#  Benjamin Dunning 

Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity and Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity

 

 

 



   ![Benjamin Dunning](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2025-11/10062025-BenDunning-1071.jpg?h=c31eb806&itok=mkpxnZIz) 

 



 

 email <bdunning@hds.harvard.edu> 

 



 

## Education

- BA, University of Pennsylvania
- MAR, Westminster Theological Seminary
- PhD, Harvard University

## Profile

Benjamin Dunning is Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity and Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity. He is a historian of sexuality, gender, and religion who works primarily on the first through fourth centuries CE. He also works in the areas of queer studies and critical and feminist theory. Prior to joining the Harvard Divinity School faculty in 2022, he taught at Fordham University for 16 years.

Dunning is the author of numerous articles and three books: *Aliens and Sojourners: Self as Other in Early Christianity* (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009); *Specters of Paul: Sexual Difference in Early Christian Thought* (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011); and *Christ without Adam: Subjectivity and Sexual Difference in the Philosophers’ Paul* (Columbia University Press, 2014). He also edited *The Oxford Handbook of New Testament, Gender, and Sexuality* (Oxford University Press, 2019). His current book project examines the theological and anthropological logics undergirding early Christian condemnations of homoeroticism.

Dunning was a Women’s Studies in Religion Program Research Associate at HDS in 2009-10. He has served as both a member and chair of the Board of Directors for Fordham University Press and as an Associate Editor of the *Journal of Early Christian Studies*. He is currently on the editorial boards of the *Journal of Early Christian Studies* and the Brill series “Critical Approaches to Early Christianity” and is an elected member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.

## Courses

View [HDS courses taught by Benjamin Dunning](https://courses.my.harvard.edu/psp/courses/EMPLOYEE/EMPL/h/?tab=HU_CLASS_SEARCH&SearchReqJSON=%7B%22ExcludeBracketed%22:true,%22Exclude300%22:false,%22SaveRecent%22:true,%22Facets%22:%5B%5D,%22PageNumber%22:1,%22SortOrder%22:%5B%22SCORE%22%5D,%22TopN%22:%22%22,%22PageSize%22:%22%22,%22SearchText%22:%22(%20Benjamin%20Dunning%20)%20(ACAD_CAREER:%5C%22HDS%5C%22)%22%7D) in the my.harvard Course Search.

Also view [FAS courses taught by Benjamin Dunning](https://courses.my.harvard.edu/psp/courses/EMPLOYEE/EMPL/h/?tab=HU_CLASS_SEARCH&SearchReqJSON=%7B%22PageNumber%22:1,%22PageSize%22:%22%22,%22SortOrder%22:%5B%22IS_SCL_SUBJ_CAT%22%5D,%22Facets%22:%5B%5D,%22Category%22:%22HU_SCL_SCHEDULED_BRACKETED_COURSES%22,%22SearchPropertiesInResults%22:true,%22FacetsInResults%22:true,%22SaveRecent%22:true,%22TopN%22:%22%22,%22SearchText%22:%22(IS_SCL_DESCR_IS_SCL_DESCRL:%5C%22Benjamin%20Dunning%5C%22)%20(ACAD_CAREER:%5C%22FAS%5C%22)%22%7D). (HDS students: for jointly offered and reading and research courses, please enroll in the HDS version of the course.)

[All Harvard courses](https://courses.my.harvard.edu)

## Selected publications

- [*The Oxford Handbook of New Testament, Gender, and Sexuality*](https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34457) (Oxford University Press, 2019)
- [*Christ Without Adam: Subjectivity and Sexual Difference in the Philosophers' Paul*](http://cup.columbia.edu/book/christ-without-adam/9780231167659) (Columbia University Press, 2014)
- [*Specters of Paul: Sexual Difference in Early Christian Thought*](https://www.pennpress.org/9780812243079/specters-of-paul/) (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011)
- [*Aliens and Sojourners: Self as Other in Early Christianity*](https://www.pennpress.org/9780812241563/aliens-and-sojourners/) (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009)

## Support

To reach Harvard Divinity School's faculty coordinators, email [div-faculty\_coordinators@calists.harvard.edu](mailto:div-faculty_coordinators@calists.harvard.edu).

For media inquiries or requests, please [contact Tyler Sprouse](mailto:tsprouse@hds.harvard.edu) in the Office of Communications.



 

 

 





 

 

- ## Affiliation
    
     [Faculty](/affiliation/faculty)
- ## Alpha Grouping
    
     [A-E](/alpha-grouping/e)
- ## Faculty Type
    
     [Faculty of Divinity](/faculty-type/faculty-divinity)
- ## Media Expertise
    
     [Bible](/media-expertise/bible) [Christianity](/media-expertise/christianity) [Gender and Sexuality](/media-expertise/gender-and-sexuality)