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Heidi Wendt

McGill University, History & Classical Studies, Faculty Member

Wright State University, Religion, Faculty Member

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A.B., Religious Studies, Brown University
M.T.S., NT and Christian Origins, Harvard Divinity School
A.M., Classics, Brown University
Ph. D., Religious Studies, Brown University
FAAR, Ancient Studies, American Academy in Rome

2013-present, Assistant Professor of NT and Christian Origins, Wright State University (Dayton, OH)

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Articles and Book Chapters by Heidi Wendt

Wendt, "Secrecy as Pauline Influence on the Gospel of Mark," JBL 140 (2021): 599–600

Journal of Biblical Literature , 2021

This article bridges two substantial but historically distinct bodies of scholarship on the Gospe... more This article bridges two substantial but historically distinct bodies of scholarship
on the Gospel of Mark: investigation of its multiple secrecy motifs, on the one
hand, and its alleged “Paulinism,” on the other. Recent decades have seen renewed
interest in exploring a possible relationship between Paul and the earliest gospel,
whether attributed to its general conformity with “Pauline Christianity” or to the
author’s specific knowledge of Pauline letters. Despite being a prominent topic
in other scholarship on Mark, however, secrecy has received little sustained
attention with respect to the question of Pauline influence. I address this lacuna
by amplifying the many theological affinities between the texts while also exploring Mark’s secrecy as a narrative strategy whose elements cooperate to privilege
Paul as the principal (or only) authority on Christ. I then broach the implications
of my reading for the gospel’s early reception, offering preliminary theorization of intellectual dynamics it fostered and in which settings these may have resonated.

“Intellectualizing Religion in the Cities of the Roman Empire,” in Urban Religion in Late Antiquity, ed. Rubina Raja and Jörg Rüpke (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2020), 97–121.

This essaye xamines earlyC hristian literaturea se vidence for at rend in religious movements wit... more This essaye xamines earlyC hristian literaturea se vidence for at rend in religious movements with an increasinglyl iteraryo ro therwise intellectual profile. Self-proclaimed authorities on Christ clustered in the urban spaces of the empire wheret hey joined and rivaled assorted aspirings pecialists who boasted ar angeo fs kills and, in some cases, derivedw isdom or mysteries from the samewritings. All partook in abroader phenomenon of religious innovation that was propelled by urban resources: the book industry,agrowth in libraries, the heightened status of writings, and awidespread enthusiasm for paideia. Iargue that Christian authorsare prime,ifunexceptional, examples of this more general religious development.Thus situated, their writingshold important clues for theorizing the activities of non-Christian religious actors and groups that are less well attested in this earlyp eriod.

"Christians as and among Writer-Intellectuals in Second-Century Rome," in Christian Teachers in Second-Century Rome: Schools and Students in the Ancient City, ed. H. Gregory Snyder (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 84–108.

"Marcion the Shipmaster," Studia Patristica 99 (2018), 55–74

“From the Herodians to Hadrian: The Shifting Status of Judean Religion in Post-Flavian Rome,” Forum 6 (2017): 139–63.

"Galatians 3:1 as an Allusion to Textual Prophecy," Journal of Biblical Literature 135 (2016): 369–89.

As he admonishes the Galatians for their alleged sympathy to a different gospel, Paul makes a cur... more As he admonishes the Galatians for their alleged sympathy to a different gospel, Paul makes a curious statement in 3:1b about having visually portrayed Jesus Christ crucified while among them. The meaning of the clause hinges on the sense of the verb προεγράφη. Despite an exact parallel in Rom 15:4 in reference to prophecies “forewritten” in the Judean writings, an overwhelming scholarly consensus construes this clause as “to proclaim or exhibit publicly” and, in turn, views it as an illustration of Paul’s vivid rhetorical style. This interpretation has a long history but has gained further support in recent decades, as numerous Pauline scholars have argued for the apostle’s familiarity with conventions of classical rhetoric. I argue, however, that the verse’s immediate and wider context supports a predictive rendering of the key verb and also that this sense has in the past been excluded on questionable grounds that anticipate its rhetorical frame- work. Rather, I consider 3:1b an important piece of evidence for the role of textual practices within Paul’s religious program, one that aids in situating him amid a broader phenomenon of divination from ostensibly prophetic literary corpora as well as a particular class of religious activity.

