/2009, York University

2003: Nominee, 2002/2003 Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union Teaching Award.

1995-2001: University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowships.

1996: Winner of the Joachim Jeremias Prize from the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies for the essay: “The Gospel in Miniature: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as Children’s Story.”

IV. PUBLICATIONS

A. Books

2023: New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans (editor and contributor).

Reviews: Jan Bremmer (Early Christianity 14.2 [2023]: 247–57); Paul Foster (Expository Times 135.4 [2024]” 169–70); Gerbern Oegema (Review of Biblical Literature 02/12/23).

2020: New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans (editor and contributor).

Reviews: Andrew Gregory (Journal for the Study of the New Testament 43 [2021]: 84); Phillip J. Long (Reading Acts, 19/7/2020); Dilyana Radoslavova (Scripta & e-Scripta 21 [2021]: 381–85); Review Panel (Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses; Mona Tokarek LaFosse: Introduction and Review; Sean Hannan: Review; Ronald Charles: Review; Tony Burke: Response).

2017: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Syriac Tradition: A Critical Edition and English Translation. Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 48. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.

Reviews: J. K. Elliott (Novum Testamentum 61 [2019]:219–20); Joseph Azize (Review of Biblical Literature 3/7/2019); Stephen Shoemaker (Journal of Theological Studies 71.2 [2020]: 925–26).

Recipient of the 2018 Frank W. Beare Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions written in English or French by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.

2017: Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha. Proceedings of the 2015 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade (editor and contributor).

Reviews: Joseph Azize (Review of Biblical Literature 10/4/2018); Vicente Dobroruka (Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies 4 [2019]: 103–105); Michelle Sdao (Reading Religion, 28 April 2020)

2016: New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans (co-editor with Brent Landau and contributor).

Reviews: Athanasios Antonopoulos (Dialogos 9[2018]: 541–47); Valentina Calzolari (Le Muséon 131 [2018]: 469–72); Peter H. Davids (Bulletin for Biblical Research 27.4 [2017]: 603–604); Matthijs den Dulk (Reviews in Religion & Theology (5/7/2017; 452–54); Paul Foster (Novum Testamentum 59 [2017]: 437–40); Daniel M. Gurtner (Religious Studies Review 44.4 [2018]: 479); Peter M. Head (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 61.2 [2018]: 413–17); Philip Jenkins on Anxious Bench (27/11/2017); Jan Lambrecht (Analecta Bollandiana 135.1 [2017]: 194–195); Phillip J. Long (Reading Acts, 7/3/2018); Gavin McDowell (Apocrypha 28 [2017]: 241–52).

2015: Forbidden Texts on the Western Frontier: The Christian Apocrypha in North American Perspectives. Proceedings of the 2013 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade (editor and contributor).

Reviews: Julia Snyder (Review of Biblical Literature, 12/29/2016); Chance Bonar (Vigiliae Christianae 72 [2018]: 103–106); Sheldon Steen (Review of Biblical Literature, 7/12/2018).

2015: Rediscovering the Apocryphal Continent: New Perspectives on Early Christian and Late Antique Apocryphal Texts and Traditions. Edited by Pierluigi Piovanelli and Tony Burke. WUNT 349. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck (co-editor with Pierluigi Piovanelli).

Reviews: Kimberly Fowler (Journal for the Study of the New Testament 38.5 [2016]: 121-22); Simon Gathercole (Journal of Ecclesiastical History 69 [2018]: 117); Rémi Gounelle (Revue d’histoire et de Philosophie Religieuses 96.4 [2016]: 461–62); Silke Petersen (Theologische Revue 113 [2017]: 32–33); Christopher Tucket (Journal of Theological Studies 67 [2016]: 261–63); Anna Van den Kerchove (Apocrypha 29 [2018]: 216–19); Shaun Wilhite (Fides et Humilitas 3 [2016]: 152–55).

2014: The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Ancient Text that Reveals Jesus’ Marriage to Mary the Magdalene. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2014 (with Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson).

2013: Secret Scriptures Revealed. A New Introduction to the Christian Apocrypha. London: SPCK and Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Reviews: Publishers Weekly (25/11/2013), Brandon Hawk’s Blog (17/2/2014), James McGrath on Patheos.com (27/2/2014); Christopher Skinner on Crux sola (09/06/2014); Paul Foster (Theology 117.2 [2014]: 124-25); Phillip J. Long on Reading Acts (3/14/2014); Garrett Trott (Catholic Library World, Jun 2014); Ecumenism (Summer, 2014); Bible Today (September 2014); Stephen Shoemaker (Choice, Dec. 2014); Julia Snyder (Review of Biblical Literature, 10/15/2015); Janet Spittler (Interpretation 70.1 [2016]: 112-13). Eerdmans catalog entry.

