Susan E. Hylen

Dr. Susan E. Hylen teaches courses in New Testament at Candler and in Emory’s Graduate Division of Religion, equipping students to become responsible interpreters of the biblical texts. Her forthcoming book, Gender Mobility: 7 Ideas about Gender in the New Testament Period (Oxford University, spring 2025), explores the construction of gender in the first century. She has previously authored three books on the history and roles of women in the early church, which offer a new way of interpreting the diverse and often contradictory evidence about the participation of women. Her 2023 book, Finding Phoebe: What New Testament Women Were Really Like (Eerdmans), was translated into Korean in 2024, and her 2018 book, Women in the New Testament World (Oxford University), was translated into Spanish in 2025. She is also the author of three books on the Gospel of John as well as other book chapters, essays and articles.

Hylen is general editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature. She serves the Candler community in several ways, including her role as director of the certificate program in Women, Theology and Ministry. She is a frequent lecturer at church, conference and teaching events, and a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

BOOKS

Gender Mobility: 7 Ideas about Gender in the New Testament Period, Oxford University Press, 2025

Las Mujeres en el Mundo del Nuevo Testamento, Ediciones Sigueme, 2025

Finding Phoebe: What New Testament Women Were Really Like, 『뵈뵈를 찾아서: 우리가 알지 못했던 신약성경의 여성들』. Trans. Gilha Lee and Hyunju Lee. Seoul: Viator, 2024

Finding Phoebe: What New Testament Women Were Really Like, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2023

Co-editor, Narrative Mode and Theological Claim in Johannine Literature: Essays in Honor of Gail R. O’Day, The Society of Biblical Literature, 2021

Women in the New Testament World, Oxford University Press, 2018.

A Modest Apostle: Thecla and the History of Women in the Early Church, Oxford University Press, 2015

Co-author, New Proclamation Year B 2012: Easter Through Christ the King Sunday, Fortress Press, 2012

Imperfect Believers: Ambiguous Characters in the Gospel of John, Westminster John Knox Press, 2009

Co-author, John, Westminster John Knox Press, 2006

CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES

“Female Leadership in Early Christianity,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia: Religion, Oxford University Press, 2025

“Malleable Masculinity: Rethinking Paul’s Masculinity in Light of Valerius Maximus,” in Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 45.2 (2022) 157-176.

“The Manliness of Women and the Social Construction of Gender in the New Testament Period,” Novum Testamentum, 64.4 (2022) 511-531

“Social History and the Miracles of Saint Thekla,” in Faszination der Wunder Jesu und der Apostel: Die Debatte um frühchristliche Wundererzählungen geht weiter, ed. Ruben Zimmerman, 2020

“Women Diakonoi and Gendered Norms of Leadership,” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 138, no. 3, 2019

“Women, Children, Slaves, and the Law in the New Testament Period,” The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law, 2019

“Ritual and the Emergence of Church Hierarchy,” Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual, 2019

“Widows in the New Testament Period,” Bible and Interpretation, February 01, 2019

“The Shepherd’s Risk: Thinking Metaphorically with John’s Gospel,” Biblical Interpretation, vol. 24, no. 3, Brill, July 15, 2016

“John,” “1 John,” “2 and 3 John,” CEB Student Bible, Abingdon Press, August 18, 2015

“John 10:7-10, Exegetical Perspective,” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Westminster John Knox Press, June 12, 2015

“Glory,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Bible and Theology, Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, April 01, 2015

“The ‘Domestication’ of Saint Thecla: Characterization of Thecla in the Life and Miracles of Saint Thecla,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 30, no. 2, Feminist Studies in Religion, Inc., October 01, 2014

“Modest, Industrious, and Loyal: Reinterpreting Conflicting Evidence for Women’s Roles,” Biblical Theology Bulletin, vol. 44, no. 1, Sage, January 17, 2014

“Metaphor Matters: Violence and Ethics in Revelation,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly, vol. 73, 2011

President’s Humanities Fellowship, Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory University, 2023-2024

Teacher-Scholar Vital Worship Grant, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, 2019

Excellence in Teaching and Pedagogy Award, Emory University Center for Women, 2017

Fund for Innovative Teaching Grant, Emory University Center for Faculty Development and Excellence (declined), 2014

Venture Fund Grant for Creativity in Curricular and Pedagogical Approaches, Vanderbilt University, 2007

Regional Scholar Award, Society of Biblical Literature, 2007

Bible and Sermon: The Gospel of John

Contextual Education I

Early Christian Women

Gender, Sexuality, and the New Testament

Revelation and its Interpreters

Social History of the New Testament Period

Teaching the Bible

The Gospel of John

What is the New Testament?