"Ea Superstitione: Christian Martyrdom and the Religion of Freelance Experts," Journal of Roman Studies 105 (2015): 183–202.

This paper situates Roman actions undertaken against Christians amidst an unofcial pattern of me... more This paper situates Roman actions undertaken against Christians amidst an unofcial pattern of measures employed throughout the imperial period to manage the expanding inuence of freelance religious experts. Questions about the historical circumstances of martyrdom or persecution tend to proceed from the assumption that Christians were perceived and dealt with as a distinct religious community. However, the penalties alleged by writers such as Paul and Justin were more commonly issued against selfauthorized individuals (magi, astrologers, prophets, diviners, philosophers, and so forth) than against undifferentiated religious groups. Thus, I propose that Roman motivations for investigating and punishing Christians, at least in the rst and second centuries, are best understood in relation to the wider phenomenon of freelance expertise and the range of concerns that it engendered.

"A Rereading of Judean Expulsions from Rome," Journal of Ancient Judaism 6 (2015): 97–126.

This article situates expulsions of Jews/Judeans from Rome within a broader pattern of legislatio... more This article situates expulsions of Jews/Judeans from Rome within a broader pattern of legislation aimed at freelance experts in foreign or otherwise novel religious teachings and practices. Such experts proliferated in the early imperial period and seem to have spurred an escalation in the frequency and severity of measures issued to suppress their activities. However, whenever Judeans appear in this context, scholars tend to attribute the incidents not to the activities of individual specialists, but to concerns about Judaism or the Roman Jewish community. In this article I argue, to the contrary, that freelance experts in Judean religion were the intended recipients of these expulsions and proscriptions, an interpretation that locates some Judeans within a salient and multi-ethnic class of activity and contributes to a more diversified picture of Judean religiosity in the first century.

"'Entrusted with the Oracles of God': The Fate of the Judean Writings in Flavian Rome," in A Most Reliable Witness: Essays in Honor of Ross Shepard Kraemer, ed. Susan Ashbrook Harvey et al., Brown Judaic Studies 358 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2015), 101–9.

pages cm. -(Brown Judaic studies ; v. 358) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 97... more

"Ancient Relationships, Modern Intellectual Horizons: The Practical Challenges and Possibilities of Encoding Greek and Latin Inscriptions"

by Lisa M Anderson-Zhu and Heidi Wendt

in M. T. Rutz and M. M. Kersel, eds., Archaeologies of Text: Archaeology, Technology, and Ethics, 2014

Books by Heidi Wendt

At the Temple Gates: The Religion of Freelance Experts in the Roman Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016).

Book Reviews by Heidi Wendt

Meredith J.C. Warren, Food and Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Literature, WGRW Suppl. 14. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2019. Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses.

Sarah Iles Johnston, The Story of Myth. Harvard University Press, 2018. Ancient History Bulletin (2019).

Harry O. Maier, New Testament Christianity in the Roman World. Oxford University Press, 2018. Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2019.08).

Harriet I. Flower, The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner. Princeton University Press, 2017. Journal of Roman Studies 109 (2019): 365–66.

Jörg Rüpke, On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome. Cornell University Press, 2016. History of Religions 59.2 (2019): 165–68.

"Who Do You Say That I Am?" Exegetical Mysteries, Language Games, and The Grammar of Messianism

by Heidi Wendt, Paula Fredriksen, and Aryeh Amihay

Matthew V. Novenson, The Grammar of Messianism, Syndicate Symposium, 2019

A Syndicate Symposium devoted to Matthew Novenson's recent book, The Grammar of Messianism: An An... more A Syndicate Symposium devoted to Matthew Novenson's recent book, The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users (Oxford: 2017), curated by Heidi Wendt and featuring the reflections of James Carleton Paget, Esau McCaulley, Aryeh Amihay, Paula Fredriksen, and John Gager, with responses from Novenson.

