Plugging the new book on History Valley.

Live now for a public conference session on John.

he still has a job. how many people have been fired for saying much milder things about a right-wing figure?

Me: I hate the Mets Me (10 seconds later): *orders a Mets Juan Soto jersey*

what a wonderful, generous review. how lucky am i to have @drewjakeprof.bsky.social as my reviewer!! truly the best of us. 💜

“The IU Bloomington chapter of the Association of University Professors decried the new policy, calling it ‘draconian.’” www.idsnews.com/article/2025...

I'm doing a few podcasts over the next few weeks on the new book. This one will be a live podcast today at 5pm EDT. Feel free to tune in. m.youtube.com/watch?v=lIQE...

My latest article on John has finally been published (it was preprint for a while). OUP sent me a free-access link, so if you're interested in the paper, please message/email me! academic.oup.com/jts/article-...

Last day to download the free chapter!

Still finding the words… so devastated for our field.

My latest podcast appearance, summarizing the theology and symbolism of John. It is, in essence, a sneak peak of chs. 2 and 3 of my new book. doi.org/10.1093/9780...

If you're looking to grab a copy of my latest title, OUP has a 30% off discount code for my new book (AUFLY30). Enjoy it!

I'm back from Europe, and guess what greeted me on my desk! Really, I'm so thankful to all of you—friends, family, and colleagues—for your encouragement. And I'm really looking forward to all that this book might inspire, challenge, and reshape! (Enjoy a taste here: doi.org/10.1093/9780...)

Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty. -- Hannah Arendt

New Sumerian myth just dropped

My latest book, The Gospel of John: A New History, is now out with OUP! If you'd like a taste, follow the link below to get the first chapter for free. (There's an option to see it as a PDF.) academic.oup.com/book/60236/c...

“This deal won’t end Columbia’s torture. Whatever onerous terms the school has agreed to will be deemed to have been broken in the face of a campus protest, an edgy syllabus, a leaked classroom discussion or even an acerbic student opinion piece.”

Excited to see this out!

“At issue is a legal concept from the sixth century A.D., when Emperor Justinian ordered the codification of Roman laws. The resulting code declared that features of nature like the air, running water, the sea and “the shores of the sea” must be held in trust for the use of the public.”

OMG the sky is crying for David Wright. #lgm

“A Duke professor who spoke to Science on the condition of anonymity called the May guidelines a ‘creative way to go around the tenure system and force tenured professors to quit on their own.’” www.dukechronicle.com/article/2025...

He’s the best.

Congrats Shaily!! So excited to read this.

Happy to see this out! Congrats @kelsbot.bsky.social!

Print copies of my book are weeks away, but its ebook versions are now out on Kindle and Nook for $23.99! To celebrate, then, today's teaser comes from the introduction to ch. 2 in the Kindle preview (a.co/d/dQkhE24). academic.oup.com/book/60236

My book on the Gospel of John is coming out this month! Over the next few weeks, I'll be leaving teasers from its pages. Here's a key quote that sets up a major argument of chs. 1 and 2—namely, that the author of John was conversant with, and developed, the thought of Paul. (a.co/d/6rj76Qj).

A former employee of DOGE says that he found that the federal waste, “fraud and abuse that his agency was supposed to uncover were ‘relatively nonexistent.’” “I personally was pretty surprised, actually, at how efficient the government was,” Sahil Lavingia told @npr.org's Juana Summers.

In biblical studies, what comes after Inner-Biblical Exegesis turns out to be an anachronism (there was, after all, no Bible in Ancient Israel)? Is it actually Midrash all the way down? sethlsanders.wordpress.com/2025/06/03/i...

PLEASE SHARE: We just posted an ad for TWO research assistant positions on @pewresearch.org's religion team. We expect a lot of applications so it's best to apply this week for full consideration. Come work with our great team! pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...

New SBL website drop.

I am so excited for this!!! Congrats @vox-magica.bsky.social

There are few things more revolting than watching individuals manipulate religion—let alone my religion. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Schreiben wie die alten Römer: Mit Unterstützung der @gerda-henkel-stiftung.de erforscht Dr. Anna Willi die Materialität römischer Wachstäfelchen. Was uns die unscheinbaren Tafeln verraten, erzählt sie in der ersten Episode unserer Videoreihe. lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/tabulae_cera...

This is actually a really cute concept: “For one week, I want you to put your favorite team on the shelf and follow a different one. Do whatever you do in the normal course of being a fan, but do it for another ballclub.”

well good morning, new followers! get ready for occasional pictures of my cat, musings/RTs of ancient religion & history, a smattering of politics and pop culture I had two books come out last year that you might like 1/2 Gospel Thrillers: scalar.usc.edu/works/gospel...

Terrible.

You know what's a surprisingly fun (and underrated) read for a Gospels scholar? The Jefferson Bible. (No, really!) Enjoy! archive.org/details/jeff...

Aaaaand the Vatican website has a new look! (FINALLY.) www.vatican.va/content/vati...

I'm thrilled to see my book now published online through Oxford Academic! (For those with institutional subscriptions, you've got the whole text! But I'm also happy to send sections out if there's one you'd be interested in!) academic.oup.com/book/60236?l...

“Luke could’ve used Matthew and Q.”

"About 6,800 international students attended Harvard this year, or roughly 27 percent of the student body, according to university enrollment data."

I've had fun updating my professional website over the past few weeks. (The end of the semester is always a nice opportunity to get back into old hobbies like web design.) And I have a few new things out there. Here it is! www.hugomendez.com

I'm just shocked UNC Religious Studies hasn't given all of us an official Bart Ehrman mug. (www.etsy.com/listing/4306...)

Do you know of a museum, library, or archive that offers images from their collection for publication or presenting, for free? Please use the form below to help crowd-source a list of these magical places!

Quote of the day.

Frankly, I’m not sure* that we should even devote space to assessing a book’s argument/structure. I think it’s fine to set out the argument, and to indicate which parts may* not be widely received. If a person wants to directly disagree with a book, they can write their own article/book in response.

So happy to be back at #Stanford (this time to share my work on the Epistles of John). This place is always so stunning, always so inviting and warm. It’s such a special place to me.

Coming to a Harvard Theological Review near you. (And it's open access!)

That first encyclical should reveal quite a bit.