James Magee Jr.

 

 

Current Position:

 

Research Affiliate, Vancouver School of Theology

Contact: jmagee@vst.edu

 

 

Degrees:

 

Master of Arts in Biblical Studies (Trinity Western University,

        2019)

     Thesis: Cinematic Childhood(s) and Imag(in)ing the Boy

        Jesus: Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in Late Twentieth-

        Century Film

          Supervisor: Dr. Dirk Büchner, External Examiner: Dr.

               Adele Reinhartz

 

Master of Arts in Theological Studies (Vancouver School of

        Theology, 2011)

     Dual Concentration, Comprehensively Examined:

        Hebrew Bible: Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher-Walls, Dr. James

          M. Lindenberger

        New Testament: Dr. Harry O. Maier, Rev. Dr. Stephen

          Farris

 

 

Languages:

 

Modern: English

Ancient: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek

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Academic societies:

 

Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (2010-present)

North American Society for the Study of Christian

     Apocryphal Literature (2016-present)

Canadian Society for Jewish Studies (2023-present)

Society of Biblical Literature (2023-present)

 

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Publications:

 

The “Evil Child” and the Age/Agency of Cinema’s Young

     Antichrists: Damien’s Legacies from The Omen to Good

     Omens. InVisions of the End Times: Revelations of Hope

     and Challenge, edited by Laura Duhan-Kaplan, Anne-

     Marie Ellithorpe, and Harry O. Maier (Religious Pluralism

     and Public Life 2; Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications,

     2022), 80-102.

 

“Is This Your God…Killer of Children?” Israel’s “Childish”

     Deity and the Other(s) in Exodus: Gods and Kings. In

     Encountering the Other: Christian and Multifaith

     Perspectives, edited by Laura Duhan-Kaplan and Harry O.

     Maier (Religious Pluralism and Public Life 1; Eugene, OR:

     Pickwick Publications, 2020), 82-103.

 

 

Awards, prizes, bursaries and scholarships:

 

Inter-Religious Studies Essay Award

     Awarded by the Vancouver School of Theology, May 2016

 

Albert H. Morrison Bursary for a graduating student

        preparing for post-graduate studies

     Awarded by the Vancouver School of Theology, May 2011

 

Graduate Scholarship

     Awarded by Trinity Western University, July 2010

 

Dean’s Graduate Entrance Award

     Awarded by Trinity Western University, July 2010

 

Jeremias Prize

     Awarded by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, May

       2010

 

Rev. Dr. Robert Robinson Morrison Prize in New Testament

       Studies

     Awarded by the Vancouver School of Theology, May 2010

 

 

Papers read at academic conferences and societies:

 

May 22, 2024 – Sacred Arts in a Pluralistic Society: An Inter-

        Religious Conference (Vancouver School of Theology)

     "The Old Gods and the New" -- or, Better Yet, No Gods

        at All: Secular Art and the Demise of Religion(s) in

        Game of Thrones

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April 2, 2024 – SBL Global Virtual Meeting (Online)

     Imag(in)ing(?) the Supplementary Hypothesis of

        Pentateuchal Origins: Sifting through Layers of the

        Primeval History with the Neo-Documentarians

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June 1, 2023 – Making Meaning in a Time of Media

        Polarization: An Inter-Religious Conference (Vancouver

        School of Theology)

     “This Means War!” Left/Right Polarization and the

        Culture(d?) Battles for/with/by Kids in Jesus Camp

 

May 30, 2023 – Canadian Society for Jewish Studies (York

        University, Toronto [Online]) 

     “I’m (not) a Jew!” The Be(com)ing of the Jewish+ Child’s

        Identities in Holocaust Cinema

 

May 6, 2023 – Pope Francis and the Future of the Church:

        Prospects and Challenges for Renewal (St. Mark’s

        College, Vancouver)

     Good Samaritans: Moving-Picture Clerics and the

        Inclusive Vision of Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti

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June 1, 2022 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (Online)

     Farrer plus John (and Q): Lukan Ambiguity and a

        Synthetic Solution to the So-Called “Synoptic Problem”

 

May 26, 2022 – Religious Responses to Climate Change: An

        Inter-Religious Conference (Vancouver School of

        Theology)

     Cinematic Visions of Doom and (False?) Hope for the

        Climate Change Crisis: Humanity’s Imaginary Saviors

        and the “Child [who] Shall (Not) Lead Them”

 

May 27, 2021 – Religion and Thoughtful Activism: Online

        Academic and Community Conference

     Another or a New “Century of the Child”? Theologies of

        Childhood, the UNCRC and Rights-Based Activism

 

June 1, 2019 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

        (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)

     “Now you are truly a man! [Maybe, sorta? No, not

        really…]”: ‘(Be)coming of Age’ and Luke 2:40++ in

        Jesus of Nazareth

 

May 27, 2019 – Religion and Violence: An Inter-Religious

        Conference and Think-Tank (Vancouver School of

        Theology)

     (Ir)religious Violence and the (Ab)use of ‘Innocent

        Weapons’: (Re)imagining Juvenile Masculinities in the

        Secular-Religious Conflicts of World Cinema

 

May 24, 2018 – Spiritual Perspectives on Death and Dying:

        An Inter-Religious Conference (Vancouver School of

        Theology)

     “To die will be an awfully big adventure”: Exploit and

        Immortality in Film Performances of Juvenile Masculine

        Death

 

May 28, 2017 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (Ryerson

        University, Toronto)

     Exod 4:23, the Death of the Firstborn and ‘Texts of Terror’

        for Children: Following the ‘Angel of Death’ through

        (almost) a Century of ‘Exodus’ Films

 

May 25, 2017 – Visions of the End Times: An Inter-Religious

        Conference (Vancouver School of Theology)

     Hunting the Devilish Little Beast… that is, the Child

        Antichrist: Averting the ‘Apocalypse’ in Godless(?) Post-

        Atomic Cinema

 

May 28, 2016 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

        (University of Calgary)

     Silence of the Lamb(s): Innocent Children from the Boy

        Jesus to the Waif Evangelist (aka Mark) in the Silent

        Cinema

 

May 16, 2016 – Encountering the Other: An Inter-Religious

        Conference (Vancouver School of Theology)

     “Is this your god…killer of children?” Israel’s ‘Childish’

        Deity and the Other in Exodus: Gods and Kings

 

May 31, 2015 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

        (University of Ottawa)

     “And all were amazed at his understanding” (Luke 2.47):

        Filmmakers’ Appropriation of the Lukan Wunderkind as

        Ideological Spokesperson

 

May 25, 2014 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (Brock

        University, St. Catharines)

     Cinematic Childhood(s) and Imag(in)ing the Boy Jesus:

        An Analysis of Luke 2.41-52 in Popular Jesus Films

 

May 29, 2011 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (St.

        Thomas University, Fredericton)

     “The Field of Blood” and “The Valley of Slaughter”:

        Memory and Manuscript in the Matthaean

        Construction of Judas’ Death (Matt 27.3-10)

 

March 9, 2011 – Greater Vancouver Biblical Colloquium

        (Trinity Western University, Langley)

     Mayhem, Murder, Macabre in Judges 19: Autonomous

        Narrative and the Sociology of Urban Legend

 

May 29, 2010 – Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

       (Concordia University, Montreal)

     Jesus and Augustus – Divine Sons: Multivalent Lukan

       Sonship in the Light of Graeco-Roman Ruler Worship