Todd Berzon, Classifying Christians: Ethnography, Heresiology, and the Limits of Knowledge in Late Antiquity (AJR 2018.07.08)

Duncan MacRae, Legible Religion: Books, Gods, and Rituals in Roman Culture (CJ 2017.06.01)

Heidi Marx-Wolf, Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority: Platonists, Priests, and Gnostics in the Third Century C.E. (BMCR 2016.10.17).

Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority offers a textured account of third-century intellectual... more Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority offers a textured account of third-century intellectuals, defined broadly, and makes several productive contributions to the study of late ancient religion. Exploring how Platonically-inclined writers both known and anonymous staked out positions about the ontology and cosmic order of spirits, Heidi Marx-Wolf situates these figures and the "spiritual taxonomies" they produced within a common intellectual milieu characterized by regular discursive exchange. Her detailed literary analysis gestures far beyond the particular texts she examines, however, toward rivalries among would-be religious experts that paid little heed to the boundaries of putative ancient groups and continue to resist modern scholarly categories.

Wendt, "Secrecy as Pauline Influence on the Gospel of Mark," JBL 140 (2021): 599–600

Journal of Biblical Literature , 2021

This article bridges two substantial but historically distinct bodies of scholarship on the Gospe... more This article bridges two substantial but historically distinct bodies of scholarship
on the Gospel of Mark: investigation of its multiple secrecy motifs, on the one
hand, and its alleged “Paulinism,” on the other. Recent decades have seen renewed
interest in exploring a possible relationship between Paul and the earliest gospel,
whether attributed to its general conformity with “Pauline Christianity” or to the
author’s specific knowledge of Pauline letters. Despite being a prominent topic
in other scholarship on Mark, however, secrecy has received little sustained
attention with respect to the question of Pauline influence. I address this lacuna
by amplifying the many theological affinities between the texts while also exploring Mark’s secrecy as a narrative strategy whose elements cooperate to privilege
Paul as the principal (or only) authority on Christ. I then broach the implications
of my reading for the gospel’s early reception, offering preliminary theorization of intellectual dynamics it fostered and in which settings these may have resonated.

“Intellectualizing Religion in the Cities of the Roman Empire,” in Urban Religion in Late Antiquity, ed. Rubina Raja and Jörg Rüpke (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2020), 97–121.

This essaye xamines earlyC hristian literaturea se vidence for at rend in religious movements wit... more This essaye xamines earlyC hristian literaturea se vidence for at rend in religious movements with an increasinglyl iteraryo ro therwise intellectual profile. Self-proclaimed authorities on Christ clustered in the urban spaces of the empire wheret hey joined and rivaled assorted aspirings pecialists who boasted ar angeo fs kills and, in some cases, derivedw isdom or mysteries from the samewritings. All partook in abroader phenomenon of religious innovation that was propelled by urban resources: the book industry,agrowth in libraries, the heightened status of writings, and awidespread enthusiasm for paideia. Iargue that Christian authorsare prime,ifunexceptional, examples of this more general religious development.Thus situated, their writingshold important clues for theorizing the activities of non-Christian religious actors and groups that are less well attested in this earlyp eriod.

"Christians as and among Writer-Intellectuals in Second-Century Rome," in Christian Teachers in Second-Century Rome: Schools and Students in the Ancient City, ed. H. Gregory Snyder (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 84–108.

"Marcion the Shipmaster," Studia Patristica 99 (2018), 55–74

“From the Herodians to Hadrian: The Shifting Status of Judean Religion in Post-Flavian Rome,” Forum 6 (2017): 139–63.

"Galatians 3:1 as an Allusion to Textual Prophecy," Journal of Biblical Literature 135 (2016): 369–89.

