Susan E. Hylen
Candler School of Theology1531 Dickey Drive Emory University Atlanta, GA 30322 susan.hylen@emory.edu
Academic Appointments
Emory University, Candler School of Theology. Associate Professor of New Testament, Fall 2013-present.
Emory University, Candler School of Theology. Associate Research Professor of New Testament, 2012-2013.
Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Assistant Professor of New Testament, 2009-2012. Vanderbilt University. Mellon Assistant Professor of New Testament, Department of Religious
Studies, 2005-2009.
Emory University. Post-Doctoral Fellow in Practical Theology and Religious Practices, Candler School of Theology, 2004-2005.
Education
Emory University. Ph.D., New Testament, May 2004.
Dissertation: “Allusion and Meaning in John 6.” Committee: Gail R. O’Day (chair), Luke T. Johnson, Walter T. Wilson, Brent Strawn.
Princeton Theological Seminary. Master of Divinity, May 1995.
University of California, San Diego. Bachelor of Arts, June 1990, cum laude. Honors and Awards
Fund for Innovative Teaching Grant, Emory University Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, May 2014.
Venture Fund Grant for Creativity in Curricular and Pedagogical Approaches, Vanderbilt University College of Arts & Science, 2007.
Society of Biblical Literature 2007 Regional Scholar Award, Southeastern Region. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Fellowship, Emory University, 1999-2004. Bandy Fellowship (Homiletics), Candler School of Theology, 1999-2002.
Princeton Theological Seminary Fellowship, 1992-1995.
Master's Thesis awarded Fellowship for Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary, May 1995.
Publications Books
A Modest Apostle: Thecla and the History of Women in the Early Church. New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming (Fall 2015).
Imperfect Believers: Ambiguous Characters in the Gospel of John. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.
Allusion and Meaning in John 6. Beiheifte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005.
Co-authored Books
New Proclamation Year B 2012: Easter Through Christ the King Sunday. Edited by David Lott.
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012. (Co-authored with Ira Brent Driggers, Tracy L. Hartman, and L. P. Jones.)
John. Westminster Bible Companion. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. (Co-authored with Gail R. O’Day.)
Peer-reviewed Articles
“The ‘Domestication’ of Saint Thecla: Characterization of Thecla in the Life and Miracles of Saint Thecla,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 30 (2014) 5-21.
“Modest, Industrious, and Loyal: Reinterpreting Conflicting Evidence for Women’s Roles,” Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture, 44 (2014) 3-12.
“Metaphor Matters: Violence and Ethics in Revelation,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 73 (2011) 777-796. “Forgiveness and Life in Community,” Interpretation 54 (2000) 146-57.
Other Articles
“Seeing Jesus John’s Way: Manna from Heaven.” Word & World 33 (2013) 341-348.
“Telling the Christmas Story with No Shepherds and Angels (John 1:1-14).” Word & World 32 (2012), 401-407.
“The Power and Problem of Revelation 18: The Rhetorical Function of Gender.” Pages 205-219 in
Pregnant Passion: Gender, Sex, and Violence in the Bible. Edited by Cheryl Kirk-Duggan. Semeia 44.
Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Book Chapters
“The Disciples,” Pages 214-27 in Character Studies in the Fourth Gospel. Edited by Steven Hunt, Francois Tolmie, and Reuben Zimmerman. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 314. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013.
“Three Ambiguities: Historical Context, Implied Reader, and the Nature of Faith,” Pages 96-109 in
Characters and Characterization in the Gospel of John. Edited by Christopher W. Skinner. Library of New Testament Studies. New York: Continuum, 2013.
“Teaching Revelation to the Left Behind Generation,” Teaching the Bible in the Undergraduate Liberal Arts Context. Edited by Glenn Holland and Jane Webster. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2012. “Genealogies and Exegesis.” Pages 305-306 in Teaching the Bible: Practical Strategies for Classroom
Instruction. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005. Dictionary Articles
“Glory” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Bible and Theology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
“New Testament Theology.” Page 866 in TheCambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Edited by Daniel Patte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
“Revelation, Book of.” Pages 1075-1076 in TheCambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Edited by Daniel Patte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
“Counsel, Counselor.” Page 764 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 1. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006.
