Dr. Rachel Coleman teaches undergraduates and graduate students at Indiana Wesleyan University, United Theological Seminary, and Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as teaching twice a year in Latin America and Spain for One Mission Society. Rachel earned her B.A. from Asbury University (formerly Asbury College), M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Kentucky, M.A. in Biblical Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary, and PhD in Theological Studies (New Testament) from Regent University. Rachel blogs at writepraylove660813036@wordpress.com.

How did you decide to become a biblical scholar? Share your autobiographical journey.

To borrow an image from Ecclesiastes, I would describe my journey as the slow and painstaking weaving together of three strands into a strong cord that tugged me toward biblical scholarship. The first of those strands is a life-long love of language (my first Master’s degree, back in another lifetime, was in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Kentucky in 1987). I have always been fascinated with words, written communication, and the intricacies and subtleties of how language works. The second strand is a life-long love of Scripture, which began with my “conversion” experience. It was during the reading of the crucifixion account from John’s Gospel that I became aware, at age 14, that this story was real, that it mattered, and that I could be part of it. Those two strands complemented each other, and I quickly found myself practicing inductive and narrative approaches to the sacred text, long before I could name or describe either one of those things!  More→

T. M. Lemos is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Huron University College and a member of the graduate school faculty at the University of Western Ontario.  She earned her BA from Brown University in Judaic Studies and her PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. She is a historian of ancient Israel and early Judaism and a biblical scholar.

How did you decide to become a biblical scholar? Share your autobiographical journey.

My parents are Azorean immigrants and religious Catholics.  My mother in particular is quite pious, and in the immigrant community in which I grew up it was common to have gatherings in people’s houses where we would pray the rosary before votive statues of the Virgin Mary or a crown representing the Espírito Santo.  Religion was very prominent in my life growing up and, to be entirely frank, I fought this tooth and nail.  I read the Bible, read books about religion, just to debunk Catholic dogma.  Interestingly, I ended up falling in love with Judaism, Jewish texts, and Jewish history.  I took biblical Hebrew my very first semester at Brown and started taking courses with Saul Olyan my junior year.  Saul ended up being my thesis advisor and mentor.  I joke with him now that being introduced to biblical studies through him really misled me—I thought the field was full of secular gay Jews.  It isn’t.  Speaking seriously, though, I really cannot understate his influence on my becoming a biblicist versus some other type of scholar.  I had considered getting a Ph.D. in Portuguese and Brazilian studies—in fact, I would fit in better in that field in many ways than I do in Biblical Studies.  However, Saul was just such a good mentor to me.  I was a working-class kid at an elite school who was coming out of the closet and had never known even one openly gay person growing up.  I really needed a good mentor.  He became a kind of parent figure to me, and so choosing to be a scholar of the Hebrew Bible seemed fitting and appealing to me.  More→