Tony Keddie
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tonyk.bsky.social
Tony Keddie
@tonyk.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Ancient Mediterranean Religions, UT Austin. Specialist on the texts and material culture of ancient Jews and Christians, ancient imperialism and economics, and the modern politics of biblical interpretation.
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November 13, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Those going SBL, here’s a panel not to miss: a review session of Sarah Bond’s book Strike (Yale, 2025), with responses by Jen Quigley, Richard Last, Larry Welborn, and Laura Nasrallah. Should be a great conversation! Many thanks to Agnes Choi for taking the lead on organizing.
November 13, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Looking forward to this year’s ARROW sessions at SBL, which all look terrific! Grateful to the unit for allowing me and Jaimie Gunderson to plan a session on “Problematizing “Christianization” in Rough Cilicia and Isauria,” with a handful of colleagues who don’t usually make it to this conference.
November 5, 2025 at 11:20 PM
🚨 We’re hiring for another Postdoc position in my department: Religion and Health (one year). Please share with anyone who might be interested!
The Department of Religious Studies is seeking to appoint a one-year postdoctoral fellow with a specialization in Religion and Health.

Please visit tinyurl.com/3tf6cftf for the job posting and more information. Review of applications will begin Dec. 1, 2025.
October 29, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
My latest from @hyperallergic.com is on Trump’s proposed triumphal arch—& why looking at the structure’s history symbolizing imperialism & subjugation + its reception (Napoleon, Hitler) is important. NB: the ecclesiastical architectural firm pitching this structure. hyperallergic.com/1050375/the-...
The Arch of Trump’s Triumph and Downfall
Triumphal arches have been used for imperialistic ends since Roman antiquity, and the president’s latest proposal is no exception.
hyperallergic.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
The Department of Religious Studies is seeking to appoint a two-year postdoctoral fellow with a specialization in Religion, Healing, and Magic in Late Antiquity.

Please visit tinyurl.com/2k8bmyz5 for the job posting and more information. Review of applications will begin Oct. 31, 2025.
October 15, 2025 at 8:13 PM
🚨 Postdoc at UT Austin Religious Studies in Religion, Healing, and Magic in Late Antiquity (2 years)! utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UTstaf...
ISAC Postdoctoral Fellowship in Religion, Healing, and Magic in Late Antiquity
Job Posting Title: ISAC Postdoctoral Fellowship in Religion, Healing, and Magic in Late Antiquity ---- Hiring Department: Department of Religious Studies ---- Position Open To: All Applicants ---- Wee...
utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:11 PM
A fantastic overview by UT-RS PhD student Niketas Belovorodov of the conference’s keynote by Petra Kuppinger on Muslims’ neighborhood interactions in Stuttgart and Ted Gordon’s feature presentation on Black churches and the racial demography of Austin. Thanks, Niketas!
Visit the Religiology blog to read about our recent conference from earlier this month, "Neighborhood Religion in Roman Antiquity."
tinyurl.com/yue9bsyy
October 10, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Today at 4pm Central Time: Dr. Meghan Henning on “Manufacturing Martha’s Madness: Enslavement, Anxiety, and Distraction in Luke 10:38–42.” In-person at UT in RLP 1.302 and streaming on Zoom (follow link below). All are welcome!

