Nathan Houstin
4th Year PhD student
Nathan Houstin is a doctoral student in New Testament and Early Christianity. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and accompanies congregations in the Chicago area. Prior to his theological studies, Nathan worked in healthcare as a respiratory care practitioner, and he continues to practice this profession beside his doctoral work.
Education
PhD in New Testament-Early Christianity
Research Interests
Non-canonical early Christian literature, Nag Hammadi codices, infancy gospels, families and children in the biblical world, ancient health and medicine, gender studies, queer studies.
Professional Employment
- Adjunct Faculty (St Augustine College at Lewis University)
- Respiratory Care Practitioner (Advocate Health, Chicago)
- Pastor (Metro Chicago Synod of the ELCA)
Professional/Community Affiliations
Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), North American Patristics Society (NAPS), Société Guilhem IX
Courses Taught
Publications/Research Listings
- Take It Like a Man: The Masculinities of the Father in the History of Joseph the Carpenter (May 21, 2026) Paper presentation at the North American Patristics Society's annual meeting (Chicago, IL)
- “The Mystery of Marriage is Great”: The Case for Androgyny and Agender in the Bridal Chamber of the Gospel of Philip (May 14, 2026) Paper presentation at the International Congress on Medieval Studies (Kalamazoo, MI).
- Visual Impairment and Disability in John 9: The Conundrum of a Liberating Reading (Mar 14, 2026) Paper presentation at the Midwest Regional Meeting for Biblical Studies (St Mary's College, South Bend, IN).
- Daddy Trouble in Paradise?: Joseph the Demiurgic Carpenter and Father in the Gospel of Philip (November 23, 2025) Paper presentation at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting (Boston, MA).
- An Impaired, Disabled, and Liberated Body: A Phenomenological Reading of Mary in the Protoevangelium of James (May 24, 2025) Paper presentation at the North American Patristics Society's annual meeting (Chicago, IL)
- “The Little Child Knew Who Paul Was:” The Childhood Motif and Its Transformation in the Pauline Corpus (March 30, 2025) Paper presentation at the The Pleasures of Pseudepigraphy conference (Loyola University Chicago).
- Our Lady of the Gays: A Queer Reading of Mary in the Protoevangelium of James (July 17, 2024) Paper presentation at the European Association of Biblical Studies Conference (Sofia, Bulgaria).
- Between Canonical and Apocryphal Gospels: The Marginalization of Joseph as Father in the Gospel of Luke and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (July 16, 2024) Paper presentation at the European Association of Biblical Studies Conference (Sofia, Bulgaria).
- La Doble Queerificación de María en el Protoevangelio de Santiago (June 26, 2024) Paper presentation at the Queer Theologies Conference of the Americas 2024 (San Salvador, El Salvador).
- Use Both the Baby and the Bathwater: Restoring Health and Community for Children and Women in the Gospel of Luke and the Arabic Infancy Gospel (March 16, 2024) Paper presentation at the Midwest Regional Meeting for Biblical Studies (St Mary's College, South Bend, IN).