2013: Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate. Proceedings of the 2011 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books (editor and contributor).

Reviews: James McGrath (Review of Biblical Literature, 5/5/2015), Michael Kok (Expository Times 126 [2015]: 452-53), J. K. Elliott (Novum Testamentum 56 [2014]: 333-34), Régis Burnet (Apocrypha 24 [2013]: 291-93), Daniel Gullotta’s Blog (26/08/2015).

2010: De infantia Iesu euangelium Thomae graece. Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum 17. Turnhout: Brepols.

Reviews: Patrick Andrist (Apocrypha 24 [2013]: 298-304); Paul Foster (Expository Times 123.12 [2012]: 590-93). Recipient of the 2012 Frank W. Beare Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions written in English or French by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies.

B. Journal Articles

2021: “Opera Evangelica: A Lost Collection of Christian Apocrypha” (co-authored with Gregory Fewster). New Testament Studies 67.3: 356–87.

2020: “3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John: A Byzantine Question-and-Answer Dialogue.” Le Muséon 133.3–4: 397–454 (co-authored with Chance Bonar).

2019: “Even More Christian Apocrypha.” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 48.3–4: 4–12 (available online for a limited time).

2019: “Cursing and the Apostle: The Fight or Authority in Early Christianity.” Forum 8.2: 81–108.

2019: “Gnostic Imagery in Disney’s Pinocchio.” Religious Studies and Theology 38.1–2: 87–99 (available online).

2016: “What Do We Talk About When We Talk About the Nag Hammadi Library?” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 45.2: 33–37.

2016: “‘Lost Gospels’ – Lost No More.” Biblical Archaeology Review Sept./Oct.: 41–47, 64–66.

2016: “Two New Witnesses to the Acta Pilati Tradition.” Le Muséon 129: 251–78.

2016: “The Syriac Tradition of the Legend of the Thirty Pieces of Silver.” Hugoye: Journal for Syriac Studies 19.1: 35–121 (with Slavomír Céplö). Online.

2015: “More Apocryphal Excavations.” Biblical Archaeology Review, Digging Deeper 3: 40 Futures, 22.

2014: “Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha: The Birth of Jesus in the Apocryphal Gospels.” Bible History Daily. Online.

2013: “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas from an Unpublished Syriac Manuscript. Introduction, Text, Translation, and Notes.” Hugoye: Journal for Syriac Studies 16.2: 225–99. Online.

2012: “More Christian Apocrypha.” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 41.3: 16–21.

2012: “Depictions of Children in the Apocryphal Infancy Gospels.” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 41:388–400.

2010: “Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium.” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 39: 405–20.

2008: “Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium.” SBL Forum (shortened version of 2010 SR/RS paper; Online).

2004: “The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Apocrypha 14: 129–51.

2003: “’Social Viewing’ of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.” Centre for the Study of Religion Colloquium Papers Vol. 3: Religion and the Child.

1998: “Authorship and Identity in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Toronto Journal of Theology 14/1:27–43.

1997: “Against the Proud Scholars of the Devil: Anti-intellectual Rhetoric in The Cloud of Unknowing.” Mystics Quarterly 23.3:115–36.

C. Essays

2023: “Decapitation of John the Forerunner” (158–77), “Epistles of Longinus, Augustus, Ursinus, and Patrophilus” (535–48), and “Martyrdom of Zechariah” (with Sarah Veale, 140–57). In New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 3. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

2020: “Questions of James to John” (with Kathleen Gibson, 461–80), and “3 Apocryphal Apocalypse of John” (with Chance Bonar and Slavomir Céplö, 423–60). In New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 2. Edited by Tony Burke. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

2019: “Mary in the Apocrypha.” Pages 40–53 in The Oxford Handbook of Mary. Edited by Chris Maunder. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2019: “The Reception of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Pages 107–21 in vol. 2 of The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries. Edited by Chris Keith, Helen Bond, and Jens Schröter. London: T & T Clark.

2019: “Travelling with Children: Flight Stories and Pilgrimage Routes in the Apocryphal Infancy Gospels.” Pages 379–97 in Children and Childhood in the Bible. Edited by Sharon Betsworth and Julie Faith Parker. London: T & T Clark.

2017: “Introduction” (1–32) and “Apocrypha and Forgeries: Lessons from the ‘Lost Gospels’ of the Nineteenth Century” (231–64). In Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha. Proceedings of the 2015 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Edited by Tony Burke. Eugene, OR: Cascade.

