Matthew Larsen
Matthew is an expert in the history and archaeology and of the ancient Mediterranean basin. Currently, he is an Associate Professor (in Promotion Program) at the University of Copenhagen, and he works on the cultural and material histories of ancient Christian communities from the first to fifth centuries.
His current research focuses on the global history of incarceration, and he is currently completing two book manuscripts: a monograph on early Christians and incarceration and an interdisciplinary book overviewing the institution of incarceration in Mediterranean antiquity (co-authored with Mark Letteney). In Sept 2023, he began a three-year research project funded by the Carlsberg Foundation (Semper Ardens: Accelerate) on the topic of materiality of incarceration in Mediterranean antiquity.
Prior to Copenhagen, Matthew served as a faculty member at Yale University and Princeton University, where he was in the Princeton Society of Fellows. He is the author of Gospels before the Book (Oxford University Press, 2018), which won a Manfred Lautenschlaeger award, and an Italian translation of which is available through Editrice Queriniana (2022). His research is published in Hesperia, the Journal for the Study of Judaism, the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, the Journal of Early Christian Studies, Studies in Late Antiquity, and his scholarship has been featured in The Daily Beast, CHOICE, and Christian Century.
Phone: +45 35 32 39 61
Address: Karen Blixens Vej 16, 2300 København, Danmark
His current research focuses on the global history of incarceration, and he is currently completing two book manuscripts: a monograph on early Christians and incarceration and an interdisciplinary book overviewing the institution of incarceration in Mediterranean antiquity (co-authored with Mark Letteney). In Sept 2023, he began a three-year research project funded by the Carlsberg Foundation (Semper Ardens: Accelerate) on the topic of materiality of incarceration in Mediterranean antiquity.
Prior to Copenhagen, Matthew served as a faculty member at Yale University and Princeton University, where he was in the Princeton Society of Fellows. He is the author of Gospels before the Book (Oxford University Press, 2018), which won a Manfred Lautenschlaeger award, and an Italian translation of which is available through Editrice Queriniana (2022). His research is published in Hesperia, the Journal for the Study of Judaism, the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, the Journal of Early Christian Studies, Studies in Late Antiquity, and his scholarship has been featured in The Daily Beast, CHOICE, and Christian Century.
Phone: +45 35 32 39 61
Address: Karen Blixens Vej 16, 2300 København, Danmark
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Books by Matthew Larsen
"Without question, this is an excellent book. Larsen's writing is crisp, succinct, and evocative. His analysis is fresh and direct. I often find myself wondering, "How'd this guy find all these case studies?"-and every answer I can imagine requires exceptional diligence and ingenuity." -- Greg Carey, Lancaster Theological Seminary, The Christian Century
"This book exemplifies and is itself facilitating a paradigm shift in gospel studies. No longer can interpreters approach the gospels without duly considering what kind of text it is that they are handling." -- Review of Biblical Literature
"[an] elegantly written volume ... An invaluable resource for those seeking a clearer understanding of ancient literature, including (but by no means limited to) religious texts ... Highly recommended." -- L. J. Greenspoon, CHOICE
"I commend this book to a wide reading audience, especially within the guild. All serious readers of Mark -- especially those of us who read it as story -- should engage this book. It invites fresh consideration of the emergence of the Gospel tradition in textual form." -- Danny Yencich, Reading Religion
"With Gospels before the Book, Matthew Larsen offers a crucial intervention in studies of the Christian Gospels. As he demonstrates, anachronistic assumptions about the closed character of books and a persistent investment in the 'genius of the author' have led modern scholars to miss an important fact: the Gospels, and Mark in particular, were not regarded as closed texts by early Christian readers. Instead, they were received as unfinished instantiations of a continuous and fluid gospel tradition that remained open to expansion and revision by later writers interested in 'publishing' (in an ancient sense) books of their own. Larsen's stunning investigation will forever change the ways that biblical scholars, historians, and textual critics approach texts we thought we knew."--Jennifer Knust, author of To Cast the First Stone: The Transmission of a Gospel Story with Tommy Wasserman
"It is rare that one reads a work of scholarship that changes the terms of engagement for an entire field of study, but that is exactly what Matthew Larsen has done in his Gospels before the Book. In this deeply textured study, he dismantles a host of unhelpful assumptions operative in New Testament studies about ancient authors and the status of ancient books as published documents. You'll never view the Gospels the same way again."--Stephen J. Davis, author of Christ Child: Cultural Memories of a Young Jesus
"How often does it happen that you read something new and convincing that solves a large and centuries old problem, especially on such an overpublished field as the New Testament Gospels? This book does that! It is probably the best book on the Gospel of Mark and the synoptic Gospels in general, since they were written. It is a truly groundbreaking book that offers a novel and fully convincing interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, namely as incomplete archival notes. The argument is well-crafted, based just as much in deep knowledge of a wide range of sources (Jewish, Greek, Roman, Christian) as in sophisticated critical scholarship. This work is a field changer and will be the foundation for future gospel studies."--AnneMarie Luijendijk, Professor of Religion, Head of Wilson College, Princeton University
CFP by Matthew Larsen
Articles by Matthew Larsen
This article compares Philo’s portrayal of the lecture event among the Therapeutae with other reading and philosophical communities throughout the high Roman Empire. It shows how learning to listen properly plays an important role in constructing and defending one’s masculinity in certain elite communities of that time. Philo constructs a portrayal of the Therapeutae that places them well within the social codes of lecture listening and proper masculine virtues of the time, describing the Therapeutae, especially their ideal masculinity vis-à-vis their lecture event, with imperial mimicry and resistance. Situating Philo’s portrayal of the Therapeutae’s lecture event within its historical context enhances our understanding Philo within the Roman Empire as well as his portrayal of the ethos of the Therapeutae.
