University of Lethbridge

About Me

My most recent manuscript has just been released by Oxford University Press, under the title Who Were the First Christians? Dismantling the Urban Thesis, in which I challenge various common assumptions about the early Christian movement in its first three centuries. Last year (2016), I had another book released, titled Preacher Girl: Uldine Utley and the Industry of Revival (Baylor University Press), in which I deal with the life of the superstar girl preacher of the 1920s and 1930s against the backdrop of American revivalism. The work builds on a book I wrote with Lanette Ruff on girl evangelists in the 1920s, titled Out of the Mouths of Babes: Girl Evangelists in the Flapper Era (Oxford University Press, 2012). In 2009, I published a monograph on Ignatius of Antioch and the shaping of early Christian identity in distinction from Judaism [Ignatius of Antioch and the Parting of the Ways: Early Jewish-Christian Relations (Hendrickson/Baker Academic, 2009)]. My newest project is a book on Post-Holocaust readings of early Christian texts on Judaism.

I have retired at the end of June 2017. I am currently working on a manuscript on Post-Holocaust reading of early Christian texts on Judaism.

Biography

I did a BA in Philosophy and Ancient Greek Language at the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton), a MCS in Biblical Studies at Regent College (Vancouver), and a PhD in Religious Studies at McMaster (Hamilton), during which time I also did research in Regensburg, Germany. I taught for one year at the University of Calgary (1985-1986), then joined the Religious Studies Department of the University of Lethbridge in 1986. From 1994 to 2004, I served as coordinator of the Religious Studies Programme. I served from 1997-1999 as President of the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association and as President of CAFA (Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations) from 2000-2002. From 2004-2007, I served as a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Lethbridge.

COURSES CURRENTLY TAUGHT ON A REGULAR BASIS:
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 1000 - Introduction to World Religions (with Professor Rodrigues)
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 2500 - Christianity
GREEK 1200 - Biblical Greek I
GREEK 1300 - Biblical Greek II

RECENT TOPICS COURSES:
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 3501 - The Roman Empire: From Pagan to Christian
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 3501 - Early Christian Literature
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 3501 - History of Pentecostalism
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 4000 - Who Were the First Christians?
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 4400 - Second-Century Christianity
RELIGIOUS STUDIES 4400 - Jews and Christians in the Greco-Roman World

Selected Publications

BOOKS:

2017 Who Were the First Christians? Dismantling the Urban Thesis (New York: Oxford University Press).

2016 Preacher Girl: Uldine Utley and the Industry of Revival (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press).

2014 with Hillary Rodrigues, and chapters by James Linville and John Harding) World Religions: a guide to the essentials, 2nd ed (Grand Rapids>MI: Baker Academic).

2012 (with Lanette Ruff) Out of the Mouths of Babes: Girl Evangelists in the Flapper Era (New York: Oxford University Press).

2009 Ignatius of Antioch and the Parting of the Ways: Early Jewish-Christian Relations (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson).

2009 (with Rodrigues, Linville, Harding, Khalil and McGeough) World Religions Reader: Selected Texts and Symbols (Lethbridge: Robin Book Press). An ebook version is now available.

2006 Mastering New Testament Greek: Essential Tools for Students, with software (Peabody,MA: Hendrickson).

2005 (with Hillary Rodrigues, and chapters by James Linville and John Harding) World Religions: a guide to the essentials (with software by Robinson) (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson).

2004 (with Steve Mason) Early Christian Reader (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson).

1993 (with Brent Shaw et al) The Early Church: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English on the Early Church, (Metuchen: NJ: The American Theological Library Association and Scarecrow Press).

1990 / 1991 Mastering Greek Vocabulary (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson).

1988 The Bauer Thesis Examined: The Geography of Heresy in the Early Christian Church (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press).

1987/1989 Greek Verb Endings: A Reverse Index (Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press), 2nd. ed.

[NOTE: Books initially published by Hendrickson Publishers are now published by Baker of Grand Rapids, MI.]

Research Interests

Primary area of interest is the development of Christianity in the second to fourth century and the religious revolution in the Roman Empire in the shift from paganism to Christianity. Related to this is the question of Jewish and Christian identity in the Greco-Roman period. I also study new religious movements that have arisen in North America, particularly Pentecostalism.

Current Research and Creative Activity

Title	Location	Grant Information	Principal Investigator	Co Researchers
Biography of the leading girl evangelist of the 1920s.
Book on Jewish-Christian relations in the second and third centuries
Book on rural Christianity in the first three hundred years of the Christian movement

Internet Links

www.robinest.org