Candida Moss

@candidamoss.bsky.social

5555 Followers 220 Following

Professor. Writer. Columnist. Erratic historian. Typo Queen.

Screenshot of the text of the book review which reads "It is hard to imagine a better entry point for those interested in Roman slavery than God’s Ghostwriters. Candida Moss has put together a remarkably accessible and even more engaging study of the role of slavery in early Christian textual production. Moss’s argument in this book is basically threefold: (1) ancient texts were produced foremost by enslaved scribes, (2) enslaved scribes were not “mere” conduits for the words of others” (13), and (3) New Testament and post-biblical Christian texts were largely the product of such scribes. Her thesis is not only sound, but compelling and well written. Emblematic of this is how she invites us into the imagined life of one early Christian slave throughout the duration of Chapter One: Alexandrenos, of the famous Alexamenos graffito. The graffito, which seems to contain the earliest visual depiction of Jesus, was discovered at a paedagogium at the Palatine Hill. Although the inscription tells us almost nothing about Alexandrenos, Moss uses him as a figure to think about the life of an enslaved student, learning to master literacy in the imperial household, with all its discipline, restriction, and cultural production. The scribes who wrote the letters attributed to Paul, the evangelists, and still other early Christian writers were figures like Alexandrenos, such that we can imagine their lives, education, and writing processes occurring in a similar manner. To be clear, God’s Ghostwriters is primarily written for non-experts: Endnotes are few in number and untranslated Greek or Latin is basically nonexistent. Thus, the book is well suited for undergraduate classrooms, book clubs, or reading groups that include many who do not specialize in early Christian texts. To this end, Moss has a companion website featuring discussion and teaching tools, not to mention extended endnotes, for those interested: https://candidamoss.com/gods-ghostwriters.
Large Banner on a lamppost. Banner has an image of a smiling blonde woman that says “2026 Grawemeyer award in religion Candida Moss”
"Therefore our Lord was conceived on the eighth day of the kalends of April in the month of March, which is the day of the passion of the Lord and of his conception. For on the day that he was conceived on the same he suffered"
"This explanation would be the more readily received if we could find it fully stated in some author. unfortunately we know of no text containing it, and we are therefore compelled to put it forward as an hypothesis, but it is an hypothesis which falls in with what we may call the recognized methods in such matters." "I would not venture to say in regard to the 25th of December, that the coincidence of the Sol novas exercised no direct or indirect influence on the ecclesiastical decisions arrived at in regard to the matter."
Black and white picture of a blonde woman wearing a black top smiling with the caption "Candida Moss wins 2026 Grawemeyer Award in Religion"
Black Book cover featuring a bilingual ancient inscription and the title “God, Slavery, and Early Christianity: Divine Possession and Ethics in the Shepherd of Hermes”
Book cover. The background in sepia tones Showa man dictating to scribes. A cream box in the center has light brown writing that contains the title (Writing, Enslavement, and Power in the Roman Mediterranean) and the words "Edited by Jeremiah Coogan, Candid R. Moss, and Jospeh A. Howley.
Image of thin chimney on the roof of the sistine chapel at the Vatican during conclave
Book cover for immaculate forms features a composite woman's body divided horizontally in four parts. The top section, the head, in an ancient sculpture. The second piece is a woman's torso in a bra. The third section is a pregnant woman's belly and the bottom quarter is a woman's pelvis and thighs covered by a leaf.
Magazine cover with picture of long haired bearded man (Jesus) in white garment. Title reads “Jesus”
Screen shot of the details of the Slavery, resistance, and freedom panel on God's Ghostwriters
Book cover in grey and orange with a blue emblem in the center that reads "God's Monsters: Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures and Divine Hitmen of the Bible"