Papers by Matthew Larsen
"Without question, this is an excellent book. Larsen's writing is crisp, succinct, and evocative. His analysis is fresh and direct. I often find myself wondering, "How'd this guy find all these case studies?"-and every answer I can imagine requires exceptional diligence and ingenuity." -- Greg Carey, Lancaster Theological Seminary, The Christian Century
"This book exemplifies and is itself facilitating a paradigm shift in gospel studies. No longer can interpreters approach the gospels without duly considering what kind of text it is that they are handling." -- Review of Biblical Literature
"[an] elegantly written volume ... An invaluable resource for those seeking a clearer understanding of ancient literature, including (but by no means limited to) religious texts ... Highly recommended." -- L. J. Greenspoon, CHOICE
"I commend this book to a wide reading audience, especially within the guild. All serious readers of Mark -- especially those of us who read it as story -- should engage this book. It invites fresh consideration of the emergence of the Gospel tradition in textual form." -- Danny Yencich, Reading Religion
"With Gospels before the Book, Matthew Larsen offers a crucial intervention in studies of the Christian Gospels. As he demonstrates, anachronistic assumptions about the closed character of books and a persistent investment in the 'genius of the author' have led modern scholars to miss an important fact: the Gospels, and Mark in particular, were not regarded as closed texts by early Christian readers. Instead, they were received as unfinished instantiations of a continuous and fluid gospel tradition that remained open to expansion and revision by later writers interested in 'publishing' (in an ancient sense) books of their own. Larsen's stunning investigation will forever change the ways that biblical scholars, historians, and textual critics approach texts we thought we knew."--Jennifer Knust, author of To Cast the First Stone: The Transmission of a Gospel Story with Tommy Wasserman
"It is rare that one reads a work of scholarship that changes the terms of engagement for an entire field of study, but that is exactly what Matthew Larsen has done in his Gospels before the Book. In this deeply textured study, he dismantles a host of unhelpful assumptions operative in New Testament studies about ancient authors and the status of ancient books as published documents. You'll never view the Gospels the same way again."--Stephen J. Davis, author of Christ Child: Cultural Memories of a Young Jesus
"How often does it happen that you read something new and convincing that solves a large and centuries old problem, especially on such an overpublished field as the New Testament Gospels? This book does that! It is probably the best book on the Gospel of Mark and the synoptic Gospels in general, since they were written. It is a truly groundbreaking book that offers a novel and fully convincing interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, namely as incomplete archival notes. The argument is well-crafted, based just as much in deep knowledge of a wide range of sources (Jewish, Greek, Roman, Christian) as in sophisticated critical scholarship. This work is a field changer and will be the foundation for future gospel studies."--AnneMarie Luijendijk, Professor of Religion, Head of Wilson College, Princeton University
This article compares Philo’s portrayal of the lecture event among the Therapeutae with other reading and philosophical communities throughout the high Roman Empire. It shows how learning to listen properly plays an important role in constructing and defending one’s masculinity in certain elite communities of that time. Philo constructs a portrayal of the Therapeutae that places them well within the social codes of lecture listening and proper masculine virtues of the time, describing the Therapeutae, especially their ideal masculinity vis-à-vis their lecture event, with imperial mimicry and resistance. Situating Philo’s portrayal of the Therapeutae’s lecture event within its historical context enhances our understanding Philo within the Roman Empire as well as his portrayal of the ethos of the Therapeutae.