http://www.concordia.ca/faculty/matthew-anderson.html

Dr. Matthew Robert Anderson, PhD

Current Appointments

Affiliate professor, Concordia Department of Theological Studies, Montreal

Fellow, Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, Montreal

 

Profile

My classroom combines creative pedagogy with up-to-date research in New Testament, Early Christianity, Pilgrimage, and Settler/Indigenous studies. Cultural and theological studies enrich the multidisciplinarity of this approach.

Current Research Interests

1. Paul as pilgrim, with attention to journey’s relationship to apocalypticism
2. the make-up of Paul’s congregation in Corinth with particular reference to the relationship between Jewish and non-Jewish followers as reflected in Paul’s rhetoric
3. changes to European pilgrimage during the Protestant Reformations
4. the walking of, and research into, Indigenous trails in Canada, especially as acts of ‘dark pilgrimage’ for descendants of settlers under the guidance of First Peoples

 

Teaching Experience

New Testament           Introduction to New Testament

Introduction to Biblical Studies

Introduction to Gospels and Acts (undergraduate and graduate)

Introduction to Paul (undergraduate and graduate)

Jesus of History and Christ of Faith

Theology                     Theology and Film (undergraduate and graduate)

Pilgrimage                   Introduction to Pilgrimage (undergraduate and graduate)

Settler/Indigenous      Journey in Indigenous Traditions (undergraduate and graduate)

Sustainability               The Contemporary World: Sustainability and Diversity

 

Education

1999                Ph.D. Religious Studies, Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, Montreal. Dissertation: “Before the Fact: How Paul’s Rhetoric Changed History” (F. Wisse; I. Henderson)

 

Publications: Refereed Publications

2019                “Strangers on the Land: What “Settler-Aware” Biblical Studies Learns from Indigenous Methodologies,” in Critical Theology (invited and submitted)

2019                “Walking to be Some Body: desire and diaspora on the St-Olaf Way,” in International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage 7:1

2019                “Luther’s Failed Pilgrimage and the Body of Christendom,” in International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage 7:1

2018                “Post-Reformation Christian Pilgrimage and the Globalization of Sentiment,” in Theoforum 48/1, 2018

2017                “The Tough Wedge: Reformation Now and Onward,” in Consensus 38:2, 5

2015                “The Curious Voyage of Christ: katábasis, anábasis, and the New Testament,” in Les Études Classiques. 83:1

2014                “De Vieux-Montréal  à Kahnawa:ké : the story of an urban pilgrimage between settler and aboriginal cultures,” in Urban Pilgrimage, Room One Thousand, University of California (Berkeley). Co-authored: S. Terreault

2006                “Adaptation: The Self-Proclaiming Rhetoric of Charlie Kaufman and of                                 Paul” in Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Vol XIII.

2004                “In a Mirror Very Darkly: Pauline Argument and the Problem of History,”                            in the Lexington Theological Quarterly. Vol XXXIX, No.4: 225-242

 

Publications: Chapters in Books

2019                “Paul’s collection and his final pilgrimage to Jerusalem” in Comparativism and Ancient Mediterranean Pilgrimage, Århus: Århus University Press (invited and submitted)

2019                “Pilgrimage as Prelude to Reconciliation: the Canadian Context,” in Pilgrimages and Peace-Building, eds. Nour Farra Haddad and Ian S. McIntosh. Cambridge Scholars Press (invited and submitted)

2018                “Pilgrimage and the Challenging of a Canadian Foundational Myth,” in Pilgrimage in Practice: Narration, Reclamation and Healing, eds. Ian S. McIntosh, E. Moore Quinn and Vivienne Keely. CABI Publishing.

2014                “The First Cut is the Deepest: Masculinity and Circumcision in the First Century,” in Biblical Masculinities Foregrounded, eds. Peter-Ben Smit and Oviudu Creanga. Sheffield-Phoenix Press, co-written with K.B. Neutel, University of Oslo.

2008                “Albert Schweitzer and a Mystical Ecology for Paul” in Consensus:                                       Festschrift in Honour of Erwin Buck. Vol 33.1: 9-22.

2006                “The Reluctant Biblical Historian: A Rhetorical Rationale,” in Festschrift: Essays in Honour of Frederik Wisse. ARC. The Journal of the Faculty Religious Studies: 342-357.

 

Publications: Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries

2012                “Thorn in the Flesh,” (solicited article) for Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture. Eds. Michael Gilmour and Mary Ann Beavis. Sheffield Phoenix Press

2012                “The Garden of Eden,” (solicited article; also used as template for call for submissions) for Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture. Eds. Michael Gilmour and Mary Ann Beavis. Sheffield Phoenix Press

(a listing of various academic book reviews may be obtained on request)

 

Keynote and Invited Presentations (selected)

2019                Paul and the Eschatological Pilgrimage of the Gentiles, The Biblical Seminar, March 29, University of Nottingham (invited and upcoming)

2019                Unsettled Pilgrimages: Settlers Walking toward Reconciliation on the Great Plains, University of Nottingham Research Seminar Series, February 23, (invited and upcoming).

