tburke


Tony Burke

Photo of Tony Burke

Professor

Office: Vanier College, 0247
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 33712
Email: tburke@yorku.ca
Primary website: http://www.tonyburke.ca

Media Requests Welcome
Accepting New Graduate Students


Professor Burke’s research interests include the study of Christian biographical literature of the second century (infancy gospels), children and the family in Roman antiquity, curses, and non-canonical Jewish and Christian writings.

More...

Professor Burke’s is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University (BA, MA) and the University of Toronto (Ph. D.). While writing a Masters paper on Magic and Miracle, he became interested in a little-known non-canonical gospel called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which features stories of Jesus when he was a child. He pursued that interest into his doctoral work; his thesis, 'The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: The Text, its Origins, and its Transmission,' included a new critical edition of the text drawing upon a range of published and unpublished manuscripts. The thesis will be published in 2010 in the series Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum. Tony continues to work on non-canonical Christian texts (or 'Christian Apocrypha'), and has work-in-progress on a handbook of the Christian Apocrypha, an edition of the History of the Thirty Silver Pieces (the amount given to Judas to betray Jesus), an edition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in Syriac, and a study on curses and curse stories in the biblical world. Information on these projects can be obtained from a look at his web site and Apocryphicity blog.

Degrees

PhD, University of Toronto
BA, MA, Wilfred Laurier

Research Interests

Religion , Infancy gospels, Non-Canonical Jewish and Christian writings, Curses, Early Christianity, Jewish and Christian Apocrypha, Childhood in Antiquity
  • Frank W. Beare Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions written in English or French by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. - 2018
  • Frank W. Beare Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions written in English or French by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. - 2012
Books

Publication
Year

Burke, Tony, ed. Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha. Proceedings of the 2015 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017.

2017

Burke, Tony, and Brent Landua, eds. New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.

2016

Burke, Tony, ed. Forbidden Texts on the Western Frontier: The Christian Apocrypha in North American Perspectives. Proceedings of the 2013 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2015.

2015

Burke, Tony, and Pierluigi Piovanelli, eds. Rediscovering the Apocryphal Continent: New Perspectives on Early Christian and Late Antique Apocryphal Texts and Traditions. WUNT 349. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015.

2015

Burke, Tony, ed. Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate. Proceedings of the 2011 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2016.

2013

Book Chapters

Publication
Year

'The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.' The Non-Canonical Gospels. Ed. P.Foster. London: T & T Clark, 2009. 126-138.

2009

''Social Viewing' of Children in the Childhood Stories of Jesus.' Children in Ancient Christianity. Ed. Cornelia Horn. Tuebingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2009.

2009

'Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium.' SBL Forum. 2008.

2008

Book Reviews

Publication
Year

Brodie, Thomas L. 'The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Development of the New Testament.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68 (2006): 756-758.

2006

Murray, Michele. 'Playing a Jewish Game: Gentile Christian Judaizing in the First and Second Centuries CE.' Toronto Journal of Theology 21 (2005): 256-257.

2005

Klauck, Hans-Josef. 'Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 66 (2004): 655-57.

2004

Elliott, Mark Adam. 'The Survivors of Israel: A Reconsideration of the Theology of Pre-Christian Judaism.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64 (2002): 572-77.

2002

Boismard, M. E. 'L’évangile de l’enfance (Luc 1-2) selon le Proto-Luc.' Journal of Biblical Literature 119.2 (2002): 362-64.

2002

Valantasis, Richard. 'The Gospel of Thomas.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 61 (1999): 385-86.

1999

'The Mystical Tradition and the Carthusians.' Ed. James Hogg. Mystics Quarterly 24.1 (1998): 32-34.

1998

Monographs

Publication
Year

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Syriac Tradition: A Critical Edition and English Translation. Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 48. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.

2017

Burke, Tony. Secret Scriptures Revealed. A New Introduction to the Christian Apocrypha. London: SPCK and Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

2013

De infantia Iesu euangelium Thomae graece. Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum 17. Turnhout: Brepols, 2010.

2010

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

Tony Burke. “‘Lost Gospels’ – Lost No More.” Biblical Archaeology Review Sept./Oct. (2016): 41–47, 64–66.

2016

Burke, Tony. “What Do We Talk About When We Talk About the Nag Hammadi Library?” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 45.2 (2016): 33–37.