“Easter.” Page 175 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 2. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007. “Exaltation.” Page 362 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 2. Nashville: Abingdon Press,
2007.
“God’s Only Son.” Page 621 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 2. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.
“John.” Pages 344-345 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008.
“Lamb.” Page 563 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008. “Lazarus of Bethany,” Page 616 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Nashville: Abingdon
Press, 2008.
“Little Apocalypse.” Page 680 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008.
“Magog.” Page 770 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008. “Malchus.” Page 777 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Nashville: Abingdon Press,
2008.
“Murmur.” Page 166 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 4. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
“New Commandment.” Page 263 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 4. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
“New Earth, New Heaven.” Pages 263-264 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 4. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
“New Jerusalem.” Page 264 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 4. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
“Nicodemus.” Pages 269-270 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 4. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
“Sea of Glass, Glassy Sea.” Page 140 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 5. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
“Way.” Pages 823-824 in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 5. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009.
Lectionary Articles
“John 10:1-6, Exegetical Perspective” Feasting on the Gospels, forthcoming. “John 10:7-10, Exegetical Perspective” Feasting on the Gospels, forthcoming. John 10:11-18, Exegetical Perspective” Feasting on the Gospels, forthcoming. “Luke 24:13-49, Exegetical Perspective” Feasting on the Gospels, forthcoming. “Luke 24:50-53, Exegetical Perspective” Feasting on the Gospels, forthcoming. “Luke 1:46b–55.” Lectionary Homiletics 22.1 (2010) 11-12.
“Romans 1:1–7.” Lectionary Homiletics 22.1 (2010) 19-20. “Hebrews 2:10–18.” Lectionary Homiletics 22.1 (2010) 26-27.
“Luke 6:27–38, Theological Perspective.” Pages 380-384 in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C. Vol. 1. Edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor.
Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009.
“Luke 6:39–49, Theological Perspective.” Pages 404-408 in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C. Vol. 1. Edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009.
“Luke 7:1–10, Theological Perspective.” Pages 428-432 in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C. Vol. 1. Edited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009.
Academic Papers
“Thecla’s Silence and Speech in the Acts of Paul and Thecla,” SBL Annual Meeting, Speech and Talk Unit, November 2014.
“Alternatives to the “Text as Mirror” Approach: Reassessing the Gendered Rhetoric of 1 Timothy,” International SBL Meeting, Feminist Interpretation Section, Vienna, Austria, July 2014. “Did Marriage Restrict Women’s Freedom? Reconsidering Marriage in the Imperial Period,” SBL
Annual Meeting, Joint Session of Feminist Hermeneutics of the Bible and and Disputed Paulines, Baltimore, MD November 2013.
“Chastity as Autonomy?: Married and Unmarried Women in the New Testament Period,” Candler School of Theology, Faculty Research Seminar, September 16, 2013.
“The Orthodox Thecla: Characterization of Thecla in the Life and Miracles of Saint Thecla,” SBL Annual Meeting, Christian Apocrypha Section, Chicago, IL November 2012.
“The Orthodox Thecla: Characterization of Thecla in the Life and Miracles of Saint Thecla,” Emory Graduate Division of Religion, New Testament Colloquy, Nov. 5, 2012.
“1 Timothy and the Acts of Paul and Thecla: Conflicting Portraits?,” Department of Religious Studies Overlook Seminar, Vanderbilt University, April 2012.
Response to Annette Merz and Glenn E. Snyder: “Reading Echoes in the Acts of Paul and Thecla,” SBL Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2011.
“Values in Conflict: Developing a New Portrait of Early Christian Women,” Pre-Modern Cultural Studies Group, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, Vanderbilt University, September 2011.
“The Paradox of Women in the Early Church: 1 Timothy and the Acts of Paul and Thecla,” SBL Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 2010.