2016: “The Early Christian Apocrypha in Contemporary Theological Discourse” (441–57) and “The Early Christian Apocrypha in Popular Culture” (424–40). In Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha. Edited by Andrew Gregory and Christopher Tuckett. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2016: “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (Syriac)” (52–68), “The Acts of Cornelius” (with Witold Witakowski, 337–61), “The Legend of the Thirty Silver Pieces” (with Slavomir Céplö, 293–308). In New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

2015: “Introduction.” Pages 1–18 in Forbidden Texts on the Western Frontier: The Christian Apocrypha in North American Perspectives. Proceedings of the 2013 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Edited by Tony Burke.Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.

2015: “Entering the Mainstream: Twenty-five Years of Research on the Christian Apocrypha.” Pages 19–47 in Rediscovering the Apocryphal Continent: New Perspectives on Early Christian and Late Antique Apocryphal Texts and Traditions. Edited by Pierluigi Piovanelli and Tony Burke. WUNT 349. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

2014: “The New Testament and Other Early Christian Traditions in Serapion’s Life of John the Baptist.” Pages 281–99 in Christian Apocrypha: Receptions of the New Testament in Ancient Christian Apocrypha. Edited by Tobias Nicklas and Jean-Michel Roessli. Novum Testamentum Patristicum 26. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.

2013: “Introduction.” Pages 1–29 in Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate. Proceedings of the 2011 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Edited by Tony Burke. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.

2009: “‘Social Viewing’ of Children in the Childhood Stories of Jesus.” Pages 29–43 in Children in Ancient Christianity. Edited by Cornelia B. Horn and Robert R. Phenix. Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity, 58. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

2008: “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Pages 126–38 in The Non-Canonical Gospels. Edited by P. Foster. London: T & T Clark.

2008: “Completing the Gospel: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as a Supplement to the Gospel of Luke.” Pages 102–19 in The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity. Proceedings of the Montréal Colloquium in Honour of Charles Kannengeiser, 11-13 October 2006. Edited by L. DiTommaso and L. Turcescu. The Bible in Ancient Christianity. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

C. Encyclopedia Entries

2009: “Thomas, Infancy Gospel of,” in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 5, p. 586–88.

2008: “James, Protevangelium of,” in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 3, p. 194–96.

2007: “Apocalyptic” (p. 10–12) and “Eschatology” (p. 150–153) in E. M. Dowling and W. G. Scarlett (eds.), Encyclopedia of Spiritual and Religious Development in Childhood and Adolescence. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

D. Book Reviews

2020: The Other Side: Apocryphal Perspectives on Ancient Christian “Orthodoxies.” Edited by Tobias Nicklas, Candida R. Moss, Christopher Tuckett, and Joseph Verheyden. Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 24.1: 1–3.

2017: The Didache: A Missing Piece of the Puzzle in Early Christianity, edited by Jonathan A. Draper and Clayton N. Jefford. Biblical Archaeological Review 44.1: 64–65.

2016: The Many Faces of Christ: The Thousand-Year Story of the Survival and Influence of the Lost Gospels, by Philip Jenkins. Catholic Historical Review 102.4: 820–21.

2016: The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul, by David L. Eastman. Catholic Biblical Review 78.4: 775–76.

2014: En marge du canon: Études sur les écrits apocryphes juifs et chrétiens, edited by André Gagné and Jean-Francois Racine. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 76.1: 179–80.

2014: The Acts of Peter, by Robert F. Stoops. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 76.3: 128–29.

2014: Revisiting the Corruption of the New Testament: Manuscript, Patristic, and Apocryphal Evidence, edited by Daniel B. Wallace. Biblical Theology Bulletin 44.2: 118–19.

2014: Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics, by Bart D. Ehrman. Theology 117.2: 125–27.

2014: Infancy Gospels: Stories and Identities, edited by Claire Clivaz et al. Review of Biblical Literature [http://www.bookreviews.org/BookDetail.asp?TitleId=8991].

2012: The Reliability of the New Testament. Bart D. Ehrman and Daniel B. Wallace in Dialogue, edited by Robert B. Stewart. Consensus 34. 1: art. 17.

2012: Unlocking the Secrets of the Gospel According to Thomas: A Radical Faith for a New Age by Charles W. Hedrick. Toronto Journal of Theology 28.2: 321.

2012: Secret Scrolls: Revelations from the Lost Gospel Novels, by Robert M. Price. Biblical Theology Bulletin 42: 218–219.

