Laurie Brink, O.P.

Associate Professor of New Testament Studies

M.A., Maryknoll School of Theology; Ph.D., University of Chicago

Laurie Brink, O.P., is a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa. She received a B.S. from the University of Tennessee, M.A. from the Maryknoll School of Theology, and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Laurie Brink investigates the ancient social, religious, and cultural world out of which early Christianity emerged. Her current work engages audience-oriented analysis to evaluate the characterization and function of the soldiers and centurions in Luke-Acts. Recently she directed an interdisciplinary project in which scholars of Roman history, archaeology, Early Christianity, and Jewish Studies investigated ancient burial practices and the emergence of identifiable Christian practices. She and Deborah Green edited the monograph, Commemorating the Dead: Texts and Artifacts in Context (DeGruyter, 2008), which resulted from the two-year study.

Having worked as a senior staff member for the Combined Caesarea Expeditions, Brink attempts to integrate archaeological research and biblical exegesis. Along with former Israel Study Program Director, Marianne Race, C.S.J., Brink co-authored In This Place: Reflections on the Land of the Gospels for the Liturgical Cycles (reprint Wipf & Stock, 2008). “A General’s Exhortation to His Troops: Paul’s Military Rhetoric in 2 Cor 10:1-11,” appeared in Biblische Zeitschrift in 2005 and 2006. Her other articles include “A Marginal Life: Pursing Holiness in the 21st Century,” Horizon 33 (2008), “Pursuing a dream, finding a vocation,” Vision (2007), and “Can we allow a new generation to shape religious life?” Horizons 32 (2007). Brink is a member of American Schools of Oriental Research, Catholic Biblical Association, Chicago Society of Biblical Research, and Society of Biblical Literature.