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Dr Michael P. Theophilos

Senior Lecturer, Biblical and Early Christian Studies

Areas of expertise: New Testament studies; ancient languages (Greek, Hebrew, Latin); Greek lexicography; numismatics; papyrology; epigraphy

Phone: +613 9953 3371

Email: michael.theophilos@acu.edu.au

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

Michael P. Theophilos is a New Testament scholar with particular interest in Greco-Roman material culture, especially papyri and ancient coinage, for the purposes of illuminating the historical, linguistic, and social setting of early Christianity. He holds a PhD in New Testament from Oxford University (2008) and has completed further studies in several ancient languages (Greek, Latin, Coptic, Hebrew, Ugaritic, and Akkadian).

His 30 publications to date include three sole-authored books, with two further volumes forthcoming. He has been a Visiting Research Fellow of the Hebrew University (2006), Kenyon Archaeological Institute in Jerusalem (2009), University of Cambridge (2012), as well as having regular invitations to conduct specialist seminars on numismatics, epigraphy and papyrology. Recent invitations include the University of Oxford (2016), University of Zurich (2017), Trinity College Dublin (2018), and Macquarie University (2020). His 47 to date peer-reviewed international conference presentations have been delivered throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

He has been recipient of several prestigious national and international awards, including an Australian Government Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, for the adoption of innovative and exciting approaches to teaching biblical languages and history (2012), the Five Minute Research Pitch (5RP) Australian overall winner (2014), and most recently the recipient of the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship (2019). He is also the curator of papyrological materials at the Australian Institute of Archaeology and chair of the Program Unit in Biblical Lexicography at the Annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Select publications

• M. P. Theophilos, "Papyri and Epigraphy Relating to the Septuagint” in A. G. Salvesen and T. M. Law (eds.), Oxford Handbook of the Septuagint (Oxford: OUP, 2020), in press.
• M. P. Theophilos, "Roman Imperial Coinage and the book of Romans” in J.R. Harrison and L.L. Welborn (eds), The First Urban Churches. Volume 6: Rome and Ostia (Atlanta: SBL Press: 2020), in press.
• M. P. Theophilos, "Marginalia in New Testament Greek Papyri: Implications for Scribal Practice and Textual Transmission” in Stanley E. Porter, Chris S. Stevens, and David I. Yoon (eds.), Paratextual Features of New Testament Papyrology and Early Christian Manuscripts (Leiden: Brill, 2020), in press.
• M. P. Theophilos, Numismatics and Greek Lexicography. London: Bloomsbury, 2019.
• M. P. Theophilos, "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ (Rev 17:14; 19:16) in Light of the Numismatic Record” New Testament Studies 65 (2019): 526-551.
• M. P. Theophilos, "New Light from the Papyri: The Sacred Background of ΒΙΒΛΟΣ in Matthew 1:1” in Craig Evans and Jeremiah Johnston (eds.), Scribes and Their Remains (Library of Second Temple Studies 94; London: Bloomsbury, 2019), 201-219.
• M. P. Theophilos, "Employing Numismatic Evidence in Discussions of Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley: A Case Study from Laodicea” in J.R. Harrison and L.L. Welborn (eds), The First Urban Churches. Volume 5: The Lycus Valley (Atlanta: SBL Press: 2019), 257-292.
• M. P. Theophilos, "John 15:14 and the ΦΙΛ- lexeme in Light of Numismatics Evidence: Friendship or Obedience?” New Testament Studies 64 (2018): 33-43.
• 'The Numismatic Background of ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡ in Hebrew 1:3', Australian Biblical Review 64 (2016): 69-80.
• 'Κτίστης (1 Peter 4:19) in Light of the Numismatic Record'. In Greek Lexicography, edited by T. Evans and J. Aitken, 191-205. Leuven: Peeters, 2015.
• 'The Roman Connection: Paul and Mark'. In Paul and Mark, edited by O. Wischmeyer, D. C. Sim, and I. Elmer, 45-71. Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 198. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014.

Accolades and awards

• 2019 Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship
• 2014 Five Minute Research Pitch (5RP) Australian overall winner
• 2012 Australian Government Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, for the adoption of innovative and exciting approaches to teaching biblical languages and history