Interview: Mariam J. Kamell Kovalishyn

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M_KamellDr. Mariam J. Kamell Kovalishyn is Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. She earned a BA from Davidson College, MA from Denver Seminary, and PhD from University of St. Andrews.

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

It was more by accident than intention, at least on my end. In the sovereignty of God, I am sure he was organizing my steps, my plan never involved me being a scholar. My dream growing up was to be a housewife. As life progressed, however, it became pretty clear that dream wasn’t opening up. In the meantime, I had majored in a combination of Classics/English/History in my undergrad, largely because I had a Latin teacher I adored and I ended up with too many Classics classes to ignore. I also did a semester abroad in Greece and fell in love with the country and history (as I’d always loved the mythology). However, having written a thesis in my undergrad and having it go a bit sideways, I swore off school forever, particularly any schooling that would involve large writing projects.  More→

Interview: Laura S. Nasrallah

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lsn-3-medDr. Laura S. Nasrallah is professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School. She earned an A.B. from Princeton University, and M.Div. and Th.D. from Harvard Divinity School. She can also be found at her faculty website and at lettersofpaul.org.

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

Midway through my undergraduate studies, I had the realization while reading Elaine Pagels’s The Gnostic Gospels that the Bible wasn’t just one book produced outside of human time and labors. This epiphany—something many readers likely knew all along; let’s say I was a late bloomer—made me hunger to study the history of early Christianity and the Christian Testament. It was then only late in college that I realized that the study of religion could be an academic field.

I had also long understood that religion was important. My youngest years were spent in Beirut, Lebanon, during the tensions and then the violence of the civil war in that country. Afterwards, we moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to a culture infused with a deep love and use of the Bible. I knew from a young age that religion was very important—it could cause wars, for instance—and that the Bible was a text on which people founded their lives and their actions. I also knew from my own family that religion was central to life and identity; I knew of my American mother’s shift from Catholicism to Protestantism as she married my father; my Lebanese father’s strong family traditions in Protestant Christianity in Lebanon, a minority denomination in that country.

Once I had that epiphany that the Christian Testament could be studied in light of other historical events and literary texts, and that the study of religion could be both a deeply personal and academic pursuit, I felt it was inevitable to study these materials!  More→

Susan Eastman on Philippians and Christology

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At a Society of Biblical Literature Conference, Nijay Gupta interviewed Dr. Susan Eastman on Philippians and other work she is doing. Eastman is Associate Research Professor of New Testament at Duke University Divinity School. Below is an excerpt from the interview. 

Gupta: Of all the scholarly interest in Philippians, a good number of articles, essays, and books have focused on Philippians 2:6-11, the so-called “Christ Hymn.” Why do you think that is? What is so special and interesting about it? (I must admit that I too have written on this in my dissertation and in articles!)

Eastman: Well, where to begin? This passage was extremely important in early debates about Christology. It may provide a window into early Christian worship, particularly if Paul is quoting from an early hymn (much debated now). It is a compelling picture of Christ as pre-existent (the majority interpretation, which I share), as becoming incarnate, dying on a cross, raised by God, exalted above all creation, worshipped by all creation – in short, an early nutshell version of a very high Christology. And it is bracketed by ethical exhortations for the Philippian community, posing immediately the question of how this story of Christ is related to their common life.

Gupta: Traditionally, scholars have taken two positions on this passage. Either it is about Christology and the unique story and victory of Christ, or it is ethical, focusing on Christ as a model of virtue and obedience that the Philippians should imitate. How do you perceive this juxtaposition and how does your unique approach seek to move beyond this? More specifically, how does “imitation” serve as an important idea in Pauline ethics?

Eastman: Together with many others, I think the opposition between kerygma and ethics in Paul is a false dichotomy. Obviously Paul could talk about both Christology and ethics in the same sentence. The question is not whether they relate, but how. There’s a long tradition that says Christ is primarily an example to be imitated: “ethics” in Paul is simply the imitation of Christ. This is what Kaesemann and others react against, rightly in my view. Exegetically, it ignores the fact that the “Christ-hymn” is telling the story of Christ becoming like humanity, so that in the first instance, Christ is the one doing the “imitating.” And conceptually, it presumes that imitation is located simply in human volition, as something that we choose to do, or not to do. Both Plato and contemporary neuroscience recognize that, as often as not, imitation bypasses volition; perception triggers a mimetic response. This is why Plato was worried about the potentially negative influence of the poets, and wanted to ban them from the republic. And this is what anyone who observes infants knows immediately. I’m interested in the role of imitation in reciprocally participatory relationships. In regard to Phil. 2, I’m interested in imitation as the link between Christology and ethics, but starting with Christ as the one becoming like us, and exploring the way our perception of this action of Christ involves a mimetic response that goes deeper than conscious decision. I see this is central to Paul’s participatory ethics: Paul presents Christ as mimetically participating in the human plight, such that his auditors respond to Christ mimetically. Such mimesis is deeply participatory, and is the basis of an ethics that involves the whole person in a communal way.

