Scholar Research Update - David Brakke
What are scholars of early Christianity looking for these days? What’s on their minds? Shirley Paulson's occasional "Scholar Research Updates" will help you keep up with current research.
David Brakke
David Brakke is a professor of history and holds the Joe R. Engle Chair in the History of Christianity at The Ohio State University. He specializes in Gnosticism, Egyptian Christianity, and ancient monasticism.
Brakke’s most recent publications include:
Forthcoming – “The Power of Magic in the Study of Ancient Christianity: Two Recent Works” (listed as “in press” for the Journal of Religion).
2026 - “Monks, Soldiers, and Barbarians: Monastic Communities and Armed Conflict in Late Ancient Egypt, Palestine, and the Sinai.” In War and Community in Late Antiquity, 119–150. Ed. Susanna Elm and Kristina Sessa. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2026.
2026 - “Visionary Experiences, Textual Expertise, and Discernment of Spirits in the Career of Shenoute.” In Coptic Studies from Egypt to Los Angeles: Essays in Honor of Hany N. Talka, 481–493. Ed. Lisa Agaiby, Lillian I. Larsen, Arsenius Mikhail, and Tamara L. Siuda. Texts and Studies in Eastern Christianity 40. Leiden: Brill, 2026.
2025 - “Presidential Address: Navigating Separation and Reunion with Athanasius of Alexandria’s Festal Letters.” In Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Coptic Studies (Brussels, 11–16 July 2022), Volume 1. Plenary Papers, 25–32. Ed. Alain Delattre, Elodie Mazy, Perrine Pilette, and Naïm Vanthieghem. Bibliothèque d’histoire des textes; Collection de l’Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes. Aubervilles/Paris/Orléans: Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes, 2025.
2024 - “Shenoute and Military Men: Now Many Words and Things I Said (Discourses, Volume 4).” Coptica 23 (2024): 1–11.
The first of the listed essays is a look at how two recent books study ancient Christians in relation to ‘magic,’ a category that many historians of religion criticize.
The second and fifth of the listed essays have to do with how monks and monastic communities in the eastern Mediterranean during the fourth, fifth, sixth centuries coped with living in a militarized border region, which made them vulnerable to violence from so-called barbarians and put them in close proximity to Roman soldiers and their officers. Monks and monastic leaders adapted their buildings for defensive purposes, formed complicated relationships with both Roman military men and their “barbarian” foes, memorialized monks who were killed, and offered services to refugees, among other things. War, violence, and the military shaped early monastic life in ways that historians have not fully explored.
Brakke’s two current book projects:
1. One is a new translation and study of the Secret Book of James from Nag Hammadi Codex I.
2. The second is a history of early Christian scriptural practices and the formation of the New Testament from the first century to the fifth. Both projects address how Christians created and organized their own scriptures to supplement the Jewish scriptures they adopted.
Brakke’s Bible and Beyond appearances:
April 3, 2024: What Texts Did the Early Jesus People Read? (podcast interview)
May 4, 2022: What Kind of Person Was Judas Really? (podcast interview)
February 16, 2026: The Gnostic and Magical Solomon (archived discussion)