Dr Stefano Salemi
Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies; Director of Learning and Teaching
Stefano is a scholar of biblical studies, languages, and theology. After many years of teaching at the University of Oxford, he joined AC as Director of Learning and Teaching. With a passion for contributing meaningfully to the teaching and learning experience, he is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and has held a number of academic leadership roles at various institutions. He possesses the rare expertise of someone with multiple doctorates from the UK and Italy in Theology and Biblical Studies. He has also held or continues to hold research and/or teaching posts at various universities, including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, King’s College London, University of London, Chichester University, Pretoria University, North-West University, Sheffield University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He teaches and conducts research in the fields of biblical exegesis, hermeneutics, Hebrew and Greek languages and semantics, biblical and systematic-historical theology, pedagogy, reception history, the arts and theology, and intertextual studies. He is a member of numerous learned societies such as the SBL, SNTS, FBS, SOTS, BNTS, NAHP, and research committees and boards. Besides chairing research projects and grants, and serving on editorial boards, he has been the founding Director of the Australian Centre for Biblical and Theological Research. He is the chief founding Editor of the SCM Press Book Series Biblical Intertextuality and of the AOSIS open-access peer-reviewed journal Integrated Biblical and Theological Studies. Besides several contributions already in contract as author or editor, his publications include numerous articles and chapters for Brill, De Gruyter, Routledge, T&T Clarks, Mohr Siebeck, and many more, and 4 books: The Meaning of the Death of Christ-A Historical-Exegetical Reading of John 19:34 (in Italian, EE, 2014); A Linguistic-Theological Exegesis of Ezekiel as Môphēt - “I have made you a sign” (Ezekiel 12:6) (Brill, 2024); Why did Jesus die? …and immediately blood and water came out (in Italian; Universitas Studiorum, 2025); and his recent acclaimed book by Routledge (2025) Infinite Risk Theology: ‘Remember that Christ risked all’, described as “the first major attempt at the topic, it is very possible that this book will be cited for centuries to come.”
Qualifications
PhD (University of Oxford)
Dissertation Title 'Remember that Christ risked all – A Theology of Infinite Risk'
2023
PhD (King’s College London)
Dissertation Title 'I have made you a sign” (Ezek. 12:6). A Linguistic-Theological Exegesis of Ezekiel as a מוֹפֵת (sign)
2020
PhD (Facoltà Teologica Pugliese)
Dissertation Title 'The Meaning of the Death of Christ: Historical and Exegetical Reading of John 19:34'
2013
MTh (Res) (Waldensian Faculty of Theology) 2012
MRes (University of Rome “La Sapienza”) 2006
Field of Research
TheologyBooks
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2025
- Salemi, S. (2025). Infinite Risk Theology "Remember that Christ Risked All". Routledge.
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2024
- Salemi, S. (2024). A Linguistic-Theological Exegesis of Ezekiel as Môphēt. Brill.
- Salemi, S. (2024). Perché Gesù è morto? …e subito ne uscì sangue e acqua [tr. Why did Jesus die? …and immediately blood and water came out]. Universitas Studiorum.
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2014
- Salemi, S. (2014). Il significato della morte di Cristo, lettura storico-esegetica di Giov. 19:34. Editrice Ecumenica.
Book Chapters
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2021
- Salemi, S. (2021). Suffering of Christ: Suffering of people In Ashwin-Siejkowski, P; Ramelli, I.L.E.; Anthony McGuckin, J., The T&T Clark Handbook of the Early Church (pp. ). Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Salemi, S. (2021). “The wounded Christ of the Fourth Gospel - New Testament interpretation in Alexandrian tradition”- First volume of the new monograph series History of Biblical Exegesis In Elliott, M.; Legaspi, M.; Lincicum, D.; Grillo, J.; Schliesser. B., (pp. ). Mohr Siebeck.
Internal and External Grants
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2024
- British Academy - "Faith and Failure: An Interdisciplinary Approach", $20000, University of London
- Templeton Religion Trust "Theological Anendophasia", $1500000, University of London
- Templeton WCF Grant - "Spiritual Exercises, Perceptions of Reality, and Ways of Knowing", $2500000, SCD University College
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2023
- Farrer - Woodruffe Research Award, $6500, Oxford University
Presentations
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2024
- “Christ’s Cry on the Cross as an Irreversible Incarnation” (2024), SBL Annual Meeting, San Diego, USA, 23 Nov 2024
- “Covenant and Resilience: Ezekiel's Embodied Response in Contemporary Perspectives” (2024), ETS Annual Meeting, USA, 20 Nov 2024
- “Exploring Christological reading of the Cry of Dereliction” (2024), ETS Annual Meeting, USA, 20 Nov 2024
- “Ezekiel in Early Christianity" (2024), Biblical Studies Research Seminar, King’s College London, London, UK, 14 Feb 2024
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2023
- “Theophanies in Ezekiel: Biblical Exegesis in Early Christianity” (2023), SBL Annual Meeting, San Anotonio, USA, 18 Nov 2023
- “Reinterpreting John's Passion Imagery: Contemporary Perceptions of God Through ‘Christian’ and 'Midrashic' Hermeneutics” (2023), Centre for Gospel and Acts Research, Sydney University College of Divinity, 28 Sep 2023
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2022
- “Ezekiel's wife’s death” at the International Conference “Resilience: Psalms and/or Prophetic Literature” (2022), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, 01 Sep 2022
- “Could God die forever? Ellen G. White and her theology of infinite risk” (2022), University of Oxford, Modern Theology Research Seminar, Oxford, UK, 24 Jan 2022
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2021
- “Ezekiel's wife's death: Femicide, 'divine election,' metaphor, or mimic?” (2021), SBL Annual Meeting, San Antonio, USA, 20 Nov 2021
- “Lev. 14 - עץ ארז : A Staurocentric Exegesis and Theological Reception of Leprosy Laws” (2021), International Conference “Leviticus - ritual, sacrifice and priestly motifs in the Hebrew Bible and related literature”, Pretoria, South Africa, 25 Aug 2021
Professional Memberships
British New Testament Society (since 2025)
European Association of Biblical Studies (since 2025)
National Association of Professors of Hebrew (since 2025)
Society for New Testament Studies (since 2025)
Society of Biblical Literature (since 2025)
Society of Old Testament Studies (since 2025)
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