2016

Burke, Tony, and Slavomír Céplö. “The Syriac Tradition of the Legend of the Thirty Pieces of Silver.” Hugoye: Journal for Syriac Studies 19.1 (2016): 35–121.

2016

Burke, Tony. “Two New Witnesses to the Acta Pilati Tradition.” Le Muséon 129 (2016): 251–78.

2015

Burke, Tony. “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas from an Unpublished Syriac Manuscript. Introduction, Text, Translation, and Notes.” Hugoye: Journal for Syriac Studies 16.2 (2013): 225–99.

2013

Burke, Tony. “Depictions of Children in the Apocryphal Infancy Gospels.” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 41 (2012):388–400.

2012

Burke, Tony. “More Christian Apocrypha.” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 41.3 (2012): 16–21.

2012

Burke, Tony. “Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium.” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 39 (2010): 405–20.

2010

"The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas." Apocrypha 14 (2004): 129-151.

2004

''Social Viewing' of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.' Centre for the Study of Religion Colloquium Papers 26.1 (2003).

2003

'Authorship and Identity in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.' Toronto Journal of Theology 14.1 (1998): 27-43.

1998

'Against the Proud Scholars of the Devil: Anti-intellectual Rhetoric in The Cloud of Unknowing.' Mystics Quarterly 23.3 (1997): 115-36.

1997

Conference Proceedings

Publication
Year

'Completing the Gospel: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as a Supplement to the Gospel of Luke.' Proceedings of the Montréal Colloquium in Honour of Charles Kannengeiser, 11-13 October, 2006: In The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity. Ed. L. DiTommaso, L. Turcescu. Brill Academic Publishers, 2008.

2006

'Researching the New Testament Apocrypha in the Twenty-First Century.' Proceedings of the Ottawa Conference: Christian Apocryphal Texts for the New Millennium. Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006.

2006


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2024 AP/HUMA3422 3.0 M Origins of Christianity II SEMR
Fall/Winter 2023 AP/HUMA1850 6.0 A The Bible and Modern Contexts LECT



Professor Burke’s research interests include the study of Christian biographical literature of the second century (infancy gospels), children and the family in Roman antiquity, curses, and non-canonical Jewish and Christian writings.

Professor Burke’s is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University (BA, MA) and the University of Toronto (Ph. D.). While writing a Masters paper on Magic and Miracle, he became interested in a little-known non-canonical gospel called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which features stories of Jesus when he was a child. He pursued that interest into his doctoral work; his thesis, 'The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: The Text, its Origins, and its Transmission,' included a new critical edition of the text drawing upon a range of published and unpublished manuscripts. The thesis will be published in 2010 in the series Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum. Tony continues to work on non-canonical Christian texts (or 'Christian Apocrypha'), and has work-in-progress on a handbook of the Christian Apocrypha, an edition of the History of the Thirty Silver Pieces (the amount given to Judas to betray Jesus), an edition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in Syriac, and a study on curses and curse stories in the biblical world. Information on these projects can be obtained from a look at his web site and Apocryphicity blog.

Degrees

PhD, University of Toronto
BA, MA, Wilfred Laurier

Research Interests

Religion , Infancy gospels, Non-Canonical Jewish and Christian writings, Curses, Early Christianity, Jewish and Christian Apocrypha, Childhood in Antiquity

Awards

  • Frank W. Beare Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions written in English or French by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. - 2018
  • Frank W. Beare Award for an outstanding book in the areas of Christian Origins, Post-Biblical Judaism and/or Graeco-Roman Religions written in English or French by a member of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. - 2012

All Publications


Book Chapters

Publication
Year

'The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.' The Non-Canonical Gospels. Ed. P.Foster. London: T & T Clark, 2009. 126-138.

2009

''Social Viewing' of Children in the Childhood Stories of Jesus.' Children in Ancient Christianity. Ed. Cornelia Horn. Tuebingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2009.

2009

'Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium.' SBL Forum. 2008.

2008

Book Reviews

Publication
Year

Brodie, Thomas L. 'The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Development of the New Testament.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 68 (2006): 756-758.

2006

Murray, Michele. 'Playing a Jewish Game: Gentile Christian Judaizing in the First and Second Centuries CE.' Toronto Journal of Theology 21 (2005): 256-257.

2005

Klauck, Hans-Josef. 'Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 66 (2004): 655-57.

