About
Joshua Reno is a Lecturer in the Department of Classical & Near Eastern Religions and Cultures, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. He holds an PhD in Classics from the University of Minnesota. His research interests include the Pauline epistles, Lucian of Samosata, Hellenistic/Roman philosophy, and ancient invective. His dissertation explored the use of sexual invective in the Pauline corpus as part of his community-shaping strategy. Specifically, Joshua’s demonstrated how Paul deploys insinuations of gender-sexual deviancy/deficiency against his rivals as part of his rhetorical effort to exert control over these nascent Christian communities. His current research is focused on Lucian’s Dialogue of Courtesans and the lives and literary representations of sex workers in Roman antiquity. Education
PhD University of Minnesota, Classics (2021)
MTh Luther Seminary, New Testament (2014)
MA Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, New Testament (2012)
MA Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Old Testament (2012)
BA Bethel University, Biblical & Theological Studies (2009)
Publications
“Paul Trading Barbs: Sexual Invective as Gendered Violence,” in Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts, ed. Christy Cobb and Eric Vanden Eykel (forthcoming).
“Galatians,” in The Queer Bible Commentary, rev. ed. Co-authored with Melissa Harl Sellew (forthcoming).
“Gender,” The Oxford Handbook of the Synoptic Gospels. Co-authored with Stephen. P. Ahearne-Kroll (forthcoming).
Pornographic Desire in the Pauline Corpus, Journal of Biblical Literature 140.1 (2021): 163–185.
Struggling Sages: Pauline Rhetoric and Social Control, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 80.3 (2018): 491–511.
Γυνὴ τοῦ Πατρός: Analytic Kin Circumlocution and the Case for Corinthian Adultery, Journal of Biblical Literature 135.4 (2016): 827–847. Projects
Dissertation Title: “Holy Obscenity: Sexual Invective in the Pauline Corpus.”
Advisors: Profs. Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll and Melissa Harl Sellew
Committee: Profs. Spencer Cole, J. Albert Harrill, and Christopher Nappa
Upcoming Talks and Conferences
2021. Pulling Loose Thread: Unraveling the Stories We Tell Ourselves. Presented at the Society of Biblical Literature. San Antonio, TX.
2020. Pornographic Desire: The Moral-Psychology of Ancient Sex Work. Presented at the Classical Association of Middle West and South, Birmingham, AL.
2019. The Pornē of Christ: Slut Shaming as Community Control. Presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
2019. A Satirist’s Muse: Lucian’s Peregrinus as a New (Christian) Socrates. To be presented at the Classical Association of Middle South and West, Lincoln, NE.
2019. Rethinking Morality: A Senecan Shift in Stoic Sexual Ethics? To be Presented at the Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
2018. A quo tandem abest iste vitio? Libelous Lists in Pauline Invective. To be Presented at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
Memberships
Society of Biblical Literature
Society for Classical Studies
Classical Association of the Middle West and South
Women’s Classical Caucus
Lambda Classical Caucus
Catholic Biblical Association
American Association of University Professors