“Teaching Revelation to the Left Behind Generation,” SBL Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 2010. “Ancient Interpreters of John 8,” The Reception History of the Bible: A Symposium, Duquesne
University, March 27, 2009.
“Metaphor and Ethics in Revelation,” SBL Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 2007.
“The Ethics of Reading Revelation,” Panel presentation on From Every People and Nation: the Book of Revelation in Intercultural Perspective,” Contextual BiblicalInterpretation section, SBL Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 2006.
“Reassessing Religious Identity and the Character of ‘the Jews’ in John,” Early Christian and Jewish Relations Program Unit, “Religious Identity and Power of/over Naming”; SBL Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2005.
“The Character of ‘the Jews’ in John 6,” SBL Southeastern Regional Meeting, Winston-Salem, NC, March 2005.
“Sepphoris Acropolis Excavations, 2000,” SBL Southeastern Regional Meeting, Charlotte, NC, March 2001.
Book Reviews
By F. Scott Spencer (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2012). Biblical Theology Bulletin, forthcoming.
Thomas-Love as Strong as Death: Faith and Commitment in the Fourth Gospel. By Dennis Sylva. (New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.) Biblical Interpretation 22 (2014) 227-29.
A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters by Andreas J. Köstenberger (Biblical Theology of the New Testament; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009). Catholic Biblical Quarterly 73 (2011) 164-65.
John and Thomas—Gospels in Conflict? Johannine Characterization and the Thomas Question by Christopher W. Skinner. (Princeton Theological Monograph Series; Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2009),
Interpretation 65 (2011) 311.
La saga de Siloé: Jésus et la fête des Tentes (Jean 7,1–10, 21) by Luc Devillers (Lire la Bible 143; Paris: Cerf, 2005). Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68 (2006) 759–60.
God Dwells with Us: Temple Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel, by Mary L. Coloe (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2001). Review of Biblical Literature online reviews (www.bookreviews.org), 6/7/2003.
Service at Candler School of Theology and Emory University Faculty Advisor for Sacred Worth student group, 2014-present. Personnel and Policy Committee, 2014-present.
Teaching and Research Grants Committee, 2013-present. Women, Theology, and Ministry Advisory Board, 2013-present. Luce Faculty Seminar, Candler School of Theology, Spring 2014. Center for Women at Emory Writing Awards Committee, 2014.
Search Committee Member (Position in Religion and Human Difference), Spring 2013. Emory Safe Spaces training, April 2013.
“Visions of Glory” (Sermon on Luke 9:28-36), Cannon Chapel, Candler School of Theology, February 12, 2013.
Service at Vanderbilt University
Center for Teaching Advisory Board, Spring 2011-Spring 2012.
Chair, Department of Religious Studies Assessment of Student Learning Committee, 2008-2012. Divinity School Admissions Committee, 2010-2012.
Divinity School Baccalaureate speaker, May 2012. Service in the Academy
Editorial board, Emory Studies in Early Christianity, 2014-present.
Chair, Women in the Biblical World, Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, 2011-2015. SBL Status of Women in the Profession/Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, “Pedagogical
Strategies in Biblical Studies,” Facilitator, SBL Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Nov 2013. Co-chair, Women in the Biblical World, Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, 2010-2011. Courses taught at Emory University
New Testament Interpretation (M.Div, M.T.S.) Early Christian Women (M.Div, M.T.S.) Teaching the Bible (M.Div., M.T.S.)
Bible and Sermon: The Gospel of John (M.Div., Contextual Education II Elective) The Book of Revelation and its Interpreters (M.Div, M.T.S., Th.M.)
Contextual Education I (M.Div.) The Gospel of John (Ph.D)
Courses taught at Vanderbilt University
Themes in the New Testament (Introductory level course for undergraduates) Introduction to the New Testament (Foundation course for Divinity students) Women in the New Testament (First Year Writing Seminar for undergraduates) Revelation (Undergraduate, Divinity, and Ph.D. students)
The Gospel of John (Undergraduate, Divinity, and Ph.D. students) The Gnostic Gospels (Undergraduate)
Early Christian Women (Undergraduate, Divinity, Ph.D.)
