Professor of Early Christianity, Theology
Dr. Brookins specializes in Christian origins, with a primary specialization in the Pauline epistles and Greco-Roman backgrounds to the New Testament, including especially the Greco-Roman philosophical and rhetorical traditions.
Ph.D. in Religion – Baylor University
M.Div. – Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
B.S. in Speech Communications- James Madison University
Books:
Greek and Roman Philosophy: An Introduction for Students of the New Testament. Hendrickson, 2025.
Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Corinthians. Eerdmans, 2024.
Rhetoric and the Style of Paul’s Letters. Cascade, 2022.
First and Second Thessalonians. Paideia. Baker Academic, 2021.
Reading 1 Corinthians. Reading the New Testament. Smyth & Helwys, 2020.
1 Corinthians: A Handbook on the Greek Text. With co-author Bruce W. Longenecker. Waco, Tx.: Baylor University Press (2016).
Corinthian Wisdom, Stoic Philosophy, and the Ancient Economy. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Selected Articles & Book Chapters:
“The Associational Exclusion Formula and the ‘Busybodies’ of 2 Thess 3:6-15.” New Testament Studies (forthcoming).
“The Alleged ‘Letter Allegedly from Us’: The Parallel Function of ὡς δι’ ἡμῶν in 2 Thess. 2.2.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 44 (2022).
“An Obligation of Thanks (2 Thess 1,3): Gift and Return in Divine-Human Relationships.” Zeitschrift für neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 112 (2021): 201-217.
“A Tense Discussion: Understanding Greek Indicative Verbs through Cognitive Linguistics.” Journal of Biblical Literature 137 (2018): 141-165.
“‘Natural Hair’: A ‘New Rhetorical’ Assessment of 1 Cor 11:14-15.” Pages 173-195 in Paul and the Greco-Roman Philosophical Tradition. Edited by Joseph R. Dodson and Andrew W. Pitts . Library of New Testament Studies. T & T Clark, 2017.
“‘I Rather Appeal to Auctoritas’: Roman Conceptualizations of Power and Paul’s Appeal to Philemon.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 77 (2015): 302-321.
“The Supposed Election of Officers in 1 Cor 11.19: A Response to Richard Last.” New Testament Studies 60.3 (2013): 423-432.
“The (I)nfrequency of the Name ‘Erastus’ in Antiquity: A Literary, Papyrological, and Epigraphical Catalog.” New Testament Studies 59.4 (2013): 496-516.
“Luke’s Use of Mark as Παράφρασις: Its Effects on Characterization in the ‘Healing of Blind Bartimaeus’ Pericope (Mark 10:46-52/Luke18:35-43).” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 34.1 (2011): 70-89.
“In Paul’s Defense: The Contribution of Cramer’s Catena to the Early Reception of Paul in Acts” (with Peter Reynolds and Mikeal Parsons). In Paul and the Heritage of Israel. Vol. 2. T & T Clark, 2012.