A PhD candidate with the Australian Catholic University’s Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry has been named the general winner of ACU’s Three Minute Thesis Final after adapting software originally used for genetic evaluation to assist scholars restore handwritten works to their original condition.
“My methodology may be applied to any written work subject to human errors, not only the New Testament,” said Joey McCollum, a former software engineer.
“So much work relevant to the reconstruction of textual histories has already been done in evolutionary biology, and the textual criticism and digital humanities communities should concentrate on how helpful it’s to our work.”
McCollum hopes that his latest technology will show how biblical studies can have practical applications beyond purely theoretical areas of study comparable to exploring abstruse theological concepts.
“For an extended time, biblical studies has had a fame for being disconnected from other areas of study and distracted with impractical questions like what number of angels can dance on the top of a pin,” he said.
“In shaping my 3MT presentation, I wanted to indicate that biblical studies not only can have practical ramifications for things as essential because the text of scripture and the way we will read it more rigorously, but additionally can have productive interactions with the sciences – even evolutionary biology – towards these ends.”
Known as textual criticism, the discipline is dedicated to restoring handwritten works to their earliest forms within the absence of the unique manuscripts. It has been revolutionised by this latest technology, with researchers now capable of see how the unique creators intended Scripture to be presented, offering deeper insight into the layers of meaning within the text and pictures that were lost in later editions.
The discoveries can influence how the trendy printed editions and translations of works just like the Bible look, shaping the scholarship, preservation, and exegesis (or interpretation) of the Bible. First used to assist scholars analyse the available manuscript data for the New Testament book of Ephesians, the brand new technology will allow researchers to access previously hidden details contained in any of the manuscripts which have survived.
McCollum learnt New Testament Greek as a hobby and has already published five papers in several international academic journals. He expects to finish his PhD thesis next yr.
His victory in the ultimate has seen him progress to the Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final Showcase, where he’ll vie to be considered one of eight finalists chosen by the panellists to compete within the 2024 Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT Final.
McCollum and the opposite finalists were congratulated by ACU Graduate School Research Director Michelle Lopez on the standard and significance of their presentations.
“The 2024 competition marks the seventeenth yr of the 3MT, organized by the University of Queensland (UQ) and speaks to the continued popularity and evolution of the competition in fostering research communication skills and showcasing the exciting research of graduate research candidates,” Lopez said.
“We were delighted to see a big increase in participation in 2024 from our graduate research candidates. Our finalists from Law and Business, Theology and Philosophy and Health Sciences delivered engaging presentations, across a spread of topics and the standard of the presentations were outstanding.”
Mr McCollum said that he hoped that the success of his research would show that fields comparable to his own could offer something to the scientific disciplines that produced more tangible outcomes: “The humanities have little material promise within the spheres of human health, economy, and justice. But daily, every considered one of us navigates these spheres, and the humanities provide a way of grounding our experiences in history and giving our souls strength for the journey.”
