Dr. Carmen Imes is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Prairie College in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. She earned a BA from Multnomah University, MA from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and PhD from Wheaton College. She blogs at http://www.carmenjoyimes.blogspot.com/.

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

I have always loved reading the Bible. I remember taking my Bible out on the playground in 2nd grade and trying to get a group of kids to read through it with me. In college I discovered a love for teaching. It was natural to combine these two interests. At one point before I started grad school I wrestled with whether to go into Christian counseling or Biblical Studies—I either wanted to be a counselor who was thoroughly grounded in the Scriptures or a professor who was able to counsel students informally. In the end I saw a greater need for women in biblical studies. There were already many women counselors.  More→

Dr. Jill Firth is on faculty at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia, where she lectures in Hebrew and Old Testament. She earned her BA from the University of Western Australia, MA in Spiritual Direction from the Melbourne College of Divinity, and MDiv and PhD from the Australian College of Theology. She is also a Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. She can be contacted at j.firth@ridley.edu.au.

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

When I finished secondary school, I enquired about studying theology, but I was advised to get some life experience first. After I finished university, my pastor husband was posted to a rural community, so I plunged into parish ministry and then child raising. I planned to return to study when my youngest child was school age, but we went to work in a remote Australian indigenous community and then in Hong Kong. Returning to Australia, I finally enrolled in an MDiv and also began an MA in spiritual direction, while also training for Anglican ordination. A nudge from God drew me to focus on the PhD, which built on an MDiv essay on Book V of the Psalter. Tutoring and adjunct lecturing in earlier years have developed into appointment as a lecturer on faculty. More→

Will Gafney photographed in Fort Worth, Texas on March 27, 2015. (Photo by/Sharon Ellman)

Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School.  She earned her BA from Earlham, MDiv from Howard University School of Divinity, Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University, and PhD in Hebrew Bible from Duke University. Dr. Gafney is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. She can be found at her website wilgafney.com and on twitter @WilGafney.

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

I started my professional career as a research biologist after having intended to go to medical school. However in college I was captivated by research and decided to pursue that. A renewal of faith in the A. M. E. Zion Church led me to the scriptures for religious reasons and I found myself particularly drawn to the Hebrew Scriptures. I knew on my first day of seminary I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. In my Spiritual Formation class with Kelly Brown Douglas we read Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited. His concept of the “religion of Jesus” resonated deeply with me. I immediately understood that the Hebrew Scriptures were the wellspring of the religion of Jesus. I was also enthralled by my introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures with the late Gene Rice, also from the first day—the class started with the Enuma Elish. Meanwhile in my religious life I had begun comparing translations of the bible and using lexical tools to engage the underlying Hebrew. I even taught myself the aleph-bet. When I took Hebrew with Dr. Rice, I was hooked.

Tell us about your work (past and current). What are you most excited about right now? What do you hope your work will contribute?

In seminary I encountered women who couldn’t be ordained by their churches and was perplexed. I was a member of the AME Zion Church that had ordained Julia Foote a Deacon in 1894 and an Elder in 1900, and in between ordained Mary Small Deacon (1895) and Elder (1898). I also knew that there were women prophets in the bible whom God had called to preach and did not understand why the matter was not settled for everyone else. When Dr. Rice introduced me to the prophet Huldah I was enthralled. I wrote on her for class, for the first paper I presented (at the Regional Society of Biblical Literature), for my entrance essay, and she and her sisters became the subjects of my dissertation and first book, Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel. More→

Dr. Susan Wendel is Associate Professor of New Testament at Briercrest College and Seminary. She earned a BEd from the University of Regina, MA from Briercrest College and Seminary, and a PhD from McMaster University.