Go read the whole interview.

Interview: Caryn A. Reeder

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Reeder-CarynDr. Caryn A. Reeder is Associate Professor of New Testament at Westmont College. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and Religious Studies from Augustana College, M.A. in Biblical Studies from Wheaton College, M.Phil. in Old Testament and Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Cambridge. Reeder has been teaching at Westmont since 2007.

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

As an undergrad at Augustana College, I had to take two religious studies classes. I enjoyed the first one so much that I ended up with a double major in psychology (because I thought it was practical) and religious studies (because it was fun). I’d planned to have a practical career in psychology – but luckily, my first job after graduation took me to Jerusalem for two years, where I had the opportunity to drink lots of tea, read the Bible with different sets of cultural lenses than my own, and also engage with some of the hard questions of ‘biblical interpretation’ and the continuing significance of the biblical story for the lives of Palestinians and Israelis. I realized I’d much rather have the fun of studying the Bible in its different historical, geographical, social, cultural, and literary contexts than continue with my plan of a career in psychology.  More→

Book Spotlight: The Enemy in the Household

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This post highlights Caryn A. Reeder’s study The Enemy in the Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond, a revision of her dissertation at the University of Cambridge. Reeder is Associate Professor of New Testament at Westmont College.

The Enemy in the Household centers on three primary texts in Deuteronomy:

  • 13:6-11 (the call for execution of family members or friends who succumb to idolatry and seek to persuade others to follow.)
  • 21:18-21 (death penalty for the stubborn and rebellious son)
  • 22:13-21 (execution of the unchaste daughter)

Reeder notes the discomfort modern readers have with Israelite law codes calling for the death penalty of family members. Yet she resists a hermeneutic of suspicion. While affirming the value such an approach can have (e.g. taking seriously abuses of power), she believes a hermeneutic of suspicion too often leads to rejection of the text. Reeder prefers reading sympathetically rather than antagonistically. At the same time, she still keeps her eye on descriptions of inequalities or injustices.

The book covers four primary periods comprising the selected texts and their reception history:

  • Understanding Constructive Family Violence in Deuteronomy
  • Constructive Family Violence in Hellenistic Palestine
  • Enmity and Treason according to Philo, Josephus, and the Rabbis
  • Constructive Family Violence and the Early Church

“Constructive violence” is the “use of violent acts to punish covenantal transgressions in Deuteronomy” (8). Constructive violence acknowledges the intended injury, but also recognizes the injury is motivated by “the need to protect communal identity from threats” (8). Reeder proposes that the term “constructive violence” also holds together discordant value judgments: respect for the laws in Deuteronomy and a respect for the discomfort readers have with them.

In her exegesis of the three selected texts, Reeder observes the importance of family for maintaining and passing on the covenant. The children inherit the covenant, the very means of communal identity. The execution of family members should be understood within this communal concept. The covenant only persists through family inheritance. Thus, the laws are meant to be protective. Reeder also notes the text provides balance in such details as first presuming the accused daughter’s innocence, as well as legal protections for a son against patriarchal abuse. Following her exegesis in Deuteronomy she examines themes in Sirach, 1 Maccabees, Jubilees, Philo, Josephus, the early Rabbis, and the New Testament. Reeder argues that later commentary on family violence is increasingly uncomfortable with the concept. Here modern readers can find common ground with ancient writers. However, the idea of family execution is not eliminated entirely. Preservation of communal identity remains important. The self is subordinated to the needs of the community.

 Baker Publishing provided a copy of this book to Women Biblical Scholars upon request in exchange for a review (with no strings attached for a positive one). Women Biblical Scholars welcomes collaboration with publishers to help get the word out about relevant books by female scholars.

Gale Yee on Poverty in Ancient Israel and Today

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Dr. Gale Yee is Nancy W. King Professor of Biblical Studies at Episcopal Divinity School. Recently, she delivered the 2015 Runcie Lecture at the Graduate Theological Foundation. The lecture is entitled, “From the Bottom Up: Poverty and Inequality in Ancient Israel and Today.”

