Kylie Crabbe

Kylie Crabbe is Associate Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies in the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry at Australian Catholic University. She joined ACU in late 2017 after completing her doctorate at the University of Oxford, where she also served as Lecturer in Theology at Trinity College (2015-2017), Instructor in New Testament Greek (2016), and Assistant Welfare Dean (2017). She holds a current Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the Australian Research Council (2022-2025) for her project 'Inside Others: Early Christian Protagonists and Their Impairments'.

Dr. Crabbe's educational background includes BA, BTheol, AdvDipMin, MTheol, and DPhil (Oxon.). She is also a Minister of the Word in the Uniting Church in Australia and a member of ACU's Gender and Women's History Research Centre.

Her research focuses on New Testament studies and Second Temple Judaism, with particular interests in disability studies, gendered violence and domestic abuse in antiquity, intersectional approaches to biblical texts, and reception history. She has published widely in these areas, including her 2019 monograph Luke/Acts and the End of History and the 2021 edited volume The Reception of Jewish Tradition in the Social Imagination of the Early Christians. Her current DECRA project examines early Christian protagonists with impairments, exploring how disability functions in central rather than peripheral characters in early Christian literature.

Dr. Crabbe's publications reveal a consistent focus on the intersection of disability studies, gender analysis, and early Christian literature. Her recent work increasingly emphasizes disability representation in biblical texts and the implications for contemporary understanding of disability. Her scholarship demonstrates sophisticated engagement with ancient literature alongside modern theoretical frameworks, particularly in disability studies and intersectional analysis.

Scientific Awards:

• ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) (2022-2025)
• James William Squire Bursary (2016)
• The Revd Alan Stockbridge Award (2015)
• Crewdson Trust Award (2015)
• Clarendon Fund and Keble College Sloane-Robinson Scholarship (2012-2015)

Dr. Crabbe is an active HDR supervisor with full accreditation status, welcoming students interested in New Testament studies, Second Temple Judaism, and related hermeneutical approaches including reception history, gender studies, and disability studies. She has supervised doctoral research on feminist interpretation of Judges, purity in Matthew's Gospel, early Christian portraits of intimacy between women, and gender inequality in Ephesians. Beyond her ARC DECRA project, she participates in several collaborative research initiatives including 'Flourishing in Early Christianity' (2022-2026) and 'The Wakeful Night: Nocturnal Imagination, Encounters, and Emotions in the Late Ancient Mediterranean' (with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions).

She is actively engaged in public scholarship through media appearances, podcasts, and contributions to public discourse on disability, gender, and biblical interpretation, demonstrating commitment to making academic research accessible and relevant to broader audiences.