Teaching the Bible: Biblical Interpretation as Congregational Practice (Divinity, Ph.D.) M.Div. Senior Seminar
Bible and Sermon: The Gospel of John (Divinity, Ph.D.) Other Media
“Cultivating a Biblical Imagination,” @This Point: Theological Investigations in Church and Culture 9.1(2014), http://www.atthispoint.net/professional-responses/cultivating-a-biblical-imagination/247/. “John 12:1-8,” workingpreacher.org, 3/17/13, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1582 “John 13:1-17, 31b-35” workingpreacher.org, 3/28/13, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1583 “John 18:1-19:42,” workingpreacher.org, 3/29/13, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1584 “John 20:19-31,” workingpreacher.org, 4/7/2013, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1585 “Seeing Jesus in the Gospel of John,” Presbyterians Today (May 2012) 4.
“In Pursuit of Wisdom,” (Sermon on Prov. 8:22-36), Vanderbilt Divinity School E-Spire, June 2012, http://divinity.vanderbilt.edu/eSpire/Susan%20Hylen%20Graduation%20Address%202012 .php
“Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us,” (Sermon on Mark 9:38-50), Vanderbilt Divinity School E-Spire, May 2011, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/divinity/eSpire/2011_05_hylen.php
“Seeing Jesus in the Gospel of John,” 6 session adult Bible study for Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding, Congregational Ministries Publishing, PC(USA), 2011.
“When the Disciples Didn’t Understand,” Pages 23–26 in Adult Bible Studies Illustrated, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, Spring 2010).
“Eph 4:1-16,” workingpreacher.org, 8/2/2009, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=373 “Eph 5:25-5:2,” workingpreacher.org, 8/9/2009, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=374 “Eph 5:15-20,” workingpreacher.org, 8/16/2009, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=376 “Eph 6:10-20,” workingpreacher.org, 8/23/2009, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=379
Video, “An Invitation to John,” DISCIPLE Bible Study Curriculum. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.
Television interview; “Film about Tomb of Jesus Sparks Controversy,” WSMV Nashville, 2/26/2007.
Church and Conference Speaking and Teaching Events
Adult education, various churches, 2002-present (list available on request).
“Reviving Exegetical Practice,” Workshop for Marcy Fellows, Candler School of Theology, October, 2012.
Images of Jesus in the Gospel of John, Holden Village, July 21-28, 2012.
Keynote speaker, Eastern Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators, Chambersburg, PA, April 2012.
Presbytery of Middle Tennessee Bible study, October 2011.
Presbyterian Women’s Fall Gathering, Presbytery of Middle Tennessee, 2011. Keynote speaker, POINT Conference, January 2010.
Keynote speaker, Montreat Christian Education Conference, Montreat, NC, June 2009. Conference Preacher, Princeton Theological Seminary Youth Ministry Forum, January 2008. Instructor, Columbia Theological Seminary Continuing Education: Biblical Interpretation for
Christian Educators. July 2003, September 2004.
Lay Institute for Faith and Life: Beginning Greek for Lay People, Spring 2004, Fall 2004; The Gospel of John and the Exodus Story, February, 2002.
Supply Preacher, Presbytery of Geneva, 1995-1999. Additional Professional & Ecclesial Experience Ruling Elder, Presbyterian Church (USA), 2002-present.
Assistant Area Supervisor, Sepphoris Acropolis Excavations, Israel, Summer 2000. Director, Rape Crisis Service of the Finger Lakes, 1997-1999.
Co-Moderator, Presbyterian Women, Presbytery of Geneva, 1997-1999.
Program Director, Congregations Preventing Family Violence, October 1995-1997. Research Associate, Presbyterian United Nations Office, New York, 1993-1994. Women’s Center Co-coordinator, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1993-1994.
Intern pastor, Hammondsport & Pulteney Presbyterian Churches, NY, Summer 1993. References available on request.