2004

Elliott, Mark Adam. 'The Survivors of Israel: A Reconsideration of the Theology of Pre-Christian Judaism.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64 (2002): 572-77.

2002

Boismard, M. E. 'L’évangile de l’enfance (Luc 1-2) selon le Proto-Luc.' Journal of Biblical Literature 119.2 (2002): 362-64.

2002

Valantasis, Richard. 'The Gospel of Thomas.' Catholic Biblical Quarterly 61 (1999): 385-86.

1999

'The Mystical Tradition and the Carthusians.' Ed. James Hogg. Mystics Quarterly 24.1 (1998): 32-34.

1998

Books

Publication
Year

Burke, Tony, ed. Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictions: Writing Ancient and Modern Christian Apocrypha. Proceedings of the 2015 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017.

2017

Burke, Tony, and Brent Landua, eds. New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.

2016

Burke, Tony, ed. Forbidden Texts on the Western Frontier: The Christian Apocrypha in North American Perspectives. Proceedings of the 2013 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2015.

2015

Burke, Tony, and Pierluigi Piovanelli, eds. Rediscovering the Apocryphal Continent: New Perspectives on Early Christian and Late Antique Apocryphal Texts and Traditions. WUNT 349. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015.

2015

Burke, Tony, ed. Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate. Proceedings of the 2011 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2016.

2013

Monographs

Publication
Year

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the Syriac Tradition: A Critical Edition and English Translation. Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies 48. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.

2017

Burke, Tony. Secret Scriptures Revealed. A New Introduction to the Christian Apocrypha. London: SPCK and Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

2013

De infantia Iesu euangelium Thomae graece. Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum 17. Turnhout: Brepols, 2010.

2010

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

Tony Burke. “‘Lost Gospels’ – Lost No More.” Biblical Archaeology Review Sept./Oct. (2016): 41–47, 64–66.

2016

Burke, Tony. “What Do We Talk About When We Talk About the Nag Hammadi Library?” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 45.2 (2016): 33–37.

2016

Burke, Tony, and Slavomír Céplö. “The Syriac Tradition of the Legend of the Thirty Pieces of Silver.” Hugoye: Journal for Syriac Studies 19.1 (2016): 35–121.

2016

Burke, Tony. “Two New Witnesses to the Acta Pilati Tradition.” Le Muséon 129 (2016): 251–78.

2015

Burke, Tony. “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas from an Unpublished Syriac Manuscript. Introduction, Text, Translation, and Notes.” Hugoye: Journal for Syriac Studies 16.2 (2013): 225–99.

2013

Burke, Tony. “Depictions of Children in the Apocryphal Infancy Gospels.” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 41 (2012):388–400.

2012

Burke, Tony. “More Christian Apocrypha.” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 41.3 (2012): 16–21.

2012

Burke, Tony. “Heresy Hunting in the New Millennium.” Studies in Religion/ Sciences Religieuses 39 (2010): 405–20.

2010

"The Greek Manuscript Tradition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas." Apocrypha 14 (2004): 129-151.

2004

''Social Viewing' of Children in the Childhood Tales of Jesus.' Centre for the Study of Religion Colloquium Papers 26.1 (2003).

2003

'Authorship and Identity in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas.' Toronto Journal of Theology 14.1 (1998): 27-43.

1998

'Against the Proud Scholars of the Devil: Anti-intellectual Rhetoric in The Cloud of Unknowing.' Mystics Quarterly 23.3 (1997): 115-36.

1997

Conference Proceedings

Publication
Year

'Completing the Gospel: The Infancy Gospel of Thomas as a Supplement to the Gospel of Luke.' Proceedings of the Montréal Colloquium in Honour of Charles Kannengeiser, 11-13 October, 2006: In The Reception and Interpretation of the Bible in Late Antiquity. Ed. L. DiTommaso, L. Turcescu. Brill Academic Publishers, 2008.

2006

'Researching the New Testament Apocrypha in the Twenty-First Century.' Proceedings of the Ottawa Conference: Christian Apocryphal Texts for the New Millennium. Achievements, Prospects, and Challenges. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2006.

2006


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2024 AP/HUMA3422 3.0 M Origins of Christianity II SEMR
Fall/Winter 2023 AP/HUMA1850 6.0 A The Bible and Modern Contexts LECT