Department: Religious Studies
Email: gholland@allegheny.edu
Office Phone:
(814) 332-3316
Office Building: Oddfellows
Office Room: 119
Professional Title/s
Bishop, Professor of Religious Studies, Emeritus ProfessorFaculty Credentials
B.A., Stanford University; M.A., University of Oxford; Ph.D., University of ChicagoBiographical Information
Blog Posts
- Osiris, Seth, Horus, and the Divine Origins of Egyptian Kingship
- Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World: Egyptian Pharaohs
Publications
Books
- Co-editor (with Jane S. Webster), Teaching the Bible in the Liberal Arts Classroom, vol. 2, Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2015
- Co-editor (with Jane S. Webster), Teaching the Bible in the Liberal Arts Classroom, Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2012
- Gods in the Desert: Religion in the Ancient Near East, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009
- Co-editor (with John T. Fitzgerald and Dirk Obbink), Philodemus and the New Testament World, Leiden: Brill, 2004
- Divine Irony, Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press, 2000
- The Tradition that You Received from Us: 2 Thessalonians in the Pauline Tradition, Hermaneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie 24, Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1988
Chapters in Books
- “‘Delivery, Delivery, Delivery:’ Accounting for Performance in the Rhetoric of Paul’s Letters,” in Paul and Ancient Rhetoric: Theory and Practice in the Hellenistic Context, ed. Stanley E. Porter and Bryan R. Dyer, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
- “‘Not as the Scribes:’ Teaching Biblical Studies in the Liberal Arts Context,” in Teaching the Bible in the Liberal Arts Classroom, ed. Webster and Holland (above), 56-64
- "Celibacy in Early Christianity,” in Celibacy in Religious Traditions, ed. Carl Olson, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, 65-83
- “Call Me Frank: Lucian’s (Self-)Defense of Frank Speaking,” in Philodemus and the New Testament World, ed. Fitzgerald, Obbink and Holland (above), 245-267
- “Breathing the Word: Oral Performance and Aural Reception in the Pauline Communities,” Second Biennial Faculty Intramural Conference Proceedings, ed. Ann Bomberger, David Anderson and Catharina Coenen, Meadville, PA: Allegheny college, 2002, 44-60
- “The Self Against the Self in Romans 7:7-25,” in The Rhetorical Interpretation of Scripture: Essays from the 1996 Malibu Conference, ed. Stanley E. Porter and Dennis L. Stamps, JSNTS 180, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999, 260-271
- “Paul’s Use of Irony as a Rhetorical Technique,” in The Rhetorical Interpretation of Scripture: Essays from the 1995 London Conference, ed. Stanley E. Porter and Thomas H. Olbricht, JSNTS 146, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997, 234-248
- “There’s No Business: Franz Bibfeldt and the Place of Religion in Show Business,” in The Unrelieved Paradox: Studies in the Theology of Franz Bibfeldt, ed. Martin E. Marty and Jerald C. Brauer, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1994, 139-147
- “Sexuality in the Biblical Context: A Response to the First Draft of a Social Statement: ‘The Church and Human Sexuality: A Lutheran Perspective,’” in A Collection of Responses from ELCA Academicians and Synodical Bishops to “The Church and Human Sexuality: A Lutheran Perspective”, Chicago: Division for Church in Society, ELCA, 1994, 123-146
- “Speaking Like a Fool: Irony in 2 Corinthians 10-13,” in Rhetoric and the New Testament: Essays from the 1992 Heidelberg Conference, ed. Stanley E. Porter and Thomas H. Olbricht, JSNTS 90, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993
- “A Letter Supposedly from Us: A Contribution to the Discussion about the Authorship of 2 Thessalonians,” The Thessalonian Correspondence, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 87, ed. Raymond F. Collins, Leuven: Leuven University Press/Peeters, 1990, 394-402
- “Let No One Deceive You in Any Way: 2 Thessalonians as a Reformulation of the Apocalyptic Tradition,” Society of Biblical Literature 1985 Seminar Papers, ed. Kent Harold Richards, Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985, 327-341
- "Delivery, Delivery, Delivery': Accounting for Performance in the Rhetoric of Paul's Letters," in Paul and Ancient Rhetoric: The Classical Handbooks and their Relevance for Interpreting Paul's Letters, ed. Stanley E. Porter and Bryan R. Dyer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
- 'Not as the Scribes': Teaching Biblical Studies in the Liberal Arts Context," in Teaching the Bible in the Liberal Arts Classroom, ed. Webster and Holland (above), 56-64
Articles
- “The Pig Is Dead: Parrhesia and the Common Good,” Common Knowledge 14/1 (Winter, 2008), 124-135
- “Playing to the Groundlings: Shakespeare Performance Criticism and Performance Criticism of the Biblical Texts,” Neotestamentica 41:2 (2007), 317-340.
- “Frightening You With Letters: Traces of Performance in the Letters of Paul,” Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes and Midwest Biblical Societies, vol. 26 (2006), 1-21.
- “War Damage to Art Works and Monuments in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia,” Common Knowledge 4:2 (Fall 1995), 9-23.
- “Defending the Tradition: A Reply,” (reply to reviews by David L. Barr and Duane F. Watson of my book The Tradition that You Received from Us: 2 Thessalonians in the Pauline Tradition), Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes and Midwestern Biblical Societies, vol. 13 (1993), 267-273.
- “Paul’s Root Metaphors: Slavery,” Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes and Midwestern Biblical Societies, vol. 12 (1992), 185-194.
- “The Problem of the Root: A Response to Three Papers on Paul’s Root Metaphors,” Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes and Midwestern Biblical Societies, vol. 11 (1991), 185-190.
- “Anti-Judaism in Paul: The Case of Romans,” Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes and Midwestern Biblical Societies, vol. 10 (1990), 190-203.
- “Augustine’s Hermaneutics as Polemic and Apologetic: the Case of De Sermone Domine in Monte,” Proceedings of the Eastern Great Lakes Biblical and Midwestern Biblical Societies, vol. 7, (1987), 117-127.
- “Exegesis (Biblical),” Encyclopedia Britannica Micropedia, 1985 edition
- Co-author with Martin Marty, “We Need More Religions in Our Sitcoms,” TV Guide 31:52, December 24, 1983
Other Scholarly Activities
- “Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World,” a series of 48 half-hour lectures recorded and distributed as a non-credit college-level course by The Teaching Company (released April, 2005).
Academic Awards
- Holder of the Bishop James Mills Thoburn Chair of Religious Studies, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania
- Teacher-Scholar Professorship in Humanities, Allegheny College
- Faculty Development Grant of $2000.00 from Allegheny College used for researching during a sabbatical leave; January-August, 2000