Research Profile
Prof. Punt’s primary research interest is in biblical (New Testament) hermeneutics, with a twofold focus: ancient biblical hermeneutics with the appropriation of the Scriptures of Israel in the Pauline literature as an area of specialisation; and contemporary biblical hermeneutics, including the role and use of critical theory and specifically postcolonial and queer theories in biblical interpretation; as well as the relationship between cultural studies and the Bible, including its appropriation in popular media. In both focus areas, special attention is given to issues related to identity politics and social location (and includes categories such as gender and sexuality).
Teaching Profile
Graduate teaching is done with a view to theological education generally as well for the ministry (in Protestant churches) and on postgraduate levels students are free to pursue their own specific research interests. Postgraduate students in New Testament are from countries in elsewhere in Africa and abroad, and they can follow either a more traditional biblical scholarship-oriented track or a programme focused on biblical interpretation.
Selected Publications
“Postcolonial Biblical Criticism in South Africa: Some Mind and Road Mapping,” Neotestamentica 37 (2003), 59-85.
2015. Postcolonial biblical interpretation. Reframing Paul. STAR vol. 20. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004288454
2016. Imperialism in NT films. In The Bible in Motion. A Handbook of the Bible and Its Reception in Film, Part 2, ed R Burnette-Bletsch, 853-866. Handbooks of the Bible and Its Reception (HBR) 2. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter. ISBN 978-1614515616
2017. Believers or loyalists? Identity and social responsibility of Jesus communities in the Empire. In die Skriflig 51(3), a2050. https://doi.org/10.4102/ids.v51i3.2050
2018. Postcolonial perspectives on religion and nation, and its relevance for biblical studies? Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift 35(1): 64-81.
2018. Gender studies and biblical interpretation in Southern Africa: (How) Does theory and method matter? African Journal of Gender and Religion 24(2): 68-94. http://epubs.ac.za/index.php/AJGR
2018. Postcolonial biblical criticism and queer studies. In The Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Biblical Criticism, ed RS Sugirtharajah. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190888459.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190888459-e-8.
2019. Pauline Uterine Discourse in Context. In Reconceiving Reproductive Health: Theological and Christian Ethical Reflections, edited by M Kotzé, N Marais, and N Müller van Velden, 125–43. Reformed Theology in Africa Series. AOSIS. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK151.
2020. Dressing gender in the New Testament: μαλακός as cypher. In Talking God in Society: Multidisciplinary (Re)constructions of Ancient (Con)texts. Vol. 2: Hermeneuein in Global Contexts, Past and Present, eds. Ute-Eva Eisen & Heidrun E Mader, pp. NTOA, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
2020. Yesterday’s heroes? Canonisation of Anti-Apartheid Heroes in South Africa. In Martyrdom. Canonization and Contestation, ed JW van Henten and I Saloul, 221-240. Heritage and Memory Studies Series. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789462988187
Member’s Institutional Contact Update
Contact
Room 2023
Theology Faculty
Stellenbosch University
171 Dorp Street
7600 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Phone: +27218082615
Fax: +27 21 808 3822
Email: jpunt@sun.ac.za
Homepage: https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/theology/Pages/Old—New-Testament.aspx