As he admonishes the Galatians for their alleged sympathy to a different gospel, Paul makes a cur... more As he admonishes the Galatians for their alleged sympathy to a different gospel, Paul makes a curious statement in 3:1b about having visually portrayed Jesus Christ crucified while among them. The meaning of the clause hinges on the sense of the verb προεγράφη. Despite an exact parallel in Rom 15:4 in reference to prophecies “forewritten” in the Judean writings, an overwhelming scholarly consensus construes this clause as “to proclaim or exhibit publicly” and, in turn, views it as an illustration of Paul’s vivid rhetorical style. This interpretation has a long history but has gained further support in recent decades, as numerous Pauline scholars have argued for the apostle’s familiarity with conventions of classical rhetoric. I argue, however, that the verse’s immediate and wider context supports a predictive rendering of the key verb and also that this sense has in the past been excluded on questionable grounds that anticipate its rhetorical frame- work. Rather, I consider 3:1b an important piece of evidence for the role of textual practices within Paul’s religious program, one that aids in situating him amid a broader phenomenon of divination from ostensibly prophetic literary corpora as well as a particular class of religious activity.

"Ea Superstitione: Christian Martyrdom and the Religion of Freelance Experts," Journal of Roman Studies 105 (2015): 183–202.

This paper situates Roman actions undertaken against Christians amidst an unofcial pattern of me... more This paper situates Roman actions undertaken against Christians amidst an unofcial pattern of measures employed throughout the imperial period to manage the expanding inuence of freelance religious experts. Questions about the historical circumstances of martyrdom or persecution tend to proceed from the assumption that Christians were perceived and dealt with as a distinct religious community. However, the penalties alleged by writers such as Paul and Justin were more commonly issued against selfauthorized individuals (magi, astrologers, prophets, diviners, philosophers, and so forth) than against undifferentiated religious groups. Thus, I propose that Roman motivations for investigating and punishing Christians, at least in the rst and second centuries, are best understood in relation to the wider phenomenon of freelance expertise and the range of concerns that it engendered.

"A Rereading of Judean Expulsions from Rome," Journal of Ancient Judaism 6 (2015): 97–126.

This article situates expulsions of Jews/Judeans from Rome within a broader pattern of legislatio... more This article situates expulsions of Jews/Judeans from Rome within a broader pattern of legislation aimed at freelance experts in foreign or otherwise novel religious teachings and practices. Such experts proliferated in the early imperial period and seem to have spurred an escalation in the frequency and severity of measures issued to suppress their activities. However, whenever Judeans appear in this context, scholars tend to attribute the incidents not to the activities of individual specialists, but to concerns about Judaism or the Roman Jewish community. In this article I argue, to the contrary, that freelance experts in Judean religion were the intended recipients of these expulsions and proscriptions, an interpretation that locates some Judeans within a salient and multi-ethnic class of activity and contributes to a more diversified picture of Judean religiosity in the first century.

"'Entrusted with the Oracles of God': The Fate of the Judean Writings in Flavian Rome," in A Most Reliable Witness: Essays in Honor of Ross Shepard Kraemer, ed. Susan Ashbrook Harvey et al., Brown Judaic Studies 358 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2015), 101–9.

pages cm. -(Brown Judaic studies ; v. 358) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 97... more

"Ancient Relationships, Modern Intellectual Horizons: The Practical Challenges and Possibilities of Encoding Greek and Latin Inscriptions"

by Lisa M Anderson-Zhu and Heidi Wendt

in M. T. Rutz and M. M. Kersel, eds., Archaeologies of Text: Archaeology, Technology, and Ethics, 2014

At the Temple Gates: The Religion of Freelance Experts in the Roman Empire (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016).

Meredith J.C. Warren, Food and Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Literature, WGRW Suppl. 14. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2019. Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses.

Sarah Iles Johnston, The Story of Myth. Harvard University Press, 2018. Ancient History Bulletin (2019).

Harry O. Maier, New Testament Christianity in the Roman World. Oxford University Press, 2018. Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2019.08).

Harriet I. Flower, The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner. Princeton University Press, 2017. Journal of Roman Studies 109 (2019): 365–66.

Jörg Rüpke, On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome. Cornell University Press, 2016. History of Religions 59.2 (2019): 165–68.