2010: The Childhood of Jesus: Decoding the Apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas by Reidar Aasgaard. Journal of Early Christian Studies 18.3: 470–71.

2009: Judas: The Definitive Collection of Gospels and Legends about the Infamous Apostle of Jesus by Marvin Meyer. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 71.2: 412.

2009: The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation, by April D. DeConick. Biblical Theology Bulletin 39: 109–10.

2006: The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Development of the New Testament Writings by Thomas L. Brodie. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68: 756–58.

2005: Playing a Jewish Game: Gentile Christian Judaizing in the First and Second Centuries CE by Michele Murray. Toronto Journal of Theology 21: 256–57.

2004: Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction by Hans-Josef Klauck. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 66: 655–57.

2002: The Survivors of Israel: A Reconsideration of the Theology of Pre-Christian Judaism by Mark Adam Elliott. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64: 572–77.

2002: L’évangile de l’enfance (Luc 1-2) selon le Proto-Luc by M. E. Boismard. Journal of Biblical Literature 119.2: 362–64.

1999: The Gospel of Thomas by Richard Valantasis. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 61:385–86.

1998: The Mystical Tradition and the Carthusians, Vol. 1 by James Hogg (ed.). Mystics Quarterly 24.1:32–34.

E. Electronic Resources

2016–2022: Editor and contributor to e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Online: http://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/.

2015: “Christian Apocrypha.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Ed. Christopher Matthews. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

2013: “Apocryphal Acts.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Ed. Christopher Matthews. New York: Oxford University Press.

V. CONFERENCE PLANNING

Nov. 2014 – present: Sessions for the Christian Apocrypha Section, Society of Biblical Literature annual meetings.

Sept. 2015: “Fakes, Fictions, Forgeries: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha,” York University, Toronto Canada.

May 2013: “Forbidden Texts on the Western Frontier: Studying the Christian Apocrypha in North America,” York University, Toronto Canada.

April 2011: “Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate,” York University, Toronto Canada.

VI. PRESENTATIONS

May 2022: Respondent on review session for Tony Burke  (ed.), New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016). Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, online

May 2022: “Revisiting Latin Accounts of the Martyrdom of Andrew.” North American Patristics Society, Chicago, Illinois

November 2021: “What Has Apocrypha to Do with Hagiographa? A Reconsideration of the ‘Editing’ of Apocryphal Acts.” Society of Biblical Literature, San Antonio, Texas, online

July 2021: “Achieving Greatness: Re-evaluating the ‘Later’ Apocryphal Acts.” Society of New Testament Studies Annual Meeting,online

July 2019: “Apocryphal Nazareth: The Childhood Home of Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land, Interdisciplinary Conference, Regensburg

May 2018: Panelist: Review, Respond, Reflect. Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, University of Regina, Saskatchewan

May 2018: “Cursing Jesus: The Denial of Peter in the Context of Ancient Curse Practices.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, University of Regina, Saskatchewan

Nov. 2017: Respondent on review session for Tony Burke and Brent Landau (eds.), New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016). Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, Massachusetts

August 2017: “‘Arabic’ Infancy Gospel No More: The Challenges of Reconstructing the Original Gospel of the Infancy” (co-presenter with Slavomir Céplö). Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, Berlin, Germany

June 2017: “Christian Apocrypha in the Lost Libraries of Late Antiquity.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario.

March 2017: “Cursing and the Apostle: The Fight for Authority in Early Christianity.” Westar Institute Spring 2017 Meeting, Santa Rosa, California.

Nov. 2016: “Founding an Academic Society in the Digital Age: The North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature” (co-presenter with Janet Spittler). Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas.

June 2016: Panelist: Review session for Lincoln Blumell and Thomas Wayment, Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents, and Sources (Second through Fourth Centuries). Canadian Society of Patristic Studies Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta.

June 2016: Respondent on review session for Tony Burke and Brent Landau (eds.), New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016). Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta.

June 2015: “Two Martyrdoms of John the Baptist” (with Sarah Veale). Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario.

Dec. 2014: Response to Anna Cwikla, “Heresiology, Gender Imagery, and Doxa in the Dialogue of the Saviour and Clement of Alexandria’s Stromateis.” Colloquium for Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity, University of Toronto.

Nov. 2014: Panelist: “Presenting the Christian Apocrypha to Non-Scholarly Audiences,” and “The Prospects and Pitfalls of Students Participating in Academic Conferences.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, California.

Nov. 2014: “Syriac Sources for the Study of Christian Apocrypha.” Hidden Treasures of the Eastern Church: Syriac Perspectives on Late Antiquity and Early Islam, University of Toronto.

