Jocelyn McWhirter

Stanley S. Kresge Professor and Chair

E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (517) 629-0268
Office: 211 Vulgamore Hall

Dr. Jocelyn McWhirter is a Biblical Studies scholar who specializes in New Testament studies. Her current research focuses on how the first Christians interpreted Israel’s Scriptures in light of their conviction that Jesus was the Messiah. Other areas of interest include cultural hermeneutics and the literature of Second Temple Judaism. She is affiliated with the Society of Biblical Literature, where she co-chairs two units: Teaching the Bible in an Undergraduate Liberal Arts Context and The Mark Passion Narrative Seminar. Her dissertation was published by Cambridge University Press in the fall of 2007.

Courses

• RS 101 Introduction to Western Religions
• RS 121 History, Literature, and Religion of the Old Testament
• RS 122 History, Literature, and Religion of the New Testament
• RS 215 Jewish Life and Thought
• RS 220 Legend, Wisdom, Apocalypse
• RS 222 Jesus and the Gospels
• RS 320 Gender and Biblical Interpretation
• HSP 135H Ancient Faith, Modern World
• IDY 198 Holocaust Studies Service Learning Project

Education

• Ph.D. New Testament Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2002
• M.A. Religion, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, 1991
• B.A. (with Honors) Religion, Trinity College, 1982

Career

• Stanley S. Kresge Professor, Department of Religious Studies, 2015-present
• Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College, 2011-2015
• Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College, 2006-2011
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, St. Joseph’s University, 2001-2005
• Lecturer, Department of Theology, St. Joseph’s University, 1999-2001

Books

• Teaching the Bible with Undergraduates (co-edited with Sylvie Raquel), SBL Press, 2022
• Rejected Prophets: Jesus and His Witnesses in Luke-Acts, Fortress, 2014
• The Bridegroom-Messiah and the People of God, SNTSMS, Cambridge University Press, 2007

Essays

• “Introduction to the Bible.” In The SBL Study Bible, HarperCollins, 2023
• “Thinking Critically about Gender and Biblical Interpretation.” In Teaching the Bible: The Challenge of a New Generation. SBL Press
• “Messianic Exegesis in the Fourth Gospel.” Pages 124–48 in Reading the Gospel of John’s Christology as Jewish Messianism. Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity 106. Brill, 2018
• “Between Text and Sermon: Luke 16:19-31,” Interpretation 69 (2015): 463-65
• “Messianic Exegesis in Mark 1:2–3.” Pages 158–78 in ‘What Does the Scripture Say?’ Studies in the Function of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity. LNTS 469. T&T Clark, 2012
• “Messianic Exegesis in Mark’s Passion Narrative.” Pages 69–98 in The Trial and Death of Jesus: Essays on the Passion Narrative in Mark, CBET 45. Peeters, 2007

Conference Presentations

• “‘Listen to Him!’: Messianic Exegesis of Deut 18:15–19, 2 Chron 24:19, and Isa 6:9–10 in Luke-Acts,” presented at the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Salzburg, Austria, July 2022
• “‘The Words of the Prophets’: Messianic Exegesis in Luke-Acts,” presented at the Fourteenth Nangeroni Meeting of the Enoch Seminar, Rome, Italy, June 2022
• “‘ho paradidous me’: Messianic Exegesis of Psalm 41 in Mark’s Gospel,” presented at the Virtual Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, December 2020
• “‘Listen to Him!’: Rejected Prophets and Messianic Exegesis in Luke-Acts,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Region of Society of Biblical Literature, South Bend, Indiana, February 2019
• “Thinking Critically about Gender and Biblical Interpretation,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, Massachusetts, November 2017
• “Searching the Scriptures: Jewish Messianic Exegesis in the Fourth Gospel,” presented at the Sixth Nangeroni Meeting of the Enoch Seminar, Camaldoli, Italy, June 2016
• “To Juel and Beyond: Messianic Exegesis in Mark 4:12,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2015
• “Review of James W. Voelz, Mark 1:1 – 8:26,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Diego, California, 2014
• “Prophets Who Set Precedents in Luke-Acts,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, Georgia, 2010
• “Messianic Exegesis in Mark 1:2-3,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, Massachusetts, 2008
• “Luke’s Use of Mark and the Septuagint to Portray Jesus and Peter as Prophets,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Diego, California, 2007
• “Messianic Exegesis in Romans 9:30-11:32,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Washington, D.C., 2006
• “Messianic Exegesis in Mark’s Passion Narrative,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Antonio, Texas, 2004
• “The Bridegroom-Messiah in the Fourth Gospel: Messianic Exegesis of the Song of Songs and Gen 29:1-20 in Light of Ps 45,” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Denver, Colorado, 2001, and at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Society of Biblical Literature, Lima, Pennsylvania, 2000