"Who Do You Say That I Am?" Exegetical Mysteries, Language Games, and The Grammar of Messianism

by Heidi Wendt, Paula Fredriksen, and Aryeh Amihay

Matthew V. Novenson, The Grammar of Messianism, Syndicate Symposium, 2019

A Syndicate Symposium devoted to Matthew Novenson's recent book, The Grammar of Messianism: An An... more A Syndicate Symposium devoted to Matthew Novenson's recent book, The Grammar of Messianism: An Ancient Jewish Political Idiom and Its Users (Oxford: 2017), curated by Heidi Wendt and featuring the reflections of James Carleton Paget, Esau McCaulley, Aryeh Amihay, Paula Fredriksen, and John Gager, with responses from Novenson.

Todd Berzon, Classifying Christians: Ethnography, Heresiology, and the Limits of Knowledge in Late Antiquity (AJR 2018.07.08)

Duncan MacRae, Legible Religion: Books, Gods, and Rituals in Roman Culture (CJ 2017.06.01)

Heidi Marx-Wolf, Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority: Platonists, Priests, and Gnostics in the Third Century C.E. (BMCR 2016.10.17).

Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority offers a textured account of third-century intellectual... more Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority offers a textured account of third-century intellectuals, defined broadly, and makes several productive contributions to the study of late ancient religion. Exploring how Platonically-inclined writers both known and anonymous staked out positions about the ontology and cosmic order of spirits, Heidi Marx-Wolf situates these figures and the "spiritual taxonomies" they produced within a common intellectual milieu characterized by regular discursive exchange. Her detailed literary analysis gestures far beyond the particular texts she examines, however, toward rivalries among would-be religious experts that paid little heed to the boundaries of putative ancient groups and continue to resist modern scholarly categories.

"James C. Hanges, Paul, Founder of Churches: A Study in Light of the Evidence for the Role of 'Founder-Figures' in the Hellenistic-Roman Period. A Review Essay," Religion & Theology 3-4 (2014): 292-302.

James C. Hanges’ new book raises a number of important questions about what it means to situate P... more James C. Hanges’ new book raises a number of important questions about what it means to situate Paul’s religious activities within his own historical context, and also models one possible methodology for doing so. In this review, I interrogate some of the assumptions underpinning Hanges’ approach, namely, ones having to do with the cultural particularity of certain discourses and religious practices, as well as the utility of the concept “identity” as it pertains to the study of religion. I also attempt to draw the author’s conclusions into wider and ongoing efforts to theorize ancient Mediterranean religion by proposing that many of the actors whom he introduces as comparanda for Paul fall within a discrete class of religious activity, populated by varieties of freelance experts.

Guy MacLean Rogers, The Mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos: Cult, Polis, and Change in the Graeco-Roman World (BMCR 2013.10.05).

Secrecy as Pauline Influence on the Gospel of Mark

Journal of Biblical Literature

On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome. Townsend Lecture Series/Cornell Studies in Classical Philology. By Jörg Rüpke. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2016. Pp. 208. $49.95 (cloth)

History of Religions

H. I. FLOWER, THE DANCING LARES AND THE SERPENT IN THE GARDEN: RELIGION AT THE ROMAN STREET CORNER. Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2017. Pp. xiii + 394, illus.isbn 9780691175003. US$45.00/£37.95

Journal of Roman Studies

“Entrusted with the Oracles of God”

A Most Reliable Witness

The Religion of Freelance Experts in the Roman Empire

At the Temple Gates, 2016

Ethnically Coded Experts and Forms of Religion

At the Temple Gates, 2016

Rethinking “Magic,” “Religion,” and “Philosophy”

At the Temple Gates, 2016

Christian Rivals Within the Framework of Freelance Expertise

At the Temple Gates, 2016

Paul, A Rare Witness to the Religion of Freelance Experts

At the Temple Gates, 2016

At the Temple Gates

Galatians 3:1 as an Allusion to Textual Prophecy

Journal of Biblical Literature, 2016

Journal of Ancient Judaism, 2015