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Evolutionary biology could help biblical scholars reconstruct the early form of the Bible’s text, according to the winner of Australian Catholic University’s Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Final.

Joey McCollum, a PhD candidate with ACU’s Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, was named overall winner at ACU’s 3MT Final, claiming a $3000 prize.

The former software engineer who learnt New Testament Greek as a hobby will represent ACU at the on October 8.

Mr McCollum’s research aims to revolutionise the practice of textual criticism which aims to restore handwritten works to their earliest forms in the absence of the original manuscripts. This discipline informs how our printed editions and translations of works like the Bible look, providing a direct impact on the scholarship, preservation, and exegesis (or interpretation) of the Bible.

As part of his research, Mr McCollum has adapted software typically used to analyse genetics to revolutionise how scholars relate to available manuscript data for the Book of Ephesians from the New Testament.

“My methodology can be applied to any written work subject to human errors, not just the New Testament,” Mr McCollum said.

“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 be aware of how valuable it is to our work.”

Representing the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy in ACU’s 3MT Final, Mc McCollum hoped to show the practical application of biblical studies.

“For a long time, biblical studies has had a reputation for being disconnected from other areas of study and distracted with impractical questions like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin,” Mr McCollum said.

“In shaping my 3MT presentation, I wanted to show that biblical studies not only can have practical ramifications for things as important as the text of scripture and how we can read it more carefully, but also can have productive interactions with the sciences-even evolutionary biology-towards these ends.

“The humanities have little material promise in the spheres of human health, economy, and justice. But every day, every one of us navigates these spheres, and the humanities provide a means of grounding our experiences in history and giving our souls strength for the journey.”

Mr McCollum is expected to complete his PhD thesis next year but already has published five papers in several international academic journals.

Occupational therapy PhD candidate Katie Headrick, whose research involves evaluating a cerebral palsy research program that follows a consumer involvement model, was named runner up of ACU’s 3MT Final, winning a $2000 prize.

Chanchal Kurup, a former neonatal nurse from India, won the People’s Choice Award and $1000 for her 3MT entry explaining her research into the barriers faced by internationally trained specialty nurses who work in the Australian healthcare sector.

This year’s 3MT Final was hosted by the newly launched ACU Graduate Research School, a hub that will drive the strategic direction of the university’s graduate research pursuits, including partnerships, scholarships and industry internships.

ACU Graduate School Research director Michelle Lopez congratulated Mr McCollum and the other finalists for their engaging presentations.

“The 2024 competition marks the 17th year 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,” Ms Lopez said.

“We were delighted to see a significant 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 range of topics and the quality of the presentations were outstanding.

“On behalf of the Graduate Research School, I want to congratulate our winner, Joey McCollum, our runner up, Katie Headrick, and our people’s choice winner, Chanchal Kurup. We extend our very best wishes to Joey, as he proceeds to the Asia-Pacific final of the 3MT.”

The is an academic research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland.