Brent Nongbri

Professor

History of Religions
Brent.Nongbri@mf.no
Office: 476B
Phone number: 22590548

Professional competence areas:

Ancient Christianity
Ancient Jewish and Christian Material Culture
Early Christian Manuscripts
History of Religions

Responsible for the following subjects:

Master's Thesis in History of Religions
Subject code: AVH5080
Theories of Religion
Subject code: SAM5010
Current Debates in the Study of Religion
Subject code: RL5110
Religious Heritage for Sale
Subject code: RL5140

I am a specialist in the study of religion with a focus on early Christianity. I currently run the research project The Early History of the Codex: A New Methodology and Ethics for Manuscript Studies (EthiCodex), sponsored by the Research Council of Norway (2021-2026). My most recent book, God's Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts (Yale University Press, 2018), was the 2019 winner of the DeLong Book History Prize awarded by the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing, as well as the Biblical Archaeology Society's prize for best book on a New Testament topic. I blog with some regularity at Variant Readings.

Latest academic publications

View all publications on the Cristin website

Nongbri, B. (2025). Galen and the Parchment Codex: A Note on the Text of De indolentia 33, Classical Philology, s. 132 - 138. Classical Philology, ISSN: 0009-837X
Nongbri, B. & Knust, J. (2025). Review of Strutwolf et al., Novum Testamentum Graecum: Editio Critica Maior, vol. 1/2: Die Synoptischen Evangelien/The Synoptic Gospels: Das Markusevangelium/The Gospel according to Mark, Novum Testamentum, s. 269 - 287. Novum Testamentum, ISSN: 0048-1009
Nongbri, B. (2025). Just a Little Rough around the Edges: The Use of Pumice on Papyrus, Bulletin of The American Society of Papyrologists, s. 227 - 239. Bulletin of The American Society of Papyrologists, ISSN: 0003-1186
Lied, L. I. & Nongbri, B. (2025). Working with manuscripts : a guide for textual scholars, Yale University Press, ISBN: 9780300281477
Nongbri, B. (2024). Imagining Science, Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift, s. 199 - 224. Svensk Teologisk Kvartalskrift, ISSN: 0039-6761
Nongbri, B. (2024). A Papyrus Codex of Paul's Letters in Greek: Another Look at PSI XIV 1373 (P65) and P.Yale I 2 + II 86 (P49)., Novum Testamentum, s. 499 - 514. Novum Testamentum, ISSN: 0048-1009
Nongbri, B. (2023). Review of "Coptic Bookbindings in the Pierpont Morgan Library", Journal of Coptic Studies, s. 329 - 333. Journal of Coptic Studies, ISSN: 1016-5584
Nongbri, B. (2023). Friedrich Max Müller, Fieldnotes in the critical study of religion : revisiting classical theorists ,, s. 11 - 17. Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN: 9781350251656
Nongbri, B. (2023). Manuscripts: The Problem with the Synoptic Problem, The Oxford Handbook of the Synoptic Gospels,, s. 152 - 174. Oxford University Press, ISBN: 9780190887452
Nongbri, B. & Sharp, D. B. (2023). The Bodmer Papyri and the Chester Beatty, The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri at Ninety: Literature, Papyrology, Ethics,, s. 37 - 50. Walter de Gruyter (De Gruyter), ISBN: 9783110781304
Nongbri, B. (2022). The Construction and Contents of the Beatty-Michigan Pauline Epistles Codex (P46), Novum Testamentum, s. 388 - 407. Novum Testamentum, ISSN: 0048-1009
Nongbri, B. (2022). The Manuscript Tradition, T&T Clark Handbook to the Historical Paul,, s. 55 - 68. Bloomsbury T&T Clark, ISBN: 9780567691965
Nongbri, B. (2022). The Date of Codex Sinaiticus, Journal of Theological Studies, s. 516 - 534. Journal of Theological Studies, ISSN: 0022-5185
Nongbri, B. (2022). The Ethics of Publication: Papyrology, Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR), Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR), ISSN: 1055-7660
Nongbri, B. (2022). Review of "Ancient Texts, Papyri, and Manuscripts", The Studia Philonica Annual, s. 298 - 301. The Studia Philonica Annual, ISSN: 1052-4533
Nongbri, B. (2022). Review of "Bodmer Papyri, Scribal Culture, and Textual Transmission", Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR), Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR), ISSN: 1055-7660
Nongbri, B. (2022). How the “Jerusalem Scrolls” Became the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran Cave 1: Archaeology, the Antiquities Market, and the Spaces In Between, Harvard Theological Review, s. 1 - 22. Harvard Theological Review, ISSN: 0017-8160
Nongbri, B. (2021). Review of "The Origins of Early Christian Literature", Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR), Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR), ISSN: 1055-7660
Nongbri, B. (2020). Palaeography, Precision, and Publicity: Further Thoughts on P.Ryl. iii.457 (P52), New Testament Studies, s. 471 - 499. New Testament Studies, ISSN: 0028-6885
Nongbri, B. & Sharp, D. B. (2019). Four newly identified fragments of P.Bodmer 14–15 (P75), Novum Testamentum, s. 99 - 106. Novum Testamentum, ISSN: 0048-1009
Nongbri, B. (2019). Palaeographic Analysis of Codices from the Early Christian Period: A Point of Method, Journal for the Study of the New Testament, s. 84 - 97. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, ISSN: 0142-064X
Nongbri, B. (2019). The Present and Future of Ancient Religion, Theorizing "Religion" in Antiquity,, s. 1 - 8. Equinox Publishing, ISBN: 9781781793572
Nongbri, B. (2018). God's Library: The Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts, Yale University Press, ISBN: 9780300215410

Research projects

The Early History of the Codex: A New Methodology and Ethics for Manuscript Studies (EthiCodex)

Education and practice

2017 - 2018
Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Theology, Aarhus University

2014 - 2016
Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, Dept. of Ancient History, Macquarie University

2013 - 2014
Macquarie University Research Fellow, Dept. of Ancient History, Macquarie University

2010 - 2012
Research Fellow, Department of Ancient History, Macquarie University

2009 - 2010
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Oberlin College

2008 - 2009
Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, Yale University

2002 - 2008
PhD, Department of Religious Studies, Yale University