Biography
Prof. Clair Mesick is a New Testament scholar who studies Paul and the Corinthian correspondence, with especial interest in the emotions, mental disorder, and health & medicine. She teaches courses on Paul's letters, the Gospels, as well as classes on justice, health, & medicine in the Bible and ancient world. When she is not at Calvin, she is probably spending time with her husband (Prof. Ceballos Zapata in the World Languages/Education departments), walking her dog, or at a book club somewhere.
Education
- University of Chicago, BA
- University of Notre Dame, MTS
- University of Notre Dame, PhD (2019)
Courses
- Biblical Literature & Theology (121)
- Paul's Letters (223)
- Jesus and the Gospels (221)
- Gospel and Letters of John (222)
- Social Justice: From the Prophets to Jesus (262)
Academic Interests
Prof. Mesick's research focuses on interpreting the New Testament in its ancient Greco-Roman and Hellenistic Jewish context. She has written a book on the historical puzzle of the Corinthian correspondence (Paul and his Rivals: Apostleship and Antagonism in the Corinthian Correspondence) and has also written articles for the Journal of Biblical Literature, Novum Testamentum, and New Testament Studies. There is little she enjoys more than attempting to solve a particularly enigmatic biblical passage, especially from 2 Corinthians — for instance, Paul's claim that he is "beside himself for God" (2 Cor 5:13) or his command to the Corinthians not to be "unevenly yoked with the faithless" (2 Cor 6:14). Currently she is working on a book project (Grieved unto Death) on despair, emotional distress, and madness/mental disorder in the New Testament and ancient Hellenistic world. In spring 2027 she will be a fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry for their project From Despair to Hope.
Publications
- Paul and his Rivals: Apostleship and Antagonism in the Corinthian Correspondence (Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2024)
- “Yoked to a False Gospel: Revisiting 2 Cor 6.14–7.1” (forthcoming at NTS)
- “Death and Salvation in Paul and Ancient Judaism (1 Cor 5:5),” JBL 143 (2024): 523–43
- “Driven by Grief, Inspired by Christ: Paul ‘Beside Himself’ in 2 Cor 5:13,” NovT 61 (2019): 137–155
