Thomas Blanton
Visiting Assistant Professor
Areas of Expertise
- Letters of Paul of Tarsus
- New Testament
- ancient economy
- religion and economy
- Jesus movement in contexts of Second Temple Judaism and Greco-Roman religion
Research Interests
Thomas R. Blanton IV's interdisciplinary research focuses on Paul of Tarsus, early Christianity in Roman economic contexts, and the “religions” of the ancient Mediterranean region more broadly.
Education
Ph.D., University of Chicago M.T.S., Duke Divinity School
Courses Taught
- New Testament
- Apocalypse in Literature and Film
- Origins of Christianity
- Exploring the Bible
- Scripture and Revelation
Publications
Monographs:
The Circumcision of Abraham: Modeling Ritual from Genesis to the Letters of Paul. Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. Yale University Press. In progress.
A Spiritual Economy: Gift Exchange in the Letters of Paul of Tarsus. Yale, 2017.
Constructing a New Covenant: Discursive Strategies in the Damascus Document and Second Corinthians. WUNT 2/233. Mohr Siebeck, 2007.
Coedited volumes:
Claudia D. Bergmann and Thomas R. Blanton IV, eds. Imitating Abraham: Ritual and Exemplarity in Jewish and Christian Contexts. Jewish and Christian Perspectives 42. Brill, 2025. https://brill.com/display/title/71766
Thomas R. Blanton IV, Agnes Choi, and Jinyu Liu, eds. Taxation, Economy, and Revolt in Ancient Rome, Galilee, and Egypt. Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies. Routledge, 2022.
David B. Hollander, Thomas R. Blanton IV, and John T. Fitzgerald, eds. The Extramercantile Economies of Greek and Roman Cities: New Perspectives on the Economic History of Classical Antiquity. Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies. Routledge, 2019.
Thomas R. Blanton IV and Raymond Pickett, eds. Paul and Economics: A Handbook. Fortress, 2017.
Thomas R. Blanton IV, Robert M. Calhoun, and Clare K. Rothschild, eds. The History of Religions School Today: Essays on the New Testament and Related Ancient Mediterranean Texts. WUNT 1/340. Mohr Siebeck, 2014.
