Dr. Erich Pracht

• Ph.D – Aarhus University
• Th.M – Emory University
• M.A. – Columbia International University
• B.A. – Toccoa Falls College

• Introduction to the New Testament
• Western Thought & Culture
• Gospel of John
• Romans & Galatians
• Acts

Articles

• Pracht, Erich Benjamin and Thomas McCauley. “Power Law Distributions in the Letters of the New Testament: Word Frequencies, Cognitive Effort, and the Cost of Communication.” Pages 213-50 in Style and Computation: Traditional and Computational Analyses of Style in Ancient Greek and Latin Texts. Edited by Jacob P.B. Mortensen, Erich B. Pracht, Christian H. Vrangbæk, and Eva E.H. Vrangbæk. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2026).
• Pracht, Erich Benjamin. “The Rhetoric of Love: Paul’s Self-Promotion in Galatians.” Pages 289-309 in Innovation and Appropriation in Early Christian Literature: Authors, Topics, Texts, Genres. Edited by Sigurvin Lárus Jónsson, Susanne Luther, and Jacob P.B. Mortensen. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2026).
• Pracht, Erich Benjamin. “Leadership and the Shaping of the Past: Historical Analysis in Sallust and Luke.” Religions 17 (2026): 1-24.
• McCauley, Thomas and Erich Benjamin Pracht. “Interpreting the Statistical Significance of Pointwise Mutual Information Using Probability Models of Communication.” Journal of Quantitative Linguistics (2026): 1-19.
• Pracht, Erich Benjamin. “‘Bear with my Word of Comfort’: Consolatory Strategies in the Letter to the Hebrews.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 48.1 (2025): 273-97.
• Pracht, Erich Benjamin and Thomas McCauley. “Paul’s Style and the Problem of the Pastoral Letters: Assessing Statistical Models of Description and Inference.” Open Theology 11.1 (2025): 1-33.
• Pracht, Erich Benjamin and Thomas McCauley. “Style and Influence: Computing Hebrews and the Early Christian Stylistic Fingerprint.” Religions 16 (2025): 1-27.
• Pracht, Erich Benjamin. “The Tragic Death of John the Baptist: Reading Mark 6:17-29 with Other Banquet Travesties.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 83.2 (2021): 241-56.

Editorial Introductions

• Mortensen, Jacob P.B., Erich Benjamin Pracht, Christian H. Vrangbæk, and Eva E.H. Vrangbæk. “Style and Computation: Introduction.” Pages 7-30 in Style and Computation: Traditional and Computational Analyses of Style in Ancient Greek and Latin Texts. Edited by Jacob P.B. Mortensen, Erich B. Pracht, Christian H. Vrangbæk, and Eva E.H. Vrangbæk. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2026).
• Pracht, Erich Benjamin. “Mathematically Modeling Early Christian Literature: Theories, Methods, and Future Directions.” Open Theology 11.1 (2025): 1-5.

Book Review

• Pracht, Erich Benjamin. “Anmeldelse af Niels Willert, Kommentar til Lukasevangeliet.” Dansk Teologisk Tidsskrift 86 (2024): 74-75. (English title: Review of Niels Willert, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke).

Translation

• Becker, Eve-Marie, Jacob P.B. Mortensen, and Erich Benjamin Pracht. “Paul: Texts and Translations.” Pages 149-66 in Cicero, Paul and Seneca as Transformational Leaders in their Letter Writing. By Eve-Marie Becker, Henriette van der Blom, Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser, and Jacob P.B. Mortensen. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2024).

Research Interests: 

• Ancient historiography
• Rhetorical criticism
• Quantitative approaches to the Bible
• Carceral studies

• Society of Biblical Literature

• Hiking
• Jogging
• Travelling
• I lived in Europe for six years

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

I enjoy having a role in extending the sphere of Toccoa Falls’ influence beyond our campus to online and dual enrolled students!