Shelly Matthews Associate Professor of New Testament Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX

Shelly Matthews is Associate Professor of New Testament at the Brite Divinity School. She is the author of Perfect Martry: The Stoning of Stephen and the Construction of Christian Identity (2010), First Converts (2001) and the co-editor with E. Leigh Gibson of Violence in the New Testament (2004). In the Society of Biblical Literature, she serves on steering committees for the sections on Jewish Christian Relations and Violence and Representations of Violence among Christians and Jews. Her current research focuses on ideas of cosmic judgment in early Christian literature.  

Academic Credentials

• Th.D., Harvard Divinity School
• M.Div., Boston University School of Theology
• B.A. University of North Dakota

Academic Appointments

• Associate Professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School, 2011–
• Associate Professor of Religion, Furman University, 2004–2011
• Assistant Professor of Religion, Furman University, 1998–2004
• Lecturer in Religious Studies, Tufts University, 1997–1998
• Lecturer in Religious Studies, University of North Dakota, 1996, 1987–1990
• Graduate Teaching Fellow, Harvard Divinity School, 1991–1992

Books

• Perfect Martyr: The Stoning of Stephen and the Construction of Christian Identity, 2010; (paperback, 2012)
• First Converts: Rich Pagan Women and the Rhetoric of Mission in Early Judaism and Christianity , 2001.

Grants, Awards & Honors

• Post-doctoral fellowship from the American Academy of University Women, 2004–2005
• Research fellow at the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2004–2005
• New Scholars Award from the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion for article entitled "Thinking of Thecla: Issues in Feminist Historiography,” 2001
• Dean's Dissertation Fellowship, Harvard Divinity School, 1996–1997
• Dempster Fellowship, United Methodist Church 1995; 1992–1993
• Wesley Merit Scholar, Boston University School of Theology, 1984–1985; 1985–1986; 1986–1987
• Phi Beta Kappa, 1984

Professional Memberships

• Fellow, Jesus Seminar, 2006–
• Joint Member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion, 1992–
• North American Patristics Society, 2004–
• Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, Dakotas Area Conference, 1987–