Staff profile

My research interests have tended to fall in the area of Christian formation, which I approach in the ways I am able to on the basis of what education and formation I have. My first degree was in Classics; when I started Theology, I focused on the New Testament; more recently, I have been enjoying exploring early Patristics. Interests in visuality, textuality, prayer, and embodied devotion thread through my work. My doctoral thesis was on Paul's Visual Piety and the 'metamorphosis of the beholder' (cf. 2 Cor 3:18); my most recent book has been on Clement of Alexandria's transformation of Classical miscellany writing for the purposes of cultivating Christian devotion; I am now working on theological aesthetics in the early church, still with a primary focus on Clement of Alexandria, but this time investigating his literary pedagogy for Christian 'children' (who may be grown-ups in age...), in whom he seeks to instil a 'preference for beauty'. It is important to me that the study of antiquity should interact with debates and ideas of the modern day, and each of my projects has sought to do that in different ways. I enjoy working with students at all stages of their studies; indeed, it is one of the greatest privileges of this role. I would be glad to answer any enquiries. Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

In 2021-2022 I will be working in Notre Dame, Indiana, as a Visiting Research Fellow.

• 2000: Co-editor of Journal for the Study of the New Testament:

Authored book

• Heath, J. (in press). Clement of Alexandria and the Shaping of Christian Literary Practice: Miscellany and the Transformation of Greco-Roman Writing. Cambridge University Press
• Heath, J. (2013). Paul's Visual Piety: The Metamorphosis of the Beholder. (1). Oxford University Press

Chapter in book

• Heath, J. "That we might serve him" (Luke 1,74). Scriptural Liturgy and the Little Word "God". In J. Dochhorn, R. Hirsch-Luipold, & I. Tanaseanu-Doebler (Eds.), Ueber Gott. Festschrift fuer Reinhard Feldmeier zum 70. Geburtstag / On God. Festschrift in Honour of Reinhard Feldmeier's 70th Birthday (335-350). Mohr Siebeck
• Heath, J. (2022). Mary's Image as Theology. In M. McInroy, C. Strine, & A. Torrance (Eds.), Image as Theology. Brepols Publishers
• Heath, J. (2018). "Textual Communities": Brian Stock's Concept and Recent Scholarship on Antiquity. In F. Wilk (Ed.), Scriptural Interpretation at the Interface between Education and Religion (5-35). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004385696_003
• Heath, J. (2014). God the Father and Other Parents in the New Testament. In F. Albrecht, & R. Feldmeier (Eds.), The Divine Father: Religious and Philosophical Concepts of Divine Parenthood in Antiquity (325-344). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004264779_017
• Heath, J. (2013). Greek and Jewish Visual Piety: Ptolemy's Gifts in the Letter of Aristeas. In S. Pearce (Ed.), The image and its prohibition in Jewish antiquity (38-48). Journal of Jewish Studies
• Heath, J. (2009). Corinth, a Crucible for Byzantine Iconcolastic Debates? Viewing Paul as Icon of Christ in 2 Cor 4:7-12. In R. Hirsch-Luipold, H. Görgemanns, M. von Albrecht, & T. Thum (Eds.), Religiöse Philosophie und philosophische Religion der frühen Kaiserzeit Literaturgeschichtliche Perspektiven. Ratio Religionis Studien I (271-284). Mohr Siebeck

Journal Article

• Heath, J. (2023). Imitatio Christi and Violence to the Self Winnicott’s True/False Self and Possible Health Risks of (Mis)reading Paul. Journal of Disability and Religion, 27(2), 247-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2022.2039838
• Heath, J. (2023). ‘I remembered the saying’ (Tobit 2:6) Recognising Emotions in Scripture with Tobit and Eve. Journal of Theological Interpretation, 17(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.5325/jtheointe.17.1.0001
• Heath, J. (2014). Moses' End and the Succession: Deuteronomy 31 and 2 Corinthians 3. New Testament Studies, 60(01), 37-60. https://doi.org/10.1017/s002868851300026x
• Heath, J. (2013). The Righteous Gentile Interjects (James 2:18-19 and Romans 2:14-15). Novum Testamentum: An International Quarterly for New Testament and Related Studies, 55(3), 272-295. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685365-12341425
• Heath, J. (2012). 'You Say that I Am a King' (John 18.37). Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 34(3), 232-253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142064x11435039
• Heath, J. (2010). ‘Some were saying, “He is good”’ (John 7.12b): ‘Good’ Christology in John's Gospel?. New Testament Studies, 56(4), 513-535. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0028688510000111
• Heath, J. (2010). Nomina Sacra and Sacra Memoria Before the Monastic Age. The Journal of Theological Studies, 61(2), 516-549. https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flq077
• Heath, J. M. (2009). Absent Presences of Paul and Christ: Enargeia in 1 Thessalonians 1—3. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 32(1), 3-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142064x09339643
• Heath, J. (2007). Homer or Moses? A Hellenistic Perspective on Moses' Throne Vision in Ezekiel Tragicus. Journal of Jewish Studies, 58(1), 1-18
• Heath, J. (2005). Ezekiel Tragicus and Hellenistic Visuality: The Phoenix at Elim. The Journal of Theological Studies, 57(1), 23-41. https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/fli274

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Heath, J. The Lord's Prayer. [[Media unknown]]