Nov. 2014: “Lost Gospels of the Nineteenth Century.” Humanities Colloquium Series, York University, Toronto.

May 2013: “Expansions on the Acts of the Apostles: The Acts and Consummation of the Holy Cornelius the Centurion.” Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, Victoria, BC.

Nov. 2012: “The Childhood of Jesus in the East Syriac Life of Mary.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois.

Nov. 2011: Response to James Corke-Webster, “History without the Historian: Removing Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History from the Archive.” Erasure History: Approaching the Missing Sources of Antiquity, University of Toronto.

June 2011: “On the Critical Edition of the Syriac Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Réunion annuelle de l’Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC), Dole, France.

Nov. 2010: “More New Testament Apocrypha.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia.

Oct. 2010: “‘The Funeral of Jesus’: A New Witness to the Acta Pilati Tradition.” Editing the Acts of Pilate in Early Christian Languages: Theory and Practice, Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 4-5, 2010.

July 2009: “The Syriac Tradition of the Legend of the Thirty Pieces of Silver” (with Slavomir Céplö, Comenius University, Slovakia) Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, Rome, Italy.

May 2009: Panelist: “What Not to Do on the Road from Candidacy to Tenure.” Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario.

Nov. 2008: “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Jacobite Syriac Tradition.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, California.

June 2008: “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas from an Unpublished Syriac Manuscript. Introduction, Text, Translation, and Notes.” Réunion annuelle de l’Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC), Dole, France

Nov. 2007: “Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, California.

Oct. 2006: “Completing the Gospel: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as an Expansion of the Gospel of Luke.” Colloquium: The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec.

Sept. 2006: “Researching the New Testament Apocrypha in the Twenty-first Century.” Workshop: Christian Apocryphal Texts for the New Millennium: Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario.

June 2006: “Cursing and Curse Stories in the New Testament Apocrypha.” Réunion annuelle de l’Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC), Dole, France.

May 2006: “Studying Curses and Curse Stories: Some Musings on Methodology.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario.

May 2005: “Curse Stories in Early Christian Literature.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, London, Ontario.

May 2004: Panelist: “Your First Years Teaching ‘First Years’.” Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Sept. 2003: “Gnostic Imagery in Disney’s Pinocchio.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia

June 2003: “The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Réunion annuelle de l’Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC), Dole, France

May 2002: “‘Social Viewing’ of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.” Canadian Society of Patristic Studies Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario.

April 2002: “’Social Viewing’ of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.” Colloquium on Religions of Classical Antiquity, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto.

March 2001: Response to Michel Desjardins, “Valentinian Families.” Toronto School of Theology Colloquium Series, University of Toronto.

Nov 2000: “Strange New Sayings: A Fresh Look at the Sayings of Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in Light of New Manuscript Evidence.” Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee.

May 2000: “The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, University of Edmonton, Alberta.

March 2000: “Collating for Dummies: On Putting Together a Critical Text of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” Colloquium on Religions of Classical Antiquity, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto.

Jan 2000: “Collating for Dummies: On Putting Together a Critical Text of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” WLU/UW/KW Biblical Colloquium, Waterloo, Ontario.

April 1997: “Authorship and Identity in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting, D’Youville College, Buffalo.

May 1996: “The Gospel in Miniature: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as Children’s Story.” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies Annual Meeting, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario (also March 1996, Colloquium on Religions of Classical Antiquity, Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto)

VII. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Feb. 2009: “On Paul’s Theory of Resurrection: The Carrier-O’Connell Debate (2008).” Invited to be one of four judges of the debate. The debate can be read at http://www.infidels.org.

June 2007: “Jesus and the ‘Lost Gospels.’” Presentation for the Central Ontario Humanist Association, Barrie, Ontario

May 2004: “Apocryphal Gospels.” Internet radio interview by Reginald Finley, http://theinfidelguy.com

April 2004: “’The Gospel According to Mel’: The Passion of the Christ (2004) and the Quest for the Historical Jesus.” Presentation at the 37th Annual History Teachers’ Conference, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Sept. 2002: “Jesus on the Edge: What Do the Apocryphal Gospels Tell Us about the Historical Jesus?” Public lecture for the Kitchener Public Library, Kitchener, Ontario

VIII. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

2014 – present: Co-founder, President, and Immediate Past-President, North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature (NASSCAL)

2013 – 2015: Co-chair, SBL Christian Apocrypha Section

2000 – present: Member, Association pour l’étude de la littérature apocryphe chrétienne (AELAC)

1996 – present: Member, The Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

1998 – present: Member, The Society of Biblical Literature

1998 – present: Member, The American Academy of Religion