2019                Strangers on the Land: What Biblical Studies in the Canadian Settler Context Can Learn from Indigenous Methodologies, Research Seminar for the Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, February 18, Sheffield University, UK.

2018                Response to Sheinfeld, Gender and Second Temple Judaism: Challenges & Possibilities, 10th Nangeroni Meeting of the Enoch Seminar, June, Rome.

2017                Masculinity in the New Testament: a changing ideal. At University of Nottingham, UK, Dept. of Theology and Religious Studies.

2017                Imagining Iceland: Pilgrimage. Invited panelist at the “Imagining Iceland: From Concordia to the North,” Concordia University, Visual Arts Building. Sept 20, 2017.

2017                Our Work, Our Walk. Invited keynote at the “Sustainability Across Disciplines Conference,” Concordia University, John Molson School of Business. March 17, 2017.

2017                Mapping with our Feet: Pilgrimage and Pedagogy in Montreal and Mohawk Spaces. Invited presentation at Concordia University Dept. of Applied Human Sciences, to faculty and grad students. Jan 12, 2017.

2016                Land and Meaning-Making: the Environmental Seminar Series. Presenting with Orenda Boucher-Curotte, Coordinator of First Peoples’ Studies, Dawson College, Montreal. Invited speaker.

2013                The Heroic Journey, 2013 Symposium on Pilgrimage Studies. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg VA, USA (keynote address)

 

Other Presentations (selected)

2018                “The Secrets of/Les secrets de Pompeii,” At Jardins Heritage Gardens, St-Lambert QC, Wed Sept 19, 2018.

2018                What Happened to Mary Magdalene? At St. Michael’s Finnish Church/ Pyhän Mikaelin Kirkko, Montreal. May 2018.

2017                Paul’s collection and his final pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Comparativism and the Study of Ancient Mediterranean Pilgrimage, University of Århus, Denmark. May 17-19.

2017                A History of Post-Reformation Pilgrimage and the Globalization of Sentiment, The Reformation and Globalization, St. Paul University and University of Ottawa, Ottawa

2016                Indigeneity, Journey, and Historical Recollection on the Northern Great Plains, American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, San Antonio TX

2016                Mapping with our Feet: Pilgrimage as Pedagogy in Mohawk and Montreal Spaces, American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, San Antonio TX

2016                Horror and the Hidden: Luther, Paul, and Tracy on the hiddenness of God, paper at the Hiddenness of God conference, King’s College, Western University, London ON

2014                The Pilgrimage that Ended Pilgrimages, (Reformation effects on European pilgrimage) 2014 Symposium, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg VA

2014                The Curious Journey of Christ: Katabasis in 1 Peter,  at the                                                    interdisciplinary, interuniversity Katabasis colloquium, Concordia

2011                The Neglect of Jewish-Gentile Themes in 1 Corinthians; paper presented to the annual meeting of The European Association of Biblical Studies (EABS), Thessaloniki Greece.

2010                Deconstructing the Temple: Paul and the Temple Allusions of 1 Cor 3;                                  paper presented in Tartu Estonia at the International Meeting of the                          Society of Biblical Literature.

 

University and Community Engagement Leadership (selected)

2017                Kahnawà:ke. Invited to be one of the facilitators and community liaisons for meetings between Concordia upper academic administration and Mohawk community representatives, in Kahnawà:ke, Aug 31-Sept 1, 2017.

2017, 2015      Presenter and participant in local community meetings in southern Saskatchewan on Indigenous-Settler walking trails, history and future

 

Affiliations

European Association of Biblical Studies (EABS)

Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)

American Academy of Religion (AAR)

Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS)

Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society (SHFS)

McGill Centre for Research on Religion (CREOR)

The Montreal Biblical Colloquium

Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies (SIIBS)

 

Selected Media Appearances

Article “Why Canadians Need the Right to Roam” in The National Post online: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/why-canadians-need-the-right-to-roam and in The Ottawa Citizen online: https://ottawacitizen.com/pmn/news-pmn/why-canadians-need-the-right-to-roam/wcm/8f8056ee-131e-4de2-b1eb-9b24ef178afc?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1532962207

Article about the movie “Paul, Apostle of Christ” in The National Post online: http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/paul-apostle-of-christ-owes-more-to-coca-cola-than-to-the-bible

Article about Charles Dickens and the Gospels in The Toronto Star online: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2017/12/12/charles-dickens-the-man-who-invented-christmas-plagiarized-jesus.html

Heritage Saskatchewan video for Canada 150: https://somethinggrand.ca/2017/10/19/walking-the-land-a-canada-150-post/

Featured in CBC Montreal one-hour interview as a ‘Montreal creative’

https://somethinggrand.ca/interviews/

http://ici.radio-canada.ca/emissions/pour_faire_un_monde/2014-2015/chronique.asp?idChronique=380260

http://www.lehtiluukku.fi/lue/lappilainen-25.02.2015/70979.html

http://www.rovaniemenseurakunta.fi/viestinta/seurakuntaradio_rovadei/kuuntele_haastatteluita/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLUdJZC72GU&feature=youtu.be&t=2m45s