Nyasha Junior on Micah 3

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Dr. Nyasha Junior is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at the Howard University School of Divinity.

Interview: Abigail Ann Young

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aay-jpgDr. Abigail Ann Young is a Medieval scholar with a particular interest in the history of biblical exegesis. She earned a B.A. in Latin from The University of Texas at Austin, M.A. in Classical Languages and M.A. in Late Ancient History from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Licenciate in Medieval Studies from Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, St Michael’s College, University of Toronto, and Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from University of Toronto. Prior to her retirement Young worked as palaeographer, Latinist, and general research associate and editor at the Records of Early English Drama project at Victoria College in the University of Toronto. She can be found at her website, on Academia.edu, and on Twitter.

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

I suppose it was my family that sowed the seeds, so to speak. When I was 8 years old my great aunt gave me a King James Bible, which set me to trying to read the Bible myself. I didn’t have very great success until my mother brought home the New Testament in the New English Bible translation when I was in high school. Suddenly I could understand the language, which was tremendously exciting, even though I couldn’t understand most of the concepts!

So when I joined the church as a university student, it seemed natural to want to use the language and textual skills I was learning in Classical Studies to study the Bible. It took me some time to figure out that, as a mostly-closeted gay woman with a partner, the clergy was not at that time an open path. (I have come to realise that this was a good thing in the end, since my gifts are far more for teaching and preaching than they are pastoral: I would not have made a good priest.) A course in Byzantine History started me in the direction of history of theology. Eventually at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies I found a way forward: the history of exegesis with professors who encouraged me to look at contemporary exegesis as well as mediaeval exegesis.  More→

New Book and Talks on Deuteronomistic Portrayal of Kings By Alison L. Joseph

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This fall Dr. Alison L. Joseph will discuss her research published in Portrait of the Kings: The Davidic Prototype in Deuteronomistic Poetics. On September 17, 2015 she will be at Falvey Library at Villanova University in Pennsylvania and on October 15, 2015 she will be at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) Library in New York. A description of the book reads:

Much of the scholarship on the book of Kings has focused on questions of the historicity of the events described. Alison L. Joseph turns her attention instead to the literary characterization of Israel’s kings. By examining the narrative techniques used in the Deuteronomistic History to portray Israel’s kings, Joseph shows that the Deuteronomist in the days of the Josianic Reform constructed David as a model of adherence to the covenant, and Jeroboam, conversely, as the ideal opposite of David. The redactor further characterized other kings along one or the other of these two models. The resulting narrative functions didactically, as if instructing kings and the people of Judah regarding the consequences of disobedience. Attention to characterization through prototype also allows Joseph to identify differences between pre-exilic and exilic redactions in the Deuteronomistic History, bolstering and also revising the view advanced by Frank Moore Cross. The result is a deepened understanding of the worldview and theology of the Deuteronomistic historians.

Dr. Joseph earned her Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Haverford College.

The Making of a Biblical Scholar

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While this website focuses on the work of women at the Ph.D. level, we also like to feature women who aspire to be biblical scholars. Jennifer Guo has just traded in her career as an accountant for full-time graduate study. Already her passion for research has produced a well-trafficked blog ranked in the top 50 Biblioblogs. Guo recently became a member of SBL and will be attending the SBL conference this fall.

Up until halfway through my undergraduate studies I was a staunch atheist. My whole life I had thought that science had all the answers or at least had the potential of answering all the important questions; I was 100% convinced that nothing supernatural existed or could possibly exist, and, accordingly, I never sought anything spiritual.

Like Paul on the road to Damascus to persecute the fledgling Church, the Lord ambushed me with an encounter in the library of a university renowned for the natural sciences, on my way to a Bachelor degree in chemistry. My conversion was radical and dramatic – I went from atheist to “Jesus freak” through that one encounter with God in the library, with no questioning or seeking or floundering in between. Starting the very next day I was “all in,” seeking the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

A week later I was gifted a Bible and I started devouring it, reading it multiple times a day, every day. By God’s grace I grew very fast, and soon started serving in both campus ministry and in my church, primarily in leading Bible studies and prayer meetings. Throughout the 10 years since then I have continued serving in various ways in college ministry, in church, and in a parachurch performing arts ministry; but I never felt called to pursue full-time vocational ministry and, until recently, never thought I’d go to seminary. But I’ve recently felt called to pursue academia, and I will be starting an M.Div at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School this fall.  More→