Professor Paul Middleton
Assessment officer for all Theology and Religious Studies programmes
Biography
Paul Middleton is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity in the Theology and Religious Studies subject area at the University of Chester. He completed his PhD on early Christian martyrdom in 2004 under Professor Larry Hurtado at the University, having previously taken a Masters in Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and studied at the University of Glasgow, completing two undergraduate degrees in Divinity and Music. His first academic post was with Edinburgh's Centre for Theology and Public Issues, where he was a researcher on a Scottish Government funded project on the needs of faith communities in Glasgow, before moving to the University of Wales, Lampeter in 2005. He joined Chester's Theology and Religious Studies department in 2010. Professor Middleton is an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature, and has served as Secretary of both the European Association of Biblical Studies and the British New Testament Society.
Teaching and Supervision
Professor Middleton teaches at all Undergraduate and Postgraduate Levels, including Doctoral supervision. His modules focus mainly on texts of the New Testament, and also the Graeco-Roman and Jewish environments in which early Christianity developed. Professor Middleton is also engaged in work with Schools, and is a regular speaker in the local 'Christian Controversies' Schools' conference held annually at Chester Cathedral. Professor Middleton is currently the Programme Leader of the two TRS Undergraduate courses: Philosophy, Ethics, and Religion, and Theology and Religious Studies.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
While interested in most areas of New Testament and Christian origins, Professor Middleton is best known for his work on the phenomenon of martyrdom in early Christianity and Second Temple Judaism. He has also published on the history of martyrdom in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He is the author of three monographs, Radical Martyrdom and Cosmic Conflict in Early Christianity (2006); Martyrdom: A Guide for the Perplexed (2011); and The Violence of the Lamb: Martyrs as Agents of Divine Judgement in the Book of Revelation (2018). He is also the editor of four volumes, including The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Christian Martyrdom (2020). Professor Middleton is currently working on projects on Divine Violence in the New Testament, as well as a book on Judas Iscariot. Professor Middleton is also interested in aspects of Biblical Reception, particularly the use of the Bible in music.