Balance. Nuance. Tension. Such themes pervade my thoughts in nearly all areas of life, including scholarship. Being a committed Anabaptist Christian, while also seeking to be an uncompromising scholar of the Bible and Christian origins, provides my ultimate challenge in maintaining said balance. What my scholarship and my faith commitment both share, however, is a pursuit of truth and knowledge.
People who click on this “About Pat” page are surely looking to find a category for me. Is he conservative? Liberal? Moderate? Progressive? Fundamentalist? Radical? Calvinist? Arminian? Democrat? Republican? Coffee drinker? Tea drinker? I hope that I can remain mysterious enough so that you don’t automatically place me into a box. If you choose to be a dialogue partner with me on this blog, I will try to honor you by not putting you in a box. But, I will help you with a few descriptive details. I am currently a Ph.D. student in New Testament and Christian origins at UCLA (see more about that decision at this post), having received a M.Div. from Fuller Seminary and a B.A. in biblical studies from Messiah College. The program at UCLA is taught from the perspective of social history, which—combined with my Fuller education—makes me a theologically-trained social historian of the Bible.
Working under Scott Bartchy and closely with Ra’anan Boustan, I am currently focused on studying apocalyptic thought and social identity in early Judaism and the Jesus movement, a topic perhaps influenced by my own search for hidden mysteries. As I mentioned earlier, I am an Anabaptist Christian, a member of both the Brethren in Christ and Mennonite Church (USA) denominations. As an Anabaptist, I am not particularly doctrinaire, but I agree with (and try to live by) all of the “core values” of the Brethren in Christ Church. My favorite meal is probably homemade macaroni and cheese, while my favorite dessert is banana cream cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.
Making sure that I do not indulge too deeply in that last point, my amazing wife is a Registered Dietitian and lactation educator with a Master of Public Health from UCLA. Being much more grounded in reality than I am, she works to provide nutritional counseling and breastfeeding support to low-income mothers. Together, we are parents to a beautiful (and fabulously challenging!) son, Declan, born in December of 2008.
You can contact me at: pgmccullough (AT) ucla (DOT) edu
About kata ta biblia
This is a blog exploring the New Testament and early Christianity from the perspective of an Anabaptist academic, while also exposing my own curiosities about the strange journey through academia. The title is Greek and literally means “according to the books.” For me, it represents the journey to explore the meaning found within many “texts,” particularly the New Testament. I especially hope to explore social issues that gave rise to the texts as well as the social implications of history’s (and contemporary) interpretation of those texts. I want to engage scholarly issues, but also address issues of interest for those blessed non-academics. I am also interested in leaving my blog a little open-ended to generally focus on the interpretation of texts, be they sacred, scholarly, or popular. I hope my Anabaptism biases me just enough to make this blog interesting, but not quite so much to make me an ideologue. If you’d like to send me infuriated emails, toss them on over here. Positive and encouraging feedback, of course, would also be welcome.
“The Levites . . . instructed the people in the Torah while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Torah of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.” (Neh 8:7-8)
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise person who built their house on rock” (Mt 7:24).
Pat, really interesting blog. I found it when googling ’social memory theory’. If that area is still of interest, check out these two titles, either new or used (cheaper on the used market).
http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Tradition-Text-Christianity-Literature/dp/1589831497/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220015864&sr=8-14
and
http://www.amazon.com/Composition-Sayings-Source-Supplements-Testamentum/dp/9004110852/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220015946&sr=8-27
With appreciation,
Bob Kirk
Vancouver, BC
Thanks, Bob! Social memory was a bit of a flirtation along the way–not that I’m totally disinterested in it now, I’ve just honed my interests a little bit more since then. I had heard of the first book you mention and have read a bit of it. The second one I hadn’t seen, but I’ll check it out.
Nice, stimulating blog u have here.
Love that u like questions.
Just remember, there are many, many, more questions in the unbelievers worldview.
Thanks, Cafe. I’m glad you stopped by. I’m not sure you’re entirely correct with that last statement though. I know many “unbelievers” (probably a misnomer… I mean, the believe in something, right?) who have much more certainty than many of my fellow Jesus followers. One may not believe in the tenets of Christianity or practice Judaism, but most people live their lives according to some sort of code or imbedded system of thought. The fact that an “unbeliever” simply has a worldview reveals certainty of some kind (not that we can say that all unbelievers or believers have the same worldview).
Peace Patrick,
An interesting blog. I will have to stop by again, insha Allah (God willing).
Abdur Rahman
Thanks for stopping by, Abdur. Welcome! I’m happy to have a Muslim visitor with whom to expand the conversation. I’d be interested in your thoughts on anything that grabs you here.
Pat,
Funny . . . looks like we both follow John Hobbins blog pretty regularly and reside on the same campus. I’m in the NELC dept at UCLA. Let me know if you feel like grabbing coffee sometime! You’ve got my E-mail from this comment. Best wishes! -AC
Just stumbled across your website, and wanted to let you know, I am also “Patrick George McCullough”. Does appear you are giving our mutual name justice! Like your website.
Excellent! Thanks for stopping by, Patrick. My wife and I just had a baby boy and named him Declan Patrick McCullough. If you have a son named Declan, then that would really be spooky.
Pat, of course I meant unbelievers in your blog’s broad subject context (Christianity).
I agree everyone believes in sumthing, including God, even if it’s themselves.
So, are u still in the Pasadena area, or living near ucLA ?
Cafe, still in Pasadena with my wife and baby boy. It’s a long commute, but I take public transportation and can get some work done along the way.
(By the way, I still think that we cannot nail down two monolithic categories called “believers” and “unbelievers,” one of which has more questions than the other.)
Be well
Pat,
Read through your blog this evening. Very interesting. My husband and I are currently at Gordon-Conwell. We are interested in your journey into UCLA. (we are originally from Orange County, CA). Is there a way to email you (and your wife) and ask some questions?
God Bless,
Ashley
Hi Ashley,
Good of you to stop by. I will send you a separate email. I just want to note that your current president at Gordon-Conwell is my former campus pastor. I worked with Dr. Hollinger on his book, Choosing the Good. In fact, if you look in the acknowledgments section, you will see my name!
Much Peace,
Pat
Pat, I’ve been frequenting your website & have thoroughly enjoyed reading & your links. It’s interesting… how I’ve been updating Joy about what you’ve been blogging – including your most recent SBL experience. Blessings to you & your family.
Peter
Thanks, Peter! I’m glad to have you reading. I’d love to read your thoughts on any posts that catch your interest. Tell Joy I say hi