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

With the aim of becoming better equipped to serve the church, my husband and I left our established careers to attend seminary. When we entered seminary, I assumed that my husband would become a pastor and I would work alongside him as a pastor’s wife. After only a short time of studying, however, my husband began to note how I thrived in a setting where the bible was studied at the academic level. As I continued to study, and as my husband continued to encourage me, my love for the discipline grew. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I could use my intellectual abilities to serve the church effectively. After seminary, I entered a doctoral program and now teach New Testament at the same seminary where I first learned to study the biblical text.

Tell us about your work (past and current). What are you most excited about right now? What do you hope your work will contribute?

My publications thus far have circled around the question of how interpretation of the Jewish scriptures shaped the identity of early Christ-believers. My work in this area includes a monograph entitled, Scriptural Interpretation and Community Self-Definition in Luke-Acts and the Writings of Justin Martyr (NovTSup 139; Leiden: Brill, 2011). More recently, I co-edited the volume Torah Ethics and Early Christian Identity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016). Besides composing other articles on this topic, I am currently working on a chapter for a volume in a series for Bloomsbury/T&T Clark on the reception of Paul in early Christianity. In one way or another, all of these research projects shed light on how the Jewish scriptures helped to frame the worldview, practices, and identity of early Christ-believers.    More→

Dr. Laura J. Hunt is adjunct professor at Ashland Theological Seminary and Spring Arbor University. She also does copy editing work. Dr. Hunt earned her B.R.E and M.T.S. from Michigan Theological Seminary and her Ph.D. from University of Wales Trinity Saint David. She is an Elder in the Free Methodist Church. Dr. Hunt can be found online at her website, www.laurajhunt.com, and twitter handle, @lauraj222.

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

I would probably never have gotten my PhD in New Testament if one of several doors had been opened to me earlier. Once I finished my undergraduate degree in Religious Education, and then while I was working on my Masters of Theological Studies, I wanted to contribute in the church, but those doors were shut. Then I worked for a time in a seminary library, and there was talk of putting me in charge there, but then that door closed. So each time I just went back to school and got another degree. So it’s definitely one of those Joseph kinds of things (Gen 50:20), and I am grateful for the way God redeemed the journey.

Tell us about your work (past and current). What are you most excited about right now? What do you hope your work will contribute?

I am currently working on two projects. First, I am editing my dissertation for publication, “Jesus Caesar: A Roman Reading of John 18:28—19:22.” I looked at John 18:28—19:22 from the perspective of the Latin language, using Umberto Eco’s semiotics. While Latin was never extensively spoken in the East, the presence of Romans there did position Latin as the language of power, and the Greek text shows evidence of that contact. Roman understandings and expectations are also addressed in that passage, especially loyalties and law. I am both excited and nervous about seeing how my work fares within the wider academy. More→

Dr. Cyndi Parker teaches 3-week intensive courses in Israel at Jerusalem University College, as well as by invitation to various churches and institutions. She holds a BA in French and Business Studies from Butler University, MA in Old Testament and MA in Religion from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Ph.D. in Theological and Religious Studies from the University of Gloucestershire.

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

I became a biblical scholar a little reluctantly. I know that sounds weird, but growing up, I felt like I had been badly wounded by people in the Church who demeaned intelligent and self-motivated females. When I went to college, my professors talked about the silliness of believing in religion, and since I wanted to be brilliant, well spoken, and intelligent, I believed them. I was introduced to feminist ideas, which ultimately helped me put words around some of the deep hurt created by male leadership in church. I walked away from religion, from the church, and from God, and it was only through the patient, consistent pull of God that I eventually returned.

When I considered pursuing a Ph.D. in anthropology, a trusted advisor of mine stepped in and stated that he thought I should consider biblical studies instead. Although I initially resented the suggestion, I quickly realized he was right. My biggest life questions, my biggest anxiety, and yet my biggest source of hope came from theology. I knew I needed to be in biblical studies even if it was only to be the female example in the church that I never had. I pursued graduate work in the Old Testament because I related to the life struggles and the difficult questions posed by people in the Old Testament. More→