cla.utexas.edu/mes/events/m...
Manufacturing Martha’s Madness: Enslavement, Anxiety, and Distraction in Luke 10:38–42
This talk will also be streamed on Zoom. Watch here: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/99459451185 The story of Mary and Martha is a text of terror for women and for the mentally disabled and neurodiverse. Mar...
cla.utexas.edu
March 24, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Hardly even satire! I wrote a piece a couple yrs ago on “second-amendment exegesis” among political influencers and bible “scholars” alike. Happy to share by email if anyone wants a copy. academia.edu/resource/wor...
January 26, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
This is not the first time I have had to watch loved ones survive (un)natural disasters, and I feel ill equipped to speak to the #lawildfires. But here are a few musings on the uses and abuses of the #bible that contributed to and emerge from this disaster: religiondispatches.org/the-los-ange...
The Los Angeles Wildfires Have Indeed Been Biblical — But Not in the Way You Think
If you’ve ever lived in Los Angeles or if you have loved ones who do, you know that the January wildfires have felt especially like hell—a unique experience even in a city as well acquainted with disa...
religiondispatches.org
January 24, 2025 at 7:29 PM
🚨 Very pleased to announce the publication of a new article I had the privilege of co-authoring with Lara Boleslawsky. “Antisemitic Charisma: A Critique of Max Weber’s Interpretations of Paul, Jews, and Charisma…” was just published online in MTSR. Happy to send a copy if you don’t have access!
January 6, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Many, many congrats to Rikki Liu, UT PhD student, for receiving the 2024 Brooten award for a terrific paper on “Scripting Pain, Distributing Affect: P.Mich.inv. 1190 and the Gendered Labor of Ritual”!! sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/...
sbl-site.org
December 18, 2024 at 7:17 PM
Great news: *Revelation and Material Religion in the Roman East: Essays in Honor of Steven J. Friesen* just turned a year old, which means it’s now fully open access! You can download the whole book or individual chapters for free at this link:

www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
Revelation and Material Religion in the Roman East | Essays in Honor o
This collection of essays from a diverse group of internationally recognized scholars builds on the work of Steven J. Friesen to analyze the material and
www.taylorfrancis.com
November 30, 2024 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
The Social-Scientific Criticism of the NT unit has planned some awesome sessions at the SBL Annual Meeting Nov. 23-26. If you’re heading to San Diego, I hope you can make it to some of these!!
October 31, 2024 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
If you watched the movie, don't know your secutor from your scutum, but still want to know what the film took from history (and which bits it changed,) then here's my guide to sifting the facts from the fictions in Gladiator II. Spoiler free!!
✨NEW ARTICLE!✨

With Gladiator 2 in the cinemas, Alexandra Sills has taken an expert eye to the presentation of day-to-day gladiating life in the movie.

Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Find out by clicking the link. With your thumb. 😊

www.workingclassicis...
Did gladiators really do that? — Working Classicists
Did they really launch ships in the Colosseum? Did they really wear fancy breastplates? Alexandra Sills, checks how accurately Ridley Scott’s film presents the life of a gladiator.
www.workingclassicists.com
November 17, 2024 at 4:37 PM
Looking forward to catching up with friends and colleagues at ASOR in Boston this week! Particularly excited for our Antiochia ad Cragum (hybrid) sessions this coming Saturday!
November 17, 2024 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
With #SBLAAR24 right around the corner, I've updated the starter pack of ancient religion scholars to reflect our swelling ranks. Let me know if you'd like to be added or removed. go.bsky.app/9y592Bk
November 11, 2024 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
JSHJ’s last issue of the year is officially out! Editorial by yours truly, followed by some other great pieces!

Enjoy!

brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com
November 16, 2024 at 2:17 AM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
If you’re interested on how and why Spiritual Warfare impacts politics, check out the people listed in my starter pack!

go.bsky.app/DGGNg2P
November 15, 2024 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Tony Keddie
My new Open Access article! For some reason it felt relevant to discuss the Bible and the LONG history of leaders telling stories about how things used to be great before moral, ethnic, urban, gender, and family corruption bigly happened. #EduSky #Election #Bible journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
“Make Rome Great Again” Preceded “Make America Great Again”: The Ancient Romo-Nationalism of Biblical Writers - Stephen L. Young, 2024
The ideas about religious, sexual, gender, ethnic, urban, moral, and family decay that underlie “Make America Great Again’s” message have notable antecedents in...
journals.sagepub.com
November 1, 2024 at 12:54 PM
The Social-Scientific Criticism of the NT unit has planned some awesome sessions at the SBL Annual Meeting Nov. 23-26. If you’re heading to San Diego, I hope you can make it to some of these!!
October 31, 2024 at 12:22 AM
October 10, 2024 at 3:18 PM