ACU Researcher

Dr Ian N Mills

Research Fellow
Biblical and Early Christian Studies

Areas of expertise: gospels; canon formation; marcion; apocrypha; manuscript studies; textual criticism; new testament studies; early christianity

Phone: 61 3 9230 8497

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU Melbourne Campus

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4359-8642

Ian N Mills studies the longs lives of Jewish and Christian scriptures with special attention to texts and traditions at the margin. His work emphasizes the historical contingency of scriptural canons and the human labour involved in their construction and maintenance. He is currently writing two books: (1) a manuscript history of the pseudo-Pauline Epistle to the Laodiceans and (2) a study of Marcion in the history of gospel literature. Mills completed his Ph.D. in New Testament at Duke University in December 2021 and in 2025 published his first book, The Hypothesis of the Gospels: Narrative Traditions in Hellenistic Reading Culture. A second book, Tatian the Evangelist, is forthcoming in the Cambridge Elements series. Finally, Mills is the cohost of the New Testament Review podcast, dedicated to summarizing important works of scholarship for a lay audience.

I welcome inquiries from prospective masters and doctoral students interested in research related to the New Testament and early Christian literature.

Select publications

Books

• The Hypothesis of the Gospels: Narrative Traditions in Hellenistic Reading Culture, Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, November 2025.

• Tatian the Syrian: A Second Century Gospel Author, Cambridge Elements in Early Christian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Under Contract).

• Paul's Epistle to the Laodiceans: Manuscripts, Paratexts, and the History of a New Testament Apocryphon, New Testament Tools, Studies, and Documents. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers (Under Contract).

Refereed Journal Articles

• "Theophilus of Antioch's Gospel Harmony: Jerome, The Book of Saint James, and Canon Formation." Journal for the Study of the New Testament (August 2026), 1-27.

• "Canonizing Paul's Epistle to the Laodiceans: Paratextual Negotiations of Authorship and Authority in the Latin Bible." Journal of the Bible and its Reception 13.1 (May 2026), 63-90.

• "Marcion as Textual Critic?: Heresiological Rhetoric and the Conventions of Roman Scholarship." Journal of Early Christian Studies 33.1 (March 2025): 27-53.

• "Zacchaeus and the Unripe Figs: A New Argument for the Original Language of Tatian's Diatessaron." New Testament Studies 66.2 (2020): 208-227.

• "Tatian's Diatessaron as 'Canonical' Gospel: Walter Bauer and the Reception of Christian 'Apocrypha.'" Studia Patristica 127.23 (2021): 215-228.

• "Pagan Readers of Christian Scripture: The Role of Books in Early Autobiographical Conversion Narratives." Vigiliae Christianae 73.5 (2019): 481-506.

• "'As if he were not there.' (Luke 23:9): A Syro-Latin Reading, Codex Bezae, and the 'Western' Text of the Gospels." New Testament Studies (Accepted for Publication).

• "The Gospel of Bardaisan: Arabic Chronicles, Ephrem the Syrian, and Synoptic-type Gospels." Co-authored with Nathan Tilley. Journal of Early Christian Studies (Accepted for Publication).

• "Another Synoptic Gospel: P.Oxy. 5575 as a Source for the Gospel of Thomas." Journal for the Study of the New Testament (Accepted for Publication).

• "'Search the Scriptures Because They Testify About Me!' (John 5:17): An Alexandrian Misquotation of the Fourth Gospel." Studia Patristica (Accepted for Publication).

• "John's Use of Non-Marcionite Luke: An Overlooked Terminus Ante Quem for the Received Text of the Third Gospel." Journal of Theological Studies (Accepted for Publication).

Book Chapters/Essays

• "Why Kill Jesus? The Politics of Jesus's Death in Musicals and Comedies" in Melody D. Knowles, Bible and Film: An International and Intercultural Exploration, (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, January 2026).

• "John's Jesus in Tatian's Diatessaron and the Muratorian Fragment" in John, Jesus, and History Vol. 4, (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, September 2024) 335-352.

• "The Old Syriac Gospels and Tatian's Diatessaron, Revisited: The Text Critical Use of a Rival Tradition" in At One Remove: Versions and Other Indirect Evidence for the New Testament (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2021): 43-64.

• "The Wrong Harmony: Against the Diatessaronic Character of the Dura Fragment" in eds. Matthew R. Crawford and Nicholas Zola, The Gospel of Tatian: Exploring the Character and Text of the Diatessaron (London: T&T Clark, 2019): 145-170.

• "Thomas's Use of the Synoptic Gospels" in eds. Melissa Harl Sellew & William Arnal, The Oxford Handbook on the Gospel of Thomas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Under Contract).

• "A Metamodern Jesus: Failed Apocalypse and Post-Postmodern Film in Dan Harmon's Community" in eds. Jason Buel & Shane Thompson, The Routledge Handbook of the Bible and Film, (New York: Routledge, Under Contract).

Awards

• SBL-De Gruyter Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History (2025)

• Foreman Grant for Interdisciplinary Collaborations in the Humanities, Humanities Center, Hamilton College (2025)

• Special Collections Faculty Fellowship, Hamilton College (2025)

• Visiting Research Fellowship, University of Glasgow (2024)

• Dr. Edgardo Yordán Humanities Faculty Research Grant, Humanities Center, Hamilton College (2024)

• Small Research Grant, North American Patristics Society (2024)

• Heckman Stipend, Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (2023)

• Graduate Student Essay Prize, North American Patristics Society (2020)

• Short-Term Pre-Doctoral Residency, Dumbarton Oaks (2018)

• Goldenberg Essay Prize, Jewish Studies, University of Minnesota (2014)

• Mary E. Hahn Fellowship, Classical and Near Eastern Studies, University of Minnesota

Appointments and Affiliations

• Australian Catholic University, Research Fellow, Biblical and Early Christian Studies, Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry (2026-Present)

• Hamilton College, Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics and Religious Studies (2023-2026)

Public engagement

• "Crosby-Schøyen Codex, sold for millions at auction, gives a glimpse into the history of early Christianity." The Conversation (May 2024).

• "Crucifying the Musical Christ: The Politics of Jesus's Death in Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar." The Revealer (New York University' Center for Religion and Media, March 2024).

• "Putting the New Papyrus of Jesus' Sayings in Context." Text and Canon Institute (January 9th, 2024).

• "Teaching with Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) after Fifty Years." The Commons (Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life, October 2023).

• New Testament Review Podcast. Cohost and Producer (2018-Present).