Co-editor of Ancient Slavery and Its New Testament Contexts
October 2025 — Drew Theological School PhD alum Christy Cobb T’16 has recently published Ancient Slavery and Its New Testament Contexts, co-edited with Katherine A. Shaner.
Cobb, who serves as Associate Professor of Christianity in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Denver, brings expertise in early Christian texts, gender, and slavery to this new volume.
The book also features an essay contribution from Drew Theological School Adjunct Professor and PhD alum Midori Hartman T’19, entitled “Studying Slavery.”
Ancient Slavery and Its New Testament Contexts offers readers an exploration of how slavery is represented in the New Testament and its broader historical, literary, and material contexts. Through a collection of essays by leading scholars, the volume provides essential historical background, examines contemporary ideologies reflected in texts outside the New Testament, and suggests strategies for interpreting complex passages.
Rather than presenting a single perspective, the editors emphasize the importance of engaging multiple scholarly approaches. “Our hope is that it provides a foundation from which students, scholars, and general readers will continue to think, read, and interpret the New Testament with the pervasiveness of slavery in the forefront of their minds.”
Cobb is also the author of Slavery, Gender, Truth, and Power and co-editor of Sex, Violence, and Early Christian Texts. Her scholarship focuses on issues of gender, sexuality, and power in early Christianity, contributing to ongoing conversations about how ancient systems of oppression continue to shape interpretation and understanding today.
